______________________
Derick quickly contacted Acheron and the others, telling them to come over as something might be happening.
It didn't take long for Acheron, Castorice, and the others to arrive.
Seeing a few more girls gathered around Derick, Yunli stood behind him and secretly poked him in the back.
This flirtatious guy really knows how to attract girls.
Castorice also saw Yunli's action and said nothing.
Although she was reluctant to 'punish' Derick herself, he really needed to be kept in check. Otherwise, given the rate at which he attracted girls and his own long life... In the future, wouldn't the girls who liked Derick fill an entire planet?
Yes, he had to be managed.
Besides, it's not like it would really hurt Derick, right?
After a few pokes, Yunli let him go.
Derick quickly said to the others, "I'm going to check on the situation where the Incandescent Emperor erupted. General Huaiyan has probably already gone over. I'll see if I can help him. As for the rest of the Zhuming Xianzhou, if any other problems arise, I'll have to ask you to take a look, Miss Acheron."
The others were still lacking in strength; only Acheron could guarantee absolute stability.
This would also prevent problems from cropping up elsewhere on the Zhuming Xianzhou while Derick was gone.
Acheron nodded lightly upon hearing Derick's words.
"There's no time to lose. I'm heading over now."
Seeing Acheron agree, Derick immediately prepared to go find the Incandescent Emperor.
"Be very careful."
Castorice reminded Derick.
Derick nodded, indicating he understood.
Then, he flew quickly in the direction of the Incandescent Emperor.
The battle between the Incandescent Emperor and General Huaiyan was still ongoing.
Because he had to prevent the Incandescent Emperor from escaping while also ensuring he didn't cause too much damage and deprive the Zhuming Xianzhou of its power, General Huaiyan was expending far more energy than the Incandescent Emperor.
At this moment, he was almost at his limit.
Nearby, Huohuo was struggling to get away.
Her strength was insufficient, even though she wasn't fighting the Incandescent Emperor directly.
The mere aftershocks from the battle between the Incandescent Emperor and Huaiyan made her feel as if a mountain was pressing down on her body.
Knowing she couldn't be of any help in this situation, Huohuo could only choose to flee first, so as not to remain and interfere with General Huaiyan's battle.
As Huohuo moved, she supported the female Cloud Knight soldier who had brought her here.
An ordinary Cloud Knight soldier's strength was even less than Huohuo's, and she had simply fainted during the battle between Huaiyan and the Incandescent Emperor.
Seeing that they had come together, Huohuo naturally couldn't leave her behind, so she had to help her walk towards the outside.
Just as she was about to leave the area, a violent tremor struck.
To her horror, Huohuo saw one of the Incandescent Emperor's attacks break through Huaiyan's defense and strike the staircase in front of her.
With that attack, the entire staircase collapsed.
Seeing this, Huohuo's mind went blank.
But then she looked at the female soldier she was supporting and snapped back to her senses, using all her strength to throw the soldier towards the exit.
"Mr. Tail, help me!"
The power contained within Huohuo's body was considerable, and with the added strength from Tail, she really did manage to fling the female soldier out.
But after throwing her, Huohuo's body fell uncontrollably downward.
After the heroic burst faded, Huohuo looked at Tail with a tearful face and asked, "Lord Tail, what do we do now?"
"What do we do? You want to be a hero? In this situation, I'll do my best to protect you. Hopefully, the fall won't be from too high up," Tail retorted grumpily.
"Huh!? Is there no other way?!"
Hearing Tail say this, Huohuo immediately tensed up.
"There is. A hero has to suddenly appear, give you a princess carry, and scoop you up."
Tail said to Huohuo again.
"That's... impossible..."
Huohuo grumbled, speechless.
Feeling that the fall was now inevitable, Huohuo closed her eyes, preparing to embrace the pain of the impact.
And just then, Huohuo suddenly felt the force of her descent vanish as she fell into a warm embrace.
Huohuo couldn't help but open her eyes, discovering she hadn't hit the ground but was instead in Derick's arms.
"Mr... Mr. Derick, you're here..."
Huohuo couldn't help but lean against Derick's chest, speaking to him softly.
Huohuo looked truly adorable like this, like a little matcha cake.
Derick thought to himself.
He then gently comforted the frightened Huohuo, "Yes, I felt something was wrong over here, so I came to check. It was just in time to see you fall, so I rushed over to save you."
