Pretending To Be A Boss

"I'm not your enemy, you should be able to feel that. If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it already. Just listen to me quietly."

Duck trembled, not daring to speak.

Tang Xian squatted by the creek, one hand stroking the duck's head while he said:

"I originally thought I could quickly find the one among you that was different, but then I discovered I was wrong. It's not difficult for a being who deceives itself to deceive others as well."

Duck became even more confused. What was this human talking about, duck?

Tang Xian looked at the bewildered Duck and thought to himself that it definitely had a severe performance personality disorder, as even its current needs were a duck's needs.

"It was hard to find you, I was struggling between you and that duck who recently appeared and became quite popular with the other female ducks, wondering which one of you was the one I was looking for."

"But I ultimately chose you."

[What are you even talking about, duck?]

"Nothing much, you are the leader of the duck flock, a very powerful Sword Feather Duck. With you around, the Sword Feather Ducks will be very peaceful. You won't be harmed by other beasts here, and in the future, we could even partner up to start the Tang Clan Duck Meat business..."

Tang Xian suddenly let something slip and thought to himself that he still couldn't resist the thought of duck meat.

He shook his head and said:

"In any case, under your wise and mighty leadership, the duck flock will surely thrive."

[Hey duck! You're right, duck! You really are a smart human, duck!]

Duck swelled with pride in an instant. This truly was a human with discerning eyes, duck.

Its fear of Tang Xian immediately lessened significantly.

"However, you're going to have a strange dream soon."

[A dream? What kind of dream, duck?]

"In the dream, you'll probably turn into a monster. Someone you're very familiar with but definitely not yourself."

Tang Xian looked seriously at the Sword Feather Duck as he spoke.

At this moment, Duck's reaction became very odd, as if these words had struck a nerve.

[How do you know what kind of dream I'm going to have?]

"Just like how you Sword Feather Ducks can sense malice, I can know about people's dreams. Do you often dream about becoming another existence as well?"

Duck fell silent, its expression looking bewildered but Tang Xian was certain it was a confused expression.

Tang Xian said:

"In every dream where you become that monster, does it always involve death and bloodshed?"

Unconsciously, Duck nodded. It was like fortune telling: one might initially see the fortune teller as a street swindler, but once they accidentally hit on one or two correct points, one's opinion would change immediately.

Tang Xian smiled, thinking it was a good thing that Duck was playing the role of a cute and clueless Sword Feather Duck. If it were playing something with the intelligence of a Long-Eared Ancient Ape, it would be much harder to deceive.

"Let me tell you, inside the dream, you turn into a monster, and outside, due to dream sickness, you slay your own kind. A catastrophe is imminent for the Sword Feather Duck race. You are the strongest Sword Feather Duck, having led and overcome many obstacles along the way, but now you are going to be their doom. These Sword Feather Ducks you love, or those that love you, will all die by your hand, but it's not beyond salvation."

Tang Xian was convinced that every actor with a performance personality disorder somehow indulged in a bit of self-hypnosis.

Hypnosis also relies on keywords—perhaps chaos didn't have such a keyword. However, Tang Xian's words had indeed struck a chord with Duck.

Duck cocked its head, recalling memories, it seemed as if it could trace back very far, as though it had gone through many cycles of reincarnation, transforming into countless identities.

[It seems... it seems that's true, duck. What should I do, duck?]

"There is a way. Now, remember this: you are the leader of the Sword Feather Duck clan. Our goal is the same—we're both working for the Tang Clan... cough, I mean, we're working so that the Sword Feather Ducks can thrive and not be bullied, right?"

Duck nodded.

Tang Xian was pleased and continued:

"Good, then you must tell me truthfully, when was the last time you had the dream?"

Duck fell into thought.

Then without answering Tang Xian, as if waking up when realizing everything is a dream, Duck suddenly asked:

[Which one is the real me?]

Tang Xian wasn't in a hurry and said:

"One is your dream, which only appears one day each month, and the other is the real you. Look around—if I'm not mistaken, you like Tang, dislike that Zhen Zida who can beat ten, right?"

