If time could go backward, he, Tengxiao, would absolutely never have stepped into the archives of the Grand Diviner's Office today.
Who the hell knew why this God of Slaughter would come to the archives?
Tengxiao hadn't even had the chance to talk to Grand Diviner Xiao Lin about a transfer yet, right?
He watched helplessly as Zero went into the break room, and for a moment his brain overloaded, he didn't know what to say.
He wanted to stop Xiao Lin from ordering Zero around, but he was also afraid of making it too obvious, which might disturb this God of Slaughter's peaceful life.
Tengxiao only felt drenched in sweat, cold beads dripping nonstop down his forehead.
These past few days, he'd read a lot of dossiers about the man, and he knew the former Marshal had a nearly pathological need to control the Xianzhou.
That lord was frighteningly intelligent, suspicious by nature, yet oddly enough, his subordinates all gave him astonishingly good evaluations.
Tengxiao couldn't make sense of that contradiction.
After thinking it over, he decided to just follow Zero's lead and treat him as an ordinary diviner.
Beside him, Xiao Lin, completely oblivious to his superior's thoughts, was already calling the diviners over to make room for the general.
Tengxiao stiffly sat in the seat cleared out for him, feeling less like he was inspecting subordinates' work and more like he was about to be tortured.
Tengxiao howled silently inside.
'My Lord Marshal, when will you come take me away? Or at least take this lord away…'
His brain spun out of control, recalling the outrageous rumors about the former Marshal.
Things like… stabbing close subordinates to death…
Or chasing after the envoy of the "Ancestor of Plagues" the way a gamer insists on collecting a full set of rare monsters, had to catch them all, every single one. As for the purpose, Tengxiao didn't know; the dossiers never said.
That lord even urged the "Ancestor of Plagues" to summon more envoys…
Oh, and there were plenty of unofficial histories about the Marshal, too.
Like beating up the "Emperor's Executor"…
Or fighting with the gods themselves for the "Ancestor of Swarm" kill, more precisely, the god head, personally finishing the insect scourge…
Or scheming against "Aeon of Elation" to make him wipe out political rivals, tricking him into using a colossus to smash "Aeon of Abundance," nearly sparking a war between the Erudition and the Masked Fools…
Anyone who read those stories would have to say, this history sure is wild.
Tengxiao took several deep breaths, trying to calm his nerves.
He regretted it. Oh, he regretted it so much...
Back then, he should have dragged Xiao Lin to keep working overtime, day and night, nonstop.
They should've worked 24 hours a day, no breaks, oh, and brought Jing Yuan along, too, to write the dossiers.
That way, not only would efficiency improve, but their successor would also get some early training. Otherwise, how would Jing Yuan handle the pressure once he took over as general?
If only Xiao Lin were a bit more reliable, a bit more trustworthy, Tengxiao would've already told his subordinates the truth…
Then he wouldn't have to face this cruel situation himself… wouldn't have to share a room with this God of Slaughter…
After the storm in his head, Tengxiao forced himself to calm down.
After all, though that lord was a bit rough in his methods, a bit careless in his conduct, a bit explosive in his temper, a bit paranoid in his nature… he was still, in his own way, approachable.
Tengxiao comforted himself like this, mustered his courage to look up, and the instant his eyes landed on Zero, he reflexively looked away.
'S-surely he would resent me now, right? Too offensive! Too rude!'
Tengxiao screamed silently again, but kept his face steady. Bracing himself, he looked up at the man, who was now personally bringing over a cup of hot tea.
The man had black hair and amber eyes, no different from his past life.
Only his hairstyle and clothing were totally unlike the portraits in the dossiers, shorter hair than most Xianzhou people, a white shirt, and a black trench coat.
He drew nearer, each step like Death himself approaching, every footfall triggered Tengxiao's sense of impending doom.
Zero set the teacup beside him and said, "General, drink tea."
Tengxiao, "…"
Under the table, Tengxiao pinched his thigh hard, trying to restrain the urge to leap up and kneel-slide an apology.
He saw Zero pause, as if realizing his tone didn't quite match his "ordinary man" act. He then raised his hand, pinched his fingers together, made a half-hearted gesture at the teacup, and added one more word.
"Please."
Tengxiao, "..."
It felt exactly like a high-ranking boss awkwardly trying to act like a normal person.
'My lord, the way you speak, this is not what any ordinary person sounds like!'
Tengxiao forced out a dry "thank you," then slowed his tone to suggest Zero should go get some rest.
After all, what came next wasn't something Zero should see…
It was a record he and Xiao Lin had worked overtime to write, specifically for the former Marshal.
To keep him from, after reading his own history, reigniting thoughts of unifying the universe, they had revised it a dozen times, then dragged Jing Yuan in to proofread overnight, burning lamps for days before finalizing the manuscript.
To fool a near-demonic genius like the former Marshal, they had to get every detail perfect.
Not just the logic and story of the book, but even the paper had to show no flaws.
So Tengxiao had Xiao Lin consult the Engineering Commission, asking how to make the book look aged. The answer was disappointing.
Aging paper was easy, they said, but to make it seamless, unnoticeable, required long periods of drying and exposure.
Tengxiao and Xiao Lin were distressed, until a subordinate found some blank stock from several years ago that hadn't yet been printed.
Tengxiao ordered the work done within a week, but worry nagged at him. So he forced Xiao Lin and the others to keep working overtime, until early Monday morning they finally finished.
Who knew, once Tengxiao arrived at the archives, the main character of the book was already there!!
He dared not complain, dared not drink the tea, only shot frantic dagger-eyes at Xiao Lin. But the man, clueless as ever, noticed nothing.
Tengxiao's suffering was beyond words.
Not only could Xiao Lin not read the room, he also couldn't keep secrets and was way too easy to trick into talking.
There was no way he could tell him the truth. If Zero found out, he'd never get peace again.
Tengxiao couldn't let anything slip, he was terrified of causing a bad impression on the former Marshal.
As the general of Luofu, every decision he made had to be carefully considered. If someone noticed…
Wouldn't Zero be mistaken as having connections?
And if some idiot disturbed this God of Slaughter… the consequences would be unthinkable.
Tengxiao could only silently endure the shock of being handed tea by the God of Slaughter himself, praying that his subordinates wouldn't stir up trouble.
Xiao Lin, oblivious to his superior's mental rollercoaster, naturally stopped Zero, who had been about to rest, and ordered him again.
He pointed at the box of works Tengxiao and he had slaved over, and said, "Wait, Zero. Record the information of that box of books."
Zero, who had been hoping to slack off, was caught red-handed. He had no choice but to pick up the box and get back to work.
Tengxiao, "…"
He shut his eyes in pain. 'Ah, just let me die.'
Zero opened the box and was nearly blasted to death by the book sitting right on top.
The title was explosively ridiculous, "The Xianzhou Alliance and the 5000 Years with the Crownless Emperor."
Zero, "…"
His gaze moved down to the book's promotional band.
[He, who led the Xianzhou to end the "War of Emperors," who eradicated the plague of "Swarm Disaster"!]
[He, the strongest human who made the whole universe tremble!]
Zero, "..."
The book trembled slightly in his hands.
Thank you. He had already been blasted away.
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