Iron Snow Clouds

Chapter 7250 (Seven Thousand Two Hundred and Fifty) is in
"You knew I wouldn't continue with 'And then?' when you said that, right?" the brown-handed man asked.

The gray-handed man said, "Yes."

The brown-handed man said, "That certainly lacks novelty. Let me think about it."

"What do you need to think about carefully?" Grayhand asked.

“It’s about creating novelty,” the brown-handed man said.

“Let’s forget about ‘manufacturing’,” Grayhand laughed. “I think we don’t need to think about it.”

The brown-handed man said, “You’re right. If we ‘manufacture’ it, it might feel forced and seem too deliberate. I’m sure you’d prefer me to be more casual.”

“That’s right,” said the gray-handed man.

“That’s why I didn’t mention earlier that there’s a middle ground between ‘acknowledging’ and ‘not acknowledging,’ and I happen to be in that middle ground,” the brown-handed man laughed.

"Did you really think that way before I said it?" Grayhand asked.

“I’ve only thought about something similar, not exactly the same as what you said, I admit that,” the Brown-Handed Man said. “I also want to emphasize that I’ve only thought about it.”

Grayhand asked, "Why didn't you say? Is it because what I said was similar to what you expected? Or is it because you thought it seemed too deliberate?"

“It’s because I thought it seemed deliberate,” Brownhand said. “Of course, when you said, ‘Don’t tell me there’s a middle ground between ‘acknowledging’ and ‘not acknowledging,’ and you happen to be in that state, I did think it was good I didn’t say it.”

"Are you still feeling fortunate?" the gray-handed man asked.

The brown-handed man said, "Yes."

The gray-handed man laughed and said, "Are you serious about this?"

The brown-handed man smiled.

"Are you serious or not?" the gray-handed man asked. "You can guess," the brown-handed man replied.

The gray-handed man said, "You're going in circles again. Let me ask you, wasn't your feint just now a bit too deliberate?"

The brown-handed man chuckled, “I think the feint might have been a bit deliberate, but not so deliberate that I wouldn’t do it myself. But if I said it was similar to the ‘intermediate state’ you just mentioned, then it would be too deliberate.”

The gray-handed man laughed and said, "I think you're being quite serious about this; at least you're not making a big joke."

The brown-handed man said, "That's right, I think so too."

The gray-handed man said, "I have another question for you."

"Is it related to what we just said?" the brown-handed man asked.

“It’s related,” said the gray-handed man. “It’s what we were just talking about.”

"How long ago were you saying that?" the brown-handed man asked.

The gray-handed man said, "It's very close to now."

“Then you speak,” said the brown-handed man.

"If it's something that's far removed from the present, are you not allowed to talk about it?" the Gray-Handed Man asked.

“I shouldn’t have said ‘that’,” the brown-handed man laughed. “I’ve made you misunderstand. I didn’t say that you’re not allowed to talk about things that are far removed from the present. Besides, how could I ‘allow’ or ‘not allow’ you to? Whether you talk about it or not doesn’t require my ‘permission’ at all, does it?”

“If you don’t want to hear it, I can choose not to say it,” Grayhand said.

“I know, I’d prefer you to do as you please,” said the brown-handed man.

The gray-handed man said, "Fine, whatever. Now I'll ask you, why can you accept the term 'cunning' but not the relatively less bad term 'slick talk'?"