"Thank you, Mr. Derick," Huohuo thanked him quietly.
This was the second time he had saved her life.
How could she ever repay him?
Huohuo wondered.
"You're welcome. You stand aside for now. I'm going to help Elder Yan deal with this Incandescent Emperor business."
Derick flew to the side, put Huohuo down, and spoke to her.
"Mm-hm."
Huohuo nodded repeatedly, and the fear in her eyes as she looked at Derick had diminished significantly.
Derick then made his way toward Huaiyan.
"Elder Yan, I'm here. Has the Incandescent Emperor broken free of its restraints? How should we handle it?"
Huaiyan was barely holding on.
Seeing Derick arrive, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
"You're a bit late, kid."
Huaiyan said to Derick.
He hadn't been making a desperate last stand; he had been holding on to wait for Derick or Acheron.
As long as they arrived, the matter could be resolved.
"I didn't know what was going on. I had to ensure the safety of Yunli and the Zhuming Xianzhou first. So I entrusted Yunli to Acheron's protection before coming here to help you," Derick replied to Huaiyan.
"You did well."
Huaiyan nodded in satisfaction.
Knowing to look after his granddaughter while also considering the bigger picture, Derick's actions were indeed faultless.
"Now, help me deal with this Incandescent Emperor."
"Alright."
Derick nodded.
Huaiyan then withdrew half of his defense, allowing Derick to fill the gap.
Seeing Huaiyan willingly retract his defense, the Incandescent Emperor was overjoyed.
It didn't know who this kid was, but he couldn't possibly be stronger than a Xianzhou General!
Moreover, this handsome youth and that old fool Huaiyan had been chatting for so long, completely ignoring it, which made the Incandescent Emperor even angrier.
It unleashed its power, attacking Derick's position.
Of course, seeing the way Derick and Huaiyan were conversing, it knew Derick was no simple character, so the attack it released still looked terrifying in the eyes of an ordinary person.
Then, a long spear appeared in Derick's hand, and he smashed it straight into the Incandescent Emperor's attack.
With just one strike, the Incandescent Emperor's attack vanished into thin air.
The Incandescent Emperor's power wasn't originally weak, but the problem was that it had been used as the power source for the Zhuming Xianzhou for so many years.
The strength of the attacks it could now muster was simply not that strong.
It wasn't very difficult for Derick to block it.
And seeing Derick repel its attack, the Incandescent Emperor was completely stunned.
"An... another Emanator."
It had thought Huaiyan was the only Emanator-level powerhouse on the Zhuming Xianzhou, giving it a fighting chance.
But now it had to face two Emanators, one of whom it knew nothing about.
The difficulty had just increased several times over.
"If we knew you were the only one causing trouble, there would have been three Emanators to greet you," Derick said nonchalantly to the Incandescent Emperor.
"What kind of joke is that!"
The Incandescent Emperor roared.
One more Emanator was already far beyond its expectations.
Now Derick was saying there was another one?
The Incandescent Emperor wouldn't believe it even if it was beaten to death.
"Believe it or not."
Hearing its disbelief, Derick didn't bother explaining further.
He stretched out his hands, releasing the energy from within his body to block off the remaining gap.
"Elder Yan, you can handle the seal. Leave containing the Incandescent Emperor to me," Derick said to Huaiyan.
"Good."
Huaiyan also knew that he had consumed too much of his power and couldn't compare to Derick's.
With Derick now containing the enemy, it would be much easier for Huaiyan to perform the sealing.
Derick unleashed his power, completely surrounding the Incandescent Emperor.
The Incandescent Emperor was naturally unwilling to accept this.
It looked at Derick and charged at him with all its might.
Seeing the force of the Incandescent Emperor's charge, Huaiyan hurriedly warned Derick, "Be careful with that thing, but don't hurt it too much. If something happens to it, the entire Zhuming Xianzhou's power supply will be in serious trouble."
"I know."
Hearing this, Derick immediately controlled his strength.
However, the Incandescent Emperor's next attack didn't use its energy in a life-or-death struggle with the Zhuming Xianzhou.
Instead, it launched a purely spiritual attack at Derick.
