Chapter 596: How Is That Possible

Zu An suddenly spoke, "I agree, but what if Young Master Shi goes back on his word and refuses to compete after I finish?"

"How could I possibly renege?" Shi Kun sneered. "With the Crown Prince here, and so many eunuchs and guards as witnesses, what are you worried about?"

"Exactly! If he reneges, I'll destroy him," the chubby prince vowed, patting his chest.

Zu An secretly scoffed. If he were a normal person, he might indeed possess that power, as he is the Crown Prince; but now he's just a fool, lacking any true princely authority.

Of course, if he weren't a fool, he wouldn't have made such an absurd bet.

Zu An shook his head and said, "I wouldn't be worried if it were anyone else, but I've heard that Young Master Shi's father is the Grand Marshal of the current dynasty, one of the Eight Dukes revered by all, and even the Emperor gives him some face. If he truly reneges then, we'll have no recourse."

Shi Kun frowned. "So what do you want? I see you're deliberately stalling; you're just afraid to compete."

Zu An said calmly, "If you want to compete, all we need is a sworn contract, with heaven and earth as our witnesses."

He used to find it strange why contracts in this world couldn't be violated. As his cultivation deepened, he could gradually sense the laws of the Heavenly Dao. Many times, sworn contracts resonated with heaven and earth, making them impossible to break.

Now it was Shi Kun's turn to feel a pang of discomfort. He had originally planned not to compete later, but once he made a vow, he would have to participate. With the Crown Prince's terrible aim, he certainly didn't want to end up crippled alongside him.

A thought flashed through his mind, and he immediately raised his hand and made a sworn contract. Soon, both men felt a force from the laws of the Heavenly Dao entering their bodies.

Shi Kun, however, was not worried, because he had played a trick in his vow. He had only promised to enter the arena himself after Zu An finished his turn, but he hadn't said he couldn't forfeit early.

Anyway, by that time, Zu An's soul would be severely wounded and he would be unconscious, so he naturally wouldn't be able to make Shi Kun lick his shoes or bark like a dog. This left much more room for subsequent maneuvers.

He had gone all out, even risking himself to completely cripple Zu An.

Seeing him make the vow, Zu An nodded in satisfaction, leaning casually against the wall. He even took the time to feel if the apples on him were fresh. "I'm ready, Your Highness. You may begin."

Little Xu and Little He, who were placing the apples on him, showed sympathetic expressions. A few years ago, the Crown Prince had a sudden whim to play with throwing knives, and he would likewise place apples on eunuchs' bodies, not stopping until he hit them.

Given the Crown Prince's skill level, he often needed dozens of throws to fortunately hit one, and the entire process typically cost dozens of young eunuchs.

If the shot wasn't to a vital spot, it was fine; they would recover after some time of healing. But some unlucky individuals were shot directly in vital areas and died on the spot. This attendant for the Crown Prince would likely be a goner today.

"Move aside, move aside! I'm about to begin," the Crown Prince said impatiently, waving his hand to signal the eunuchs to step back.

The eunuchs dared not linger, swiftly scrambling far away. Even the guards retreated a considerable distance, leaving a radius of several zhang around Zu An completely empty of people.

Zu An's face twitched. How absurdly bad was the Crown Prince's aim on a normal day, that these people had to stand so far away?

Shi Kun, across from him, smiled, a very happy smile. He could already envision Zu An's miserable fate shortly.

Zu An's gaze fell upon the throwing knife in the Crown Prince's hand. The sense of danger grew stronger and stronger. Even with his extremely powerful recovery ability, he dared not take a direct hit.

There must be something wrong with this throwing knife!

Although he didn't know exactly what was unusual about the knife, Shi Kun was so eager to draw him into this trap that he must have tampered with it. Therefore, Zu An had no intention of taking a direct hit from the start.

He stared intently at the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince suddenly paused, then threw the knife.

With a crisp sound, the throwing knife accurately struck the apple on top of Zu An's head, embedding itself directly into the wall, its blade still gently swaying there.

The entire room fell into an eerie silence, everyone staring in dumbfounded amazement at the scene.

