No strange things are allowed to evolve!

Ultimately, he didn't use the adjective "dirty methods" before "business model."

However, this is actually a compliment.

As a businessman, he doesn't object to sometimes using unconventional methods, as long as they bring actual benefits, there's no distinction between good and bad.

Jiang Shu's actions clearly opened a new world for him.

Jiang Shu himself will inevitably become a founder and a significant figure in the history of the unscrupulous merchants of Lie Town.

"Thank you for your high regard, but I'm sorry, I already have someone I love." Jiang Shu smiled.

"Still want to join the Adventurers' Guild? What a pity."

Windsor's father sighed:

"However, everyone has their own ambitions, which I can understand. It's just a pity to waste your genius brain."

"There's nothing to regret. For me, these are just some small plans I came up with in my spare time. If you're interested, we can always exchange ideas."

Jiang Shu understood the unspoken meaning in the other person's words:

“Windsor and I are good friends, and you have helped me so much, so I should thank you. If you need anything, I have a lot of similar plans here, and I can teach you them all.”

Sure enough, after Jiang Shu made a tactful promise, the regret on Windsor's father's face disappeared immediately, replaced by a look of complete satisfaction.

"Oh, what are you saying? What's with all the thanks? Didn't we just say we're like family?"

He first made a few polite excuses, then changed the subject:

"What were you about to ask? Oh, about the restrictions on the Temple of Lies, right?"

"Ah, it doesn't really matter. If it's inconvenient for you to say, then forget it."

"Convenient, of course convenient. Although it's hard for you to know the truth from other places, it's not really a big secret to me."

Windsor's father now only intends to make Jiang Shu owe him more favors, regardless of whether Jiang Shu needs them or not, and he doesn't intend to consider what Jiang Shu's purpose is. After all, he is just a businessman, and as long as the other party offers a fair price, the secret is not something that cannot be sold. Moreover, this secret has nothing to do with him.

"The constraints are not as ineffective as you say, because they are the means by which the royal court controls the Temple of Lies. How could they possibly be truly ineffective?"

"Control?" Jiang Shu was slightly surprised. "Not because of fear?"

"Fear is also one of the reasons. After all, the Poet of Lies is so powerful, yet he can do whatever he wants. This is something no one can accept. It is precisely for this reason that the Adventurers' Guild and the Mercenary Guild responded to the Royal Court's call to put pressure on the Temple of Lies."

Windsor's father explained:

"But for the royal court, the more important reason is that they cannot accept the existence of a force that is not under their control. For example, if one day a situation suddenly arises in the market that the Chamber of Commerce cannot regulate, the Chamber of Commerce will also find it difficult to accept and will feel anxious."

"I understand this principle, you don't need to explain it so clearly, so what?"

"Then the royal court took the lead in putting pressure on the Temple of Lies. Although everyone was afraid of the power of the Poet of Lies, this fear was greatly reduced when everyone stood together, because everyone knew that the existence of the Poet of Lies was also inseparable from us. Although it sounds harsh, a farmer will starve to death if he loses his land and livestock."

"Hmm... is that how you compare yourself? Then it seems that the Temple of Lies is quite evil in your eyes."

"Yes, they are not only evil, but also incredibly powerful. However, they also have weaknesses, and that is their weakness."

Windsor's father seemed completely unconcerned about the analogy and continued:

"Whether it's the Royal Court, the Adventurers' Guild, the Mercenary Guild, or the major merchant guilds, none of them dare to express their dissatisfaction with the Poet of Lies, because these people are all lunatics, and you never know when they might retaliate against you."

However, when they unite, they have to seriously consider the consequences.

Apart from Wang Ting, the rest of us just hope they can restrain themselves and stop doing things that involve complaining and blaming others.

Before these restrictions took effect, it's no exaggeration to say that many people, driven to desperation by deception, frequently hanged themselves before the temple of lies.

That's really pathetic.

"But what can they do?"

Windsor's father smiled helplessly:

"They are different from those who have entered the game out of greed. Most of them are just honest people who have been deceived by some low-level lying poets who are eager for quick success. You know, there are bad guys everywhere, and lying poets are even worse... These people have lost everything and have no way to resist. Even the royal court can't help them."

"Even Wang Ting himself has to worry about being scammed, right?"

"Yes, but fortunately the Lie Poets have no interest in controlling Lie Town. What they pursue is growth and fun through deception, otherwise there wouldn't have been the resistance later."

“Not necessarily.” Jiang Shu shook his head: “If it’s that level of oppression, then in the end it might be a resistance that comes at an even greater cost.”

"Maybe, but since it hasn't happened yet, nobody knows."