"Although the power in your body is much stronger than that old fool Huaiyan's, you're not as experienced as he is in dealing with me. Fine, I'll use your body as my vessel to leave the Zhuming Xianzhou."
The Incandescent Emperor's intangible form rushed into Derick's body.
When Derick had displayed the power of an Emanator just now, the Incandescent Emperor had been shocked, but not as shocked as it had pretended to be.
Its feigned shock was partly to deceive Derick and Huaiyan.
Derick had no experience dealing with it.
Perhaps it could possess his body.
With a physical form at the Emanator level, its escape from the Zhuming Xianzhou would be much smoother.
No, not just escape from the Zhuming Xianzhou.
That old fool Huaiyan had imprisoned it for so long.
It had to get revenge and kill that old man.
With the intent of possessing an Emanator's body and taking revenge on Huaiyan, the Incandescent Emperor entered Derick's body.
Huaiyan watched from the side as the Incandescent Emperor entered Derick's body.
His face was a mask of shock, and he was about to rush over with concern to check on Derick's condition.
However, he then saw that Derick's expression showed no signs of abnormality.
On the contrary, he looked completely unimpressed.
Derick truly hadn't expected the Incandescent Emperor to dare try and possess his body.
Because in his eyes, such an act was utterly suicidal.
"Ah! You... what kind of Emanator are you?! Voracity! The Hunt! Propagation! Why do you have so many chaotic things in your body, and all bestowed by the Aeons! Why?!"
Within his mind, the Incandescent Emperor's voice cried out in unwilling despair.
Subsequently, the Incandescent Emperor's will was directly shattered by Derick.
Its consciousness was blasted into a blank slate and was then simply absorbed by him.
In a normal fight, although the Incandescent Emperor couldn't beat Derick, it wouldn't have been defeated so quickly.
But it chose the most suicidal method to deal with him.
And so, it died just like that.
The Incandescent Emperor's immense spiritual power all became nourishment for Derick.
Derick looked at Huaiyan, who was watching him with a worried expression, and quickly said, "Elder Yan, I'm fine. However, the Incandescent Emperor's consciousness has been completely annihilated by me."
"This..."
Huaiyan looked at Derick speechlessly, then turned his head to look at the large mass of energy left behind by the Incandescent Emperor.
"How should we handle this situation?"
If Derick had encountered this under any other circumstances, he certainly wouldn't have passed up such a massive amount of energy and would have absorbed it all.
But now, this energy had a more important purpose, so Derick could only stop after absorbing the Incandescent Emperor's spiritual power.
The Zhuming Xianzhou needed the Incandescent Emperor to provide power for its operation.
Without it, the ship would face a major problem.
Derick knew this, but he had no choice once the Incandescent Emperor tried to possess him.
After the Incandescent Emperor entered his body and its consciousness was annihilated, even if Derick released its spiritual power, it would be impossible to coalesce this energy body.
Seeing the troubled Huaiyan, Derick said to him, "Elder Yan, since the Incandescent Emperor is gone, why not find another Heliobi to maintain this power?"
"Another Heliobi?"
Hearing Derick's suggestion, Huaiyan thought for a moment before both of them turned their gazes to Huohuo, who was standing to the side.
To be precise, they were looking at the tail on Huohuo.
Being stared at by two Emanator-level powerhouses, Tail couldn't help but tremble.
"Wh-what about me?" Tail asked, shivering.
Huaiyan looked at Derick inquiringly.
"Can it work?"
"It should. This tail's origin is not simple. Besides, its nature is much better than the Incandescent Emperor's. As long as you don't actually lock it up, it won't be a big problem."
Derick assured Tail.
"We wouldn't do that. We just need it to coalesce the Incandescent Emperor's energy. Letting it leave with a condensed ball of power later on won't be an issue either," Huaiyan promised Derick.
"Then let's do that."
Derick then walked over to Huohuo and said to Tail, "Tail, I have a great opportunity for you. If you handle this well, both you and Huohuo can benefit greatly from it."
If Tail were to carry this power, it would essentially become the new Incandescent Emperor.
And because of her long-term coexistence with Tail, Huohuo's body would inevitably be able to receive a lot of power from the Heliobi.
Once Tail was strengthened, Huohuo's own power would also see significant improvement.
"Really?"
Hearing Derick say this, Huohuo's expression was a mixture of shock and delight.
"Of course. I'm not one to lie."
