Chapter 21: The Bald Man’s Blunders

As Bai Zhi had predicted, the bald man before her clearly knew something about her.

Considering the intelligence gathered earlier, it seemed highly probable that this individual was connected to the enigmatic White-Robed Figure.

“There are a few things I’d like to ask you. If you cooperate and tell me the truth, I promise to go a little easier on you.”

To gather new clues, Bai Zhi resolved to be gentle with the large man before her, at least refraining from knocking him unconscious in a single blow.

“Hmph hmph hmph, what audacity! It’s as if you’ve already decided that this lord—Kuka the Blazing Flame—is destined to lose to you!”

Kuka turned around, a sneer twisting his lips, but the moment his gaze fell upon Bai Zhi, his initial delight abruptly morphed into disappointment.

“I’d heard the Guardian was a rare and formidable powerhouse… so why am I facing a mere child who hasn’t even fully grown? If I were to win against someone like this, wouldn’t it just look like I’m bullying a kid!?”

“Hehehe… fine then! I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to beat you until even your mother wouldn’t recognize you!”

Bai Zhi instinctively clenched her fists, her earlier intention of going easy on him completely forgotten.

“Then I’m afraid you’re in for a disappointment, Guardian!”

Kuka wore an expression of profound pride.

“This lord’s parents both died when I was but three years old, so there’s no way you could beat me until my mother wouldn’t recognize me, because I don’t have a mother at all!”

“Are you an idiot? Why would you say something like that with such pride!”

“Because only weaklings pay attention to such trivial matters. A powerhouse like this lord would never… never care!”

“Hey, you hesitated for a moment just now, didn’t you? You clearly care about it deep down!”

“Ugh… I merely recalled a fleeting memory from my childhood, gnawing on wild grass by a muddy roadside, watching other children being taken out to play by their parents. That’s all, nothing more!”

“There’s absolutely nothing in that story that could possibly be described as ‘nothing more’; just hearing it makes you sound pathetic! And if you want to pretend you don’t care, at least wipe your face—your tears are streaming down!”

“These aren’t tears… they’re merely the sweat of my soul!”

“This isn’t the time for memes… and how does someone from another world even know about such memes anyway…”

“Ha! I understand now! This must be one of those ‘schemes’ I’ve heard about! You vile Guardian, deliberately stirring up painful memories. What a sinister tactic! You mean to ambush me when I show a moment of weakness, don’t you?! This lord has seen right through all your tricks!”

“Didn’t you bring all that up yourself? It has nothing to do with me!”

Bai Zhi pressed a hand to her forehead in exasperation.

“Honestly, after talking to you, I feel like I’m rapidly turning into an idiot myself…”

“In any case! Just cooperate and hand over whatever information you possess, and I’ll do my best to go easy on you.”

“Information?!”

Upon hearing those two words, Kuka’s face drained of color, then abruptly shifted to an expression of sudden realization.

“So that’s it! You’re trying to track down the organization’s whereabouts through me, aren’t you!”

“‘The Organization’?!?”

A word she hadn’t anticipated suddenly entered the conversation, and an expression of profound surprise flickered across Bai Zhi’s face, though Kuka appeared utterly oblivious.

“Although our organization has always operated in secret, with all members required to conceal their true strength and disguise themselves as ordinary people devoid of any supernatural power the moment they officially leave Granzenias.

Despite such elaborate measures, you still managed to discover us? I see, truly worthy of being this world’s Guardian; you certainly possess some real power!”

Bai Zhi yearned to tell him that she had, in fact, discovered nothing, and that he was merely rambling on, constantly leaking information all on his own. However, she admirably suppressed the burgeoning urge to do so.

Her primary motivation was to see just how long he would continue to monologue.

Observing Bai Zhi’s silence, Kuka presumed he had guessed correctly, and his tone became increasingly triumphant.

“But this is quite normal, after all, our Council of Thirteen… was established precisely to oppose you, the Guardian. It’s only natural that you would have sensed something.”

“Oh… so that’s how it is!”

“However, for you to find me so quickly, it must be more than just a mere ‘sensing.’ You must have obtained concrete information from somewhere, I presume!”

“It really was just a coincidence… but never mind, please continue!”

“Don’t think you can fool me!”

Kuka’s face was alight with confidence.

“It must have been Number One’s actions that exposed us, leading you to track us down, wasn’t it!?”

