Chu Shangli returned to his seat.

She took out a pen from the pen holder and wrote and drew on the notebook on the table.

The tip of the pen cut a long line on the paper...

"Hmm, a very unique way to relieve stress." The Cheshire Cat smiled.

"Tsk." Chu Shangli curled the corner of his mouth.

"Are you despising me? Or—"

"I'm not being disrespectful. I just found a loophole in your words and couldn't help but say that. I don't mean to look down on anyone—of course, I'll only explain this to you. As for others, perhaps letting them misunderstand me would be more beneficial to me..."

"Including Su Wan?"

"..." Chu Shangli raised an eyebrow: "Why did you suddenly mention this name? Sure enough, Su Wan's sharpness is not without reason - is there any intrinsic connection with you?"

"No—but I'd probably be happy if she were willing to have any contact with me." The Cheshire Cat's voice came from the speakers: "Please, I'd like to hear what loopholes you just found in my words?"

"Ambition—if she truly concealed the secret of being able to control time, there would be no need for her to help the upper echelons of the empire construct the history they desired—"

"Ah, this? Rather than calling it a loophole, it would be more accurate to say it's a blind spot in your thinking, right?"

The Cheshire Cat's face flashed across the screen - in a fleeting shot, she appeared to be fiddling with her hair.

But, maybe I was mistaken.

"Ambition."

The Cheshire Cat whispered.

"Ambition?"

"Yes, that's right, it's ambition—" The Cheshire Cat laughed, "Are you the kind of person who believes that slaves will always be willing to be slaves?"

"I didn't..." Chu Shangli paused and said, "No, it's probably true."

"But how do you explain why you eventually swung your blade and killed Miss Chu Moyin?" The Cheshire Cat said slowly, "If I remember correctly, you're a very gentle person. The kind who accepts everything that comes your way. So, what exactly made you become such a bloodthirsty person?"

"Bloodthirsty..." Chu Shangli twitched the corner of his mouth: "In fact, I only killed one person. Can killing one person be called bloodthirsty?"

"No. But, throughout this process, you always had the will to kill. You probably killed one person thousands, tens of thousands of times—and in this process, not only did you not give up, but you became more determined to achieve your goal—even a killer's killing intent wouldn't be as strong as yours. So, it's not wrong to say that you are bloodthirsty—"

A "↓" arrow appeared on the laptop, and it was positioned right above the dagger that the Cheshire Cat gave to Chu Shangli.

"How many lives were stained by that dagger? Not counting humans—even companion animals, which couldn't be used as food. You've put a lot of effort into hardening your heart."

The sound of a crisp snap of fingers: "Those are clearly listed. If you stare into the abyss all the time, you will be assimilated by it; if you always hang out with ambitious people, you might become someone obsessed with ambition yourself. My mother is probably like that - perhaps her original intentions were very noble, but later she became a complete slave to desire - well, anyway, this is how the world is... If you don't become a slave to someone, you will become a slave to some desire...