[Xiao Xingchen did consider what the man now put to words, which had planted the seed of doubt. Charmingly clever and astute as his friend is, he surely would not give away his plan that easily. Is there another layer to this?]
... If you had not said such before, I would have immediately assumed you were trying to mislead me. [His friend can only play so many tricks before Xiao Xingchen gets (somewhat) wise to his act.] So I cannot discount the possibility that you've set up something more complicated here.
[A deception by telling the truth? Is such a thing possible? Xiao Xingchen doesn't know if that's the right way to think of it, but it's the closest descriptor he can come to for it. He wouldn't say such a thing aloud, of course, because the very idea of it sounds too harsh of an accusation for a bit of playing around. Still, he keeps walking forward even as he tries to make a decision regarding what statement to trust.
As the breeze dies down for the moment, he's likely to walk right into the hedge - this section lined with lilies of an unusually large size - at a dead end while he thinks of this.]
no subject
... If you had not said such before, I would have immediately assumed you were trying to mislead me. [His friend can only play so many tricks before Xiao Xingchen gets (somewhat) wise to his act.] So I cannot discount the possibility that you've set up something more complicated here.
[A deception by telling the truth? Is such a thing possible? Xiao Xingchen doesn't know if that's the right way to think of it, but it's the closest descriptor he can come to for it. He wouldn't say such a thing aloud, of course, because the very idea of it sounds too harsh of an accusation for a bit of playing around. Still, he keeps walking forward even as he tries to make a decision regarding what statement to trust.
As the breeze dies down for the moment, he's likely to walk right into the hedge - this section lined with lilies of an unusually large size - at a dead end while he thinks of this.]