E-Goat’s breathing became more and more rapid. Zhang Heng then noticed that his condition wasn’t triggered by the knife on his waist, but because of Xu Qian on the opposite side.
He seemed to be unable to look at Xu Qian. His cheeks turned red after a glance at her, and he hurriedly looked away.
Xu Qian’s expression was complicated. After a while, she said, “Do you know who I am?”
E-Goat hesitated but finally nodded.
“I… thank you very much for your support for me over the years. To be honest, I thought about meeting you a long time ago, but I didn’t expect to meet you in this situation.” Xu Qian lifted her hair while talking.
E-Goat did not reply.
“You should know why I came to you. Don’t worry. You can tell me the truth. I promise you that I will not call the police. And I will not ask my… uh, bodyguards to avenge me.”
E-Goat then looked at Zhang Heng beside him. And Zhang Heng had already lifted his hands from his shoulder, and the knife pointing at him was gone as well.
With the distance between the two, it was impossible for E-Goat to run away. Previously, Zhang Heng was using the knife to remind him not to make any stupid moves. Seeing that E-Goat did not react irrationally, Zhang Heng put the knife away. After that, he waved at the waiter and ordered a pot of scented tea.
The three of them did not talk to each other while waiting for tea.
Until the waiter brought the pot of scented tea over, poured a cup for each of them, and stepped aside, E-Goat said in a low voice, “What kind of truth do you want to know?”
“Four days ago, was it you who followed me in the mall?” Xu Qian looked into the eyes of E-Goat.
The latter opened his mouth to answer but was stopped by Zhang Heng before he could speak.
“Wait, let us do a small ritual before you answer the question.”
“What kind of ritual?” E-Goat frowned.
At the next moment, Zhang Heng cut E-Goat’s thumb with a knife. And E-Goat wanted to retract his hand subconsciously, but Zhang Heng grabbed it first. After that, Zhang Heng picked up an empty cup next to him and drew some blood from E-Goat’s wound.
When Zhang Heng got what he needed, he proceeded to cut one of his fingers, squeezed a few drops of blood into the cup, and mixed them. Once that was done, he took out a piece of parchment paper that he brought from Old Man Geng that morning and wrote, ‘I swear that I would never lie.’
“What is this? Indian Witchcraft?” E-Goat asked coldly.
“Something like that.” Zhang Heng did not care what he said. He then took out the Oath Rings, gave one to E-Goat, and put one on himself so that he would know whether E-Goat was lying.
After Zhang Heng was done with the ritual, Xu Qian silently handed each of them a band-aid.
“Now, you can answer her question,” Zhang Heng said.
E-Goat went silent for a moment before nodding. “Yes, I was the one who followed you in the mall.”
After speaking, he deliberately looked at Zhang Heng again, but Zhang Heng made no response. He signaled him to continue talking.
“Why are you following me?” Xu Qian then asked.
“Because… I have a psychological problem. I am a stalker.” E-Goat lowered his head.
To which Zhang Heng quickly said, “You are lying.”
“I’m not,” E-Goat defended himself.
“This is another lie,” Zhang Heng took a sip of the tea in front of him and said slowly.
“You can tell me the truth. I told you that no matter what the truth is, I won’t hold you accountable,” Xu Qian pleaded sincerely from across the table. She hesitated and reached out and held E-Goat’s hand.
The latter’s body trembled.
Even Zhang Heng, who was sitting next door, could feel E-Goat’s heartbeat speeding up, and his breathing had become even faster. However, Xu Qian did not rush him.
After another two minutes, E-Goat finally raised his head. The expression on his face looked a little distorted as if he was laughing and crying at the same time.
“You said you want the truth? But I don’t think you want to hear it.”
Xu Qian seemed to think of something. She then wanted to let go of E-Goat’s hand, but the next moment, E-Goat took the initiative to grab hers. And the latter’s palm became hotter.
What he was about to say would give Xu Qian a huge shock.
“I follow you because… I like you.”
“This is the truth,” Zhang Heng said while drinking the tea, “but you might want to consider letting go of her hand first. Ms. Xu Qian is my employer. If you hold her like this, I will have to take action.”
E-Goat finally let go of her hand. And he seemed to have exhausted all his strength to tell her the truth. He then leaned his body on the back of the chair.
The look on Xu Qian’s face was a little awkward. She retracted her hand and said casually, “But, but… I have a boyfriend.”
Once again, E-Goat gave no response.
“And we are about to get engaged. He lives on the fourth level. Other than that, he also owns a small factory and a beautiful little villa by the lake. We have agreed that we will go boating on the lake after we get married. I’ve always thought of you as my friend and brother.
“I have always wanted to tell you this for a while now,” Xu Qian added later.
E-Goat still did not say a word. He looked like he had lost his soul.
“Sorry,” Xu Qian blurted last.
“Do you have anything else to ask?” Zhang Heng then asked.
“No, no more.”
Although she found the person stalking her, Xu Qian did not feel as relieved as she thought she would. On the other hand, E-Goat’s sudden confession made her feel like she was sitting on pins and needles. While this problem was solved, she still needed to deal with Zhang Heng’s problem. That was what gave Xu Qian a headache.
She even started to regret that she had hired a bodyguard.
“You are finished, but I still have a few technical questions I want to ask him.”
Zhang Heng did not intend to evaluate the relationship between the two. He put down the teacup and said to E-Goat, “You are a network engineer. Can you tell me how you hacked into Xu Qian’s apartment?”
Zhang Heng asked this question because he wanted to prepare himself for his escape in the future. He had an Lv2 hacking skill, but the technology in this dungeon was more advanced. And technology for network security had improved as well. Zhang Heng wanted to compare his hacking with E-Goat’s.
However, E-Goat shook his head when he heard Zhang Heng’s question. “I only followed her once in the mall. I have never hacked into her apartment.”
What surprised Zhang Heng was not E-Goat’s answer but Oath Ring’s reaction. It was not hot, which could only mean that E-Goat was telling the truth.