"How is that possible!" Shi Kun rubbed his eyes, thinking he was hallucinating.

But the throwing knife remained firmly embedded in the wall, and the reactions of the surrounding eunuchs and guards proved that he had not been mistaken.

The Crown Prince must have gotten incredibly lucky; it was a fluke.

Such things had happened before; after dozens of throws, the Crown Prince would occasionally hit the target once or twice.

With this thought, Shi Kun finally relaxed.

Then the Crown Prince threw the second knife. Seeing how steady the Crown Prince's throw was, Shi Kun's heart sank. How could it be so precise?

He turned to look and, without surprise, saw the knife perfectly lodged between Zu An's legs, splitting the apple held there into two halves.

"Excellent! Your Highness is truly amazing!"

Little Xu and Little He, after their initial shock, wouldn't miss such a good opportunity to flatter. They clapped and cheered one after another.

Even the guards began to flatter him. Shooting with such accuracy was indeed not difficult for them, but this was the Crown Prince! Wasn't that worth praising?

"Calm down, calm down. This must just be a coincidence, yes, a coincidence." Shi Kun repeatedly tried to reassure himself, but sweat was already dripping from his temples. Clearly, such reassurance had no effect whatsoever; his inner conviction had already been shaken.

At that moment, the Crown Prince swiftly threw two more knives, accurately hitting the apples on Zu An's left and right arms, leaving Zu An completely unharmed!

Shi Kun felt as if a basin of ice water had been poured over his head. His entire body went limp, and he could no longer stand, collapsing directly into the chair behind him. He even struggled to stay seated, twisting several times before he managed not to slide off the chair.

"How is this possible, how is this possible..." Shi Kun's mind was in turmoil, not just because he hadn't succeeded in harming Zu An, but because he was more worried about something else. If hitting once was a coincidence, how could hitting four times in a row also be a coincidence?

Could it be that the Crown Prince's idiocy had always been an act? Was he deliberately presenting such an image to deceive outsiders?

That made sense. His Majesty was a heaven-sent genius; how could such a figure give birth to a foolish son? And how could he, knowing his son was foolish, still insist on passing the throne to him?

The father and son must be playing a grand game!

They were deliberately using the Crown Prince's foolishness to lure out disloyal individuals, then capture them all in one fell swoop.

It's over. I haven't shown much respect to the Crown Prince these past years, often treating and playing with him like a fool. The Crown Prince must remember all of it. It's over, it's over...

Zu An had no idea Shi Kun had imagined so much. In truth, only Zu An himself knew the truth of what was happening.

This Crown Prince wasn't "hiding his true capabilities" at all; he was just an idiot, with an intelligence level probably no higher than that of a few-year-old child.

It was precisely because of this that he was able to briefly control the Crown Prince's mind using the Psychic Jade Cong!

The Jade Cong's ability allowed control over creatures with low intelligence. The first time Zu An saw the Crown Prince, he had wondered if it could work on him. Normal people definitely couldn't be influenced or controlled by the Jade Cong, but given how foolish the Crown Prince was, he could, to some extent, be considered a low-intelligence being. Zu An wondered if the Jade Cong could control him.

He hadn't had a chance to try before, but with such a massive pitfall awaiting him today, he naturally tried it in secret. It was a bit difficult at first, but after using "With Billions, Approach People," the Crown Prince's mind became less resistant. He found that he could just barely control the other party, and his heart filled with joy, which was why he was so confident in betting with Shi Kun.

In that very instant, Zu An used the Jade Cong to control the Crown Prince. To some extent, it wasn't the Crown Prince who threw the knives, but Zu An himself.

With Zu An's current cultivation, controlling the landing point of the throwing knives at such a close distance was not difficult.

Of course, this control could only last for a very short time, but it was already enough!

Zu An secretly thought himself lucky. He then moved away from the wall, retrieved the embedded throwing knives, and handed them back to the Crown Prince. Only then did he look at the slumped figure of Shi Kun, smiling genuinely. "Young Master Shi, it's your turn now."