Chapter 441: No Longer Fearful

"You don’t know anything, do you!" Jia Xu suddenly became furious. His once smiling, cautious, and hopeful expression was completely replaced by anger. "I ask you for a way to wealth, and you won’t even tell me. You’re not even as good as a wandering fortune-telling Daoist!"

Zixu was grabbed by the collar and violently shaken by Jia Xu. He instinctively avoided eye contact, but because of this, he didn’t notice the fleeting hint of joy in Jia Xu’s eyes.

For someone like Jia Xu, who usually concealed his emotions, to show such joy, it was clear that the information Zixu had inadvertently revealed was of immense importance.

"Do you know or not? Do you know or not!" Jia Xu shook Zixu back and forth as if he were trying to shake him apart.

Jia Xu quickly suppressed his excitement. He had already obtained the most crucial information he wanted. Now, it was just a matter of squeezing out a few more simple details, and he had already decided on his next question.

"Let go of me! Let go!" Zixu, feeling dizzy from the shaking, pleaded.

"Let go? Not a chance! You don’t know anything, and I vouched for you to Ziyang. You’re making me look bad—I should just kill you!" Jia Xu refused to release Zixu, unleashing his immense mental force to envelop both of them. He was confident that even if Zixu were a so-called "immortal," he could still turn him into a lunatic if it came to a fight, especially at such close range.

"Calm down! Calm down! Calm down!" Enveloped by Jia Xu’s overwhelming mental energy, Zixu could no longer maintain his composure. He despised dealing with top-tier strategists. At this distance, if Jia Xu unleashed his full mental force into Zixu’s consciousness, it would not only drive him mad but also shatter his personality through the bombardment of Jia Xu’s thoughts, memories, and will.

"Calm down? Are you kidding me? Will you tell me or not? If you don’t, we’ll both perish together! I’ve mobilized a bunch of people and gotten nothing in return—I can handle that!" Jia Xu roared at Zixu.

At this distance, Zixu dared not make any sudden moves, fearing that if he provoked Jia Xu, they would both go down together. Even a great figure like Nan Hua wouldn’t be able to escape from such a close-range confrontation!

"I can’t say!" Zixu started to protest, but immediately sensed the surrounding mental energy going berserk.

"I’ll tell you!" Zixu, quick to adapt, shouted, then put on a tearful expression and pleaded, "Wenhe, I truly can’t say. Let’s make a deal. Ask me two simple questions that you can take back as answers, and let me go."

Seeing Jia Xu deep in thought and feeling the mental energy around him calm down, Zixu breathed a long sigh of relief.

Fearing that Jia Xu might continue to press him as before, Zixu added, "But don’t do that again. Even if you push me, I can’t answer the things I’m not allowed to. If you push me too far, I’ll fight back. I might not survive, but I won’t die from your first blow. And if I tell you, I’m certain to die! How about that?"

"Fine, you win!" Jia Xu finally relented after some hesitation.

Zixu's strategy of combining soft and hard tactics had clearly hit the mark, but Jia Xu maintained a tough exterior as he said, "But how can I be sure you’re not deceiving me? And what if you seek revenge later? I’ve heard that your kind is quite good at curses."

"I swear that I’ll tell you what I know, and I promise not to trouble you in the future. As for curses, you don’t need to worry. Kings and ministers blessed by the people are beyond the reach of ‘immortals.’ The cause and effect are too significant," Zixu said gloomily. "But you only get two chances. If you ask something I can’t answer, I won’t tell you, and it’ll count as one of the two."

"Alright, let’s seal it with a vow!" Jia Xu raised his hand.

"Agreed!" Zixu, eager to avoid more trouble from Jia Xu, quickly agreed. With this vow, if Jia Xu broke his word later, Zixu would feel justified in retaliating.

"Tell me all the spiritual talents of my lord Liu Xuande’s subordinates, the drawbacks of those talents, how to mitigate those drawbacks, and any abilities similar to spiritual talents," Jia Xu asked after pretending to think for a moment.

Though Jia Xu cleverly bundled four questions into one, Zixu didn’t bother to argue. The consequences of this were not severe, and given that Liu Xuande’s luck had saved him from a previous calamity, Zixu decided to repay the favor. He proceeded to detail the spiritual talents of Liu Bei’s subordinates.

"Now, tell me about the spiritual talents of Xun You or Cheng Yu," Jia Xu continued, unfazed after hearing about Liu Bei’s subordinates. He was notably surprised by Zhuge Liang’s abilities but maintained a composed expression as he pressed on.

"This..." Zixu hesitated, staring at Jia Xu for a long time before finally gritting his teeth and revealing Cheng Yu’s spiritual talent. The consequences of divulging this were less severe than continuing to deal with Jia Xu’s relentless questioning, so Zixu chose to speak.

After confirming the details of both individuals’ spiritual talents, Jia Xu was thoroughly satisfied. He trusted his judgment and believed Zixu wasn’t lying.

"Thank you, Zixu. If you’d been this cooperative earlier, we both would’ve been better off. Don’t you agree?" Jia Xu smiled. "I imagine you’re quite tired of me now, so I won’t disturb your rest any longer."

Zixu’s face twitched slightly, but he resisted the urge to continue talking with Jia Xu. After Jia Xu’s shameless behavior earlier, Zixu didn’t want to experience that again. He waved dismissively, signaling Jia Xu to leave—he was very much done with this encounter.

Seeing Zixu’s irritated expression devoid of the reverence he once held, Jia Xu realized that knowing the true nature of these so-called "immortals" had dispelled much of his previous fear of the unknown. Now, Jia Xu felt no hesitation in mocking them.

With a casual bow, Jia Xu turned and left. Just as Zixu held no respect for him, Jia Xu had little regard for Zixu. He certainly didn’t want to lower his intelligence by continuing to engage with this "immortal." Based on his current assessment, Jia Xu concluded that Zixu likely had lost his wits from his so-called cultivation.

Jia Xu’s expression remained calm as he analyzed the information he had extracted from Zixu.

Cautiously, Jia Xu reminded himself to remain vigilant. As always, self-preservation was paramount.