Derick quickly contacted Acheron and the others, telling them to come over as something might be happening.
It didn't take long for Acheron, Castorice, and the others to arrive.
Seeing a few more girls gathered around Derick, Yunli stood behind him and secretly poked him in the back.
This flirtatious guy really knows how to attract girls.
Castorice also saw Yunli's action and said nothing.
Although she was reluctant to 'punish' Derick herself, he really needed to be kept in check. Otherwise, given the rate at which he attracted girls and his own long life... In the future, wouldn't the girls who liked Derick fill an entire planet?
Yes, he had to be managed.
Besides, it's not like it would really hurt Derick, right?
After a few pokes, Yunli let him go.
Derick quickly said to the others, "I'm going to check on the situation where the Incandescent Emperor erupted. General Huaiyan has probably already gone over. I'll see if I can help him. As for the rest of the Zhuming Xianzhou, if any other problems arise, I'll have to ask you to take a look, Miss Acheron."
The others were still lacking in strength; only Acheron could guarantee absolute stability.
This would also prevent problems from cropping up elsewhere on the Zhuming Xianzhou while Derick was gone.
Acheron nodded lightly upon hearing Derick's words.
"There's no time to lose. I'm heading over now."
Seeing Acheron agree, Derick immediately prepared to go find the Incandescent Emperor.
"Be very careful."
Castorice reminded Derick.
Derick nodded, indicating he understood.
Then, he flew quickly in the direction of the Incandescent Emperor.
The battle between the Incandescent Emperor and General Huaiyan was still ongoing.
Because he had to prevent the Incandescent Emperor from escaping while also ensuring he didn't cause too much damage and deprive the Zhuming Xianzhou of its power, General Huaiyan was expending far more energy than the Incandescent Emperor.
At this moment, he was almost at his limit.
Nearby, Huohuo was struggling to get away.
Her strength was insufficient, even though she wasn't fighting the Incandescent Emperor directly.
The mere aftershocks from the battle between the Incandescent Emperor and Huaiyan made her feel as if a mountain was pressing down on her body.
Knowing she couldn't be of any help in this situation, Huohuo could only choose to flee first, so as not to remain and interfere with General Huaiyan's battle.
As Huohuo moved, she supported the female Cloud Knight soldier who had brought her here.
An ordinary Cloud Knight soldier's strength was even less than Huohuo's, and she had simply fainted during the battle between Huaiyan and the Incandescent Emperor.
Seeing that they had come together, Huohuo naturally couldn't leave her behind, so she had to help her walk towards the outside.
Just as she was about to leave the area, a violent tremor struck.
To her horror, Huohuo saw one of the Incandescent Emperor's attacks break through Huaiyan's defense and strike the staircase in front of her.
With that attack, the entire staircase collapsed.
Seeing this, Huohuo's mind went blank.
But then she looked at the female soldier she was supporting and snapped back to her senses, using all her strength to throw the soldier towards the exit.
"Mr. Tail, help me!"
The power contained within Huohuo's body was considerable, and with the added strength from Tail, she really did manage to fling the female soldier out.
But after throwing her, Huohuo's body fell uncontrollably downward.
After the heroic burst faded, Huohuo looked at Tail with a tearful face and asked, "Lord Tail, what do we do now?"
"What do we do? You want to be a hero? In this situation, I'll do my best to protect you. Hopefully, the fall won't be from too high up," Tail retorted grumpily.
"Huh!? Is there no other way?!"
Hearing Tail say this, Huohuo immediately tensed up.
"There is. A hero has to suddenly appear, give you a princess carry, and scoop you up."
Tail said to Huohuo again.
"That's... impossible..."
Huohuo grumbled, speechless.
Feeling that the fall was now inevitable, Huohuo closed her eyes, preparing to embrace the pain of the impact.
And just then, Huohuo suddenly felt the force of her descent vanish as she fell into a warm embrace.
Huohuo couldn't help but open her eyes, discovering she hadn't hit the ground but was instead in Derick's arms.
"Mr... Mr. Derick, you're here..."
Huohuo couldn't help but lean against Derick's chest, speaking to him softly.
Huohuo looked truly adorable like this, like a little matcha cake.
Derick thought to himself.
He then gently comforted the frightened Huohuo, "Yes, I felt something was wrong over here, so I came to check. It was just in time to see you fall, so I rushed over to save you."
