Chapter Five Hundred Thirty-Six: The Sacred Cup War
The so-called interview was a new experience for Ancestral Cang.
Next to her, the candidates preparing for the interview were all dressed smartly, sitting stiffly and paying great attention to their appearance and behavior, looking quite nervous.
Ancestral Cang simply watched coldly from the side, silently observing the lives of these little ants.
“Well, I think everyone is here.”
Cheng Da Yong walked into the room, closed the door, and dramatically sat down in a chair, holding a cup of water like a leader:
“Our interview can now begin. Due to a lack of personnel, I’m the only interviewer, so we won’t do one-on-one interviews; we’ll have everyone together instead.”
Everyone smiled amiably and nodded.
Only Ancestral Cang remained silent at the side.
She had no idea what the interview was supposed to accomplish.
It seemed like they just had to answer questions.
Though she didn’t care about these insignificant little ants, it should be easy for someone who had lived for countless eons to deal with some ignorant little monkeys, right?
So Ancestral Cang sat there as steady as a mountain.
“Alright, let’s begin with the first question for our interview.”
Old Cheng pulled out a document and flipped it to the first page: “Did everyone catch yesterday’s live stream?”
“Our Demon Cultivators Sect Leader, who is also our Punishment Department’s top boss, has made those external god demons listen to her without question. How impressive!”
Ancestral Cang’s gaze turned cold as the others nodded in agreement.
“However, everyone saw it.”
Cheng Da Yong sighed: “The boss said she wants to play a game with those god demons, to let them experience being ordinary people.”
“Maybe one of you sitting here today is one of those god demons.”
Ancestral Cang’s heart suddenly tightened.
Yet her expression remained indifferent. Looking around, she noticed the others seemed unfazed, laughing it off as a joke.
“Dude, are you a god demon?”
“I’d say I am a god demon. Do you believe me?”
“Yeah, right. God demons don’t look as ugly as you.”
“Alright, alright.” Old Cheng quieted the chatter, patiently saying: “While I know the odds are slim—what are the chances we’d run into such luck amidst this vast world?”
“Still, just in case, let’s have a little test.”
“So, the first question in this interview is.”
Cheng Da Yong raised a finger: “Everyone says one sentence. Use one sentence to prove you are not an external god demon.”
Ancestral Cang: “…?”
Not just Ancestral Cang, but all the other candidates were baffled too.
They began to murmur among themselves.
But most wore looks of curiosity, clearly not very anxious.
One sentence to prove one isn’t an external god demon?
If Ancestral Cang had to answer this question, her response would be straightforward.
Because she would say, “I am not an external god demon.”
No reasons, no need for explanations. What she said was fact; who had the right to question her?
Of course, even though Ancestral Cang wanted to answer so proudly, the most challenging aspect wasn’t how to respond herself.
It was finding a way to answer with the mindset of these ants.
And unfortunately, that was precisely Ancestral Cang’s knowledge blind spot.
Who sits by the roadside watching ants move and thinks about their psychological activities?
Even if one gets bored enough to ponder, the ants wouldn’t share the answers.
Now, Ancestral Cang was in an awkward predicament. She could think of a hundred ways to prove she wasn’t an external god demon.
But she had no idea which of those answers these people would consider normal.
Fortunately, this was not a one-on-one interview.
Cheng Da Yong scanned the crowd, starting from the person at the far end: “You, let’s start with you.”
…Great. Ancestral Cang felt slightly relieved.
As long as they weren’t starting with her, she could take her time.
Play it cool and listen to the answers from these little ants first.
Then she could just mimic their style and give a similar response.
“I?” The chubby, honest-looking man with glasses hesitated for a moment, scratching his head:
“I… I…”
His face turned red, and after a long struggle, he mustered the courage to say:
“I’m really into the Original Immortal series with the Great Grass God!”
Ancestral Cang: “?”
Hiss. A collective intake of breath rang out in the room.
