Fong Jue froze. His demonically flaming red eyes frowned in confusion. Also, one of his claws was raised in the air, poised to slash down and tear me in two.

"You...surrender, immortal? Already?"

I held my breath, eyeing that claw. Maybe I shouldn't have dropped Destiny Blade. If he decided to swipe down on my head, what technique was there that was fast enough and strong enough to hold him off when I was dogshit tired like this?! I could even feel my heart beating in my ears...Not good.

"Yes...I surrender. But I have something to offer you in return for not killing me."

Fong Jue slowly lowered his crooked claws, eyeing me with interest.

"Something to offer? And what might this be, immortal? What could be of enough worth to exchange for the excitement of snuffing your immortal life out?"

Dang. Did he have to sound so threatening? A drop of sweat slid down my cheek and neck.

"...Um...I want to teach you a game. It will cure your boredom for some time. But — only if you let me leave alive."

"Hmmm..."

Fong Jue rubbed his dark, morphing chin in thought. While he thought about it, I quickly waved my hand, sending Destiny Sword to a safe dimension of space and causing all of the rocks built up on my Armor Deflection Shield Technique to quietly drift to the ground without crushing me.

Fong Jue's cloudy, ancient face split into the scariest grin I'd ever seen in my life — two lives, I mean.

"All right. This Venerable One will hear your game. If you can please me, I will spare your immortal life."

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I wiped the sweat from my forehead, sighing in relief.

"All right. Sit down, Fong — I mean, Venerable One, cough. You need to sit to play this game."

Fong Jue's scarlet eyes flashed darkly, and he growled, baring long white teeth.

"You dare order this Venerable One to sit?"

"I wouldn't dare! It's just, you have to sit to play this game, you know?"

I sighed, simultaneously scanning the cavern for a quick way out with my divine senses. Unfortunately, the avalanches of stone pieces from the ceiling had completely blocked the door that would have been the fastest way out. They'd clogged up the tunnel I'd dug so carefully before, too. Ugh. My hard work, all gone.

Grumbling, Fong Jue sat, causing the entire cavern to rumble again. I ducked, dodging a couple of pebbles that scattered down from the ceiling like stone rain.

"All right. What now, immortal fool? This had better be entertaining enough for this Venerable One. I can't see how anything would be more entertaining than tearing you apart limb from limb."

"Ha! Ahahaha..." I laughed nervously, slapping my knees, and brought my attention back to Fong Jue, who was glaring at me in a very terrifying way. "You're so funny, Venerable One. You've got a great sense of humor. Has anyone ever told you that? Hilarious."

"You...think I have a good sense of humor?" Fong Jue sounded hesitant.

I looked up to see that his flashing eyes had turned a softer color, almost like...pink? Dang. This guy must only hear bad things about himself for him to be so swept away by one nervous compliment. But still, I could latch onto this, right? Anything to make him not want to tear my arms and legs off!

"Yeah! Oh, yeah! Your humor's great! Hasn't anyone ever told you? Also, you've got a great smile. I wish I had a dentist that could give me teeth like those. So...shiny, and...white? You know?"

For a second there, two circles of blush actually seemed to appear on Fong Jue's cheeks.

Then, they disappeared, replaced with a terrifying scowl.

"Dentist? What kind of word is that? You dare mock this Venerable One with nonsense? Tell me the game, now! This Venerable One is losing patience!"

I cleared my throat. "All right, all right. Give me a sec."

I rummaged around in the ruins of the cavern and found a flat and wide enough stone, which I picked up and scribbled something on with the Eternal Engraving Technique. Then I slipped it into my pocket and turned back to Fong Jue, mustering a bright grin.

"I'm going to teach you a little something from my original hometown. You'll love it, I promise. It's called — charades!"