Chapter 405: Chapter 405

"You dare insult me!!" Shang Lingjian was furious again and almost struck, but feeling Xuanwu Lingxiao's restrained yet ready aura, he knew he had to endure.

"Insult you? Did I? What did I just say about you?" Xiaoyao feigned ignorance, not understanding Shang Lingjian's words or the current situation.

"You just said..." Shang Lingjian suddenly stopped. He realized that Xiaoyao hadn't actually said anything direct about him. Although the implication was there, it wasn't explicitly stated.

If he continued to entangle himself in this topic, it would only make things worse for him. This topic couldn't continue, or the only one at a disadvantage would be himself. But if he didn't clarify, it would be like swallowing this bitter pill in silence.

Now speaking would put him at a disadvantage, and not speaking would also put him at a disadvantage. And he couldn't even fight back. This made Shang Lingjian feel extremely frustrated. This was something he had never encountered before, especially when the other party was someone he considered worthless—a dog slave.

"You're probably very unconvinced. Actually, you can also pose a question," Xiaoyao replied with a smile.

"Fine, I'll pose a simple one. There's a group of soldiers. When divided into groups of three, two are left over. When divided into groups of five, three are left over. When divided into groups of seven, four are left over. Tell me, what's the minimum number of soldiers in this group?" Shang Lingjian thought to himself, let me see how long you need to think. I said it's a simple question—if you're slow to answer, you'll still lose.

"Fifty-three," Xiaoyao seemed to answer without any thought at all.

"Ah?" Shang Lingjian never expected that Xiaoyao would answer this question almost instantly without needing any time. He had tried this question himself. Even when he found the method, it took him several minutes to calculate. That was if he found the method—without it, he could only try slowly, which would take even longer.

But Xiaoyao gave the answer almost instantaneously. Not only did he know the method, but his mental calculation speed was also superhuman.

"I'll also pose a simple question. Also about a group of soldiers. Originally there were fifty people, with four squad leaders among them. After one battle, three died, and they captured five prisoners. Then after another battle, five died, including one squad leader, while three prisoners escaped..." When Xiaoyao reached this point, he looked at Shang Lingjian who was listening seriously. "Do you need something to write this down? This problem requires a very strong memory."

"No need, I have a strong memory and can remember!" Shang Lingjian immediately said. How could he admit defeat and say he couldn't do it?

"Alright then, let's continue! Then after another battle..." Xiaoyao continuously described many battles, how many died, how many were captured, "Finally, they all died! The prisoners..."

"..." Both Shang Lingjian and Xuanwu Lingxiao were puzzled. Why did Xiaoyao calculate everyone as dead? What was this problem asking? How many prisoners were there?

"No need to ask, I know. Thirty-seven prisoners, twenty-three escaped, and fourteen people remaining!" Shang Lingjian rushed to answer, his expression very proud, his head held high, very pleased with himself.

"I haven't finished speaking yet. The prisoners all ran away too!" Xiaoyao looked at Shang Lingjian. "The question is: how many battles did they fight in total?!"

"Uh..." Shang Lingjian froze again. He had calculated how many died, how many survived, how many prisoners were taken, how many prisoners escaped, and so on. The only thing he didn't calculate was the number of battles!

"Pfft..." Xuanwu Lingxiao spat out the orange she had just taken a few bites of, losing her ladylike image. But she didn't care about that, only secretly laughing in her heart. Did heaven send this Xiaoyao to help me deal with this fly?

"What's wrong? You can't answer such a simple problem again? Sigh..." Xiaoyao shook his head and sighed again.

"You're playing with me!! Since you're asking this, why did you say so many things?!" Shang Lingjian was angry again, his pointing finger trembling slightly.

"Please, what does saying so many things matter? As long as you can remember, isn't counting a few times very simple? Admit that your memory isn't good. Don't be embarrassed—I won't mock you. But Miss Lingxiao might," Xiaoyao said with a smile. For more chapters visıt novel(ꜰ)ire.net

"Lingxiao, don't listen to this dog slave's words. He's being cunning. I'll make him eat his own words now!! Dog slave, I'm asking you a question now..." Shang Lingjian wanted to pose a question, but at this moment, Xiaoyao suddenly interjected.

"Who are you calling dog slave?" Xiaoyao picked his ear with a distracted expression.

"Dog slave is calling you!" Shang Lingjian said angrily.

"Oh, dog slave is calling me!" Xiaoyao smiled.

"Right, dog slave is calling you!" Shang Lingjian roared.

"Haha..." Xuanwu Lingxiao burst into undignified laughter again. She wasn't originally an ice queen, just cold. When she wanted to laugh, she would laugh, especially now—even if she were an ice mountain, she would laugh.

"Lingxiao, what are you laughing at?" Shang Lingjian looked at Xuanwu Lingxiao with some confusion.