“Number One?”

“That fellow is the founder of our Council of Thirteen. He’s been quite agitated lately because we still haven’t gathered all thirteen members.

It must be because of this… that the usually cautious Number One inadvertently revealed the organization’s existence while recruiting members.”

“If you can’t even get thirteen members, then don’t pick a name like that!” Bai Zhi couldn’t help but retort.

“Actually, I don’t quite understand it either. But it seems Number One is very fond of the number, so even at the very beginning, when there were only him and Number Two in the organization, they still adopted the rather misleading name ‘Council of Thirteen’.”

“Number Two?”

“Ah, that’s the person who founded the organization with Number One… Ah! So that’s it, it was actually Number Two who exposed us!”

Kuka wore an expression of sudden enlightenment.

“That guy, I’ve always found him suspicious! Even though he’s one of the organization’s founders, he rarely shows his face publicly, and he doesn’t even attend the bi-monthly internal meetings!

This fellow, you must have discovered him doing something shady in private, then threatened him into revealing the organization’s secrets, didn’t you!”

“Leaving aside the fact that your hypothesis lacks any evidence, if I had truly captured one of your organization’s founders, wouldn’t I simply ask them directly what I wanted to know? Why would I go to the trouble of seeking you out instead?”

Bai Zhi’s face was etched with exasperation. The bald man before her possessed an incredibly vivid imagination.

“You have a point… Then could the problem be with Number Three and Number Four?”

Kuka furrowed his brow, the words he spoke sounding almost unbelievable even to himself.

“Those two have been constantly together lately, seemingly hatching some plot against you.

Although their personalities are so rotten they’re practically decaying, they’re usually extremely cautious in their actions, so they shouldn’t have been exposed so easily.”

“Oh? Well, this is quite interesting information. Say, you’re not deliberately playing dumb and leaking all this to me, are you?”

“?”

Seeing Kuka’s utterly bewildered expression, Bai Zhi shook her head helplessly.

“…Never mind, just pretend I said nothing at all. Please continue!”

“Hmph hmph hmph, I’ve figured it out! Guardian of this world, though you’ve constantly tried to mislead me into thinking in the wrong direction, I’ve still uncovered the truth!”

“But you’re the one who’s been rambling on and on by yourself…”

“The problem must have originated with Number Six, who only recently joined the organization! He’s actually your mole, isn’t he!”

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Stop pretending! You’re actually panicking because I hit the nail on the head, aren’t you!”

Kuka adopted an expression of having seen through everything, and a chilling gleam radiated from his pupils.

“Hmph~ that Number Six, I always felt there was something off about him!

All of us… we joined the organization to defeat you, yet he constantly acts as if he’s protecting you at every turn, even arguing with Number Four on more than one occasion over Number Four’s disparaging remarks about you!

That fellow is actually your devotee, sent to infiltrate our organization and gather intelligence under your orders, isn’t he!”

“How could a mole possibly behave as obviously as you’re describing? Don’t assume everyone else is as foolish as you are!”

Bai Zhi sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead. Seeing that the other party remained utterly oblivious to his own blunders, she quite kindly offered a reminder.

“Moreover, I think from a third-party perspective, you actually resemble the ‘mole’ you’re describing far more. After all, ever since we started talking, you’ve been continuously spilling information about every single member of your organization to me…”

“What?! So this was your scheme all along?!”

Kuka was utterly aghast, his face turning green with rage.

“You deliberately pretended to know everything, when in reality you were just trying to trick information out of me! What a treacherous woman!”

“If only that were actually the case. But in truth, aren’t you the one who’s been incessantly talking to yourself…?”

“Ooooh, unforgivable!!!!”

A scorching aura suddenly erupted. Kuka’s entire body became wreathed in roaring flames, his outer garment instantly incinerated into ash, revealing the dark, muscular physique hidden beneath.

Bai Zhi’s eyes widened in sudden realization, and she murmured to herself, ‘So that’s how you ended up bald. I was wondering why you didn’t have a single strand of hair at such a young age…’

“Hah, you cunning Guardian, I admit you outmaneuvered me. But it ends here!”

Kuka adopted an aggressive stance, the flames around him roaring like a ferocious beast.

“As long as I defeat you here, there won’t be any problems!”

“Prepare to die, Guardian!!!”