Windsor's father did not deny the possibility, but continued:

"In short, as their actions became increasingly rampant, the royal court finally couldn't sit still any longer and began to plan to punish the Temple of Lies. This was not something that could be accomplished overnight as it appeared to the outside world, but rather it was the result of a long period of preparation. There were many unexpected events and troubles along the way, and the Temple of Lies almost discovered the plot several times. Fortunately, it was ultimately successful."

The phenomenon you see, where ordinary people only feel disgust towards poets who lie, is actually one of the results of those preparations. We put in a lot of effort and spent a long time to make them believe this, to believe that poets who lie only bring disaster.

Even if they sometimes help resolve difficult monster crises or natural and man-made disasters, it's because they're atoning for their sins or because they benefit from it. In short, their nature is evil.

It is precisely because of this understanding that the entire continent eventually joined in the boycott of the poet who lies.

Even now, most people still believe this. In their view, the only reason the Poet of Lies can exist is because the damned Mouth of God cannot be eradicated; someone will always acquire this cursed ability. That's what they all think.

"Has the Temple of Lies never considered clarifying this?"

"They don't care, and even if they wanted to clarify, who would believe them?"

Windsor's father smiled:

"Even if a few people believe them or even try to prove it, they will soon be defeated by the will of the majority. They might end up like my daughter, who thought she had met a good poet of lies, but in the end she was also deceived."

Furthermore, the royal court will prevent such a thing from happening. If the people don't believe the lying poets, it will be more difficult for them to deceive others. Unless the royal court intervenes and personally helps them, the lying poets will find it difficult to obtain the power they need.

"Wang Ting will act as a shill?"

"Yeah, what do you think?"

Windsor's father said matter-of-factly:

"It is precisely because of these conditions that the Temple of Lies accepts the constraints. With the help of the Royal Court, high-ranking Lie Poets can obtain power more easily, at least much more easily than if they relied on themselves."

"I understand."

Jiang Shu nodded:

"So what you just said is that what the royal court really can't accept is the Temple of Lies being out of control, not the Poet of Lies's reckless behavior."

If that's the case, then there's a reason why the Temple of Lies would have to submit to the Royal Court, thus giving the Royal Court a voice.

At the same time, because of the checks and balances, the "Poet of Lies" wouldn't act recklessly as before, which also satisfied the expectations of other forces, ultimately achieving a situation that almost everyone was happy with.

"Yes."

Windsor's father secretly admired Jiang Shu's strategic vision:

"I'm telling you this because you're new here, and I hope that in your time in Lie Town, you won't be deceived by anyone, not just the Lie Poet, and you won't simply trust anyone else."

The royal court, the adventurers' guild, and the mercenary guild—they play the role of victims, but they aren't necessarily the real victims. You need to use your own judgment. I don't want you to be deceived like my daughter was.”

His expression was very sincere. It was unclear whether he regarded Jiang Shu as a talented businessman worth befriending, or whether he did not object to Jiang Shu becoming his son-in-law, but he was indeed thinking of Jiang Shu's well-being.

This is the benefit of "dedication": as long as the other party has a good impression of you, that good impression will quickly and infinitely amplify, and Jiang Shu doesn't have to worry about being deceived at all.

After a pause, he added:

"However, I do believe you won't be fooled. After all... thankfully you're not a poet of lies, otherwise Lie Town would be in danger."

As he spoke, he burst into laughter at his own joke.

Jiang Shu also laughed.

"That's really great."

Chapter 109 An Important Question

Soon, Jiang Shu and Strawberry Milkshake followed one of the adventurer teams listed in the information out of the city.

This squad's configuration far exceeds the requirements of the assessment.

The assessment only required that the selected teams have the ability to kill fourth-tier magical beasts, but almost every member of the team that Jiang Shu chose had the ability to kill fourth-tier magical beasts on their own.

They teamed up simply because they were pursuing efficiency and wanted to obtain as many materials as possible from fourth-tier magical beasts to exchange for a good price in the market.

Therefore, apart from the basic medic, there is no logistics or support role in the team. Apart from Jiang Shu and Strawberry Milkshake, six out of the seven members of the team are warriors.

With six players in position one, each capable of eliminating an entire team, that's a good example.

Although these people were all high-level adventurers, none of them looked down on Jiang Shu and Strawberry Milkshake, even though the two of them had been sitting in the carriage enjoying the scenery along the way since they set off, without helping at all.

Because they are the big spenders.

Except for the very old, no one will fawn over their sugar daddy.

In fact, they not only didn't feel any dissatisfaction with the two's hands-off management, but they also frequently showed concern for them along the way, and always thought of them first when there was something good.

Always keep a grateful heart.

This is because not all teams can get sponsorship from big spenders. They are just one of many teams that submit subsidy applications. Being selected and given priority to buy equipment and items at low prices and sell materials obtained from killing monsters is, in their view, a sign of trust and recognition.