"Nothing. I just think the weather is very nice today. I'm in a good mood, so I'm very happy," Xuanwu Lingxiao said with a smile.

"Yes, the weather is really nice today..." Shang Lingjian responded verbally, but felt strange in his heart. Laughing because the weather is good? That wasn't Lingxiao's personality. Is there something I don't know? Have I been tricked?

"Hey hey, base young master, stop thinking. If you think too much, your brain won't be enough. When you pose an unchallenging question later, I'll be very bored," Xiaoyao interrupted Shang Lingjian's thoughts.

Shang Lingjian wanted to say whose brain wouldn't be enough, but he still held back. He wouldn't stoop to the level of this dog slave.

"Fine, I'm asking you: as we walked here, how many shops did we pass?!"

How about that? Brilliant, right? You can go back and count them one by one now. Playing dirty tricks with me? You're still too young.

"Let me think..." Xiaoyao pondered.

"Stop thinking. Just go back and count... haha..." Shang Lingjian laughed disdainfully. He didn't believe Xiaoyao could figure out this answer by thinking. No one could answer such a question. Who would have such strong memory? And even those with such memory wouldn't necessarily pay attention.

But Xiaoyao answered almost instantly, not only knowing the method but also having superhuman mental calculation speed.

"A total of sixty-one shops!" Xiaoyao said.

"..." Shang Lingjian stared at Xiaoyao for a while. "Don't think you can just randomly give a number. If you don't know, just say you don't know. Lying is worse than not knowing!"

"I remember it being sixty-one shops. If you don't believe me, you can go count. Don't be a sore loser," Xiaoyao said indifferently, giving Shang Lingjian a slightly contemptuous look.

"Who says I can't take losing? I'll go count and show you. If you're wrong, just wait! Hmph!" Shang Lingjian couldn't stand Xiaoyao's contempt and wanted to teach him a lesson, so he turned around to count.

"..." Xuanwu Lingxiao looked at Shang Lingjian, then at Xiaoyao. She was wondering what this situation was now.

"Do you really remember it being sixty-one shops?" Xuanwu Lingxiao asked blankly.

"This question—do you want to wait for him to come back and confirm, or regardless of whether it's true or false, should we leave first?" Xiaoyao asked with a smile. He didn't answer Xuanwu Lingxiao's question but gave her a choice.

"Of course we leave!" Xuanwu Lingxiao immediately said. Originally she was just stunned for a moment and would have reacted soon. Now that annoying fly had gone to count shops, she could shake off this fly. Just this result was enough—nothing else mattered.

"I think we should wait for him to come back. Playing with him is quite fun!" Xiaoyao said seriously.

"Play with your big head! Hurry up and leave!" Xuanwu Lingxiao knocked Xiaoyao irritably, then grabbed him and quickly left, shaking off Shang Lingjian completely.

At this moment, Xuanwu Lingxiao hadn't noticed that her behavior toward Xiaoyao had become somewhat intimate. This was a manifestation of her inner acceptance of Xiaoyao. Although she still treated him as a servant, this servant had become the more personal kind.

Being able to help her deal with that fly and play with him like that was enough to make her favorable impression of Xiaoyao rise sharply.

"Xuanwu Lingxiao? What is she doing? Why is she dragging a man around? This looks quite interesting. I'll go take a look..." A girl who had been casually strolling saw the combination of Xiaoyao and Xuanwu Lingxiao and found it very dramatic. Out of curiosity, she ran to Xuanwu Lingxiao's side.

"Xuanwu Lingxiao!" The girl called out to Xuanwu Lingxiao from beside her.

"Zhuque Leiting?" Xuanwu Lingxiao looked at the girl and called out her name. This name made Xiaoyao momentarily confused, thinking it might be a girl's name like Leiting.

Legend says that when Zhuque Leiting was born, there was thunder and lightning. Combined with her generation in the Zhuque family, which happened to use the rain radical, she was named Leiting (Thunder)!

"Who is this person to you? You two look very intimate," Zhuque Leiting looked at Xiaoyao and said to Xuanwu Lingxiao with a smile.

"That's none of your business!" Xuanwu Lingxiao let go of Xiaoyao very naturally. Although she had just realized her action was a bit excessive, she remained calm.

"I'm just curiously asking. How about it—are you interested in a sparring match?" Zhuque Leiting asked directly. She and Xuanwu Lingxiao were rivals, but the kind who could learn from each other.

Zhuque Leiting and Xuanwu Lingxiao were very similar people—similar talent, similar family backgrounds, similar status. Such people easily develop one of two relationships: they become friends or they become rivals.

Their families were currently in a relatively peaceful state, but their relationship wasn't very good. The probability of them becoming friends was small, so they became rivals instead.

"Fine, let's find a more spacious place," Xuanwu Lingxiao naturally agreed. She had just comprehended a sword technique and now needed someone to test it with. Since Zhuque Leiting was delivering herself as a sparring partner, why not agree?