Chapter 140 Jiang Lai: I showed up and I work for myself...

Although Mrs. Zen's attitude was very gentle, the postures of everyone present were somewhat uncomfortable.

Megumi Fushiguro, Yuji Itadori and Norose Kugizaki were very nervous because they were worried about the cursed tools when Mrs. Zenin suddenly visited them and stood beside the wall behind the counter.

As for Naoya Zenin, he was unable to take photos with the elves as he wished because Mrs. Zenin was in front of him.

He glanced down at the elf, not knowing whether to release his game-obsessed personality to get close to it, or to maintain his previous image of a proud and noble eldest son - as the future head of the Zenin family, it seemed not a good idea to expose his game-obsessed nature.

Lady Zen, who had created a tense atmosphere at the scene, did not seem to be completely relaxed herself.

There were also some subtle thoughts between her eyebrows, but those thoughts were well hidden under the smile trained by a large feudal family.

Jiang Lai was probably the calmest person present.

After his initial subconscious alertness, he now felt much calmer.

Because Jiang Lai vaguely heard the hint from Mrs. Chanyuan's mouth, and the silver snake Xiaozhao wrapped around his wrist did not issue any danger warning.

Silver Snake Xiao Zhao, who possesses the talent of [Alertness], can detect danger with his sixth sense.

——What's more, Kurosawa Akira himself possesses a keen observation ability. Combining the two, he can naturally judge whether this Zenin lady has malicious intentions.

Although it is possible that this Zenin lady is disguising herself, the possibility of being able to deceive both Jiang Lai and Kurosawa Akira, who have served as hidden bosses, is extremely small.

The silver snake's cold kiss lips pressed against Jiang Lai's fingertips. Apart from that, there were no other unnecessary movements. It was as quiet as a real snake bracelet.

But Jiang Lai knew that Kurosawa Akira was looking coldly at the Zen temple lady standing in the distance through his sleeves.

——No danger does not mean no trouble. Although trouble may also be combined with opportunities.

Zenin Naoya forced himself to straighten his expression, and exchanged several moves with the elf as if performing a magic ritual.

Fu Huzhi and others spoke in unison, saying that they were using a spell camera to record the action, and that they would study the battle rules in detail after returning.

This is when the photo shoot is complete.

The lady of the Zen temple kept smiling until everyone left the study, and finally she personally escorted them out of the main room.

Megumi Fushiguro still has the same cool face as before, but his expression is mixed with a hint of real heaviness.

He held the unsealing talisman tightly in his trouser pocket, his lips pursed.

Originally thought to be a great success, but who knew that the arrival of the Zen temple lady at the last minute made everything come to naught.

Fu Huzhi and his men looked at each other. The ups and downs they had experienced made them feel very depressed.

However, the little sheep Jiang Lai still had that smiling face, jumping and skipping beside, as if he was not affected by the incident at all.

In fact, Jiang Lai just looked carefree, which was why he acted nonchalant. In his heart, he was still thinking about what had just happened.

Just now, when they were finally escorting them out of the master's room, Mrs. Zenyuan stood at the door. She nodded slightly and lifted up her drooping hair to let it flutter by her ears.

She smiled on her beautiful face and said softly:

"I am also happy to see Naoya interacting with you young people. Since you are doing this as equals, there is no need to be too restrained. If you encounter any problems during your stay at the Zenin family, you can come to me. I am usually here."

These words were spoken politely, as if in official language.

In fact, in such a large feudal family, in order to avoid suspicion, outsiders would never take the initiative to look for the Zen master's wife.

In addition, the master's room was not open to anyone, so even if they came, it would most likely be reported by the guards, with a special servant acting as a go-between, or they would be taken to the reception room.

For this reason, Megumi Fushiguro, Yuji Itadori, and Norose Kugizaki only regarded Mrs. Zenin's words as a polite way of distancing themselves, and after responding politely, they followed Zenin Naoya away.

Only Jiang Lai, who had noticed the Zen temple lady's nature as a riddle teller from the beginning, carefully thought about the meaning behind these words.

The other party first mentioned Naoya. But this may not be something to analyze, after all, even a riddle needs a topic to lead to.

Naoya, who served as the bridge between the Zenin family and outsiders, was the brick (?)

However, when mentioning Naoya, he mentioned twice that he made friends with young people outside... Maybe Mrs. Zenin incorporated some personal feelings into this.

It’s just that this is not very clear at the moment.

Then the lady from the Zen temple mentioned equal trade - this should be the key point.

When Mrs. Zen came to the study, she gently pointed out the idea of ​​equal trade.

Jiang Lai's mind was full of thoughts. He didn't think that the lady from the Zen temple would appear in the study for no reason. It was most likely that she had predicted something and that was why she stayed here.

Maybe the lady of the monastery knew that someone was going to take something away, but she had her own considerations and her attitude towards this matter was that it could not be taken away for nothing, but rather a fair trade should be carried out.

Perhaps that was why the lady from the Zen temple said a few words before she sent them away, saying that she was always here and they could come to her if they needed anything - this meant she wanted to negotiate a deal.

Jiang Lai roughly sorted out his guesses in his mind. Although he had a basic judgment, he did not rashly say it out loud or take any action. Instead, he planned to wait for Kurosawa Akira, who had also experienced the scene, to discuss it before making a final decision.

Zenoya was not very satisfied with the photo shoot today. His slightly droopy fox eyes contained a hint of depression and his delicate face was stern.

Little sheep Jiang Lai took two or three steps forward and walked to the side of Zenin Naoya, intending to soothe the emotions of this financial sponsor (the victim).

So he looked up, blinked, and said, "I took a few extra photos for you today. It's not limited to just one. I'll give you all of them."