"Thank you, Mr. Derick," Huohuo thanked him quietly.
This was the second time he had saved her life.
How could she ever repay him?
Huohuo wondered.
"You're welcome. You stand aside for now. I'm going to help Elder Yan deal with this Incandescent Emperor business."
Derick flew to the side, put Huohuo down, and spoke to her.
"Mm-hm."
Huohuo nodded repeatedly, and the fear in her eyes as she looked at Derick had diminished significantly.
Derick then made his way toward Huaiyan.
"Elder Yan, I'm here. Has the Incandescent Emperor broken free of its restraints? How should we handle it?"
Huaiyan was barely holding on.
Seeing Derick arrive, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
"You're a bit late, kid."
Huaiyan said to Derick.
He hadn't been making a desperate last stand; he had been holding on to wait for Derick or Acheron.
As long as they arrived, the matter could be resolved.
"I didn't know what was going on. I had to ensure the safety of Yunli and the Zhuming Xianzhou first. So I entrusted Yunli to Acheron's protection before coming here to help you," Derick replied to Huaiyan.
"You did well."
Huaiyan nodded in satisfaction.
Knowing to look after his granddaughter while also considering the bigger picture, Derick's actions were indeed faultless.
"Now, help me deal with this Incandescent Emperor."
"Alright."
Derick nodded.
Huaiyan then withdrew half of his defense, allowing Derick to fill the gap.
Seeing Huaiyan willingly retract his defense, the Incandescent Emperor was overjoyed.
It didn't know who this kid was, but he couldn't possibly be stronger than a Xianzhou General!
Moreover, this handsome youth and that old fool Huaiyan had been chatting for so long, completely ignoring it, which made the Incandescent Emperor even angrier.
It unleashed its power, attacking Derick's position.
Of course, seeing the way Derick and Huaiyan were conversing, it knew Derick was no simple character, so the attack it released still looked terrifying in the eyes of an ordinary person.
Then, a long spear appeared in Derick's hand, and he smashed it straight into the Incandescent Emperor's attack.
With just one strike, the Incandescent Emperor's attack vanished into thin air.
The Incandescent Emperor's power wasn't originally weak, but the problem was that it had been used as the power source for the Zhuming Xianzhou for so many years.
The strength of the attacks it could now muster was simply not that strong.
It wasn't very difficult for Derick to block it.
And seeing Derick repel its attack, the Incandescent Emperor was completely stunned.
"An... another Emanator."
It had thought Huaiyan was the only Emanator-level powerhouse on the Zhuming Xianzhou, giving it a fighting chance.
But now it had to face two Emanators, one of whom it knew nothing about.
The difficulty had just increased several times over.
"If we knew you were the only one causing trouble, there would have been three Emanators to greet you," Derick said nonchalantly to the Incandescent Emperor.
"What kind of joke is that!"
The Incandescent Emperor roared.
One more Emanator was already far beyond its expectations.
Now Derick was saying there was another one?
The Incandescent Emperor wouldn't believe it even if it was beaten to death.
"Believe it or not."
Hearing its disbelief, Derick didn't bother explaining further.
He stretched out his hands, releasing the energy from within his body to block off the remaining gap.
"Elder Yan, you can handle the seal. Leave containing the Incandescent Emperor to me," Derick said to Huaiyan.
"Good."
Huaiyan also knew that he had consumed too much of his power and couldn't compare to Derick's.
With Derick now containing the enemy, it would be much easier for Huaiyan to perform the sealing.
Derick unleashed his power, completely surrounding the Incandescent Emperor.
The Incandescent Emperor was naturally unwilling to accept this.
It looked at Derick and charged at him with all its might.
Seeing the force of the Incandescent Emperor's charge, Huaiyan hurriedly warned Derick, "Be careful with that thing, but don't hurt it too much. If something happens to it, the entire Zhuming Xianzhou's power supply will be in serious trouble."
"I know."
Hearing this, Derick immediately controlled his strength.
However, the Incandescent Emperor's next attack didn't use its energy in a life-or-death struggle with the Zhuming Xianzhou.
Instead, it launched a purely spiritual attack at Derick.
"Although the power in your body is much stronger than that old fool Huaiyan's, you're not as experienced as he is in dealing with me. Fine, I'll use your body as my vessel to leave the Zhuming Xianzhou."