Even though I couldn't see the panel of chaos, I could see the panel under the guise of performance.

Liked food: The unattainable Tang.

Disliked thing: Tang's rival.

Tang Xian also thought, because of this highly deceptive panel, for a while that Duck was real.

But after a week of observation, he noticed a clear discontinuity when Duck talked to other Jian Feather Ducks—often leaving both ducks confused midway through their conversation.

And that new face that seemed so strong was actually just a Jian Feather Duck that had developed more quickly than average, nothing out of the ordinary.

Of course, to make sure he hadn't observed wrongly, Tang Xian kept from acting rashly and continued watching patiently in secret for a long time.

After comparing each Jian Feather Duck's panel and considering what the Tang had said, if chaos chose to strike, it was most likely going to target the leader. The leader's behavior was indeed very strange.

Duck nodded his head.

Everything around was indeed very real; his chest felt clogged with a kind of frustration.

Because the memories in his mind were also very real.

"I know you're conflicted because sometimes dreams are so vivid that you don't want to wake up. Like sometimes I dream about eating dragon meat. Even though my subconscious tells me that dragon meat is no longer on my menu, in the dream I still feel the taste is quite real, and I am reluctant to wake up," Tang Xian admitted honestly.

Seeing the puzzled look on Duck's face, he knew this was just the first hurdle. The real challenge would come when chaos reverted to its true form and everything done today might be in vain.

But he continued to try to convince him:

"Dreams are just dreams. Is it possible that for twenty-nine days you live in a dream as other creatures, and only for one day you return to being yourself?"

If Bai Mansheng were here, he would have greatly admired Tang Xian. This natural ability to state the truth as if it were false was not something just anyone could do.

Duck thought for a moment, and unconsciously nodded again.

"You are a mighty and noble, just and awe-inspiring Jian Feather Duck. That dream isn't scary. Tell me when you dream, and I will guide you away to another place."

Duck looked uncertainly at Tang Xian and said:

"But I still remember many other things, Duck..."

Naturally, Tang Xian had also considered this point. The longest role played by chaos was definitely not as a Jian Feather Duck, who knows how many times this creature had played role-playing games?

Tang Xian said:

"Actually, you suffer from Duck personality disorder, where in your other duck personas, you aren't a Jian Feather Duck. You might be an evil-habit ancient ape, scratching and fussing, or a White Rock Giant Bear, bloated and piled with fat, or even a Lei Xiao that can run faster than flying. But look at the lake surface—are you any of them? You're not. That's just because you were bullied too much in the past."

Duck's expression seemed somewhat convinced.

Taking advantage of the moment, Tang Xian urged:

"If I were like you, leading such a large group of people, exhausting my wits for their sake, I too would hope to have the wisdom of an ancient ape, the physique of a white bear, and the speed of a Lei Xiao so I could protect my clan. These split duck personas are all manifestations of your inner goodness. You are indeed a great Duck King who forgot yourself for the sake of the Jian Feather Ducks."

Tang Xian spoke earnestly, and the "Jian Feather Duck leader," who enjoyed being flattered, couldn't help but laugh out loud with a "gagaga."

...

...

The conversation with Duck temporarily came to an end.

Finally, Tang Xian got the timing: in three days, the king of the Nether Valley region would revert to his original form.

Bai Mansheng, looking worriedly at Tang Xian, said:

"Didn't you already fool it lame?"

"How can you speak like that? Can you call diplomacy fooling?"

"So is it lame or not?"

Bai Mansheng had gradually gotten used to Tang Xian's shamelessness.

Tang Xian shook his head and said:

"Probably lame, but it's easy to deceive a Duck King; chaos, not so much. On the day it turns back, I reckon, we'll still have to fight."

(The test results came out: vascular headache. Sounds scary, but it isn't a serious illness, though it's indeed caused by lack of sleep and anxiety. I'll try my best not to stop updating, but it will be difficult to burst out with more. But there was no flaking today; yesterday's was made up for—a total of eight thousand words.)