Chapter 186

186 WHO IS ZHU GE?

Bai Chen should have expected such an excuse from the man called Wu Jinhai. Even if he had only known the man for a few days, Bai Chen could somehow read the man’s character, and the best word to describe him was “lazy.”

Even if Bai Chen couldn’t see the man’s expression because the golden mask was covering the man’s face at all times, he could somehow sense the man’s laziness, and that was why he shouldn’t have high hopes when he waited for Zhu Ge to tell him the reason behind the man’s absence during today’s court meeting.

Wu Jinhai was even lazy to save others in the Forbidden Forest, so it was understandable that he didn’t want to waste time standing in the Zuigao Hall listening to the old geezers speak nonsense in front of him.

Sighing heavily, Bai Chen finally returned with a reply, “So, Wu Jinhai agreed to meet me tonight? Why would he want to see me at night?”

Ever since Bai Chen transmigrated into this world, he had never stepped out of his palace at night aside from that one time during the full moon night and the Beast Hunting Festival, and that was why he felt a little uncomfortable when he heard how he had to leave his palace at night if he wanted to meet Wu Jinhai.

He knew that wolves were creatures of the night, but he still somehow couldn’t get used to how werewolves lived in this world, and he often even assumed that he was actually just an ordinary human because he didn’t feel too much difference in his body after transmigrating to this world.

After all, he was in his human form every day, and he even carried out activities like any normal human out there. Because of that, he often forgot that he was a werewolf now.

“You know that Wu Jinhai wants to stay modest, right?” Zhu Ge asked back instead of answering. “He even wears his mask every day, and that’s because he wants to stay in the shadows rather than be in the spotlight. He doesn’t even live in the Wu Li Imperial Palace, so it’s only natural that he would also want to meet you secretly at night. He just doesn’t want anyone to notice that he met you.”

Rumor had it that Wu Jinhai was too ugly that the man always wore his golden mask, and even the man said that he was indeed too ugly, but Zhu Ge told Bai Chen that the man just didn’t want to be in the spotlight so he decided to wear a mask every day.

.....

It seemed that the two reasons were contradictory, and Bai Chen thought that Zhu Ge’s reasoning was quite ridiculous. ‘He said Wu Jinhai didn’t want to be in the spotlight so he continued to wear the mask? It’s stupid because it’s his golden mask that ends up attracting people’s curiosity,’ he thought to himself, but he didn’t voice it out loud, knowing that Zhu Ge might not agree with him.

“Wu Jinhai doesn’t want to be in the spotlight?” Bai Chen asked the taller man again. “Is it because he doesn’t want to be the Crown Prince of Wu Li?”

The Werewolf Prince still remembered the information he received from the system. The system told him that Wu Jinhai was the eldest Prince of Wu Li, but that man did not hold the status of the Crown Prince.

It was quite strange, but he was trying to find a connection between that fact and the new information he got from Zhu Ge.

“You thought wrong this time,” Zhu Ge replied. “Wu Jinhai does want to stay modest, but that’s because he doesn’t want other people to interfere with his life. And regarding the title of Crown Prince, would you believe me if I said that Wu Jinhai actually wanted to be the Crown Prince of his empire?”

Bai Chen was taken aback. If it was about his question earlier, then he knew that there was a possibility that his deduction was inaccurate. He knew that he might be wrong with his theory, but the last sentence said by Zhu Ge was unexpected.

“What? Wu Jinhai wants to be the Crown Prince of Wu Li. Are you serious about that?” Bai Chen asked again, assuming that Wu Jinhai was quite strange if he wanted to become the Crown Prince of his empire when he had such a careless attitude.

‘Wu Jinhai didn’t even want to waste his energy helping the other participants in the Forbidden Forest, but he wanted to become the Crown Prince of his empire. Was it a joke?’ Bai Chen wanted to burst out laughing, but when he saw how Zhu Ge had a serious expression on his face, he knew that it wasn’t the right time for him to laugh when he heard about someone’s dream.

Bai Chen had thought Zhu Ge was in serious mode, but he was surprised when the taller man suddenly burst into loud laughter. It wasn’t Bai Chen who laughed even if he thought that Wu Jinhai was quite funny, but it was Zhu Ge who looked like he was mocking the masked man.

“You must think that Wu Jinhai is quite ridiculous, right?” Zhu Ge asked the Prince amidst his laughter. “Some people also told him that his dream was quite ridiculous, but that stupid man still insisted on making his dream come true. He said that he would become the Emperor of Wu Li in the future even if many people underestimated him. That’s indeed ridiculous, right? Maybe you can tell him that his dream is ridiculous when you meet him later.”

Zhu Ge did laugh, and at first, Bai Chen thought the man was mocking Wu Jinhai with his laughter. However, as he observed the man closely, doubts began to well up in his heart, ‘It wasn’t a mocking laugh but a bitter laugh. Why did I think that Zhu Ge was laughing at his own misery instead of ridiculing Wu Jinhai? What’s going on here? Who is Zhu Ge?’