Fang Yuan spoke, letting out a cold laugh in his heart, before suddenly turning the question back on Mo Yao's will: "Haven't you been wanting me to use it all along?"
"Hm? Fang Yuan boy, what do you mean by that? How would I know you have the Spring Autumn Cicada?" Mo Yao's will was taken aback, then immediately denied it.
"Hehehe…" Fang Yuan burst into prolonged laughter. "Mo Yao, I am by nature cautious. I always consider defeat before thinking of victory! So from the very first day you were hiding inside my mind, I had already conceived of the worst-case scenario."
What was the worst-case scenario?
"That would be you learning the secret of my Spring Autumn Cicada and my rebirth. I imagine that back when I first entered the Near Water Pavilion, your will had already discovered this secret, hadn't it?"
Mo Yao's will manifested within Fang Yuan's mind, her expression earnest as she shook her head: "Fang Yuan boy, have you misunderstood something?"
Fang Yuan ignored her and continued: "You learned this secret yet pretended to be ignorant, deliberately revealing yourself. Then, you put on an act of guilt toward Spirit Affinity House, deliberately assigning me the task of returning the Near Water Pavilion. In reality, that was nothing more than a ruse of yours."
"To win my trust, you truly went to great lengths. You helped me conceive the Six-Armed Heavenly Corpse King, taught me Mo Transformation and other refinement-path killer moves, aided me in secretly infiltrating the True Yang Building, and throughout our battles you repeatedly offered warnings, serving the role of a tactician. All of these actions were meant to lower my guard. At the same time, you were constantly tampering with my thoughts, subtly influencing my thinking — your true intentions were utterly sinister!"
Mo Yao's will raised her voice, a look of displeasure appearing on her face: "Little one. What is wrong with you? To think of me this way — have you taken the wrong medicine?"
"Hehehe. Mo Yao, you are truly remarkable. I took a rather painful fall at your hands. Your performance was so vivid and convincing that I almost believed it entirely. When the Giant Sun Immortal's will awakened, you urged me to leave this place, to seize the Near Water Pavilion, and return to Central Continent — yet at the same time, you were manipulating my thoughts, steering me into choosing to continue taking risks."
"When facing Ma Hongyun, you urged me on one hand to help Ma Hongyun, while on the other hand you altered my thoughts, provoking my killing intent. You stirred up my anger, my fanaticism, goading me into recklessly attempting to slay Ma Hongyun, which caused my black coffin luck to surge enormously. Honestly speaking, in a normal state I calculate my interests carefully — how could I have acted so blindly?"
"When I first encountered the Wang Court's Earth Spirit Frost Jade Peacock and learned the conditions for it to acknowledge a master, after leaving the True Yang Building, I somehow recalled certain things from my past life, a certain person... My own personality isn't so weak as to succumb like that. Hehe, those are memories from my past life buried in the deepest recesses of my heart. That was your doing as well! You were trying to act from the shadows, seizing the moment when my state of mind wavered ever so slightly, to pry into my past life's memories!"
Mo Yao's will widened her eyes, her tone turning sharp and brimming with the grievance of being wrongly accused: "Fang Yuan, brat. All of this was clearly your own choice. Now that you've ended up in this state, you refuse to admit your own failure and instead pin the blame on me!"
Fang Yuan chuckled: "Hahaha, admit failure? Of course I'll admit failure! My foundation is still shallow, especially compared to you, Mo Yao, and to Giant Sun — experience and vision are no longer my advantages. But do you know where your biggest flaw lies?"
Mo Yao's will snorted coldly, crossing her arms over her chest: "Brat, if you keep talking like this, I'm going to get angry! I've helped you all this way — is this how you treat your benefactor?"
Fang Yuan ignored her completely, continuing at his own pace: "Your biggest flaw was using the Near Water Pavilion to actively collide with the Seventh Transformation Unmarked Hand."
"You gave me this task — to return the Near Water Pavilion to Spirit Affinity House."
"Then why, at the critical moment, did you abandon the Near Water Pavilion just to protect me?"
"Could it be that after these days together, you've changed your principles and grown inclined toward me? Hehe, I don't think my charm is quite that extraordinary."
"This alone is more than enough proof that your so-called task of returning the pavilion was nothing but a pretense from the very beginning!"
Fang Yuan's tone was flat, but to Mo Yao's will, every word thundered like a clap.
She fell silent.
This time, she did not retort!
Fang Yuan gave a faint chuckle and continued, "Beyond that, you had other tells as well. First, you attached the Near Water Pavilion to my body but concealed the fact — clearly with ill intent, planning to use this Seventh Transformation Immortal Gu house as leverage against me at a critical moment."
"Second, if you truly wished to cooperate with me, why persist in hiding what kind of will you are? That only goes to show that once the truth of your identity was revealed, it would inevitably arouse my suspicion."
"Third, you deliberately miscalculated the time limit, causing me to transform into the Six-Arm Heavenly Corpse body! I became a zombie and was struck with despair — that too was your doing."