Along with some whispers about things like “two-dimensional girls” and “loli fanatics.”
Cheng Da Yong was silent for a moment before nodding: “…Very good.”
“Great start. We need answers like that.”
“Everyone shouldn’t be shy; having personal interests isn’t embarrassing, and such answers do prove you aren’t external god demons.”
“Next!”
Wait! What the hell was that?
Ancestral Cang suddenly felt a bit manic.
Clearly, this little chubby guy had referenced something unique to the Abyss Realm that Ancestral Cang had never heard of.
She didn’t even know how to steal that line.
Just as she was desperately hoping the next person would come up, a shy little girl with a weak voice lifted her head and said:
“I… I actually write fan fiction about Sect Leader Sang and Grandmaster Li…”
Oh~ A strange array of sounds erupted in the room.
But there wasn’t a hint of doubt or hostility in their eyes; it was clear the girl had also passed.
Ancestral Cang (trembling in disbelief): “…What?”
The girl’s face grew even redder as she sweetly exclaimed, “But it really is a good pairing!”
With that declaration, the rest of the candidates grew bolder and began sharing too.
“I! I’m always in the top ten fans of Little Colorful Xia!”
Ancestral Cang: “Not…”
“I’m here too! I’m a VIP on the dark web for a certain genre!”
Ancestral Cang: “What even is…”
“I got scammed out of twenty spirit stones while shopping on Taobao Pavilion!”
“My character in the game ‘Honor of the Dead’ is the one I ranked up!”
“…”
As the chaos grew louder, Ancestral Cang remained silent for a long time.
She suddenly realized that trying to understand the thought processes of these little ants was a foolish endeavor.
This seemingly silly question turned out to be surprisingly useful for her.
Because she really couldn’t answer.
“Well, it seems in this era of Communication Devices, everyone’s interests are quite broad.”
Cheng Da Yong wore a look of someone who had indulged in gossip with a smile as he turned to Ancestral Cang last.
” Xiao Zhang, how about you?”
Ancestral Cang: “…”
The atmosphere grew heavy.
Everyone turned their attention toward her.
Ancestral Cang now regretted not having learned more about this little contraption called the Communication Device last night due to her arrogance.
If she had known, she would have flipped through it a bit. At least she wouldn’t be sitting here dumbfounded and unable to say a word.
As she remained silent, those sitting beside her began to gossip.
Cheng Da Yong narrowed his eyes slightly: “Xiao Zhang, everyone is so enthusiastic; why are you so shy?”
“Or could it be… you truly are—”
Ancestral Cang’s eyes suddenly widened.
…No way.
I am the God King Ancestral Cang!
Getting eliminated on the first day of a game like this would be so humiliating; it absolutely couldn’t be part of my record!
Calming herself down, Ancestral Cang quickly scanned the room.
Suddenly, she noticed on Cheng Da Yong’s desk, amongst a pile of disorganized documents, one paper half-visible, with the words “Fusa Pavilion Fiji Cup Discount” just barely legible.
In front of everyone’s gaze, Ancestral Cang lowered her head for a long moment before whispering, her voice hoarse:
“Actually…”
“…My family sells Fiji Cups.”
Silence.
An incredibly profound silence.
Everyone looked at Ancestral Cang with awe.
Ancestral Cang actually didn’t know what a Fiji Cup was. She just threw out her words like a last-ditch attempt, as it sounded like a specialty of the Abyss Realm.
But after she anxiously waited, Cheng Da Yong cleared his throat and said, “No wonder you hesitated for so long. It does take courage to mention things like that.”
“But it’s alright; you’ve passed.”
Immediately, everyone around her stood up and started clapping enthusiastically.
“Sorry for mocking your second-hand interests earlier; that was my bad.”
“Dude, you’re the real hero here.”
“Who knows, your product might have kept me company during my lonely nights.”
Ancestral Cang: “…Ah, yes, haha.”
