“Ning Zhuo, young friend.” Chen Cha clasped his hands and forced a smile.
“Elder Chen, no need for formalities. Please, come in.”
Ning Zhuo led Chen Cha inside, invited him to sit, and prepared tea for him.
Ning Zhuo got straight to the point, “What brings you here, Elder Chen?”
Chen Cha's lips moved, but he couldn’t muster the courage and could only say, “I have some good news.”
He briefly explained: Chi Dun’s pursuit had forced a Shadow Demon Cultivator into the Fire Persimmon Forest.
The forest’s formations had been fully activated, temporarily trapping the demon inside.
To minimize losses, the City Lord planned to mass-produce Mechanical Fire Explosive Monkeys to replace manual harvesting of persimmons.
“This is a tremendous fortune, Ning Zhuo! Your luck is truly remarkable!” Chen Cha spoke with genuine admiration.
“However…” Chen Cha’s tongue felt as if a massive stone weighed on it, making it hard to speak even a single word.
Ning Zhuo sensed Chen Cha’s unease and said proactively, “Elder Chen, is there something else that’s hard to share? Please, speak freely."
"My Mechanical Monkey reaching the City Lord’s attention was entirely due to your recommendation. If I can help you, I’ll do so without question!”
Hearing Ning Zhuo’s considerate words, Chen Cha felt even more ashamed and guilty, his sense of wrongdoing deepening.
“Shameful, truly shameful…” he sighed, bowed his head, and confessed everything, hoping Ning Zhuo would privately pass the credit for developing the Mechanical Fire Explosive Monkey to him.
A dark glimmer crossed Ning Zhuo’s eyes.
“Fei Si… that Golden Core stage cultivator, always claiming credit and eager to show off. It’s exactly the kind of thing he’d do.”
Ning Zhuo was familiar with Fei Si. Since the age of two, he had been making plans for the Lava Immortal Palace, with the four great factions as his primary targets of vigilance, Fei Si among them.
In Chen Cha’s mind, Ning Zhuo, as a young man, would crave wealth and fame.
Having designed the Mechanical Fire Explosive Monkey must have required immense effort and difficulty.
Now, to have the fruits of his labor taken by others would surely be intolerable and enrage him greatly.
Chen Cha had overestimated the difficulty of this situation.
He could never have anticipated how complex and perilous the hidden agenda was, even involving the previous explosion at the Immortal Palace.
Ning Zhuo had arranged this meeting with Chen Cha not only to discuss the Mechanical Monkey’s design but also to purposefully expose the Mechanical Fire Explosive Monkey’s existence.
Every step he took was meticulously calculated, with multiple contingencies in mind.
The explosion at the Immortal Palace had been just the first step.
After that, how would he prevent investigation?
This was something Ning Zhuo had been preparing for all along.
“I’ve already guided Chen Cha to use the Flying Disc Workshop to create many Mechanical Monkeys for external sale.”
“Now, with Fei Si intervening and wanting me to yield ownership of the Mechanical Monkey, isn’t he just shielding me?”
“Perfect, it adds yet another layer of cover.”
With this thought, Ning Zhuo decided to agree.
Of course, he didn’t immediately agree outright.
Upon hearing Chen Cha’s plea, his face changed dramatically.
His expression shifted through disbelief, anger, resentment, unwillingness, reverence—all revealing a complex mix of emotions.
Chen Cha could clearly sense that Ning Zhuo was close to slamming his hand on the table and condemning him in fury several times.
Chen Cha had already prepared himself to be scolded and reprimanded, feeling it was his due punishment.
But in the end, Ning Zhuo refrained.
His face flushed with alternating shades of green and red as he glared at Chen Cha, lips moving as though muttering curses.
Chen Cha, overwhelmed with guilt, was nearly suffocated by his sense of remorse.
He took the initiative to pour more hot tea for Ning Zhuo.
“Young friend Ning Zhuo, it’s my fault—entirely my fault. Go ahead, scold me as much as you like!”
Ning Zhuo gritted his teeth and finally stood up in anger.
As a young man facing such a situation, how could he bear it?
He gave Chen Cha a fierce glare but refrained from yelling.
Instead, he began pacing around the small room.
His face was flushed, fists clenched tightly, his steps wide and forceful as though he wanted to vent all his frustration and anger in each stride.
Witnessing this, Chen Cha was at a loss, wanting to comfort Ning Zhuo but finding himself at a loss for words.
The guilt was almost unbearable, as if he wanted to sink into the ground.
After pacing back and forth several times, Ning Zhuo suddenly punched the wall with great force.
He lowered his head, presenting Chen Cha with a solitary, stubborn silhouette.
His thin shoulders and the bloody fist that had struck the wall rendered Chen Cha speechless, leaving him feeling as if a mountain weighed on his heart.
Ning Zhuo, like a statue, remained motionless.
Time seemed to freeze, and the room was shrouded in oppressive silence, broken only by Ning Zhuo’s furious breathing.
After an indeterminate period, Ning Zhuo withdrew his fist, slowly turning around.
He looked as if all his spirit had drained away, his face filled with sorrow and helplessness.
His once-clear eyes were now clouded with despair.
In a hoarse voice, he finally spoke, “So, Elder Chen, there’s no way to undo this, is there?”
Chen Cha swallowed hard, wanting to console him but finding himself unable to speak.
Suddenly, he slapped himself hard several times.
Slap slap slap.
Each slap echoed loudly, and his face was wrenched sideways with each strike.
After he finished, he rose, clasped his hands, and bowed deeply before Ning Zhuo, not straightening up.
Ning Zhuo took a deep breath, clenched his teeth, and let out a few indistinct noises, sounding both like sobs and cries of frustration.
Hearing this, Chen Cha felt his heart twist in pain.
Finally, Ning Zhuo loosened his tightly clenched fists, took a few heavy steps forward, and slowly lifted Chen Cha’s forearm, helping him to stand.
Only then did Chen Cha straighten up.
In such a short time, his face had become visibly swollen.
When Chen Cha looked at Ning Zhuo, his pupils contracted.
He saw the youth’s reddened eyes and the clear tear marks on his cheeks.
“I truly deserve death!” Chen Cha cursed himself in his heart.
Ning Zhuo spoke, “Elder Chen, there’s no need to blame yourself. Though we’ve known each other only a short while, I believe you are no such petty person.”
“What’s done is done…”
“What’s done is done, and I can only accept it, can’t I?”
Ning Zhuo sighed deeply, stepping back with a stagger as if about to fall.
Chen Cha quickly stepped forward to support him.
He helped Ning Zhuo to his seat.
For a long time afterward, the two sat in silence, each lost in thought.
Ning Zhuo, calculating time in his mind, finally spoke in a hoarse voice, breaking the silence.
“I agree.”
Chen Cha’s heart sank.
“I agree,” Ning Zhuo repeated.
Chen Cha bit down in pain, his eyes also red as he looked at Ning Zhuo.
He then took out a jade slip from his robe.
Placing it on the table, he quickly produced a small cloth bag and set it beside the jade slip.
Lastly, he took out a pouch of spirit stones, placing it on the table as well.
Having done all this, he clasped his hands, bowing deeply again before Ning Zhuo, and, without a word, turned and left.
After a long while, Ning Zhuo, still alone, gradually calmed down.
His emotional performance had been intense, and remnants of the sentiment still lingered.