Chapter 1064: I Smell It

Zheng Yingxiong asked, "What... what do you mean?"

"Pavlov's dog," Qi Xia said. "Simply put, every time you feed the dog, you ring a bell, and over time, just ringing the bell makes the dog salivate."

Zheng Yingxiong seemed to understand the principle, but something about it felt off.

"Now we need to add another layer to this theory," Qi Xia said. "As soon as the dog starts salivating, humans will go crazy ringing the bell like they've been possessed."

"Ah?"

"Since we've already forced the association between ringing the bell and feeding, let's make that connection even tighter," Qi Xia said. "From now on, you are the 'Ju Zhong'. As long as you speak, they can gain 'Hui Xiang'."

Zheng Yingxiong thought that Qi Xia truly lived up to being the leader he had chosen—his thinking far surpassed his own imagination.

He had used "Ling Xiu" to declare the "Qing Xiang" of these people and make them truly gain it, but in the end, no one would realize that "Ling Xiu" had never been activated at all.

Qi Xia was a lot like Wan Cai, who once ruled "Yu Cheng", but not exactly the same—his ideas went beyond Wan Cai's.

Zheng Yingxiong gathered his thoughts and said, "As long as I say it... will they believe it?"

Qi Xia shook his head and said, "Getting them to believe your words isn't simple. You have to pay attention to the timing and frequency of what you say. If they doubt you even once, it'll be hard to regain their trust afterward, especially since some teammates are tough to handle."

"For example, Chen Junan," Zheng Yingxiong said.

"Right, for example, Chen Junan," Qi Xia said. "To deceive him and make him believe he's really gained 'Hui Xiang', you'll need to put in some effort."

"Okay..." Zheng Yingxiong nodded solemnly. "You mentioned this is the first ring of the task. Is there a second ring?"

"Yes," Qi Xia said. "Once you're skilled at the first ring and have truly given our teammates 'Hui Xiang', we can move on to the second ring. But similarly, if you fail repeatedly in the first ring, just forget about the second one."

"Go on, tell me."

"The second ring task is to declare that the enemy's 'Hui Xiang' has disappeared when we encounter them," Qi Xia said after a pause. "But this second ring is very difficult. You only need to succeed once—no matter whose 'Hui Xiang' you break—and I don't mind if you try multiple times."

Zheng Yingxiong didn't say anything for a long time after hearing this, as if unsure if he could pull it off.

"Qi Xia..." Zheng Yingxiong called out, "Logically speaking... if this method works, shouldn't you have made me believe I gained 'Qing Xiang' first, and then have me tell them 'I smelled the Qing Xiang'? Why did you just tell me the truth?"

"Zheng Yingxiong..." Qi Xia said, "Do you think you don't have 'Qing Xiang' right now?"

"Huh...?"

"You can smell the strange odors here, but we can't," Qi Xia said. "You've never doubted whether you're what you call a 'Qing Xiang person', because in your memory, you have no idea what it feels like to lose 'Qing Xiang'."

"So I've always had 'Ling Xiu'..." Zheng Yingxiong blinked. "It's just that in this chaotic place full of smells, there's no way to use my 'Ling Xiu'."

"No way to use it?" Qi Xia chuckled. "Isn't this exactly using it?"

"Huh...?"

"A fake use is still a use," Qi Xia said. "This task is something only you can do, so I'm counting on you."

"I'll do my best," Zheng Yingxiong said seriously.

"By the way, you can start by finding Tian Tian," Qi Xia said. "I just managed to give her 'Hui Xiang', so go strengthen it for her. It's a good way to practice your lying skills."

"Okay!"

After watching Qi Xia leave the room, Zheng Yingxiong took a few deep breaths.

The task ahead felt incredibly strange to Zheng Yingxiong. For nearly a decade and a half, he had spent every day judging the "odors" on others, and what he was about to do wasn't all that different—except now, he had to lie.

Even though he couldn't smell anything, he had to pretend that he could.

Since he'd never done this before, even Zheng Yingxiong didn't know how likely he was to succeed.

He only remembered someone once kneeling before him, begging him to lie so they could get food.

But Zheng Yingxiong hadn't agreed, and that person became the first soul claimed by Wan Cai.

If he had known things would turn out this way... would everything have been different if he had agreed back then and learned to lie earlier?

Zheng Yingxiong snapped back to reality and carefully thought through his strategy.

First, he needed to find Tian Tian. Practicing on someone who already had "Qing Xiang" was the best scenario—it would make the lies come more naturally and without any guilt.

But what about after that?

Qiao Jia Jin was seriously injured and lying down, so he could set that aside for now.

If he had to pick the easiest person in the whole team to deceive and convince, Zheng Yingxiong immediately thought of Han Yi Mo.

Although they were both adults, Han Yi Mo gave Zheng Yingxiong a strange feeling—like he had already gone mad, with a mind full of insane thoughts, which should make him easy to persuade.

Next was Zhang Lvshi, but the reason she might be easy to fool was different from Han Yi Mo's. She wasn't stupid; it was just that he had worked with her earlier and exposed the fake Chen Junan right in front of her, so her trust in him was high right now. Anything he said should be believable.

However, after they separated, Zhang Lvshi seemed to have gotten caught up in some game, and he hadn't seen her for a while.

Finally... there was conquering Chen Junan, the "peak." To make Chen Junan believe his words would require careful planning—ordinary methods probably wouldn't work.

Zheng Yingxiong could only feel secretly relieved that he didn't have to use these tactics on Qi Xia, or else even planning would be pointless.

He adjusted his mindset and searched through a few rooms, eventually finding Tian Tian.

At that moment, Tian Tian was sitting with her eyes closed, muttering something, and occasionally opening her eyes to look around, as if checking her results.

"Sister?" Zheng Yingxiong called out tentatively.

"Huh? Yingxiong, my little brother," Tian Tian turned around and said. "What brings you here...?"

"I was in the room next door just now... and suddenly smelled a very fragrant scent..." Zheng Yingxiong said. "Sister... have you gained 'Hui Xiang'?"

"Me...?" Tian Tian smiled. "Yes, Yingxiong, my little brother, you've figured it out too. I wasn't entirely sure before, but if you're saying it as well, then it must be true."

"Mm-hmm." Zheng Yingxiong nodded. "Sister, I smelled Qiao Wu's Qing Xiang."