Faced with this recognition, all they could do was to serve Jiang Shu and the other man well. Even if the carriage wheel was hit by a stone and shook a couple of times, the soldiers in the group would get off the carriage and slash the stone a couple of times.

If we need the big spender to step in, it would be a disservice to that recognition and an insult to ourselves!

Almost everyone in the squad thought so.

Therefore, Jiang Shu can now simply leisurely eat the grapes offered by the team's healer, watch the six number one players beat up the fourth-tier magical beast, and wait to go back, which will complete the assessment.

It's a pity I can't show off Master Ye's martial arts skills from the Otherworld Bureau... Jiang Shu thought to himself.

However, after looking at the strawberry milkshakes watching the adventurers enacting Monster Hunter Online, Jiang Shu thought it was pretty good too.

During this leisurely break, Jiang Shu couldn't help but think about the intelligence he currently possessed, as well as some points of doubt.

On the way there, he inquired about the Temple of Lies from the adventurers in his party, but the answers he received were only vague and rudimentary.

This was expected.

Unlike the Royal Court, the Temple of Lies, and the Merchant Guild, the Adventurers' Guild and the Mercenary Guild are not closely connected groups; they are more like platforms.

Once adventurers obtain the qualifications issued by the guild, they become professional adventurers and can accept a wide variety of bounties within the guild. However, they became adventurers for the rewards of the bounties and have no direct connection with the guild itself; it is merely a mutually beneficial relationship.

Therefore, even though the adventurers in the team are all quite strong, when it comes to matters that require a high degree of secrecy, they can only say that they know a little more than the general public, but only to a limited extent.

For example, they also disliked the Liar Poet, but not as much as the general public, because they had personally dealt with monsters and knew how deep the monsters were. Some of them were beings that could not be defeated by human power, which is why the Liar Poet had to step in.

Therefore, they also have a kind of awe for the Poet of Lies, because they know clearly how many times the Poet of Lies has shielded Lies Town from such threats.

Although poets who lie are morally flawed, we can't do without them.

That's roughly the viewpoint.

Overall, it is closer to Windsor's father's account that not everyone resisted the poets of lies because they were afraid of them and thought they were all evil people; there were also people who felt that their existence was necessary.

The image of a poet who lies varies depending on the group.

The further down you go, the more one-sided and superficial this appearance becomes; this is the result of the royal court's management.

With the added endorsement of "dedication," this was enough to convince Jiang Shu of Windsor's father's words.

As for Moore, although he didn't like Jiang Shu, and might even have initially thought Jiang Shu was a nuisance because Jiang Shu had triggered the anti-magic stone.

However, because of the existence of the anti-magic stone, he could not lie to Jiang Shu.

So here's the question: why are there two different versions of the same story?

Moore said that the Royal Court's lead in targeting and resisting the Temple was entirely due to its fear of the power of the Liar Poets. It worried that without restraint, they would act recklessly, so it hoped to have a guarantee that it would not be deceived under certain circumstances, and to have some restraint on the registered Liar Poets.

But Windsor's father said that the royal court was not afraid of the Liar Poet, but was troubled by the inability to control the power of the Temple of Lies. The people were not afraid of the Liar Poet either; they were afraid and disgusted. Moreover, the Temple of Lies did not agree to be bound by the restrictions unconditionally out of helplessness. The royal court had actually promised them a condition that they could not refuse.

While not entirely contradictory, Moore's statement is too absolute and simplistic.

At least for the royal court, this is not their demand. If we assume that what Windsor's father said is true, then wouldn't Moore be considered to have lied?

Even if Moore was just a black-robed poet, and his rank was not high enough for him to access things that only the higher-ups might know, then this might indeed be what he believed to be the truth, and he was not lying.

But Jiang Shu clearly remembered that when he was first locked by the anti-magic stone, he only said, "The Temple of Lies does not allow lying," and he believed that the Temple of Lies had such a rule, but he still triggered the lock of the anti-magic stone.

The truth is, the Temple of Lies allows lying, but not lies that reach a danger level of three or higher.

In other words, as long as it's a lie, as long as the described facts are incomplete, regardless of whether the person saying it knows the truth or not, it will be locked by the anti-magic stone.

The criteria for judging the effectiveness of anti-magic stones are based on objective facts, not on the speaker's perception.

This was a judgment Jiang Shu made before he even left the Temple of Lies, which is why he was surprised when he discovered that the innkeeper of the Traveler's Inn felt more disgust towards the Lie Poets than anything else, and didn't even understand why they existed.

Because this does not align with Moore's statement.

Why didn't Moore trigger the lock of the anti-magic stone?