Absolute Choice
Absolute Choice - Chapter 553: Black Turtle Hibernation

"Shouldn't you be most aware of how I did it?"

Speechless said with a faint smile, "The divine technique that I used to fake my death was stolen from you after all."

Shi Xiaobai was stunned. Stolen from him?

Shi Xiaobai immediately considered all his 'divine techniques' he had. Which of those miscellaneous techniques could fake a death that could fool everyone?

Shi Xiaobai thought for a few seconds when his eyes suddenly glared as he said in surprise, "Unleaking Turtle Aura?"

"That's right."

Speechless nodded and said with a chuckle, "Remember back when I fought with the fake Hero King? I had been defeated by the Sword Soul and my left chest was penetrated. Thankfully my heart is located on my right side, so I did not immediately die. However, I had suffered serious injuries that were truly excruciatingly painful. You realized that and immediately used 'Unleaking Turtle Aura' to allow my Mirror Replication to replicate it. Therefore, I was able to maintain my casualness despite the heavy injuries I had incurred. Everyone else thought that my willpower was astounding but it was actually the magical effects of your 'Unleaking Turtle Aura'. None of us made this matter known so I was extremely grateful towards you. Of course, I was increasingly puzzled by a divine technique like 'Unleaking Turtle Aura'. It is truly one that I have never seen or heard. It's completely a...divine method for posturing! Heh, speaking of which, I recall myself using my hand to pinch my flesh in order to stimulate my recovery. It sure looked rather painful and Pulp Farmer thought I was crazy. He even asked me why I was so calm in such an agitated manner. I said nonchalantly, 'because it does not hurt at all'. Woohoo, that expression of Pulp Farmer was truly like he had seen God. The look of shock on his face as his eyes turned dull. He must have been truly completely impressed by me. But actually, he did not know that I had used your 'Unleaking Turtle Aura', so I did not feel any pain. It had nothing to do with willpower. Hahaha!"

Shi Xiaobai felt his scalp tingle when he heard that. Back then, he had indeed used 'Unleaking Turtle Aura' in order to relieve Speechless of any pain but he never expected the fellow to use it for posturing! He also never expected that 'Unleaking Turtle Aura' ended up being the main trick that Speechless used to fake his death.

'Unleaking Turtle Aura' was a special technique that could suppress one's senses. However, if the suppression was pushed to the limit, it would reach a maximum and become another divine technique. Its name was 'Turtle Aura Grand Technique', also known as 'Black Turtle Hibernation'.

While in 'Black Turtle Hibernation', one's senses would be completely isolated from the external world. Breathing, pulse, and heartbeat would all become extremely slow, so slow that it appeared still and silent, making the person no different from a dead corpse. 'Black Turtle Hibernation' was typically used when inflicted with an excruciating pain that could not be endured but, in fact, it could be used to 'fake' one's death as well.

Shi Xiaobai should have long realized that 'Black Turtle Hibernation' could be used to fake a death but he had never used it ever since he obtained 'Unleaking Turtle Aura'. He had even neglected it from the very beginning because it was no different from isolating all his senses from the external world. Although it could completely block out any pain, it also meant that he would lose complete control of his body.

In the 'Black Turtle Hibernation' state, one would be no different from a vegetable. One could have thoughts but they would be left immobile. It would take at least half a minute to recover from the 'Black Turtle Hibernation' state. If one were to suffer 'corpse desecration' while in the 'Black Turtle Hibernation' state, they would be in a helpless state during that half minute. Furthermore, due to the long period of 'hibernation', once 'Black Turtle Hibernation' was removed, the body would immediately end up being in a 'weak' state that needed a period of time to recover from. This period of recovery was also extremely dangerous.

Therefore, unless he had suffered a fatal injury that 'Unleaking Turtle Aura' could not withstand, which only 'Black Turtle Hibernation' could save him by completely sealing off his senses, Shi Xiaobai would absolutely not consider using 'Black Turtle Hibernation' to enter such a passive state. And he never thought of using 'Black Turtle Hibernation' to fake a death. Therefore, he had nearly forgotten the extreme state of 'Unleaking Turtle Aura', 'Black Turtle Hibernation', a long time ago.

However, Speechless had discovered of 'Black Turtle Hibernation' when he replicated 'Unleaking Turtle Aura'. He had even disregarded everything to use it for faking his death, fooling everyone in the process.

'Unleaking Turtle Aura' was a reward from the Absolute Choice that seemed to be an entity that 'surpassed' this world. Hence, it was understandable that no one had managed to see through it.

Shi Xiaobai sighed and said, "Others might not discover it but if This King had seen your 'corpse', This King would have immediately realized that you had used 'Black Turtle Hibernation'."

Speechless said with a chuckle, "I know. That's why I could not allow you to see my corpse. Even news of my death was not to be made known to you. You are too clever and you can easily tell the truth from just a few inkling clues. This was also why I needed Liu Yu to be my accomplice. I got Liu Yu to convince everyone to hide my death from you while you were still unconscious. I wanted it to be unknown that you were the murderer because if the 'truth' was made known, you would feel guilt. The Li family would be furious and it would definitely end up in a tragedy. This mission wasn't difficult. Instead of calling it convincing, it should be said that it was a tacit understanding that everyone unanimously agreed to. After all, you hold a very high position in the eyes of Sunless, Pulp Farmer, Feng Yuanlin and my two sisters. They would definitely have you in their considerations. In my plan, when everything ends, you should not even know a thing. You would shout with a flabbergasted look, 'What the fuck, man!?'. Well, although I had 'used' you, I did not wish to implicate you in it. I just never expected you to eventually know the truth."

Shi Xiaobai could not help but feel mixed emotions when he heard that. Speechless's plan was indeed extremely meticulous. However, it was impossible for him to realize that the ones watching the farce were not limited to Sunless and company. There was also that fancy schlock, the Infernal Queen.

And after Shi Xiaobai learned of Speechless's death, he did not immediately think of the possibility of him faking his death. He had been 'fooled' by the announcement of the completion of the Absolute Choice. Up to date, Shi Xiaobai was still unsure why Speechless's fake death would result in the completion of the King's Mandate. However, Speechless clearly could not answer his doubts.

Shi Xiaobai began racking his brains while feeling complicated.

Speechless glanced at Shi Xiaobai and suddenly said with a smile, "Speaking of which, I am reminded of Liu Yu's acting performance. When I died, there was no leader in the group. It was imperative that a person who would not lose his calm would stand forward. Liu Yu had played that role of temporary leader that did not fluster. I originally thought that the young priest was a serious and sanctimonious person. It was unlikely he was good in acting and I felt that it would be tough for him to carry out the difficult mission. However, I never expected that Daoist Liu is truly unfathomable. His acting was realistic. If not for me having written the script, I probably would have been fooled by him. Back then, I felt that if Liu Yu did not change his career to become a movie star, it would definitely have been a waste of talent. It would be the loss of a great actor. However, there's something I'm not sure if the priest was feeling flustered or if his legs shook. There was a line that he forgot in his nervousness. Well, regardless of that, I was rather impressed by Liu Yu for his overall performance." IChooseDogLeading (我选择狗带) when read in Chinese sounds like I Choose Go Die. It was a meme that resulted from a former member of famous Korean boygroup, EXO, TAO (Huang Zitao). At a concert, there was a part in a rap that where he said "", but due to a mispronunciation, it sounded like he will not easily choose to be led by dogs. This phrase now means 'I'd rather die/I choose death'.