Zenin Naoya asked subconsciously: "Free?"

Little Sheep Jiang Lai: "...Of course, it's a benefit for you to have spent so much time on it!"

Zenoya Zeno's depressed heart eased a little, and he looked at the brown-haired boy beside him a few more times. At this moment, he forgot that these accumulated consumption were basically the products of Xiao Mianyang's scam.

"However, if you are not satisfied with those photos, you can take a few more. Anyway, living here provides food and lodging." Little Sheep Jiang Lai added cheerfully.

Although Jiang Lai felt that it was useless to go to the study again because the lady of the Zen temple must have been prepared, he still decided to reserve an extra road just in case.

Zenin Naoya paused for a second, raised his eyebrows, and asked suspiciously, "Your consideration is not to eat and drink for free, right?"

"Why, you think it's a scam when you're getting a rare reward of gratitude?" Jiang Lai, the little sheep, put his hands on his hips, "Forget it, eating and drinking for free here is not as good as going out to cheat people and make more money."

Zenin Naoya: “…”

It seems strange, but it also seems to make sense - the food and accommodation here are naturally not as rewarding as taking on missions outside (a rip-off?).

The blond young man was hesitant to speak, and finally decided that he would rather pluck the wool than not. It was a rare opportunity to get something from the little sheep, so he naturally couldn't miss it.

So he nodded arrogantly and said, "Okay, then you will be allowed to stay for another day."

Although Fu Huzhi and the others didn't show it on their faces, they all breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts - it was another day of chance, and maybe they could still get the cursed tool.

Jiang Lai's eyebrows were wrinkled, and he stroked the scales of the silver snake on his wrist with his other hand, and his eyes had already fallen back into the room where he lived.

He was waiting to communicate with Kurosawa Akira.

——

As the daytime activities were not going well, Zenin Naoya decided to plan the photo shoot the next day.

After a brief rest and dinner, the little sheep Jiang Lai symbolically participated in Fu Huzhi's discussion about tomorrow, and then returned to his room.

The moment he closed the door, his expression slowly calmed down and became a little serious.

During the day, Jiang Lai and Silver Snake Xiao Zhao exchanged information with each other.

As the real hidden boss of the Science World Organization, Kurosawa Akira possesses extremely sharp observation skills. He lurks on Jiang Lai's wrist and remembers the entire conversation in his heart.

Kurosawa Akira's conclusion was similar to Jiang Lai's. After the two communicated with each other, they basically confirmed the validity of their guess.

However, Kurosawa Akira added: "The prophecy is ambiguous. I don't think that lady can know your true identity under your vest through the prophetic ability."

He paused, then raised his grey-green eyes. “But—maybe she could predict that you guys were related to someone, so she paid special attention to you and said something about fair trade.”

Jiang Lai paused for a few seconds and said, "The Chanyuan family is most likely not truly loyal to the Regulatory Commission. If they want to secretly resist, the transaction partners will definitely stand on the opposite side of the Regulatory Commission..."

The "Clock" that is related to the Six Eyes in the known prophecy seems to be the opposite of the Regulatory Council and a powerful and reliable character.

Based on this reasoning, perhaps the prophecy submitted to the regulatory commission that year was indeed tampered with, Jiang Lai thought.

If the misleading term "turn the clock" was intentional, then the original prophecy might have indicated that the "clock" was a humanoid character.

In other words, it is possible that Mrs. Zen Temple knew that the [Clock] was a conscious human figure, and predicted for the second time that among the people who arrived at the study this time, there was someone who had a connection with the [Clock]?

That's why she wanted to use this opportunity to establish a communication channel with [Clock] and reach some kind of deal.

Jiang Lai's thoughts were working quickly. He boldly deduced the most likely path and then described it clearly to Kurosawa Akira.

Silver Snake Xiao Zhao listened to Jiang Lai's narration quietly. He shook the tip of his tail slightly and hissed, "So you plan to go find her - the lady from the Zen temple?"

"What do you think?" Jiang Lai asked back.

"If your speculation is correct, the lady must be trying to communicate with you," Kurosawa Akira analyzed calmly, "and if they really want to trade something directly with the Zenin family, it would be most convenient for the real body to appear - it can avoid unnecessary steps in the middle."

"As for the human disguise of Watanabe, you can continue to lurk as an disguise. However, in the eyes of the insider, Mrs. Zenin, this disguise will have an additional setting that can connect to your true self - that is, the [Clock]."

Jiang Lai blinked, pondered for a while, and complained: "In the world of spellcasting, I am my own boss, and I am my own subordinate? After a lot of twists and turns, the Little Sheep alias is working for my original boss again."

Kurosawa Akira: "In short, you are working for yourself, and you are the one working for yourself."

Jiang Lai: ...996 workers are in tears!!

"Speaking of which, if the manga describes it this way, it would be a bit of a foreshadowing, wouldn't it?" Kurosawa Akira said. "The new series of manga begins with you making a phone call, which means you're not alone - but already connected to certain characters."

"By the way, if this is the case, you, the Watanabe pseudonym, can also do things beyond your age in the future - after all, it is related to the [clock], so it's normal to play the pig and eat the tiger."

"Isn't the comic still set in amnesia?" Jiang Lai put one hand on his chin.

"There will always be a moment when misunderstandings are revealed in the narrative, and slowly releasing some contradictory clues is also a way."

Kurosawa Aki went around Jiang Lai's other wrist and said calmly, "Besides, the confusion of memory will not affect the formation of gangs. It is reasonable for the sixth sense to establish an organization."

Jiang Lai: “…” Wait, who’s sixth sense is to form gangs and establish an organization?

——Okay, but it’s not impossible in boys’ comics.