The Incandescent Emperor's intangible form rushed into Derick's body.
When Derick had displayed the power of an Emanator just now, the Incandescent Emperor had been shocked, but not as shocked as it had pretended to be.
Its feigned shock was partly to deceive Derick and Huaiyan.
Derick had no experience dealing with it.
Perhaps it could possess his body.
With a physical form at the Emanator level, its escape from the Zhuming Xianzhou would be much smoother.
No, not just escape from the Zhuming Xianzhou.
That old fool Huaiyan had imprisoned it for so long.
It had to get revenge and kill that old man.
With the intent of possessing an Emanator's body and taking revenge on Huaiyan, the Incandescent Emperor entered Derick's body.
Huaiyan watched from the side as the Incandescent Emperor entered Derick's body.
His face was a mask of shock, and he was about to rush over with concern to check on Derick's condition.
However, he then saw that Derick's expression showed no signs of abnormality.
On the contrary, he looked completely unimpressed.
Derick truly hadn't expected the Incandescent Emperor to dare try and possess his body.
Because in his eyes, such an act was utterly suicidal.
"Ah! You... what kind of Emanator are you?! Voracity! The Hunt! Propagation! Why do you have so many chaotic things in your body, and all bestowed by the Aeons! Why?!"
Within his mind, the Incandescent Emperor's voice cried out in unwilling despair.
Subsequently, the Incandescent Emperor's will was directly shattered by Derick.
Its consciousness was blasted into a blank slate and was then simply absorbed by him.
In a normal fight, although the Incandescent Emperor couldn't beat Derick, it wouldn't have been defeated so quickly.
But it chose the most suicidal method to deal with him.
And so, it died just like that.
The Incandescent Emperor's immense spiritual power all became nourishment for Derick.
Derick looked at Huaiyan, who was watching him with a worried expression, and quickly said, "Elder Yan, I'm fine. However, the Incandescent Emperor's consciousness has been completely annihilated by me."
"This..."
Huaiyan looked at Derick speechlessly, then turned his head to look at the large mass of energy left behind by the Incandescent Emperor.
"How should we handle this situation?"
If Derick had encountered this under any other circumstances, he certainly wouldn't have passed up such a massive amount of energy and would have absorbed it all.
But now, this energy had a more important purpose, so Derick could only stop after absorbing the Incandescent Emperor's spiritual power.
The Zhuming Xianzhou needed the Incandescent Emperor to provide power for its operation.
Without it, the ship would face a major problem.
Derick knew this, but he had no choice once the Incandescent Emperor tried to possess him.
After the Incandescent Emperor entered his body and its consciousness was annihilated, even if Derick released its spiritual power, it would be impossible to coalesce this energy body.
Seeing the troubled Huaiyan, Derick said to him, "Elder Yan, since the Incandescent Emperor is gone, why not find another Heliobi to maintain this power?"
"Another Heliobi?"
Hearing Derick's suggestion, Huaiyan thought for a moment before both of them turned their gazes to Huohuo, who was standing to the side.
To be precise, they were looking at the tail on Huohuo.
Being stared at by two Emanator-level powerhouses, Tail couldn't help but tremble.
"Wh-what about me?" Tail asked, shivering.
Huaiyan looked at Derick inquiringly.
"Can it work?"
"It should. This tail's origin is not simple. Besides, its nature is much better than the Incandescent Emperor's. As long as you don't actually lock it up, it won't be a big problem."
Derick assured Tail.
"We wouldn't do that. We just need it to coalesce the Incandescent Emperor's energy. Letting it leave with a condensed ball of power later on won't be an issue either," Huaiyan promised Derick.
"Then let's do that."
Derick then walked over to Huohuo and said to Tail, "Tail, I have a great opportunity for you. If you handle this well, both you and Huohuo can benefit greatly from it."
If Tail were to carry this power, it would essentially become the new Incandescent Emperor.
And because of her long-term coexistence with Tail, Huohuo's body would inevitably be able to receive a lot of power from the Heliobi.
Once Tail was strengthened, Huohuo's own power would also see significant improvement.
"Really?"
Hearing Derick say this, Huohuo's expression was a mixture of shock and delight.
"Of course. I'm not one to lie."