Chapter 464 – Negotiations Gone Wrong
After some time, Yan Tianhen knocked on the door and came in. “Master, Martial Uncle, Yin Xinghan came to our door with a man and a woman and said they wanted to cooperate with us.”
You Ming raised his head, slightly stunned. “How can there be such a brazen, despicable, and shameless person?”
Yan Tianhen, “….”
In the reception hall, the atmosphere was not very good for a while.
“The Jade Cicada King is really amazing. He kept you hidden from my eyes for so long.” Yin Xinghan smiled, but it made people uncomfortable.
Lin Xuanzhi continued to drink tea with a mild expression, directly treating him as air.
You Ming walked over in a breezy manner and started speaking before he had even reached them, “I smelled a terrible stench from far away and thought that something had rotted. Now that I’ve seen you guys, I know why.”
Yue Suhua and Lord Chuibi turned their heads and saw You Ming, who had restored his original appearance. They saw him in a black robe, with his long black hair that was knee-length loosely draped behind him, as if he had just woken up from sleep. With a black ribbon and red bead on his forehead, his face was so bright and handsome that it made people feel ashamed.
When they saw a You Ming who looked like this, Yue Suhua and Lord Chuibi’s complexions both changed. He had this exact appearance — dressed like a black chicken — when he went crazy a few years ago, coming to the Royal Heavenly Palace to look for Yan Zhonghua and turning the entire city upside down.
You Ming was probably born for destruction. By himself, he stirred up chaos for the Yan family and caused great pandemonium in the entire city, making everyone anxious and restless. Although the consequences weren’t very serious, once they remembered those days when they weren’t able to sleep peacefully, Yue Suhua and Lord Chuibi felt terrible.
Even Lin Xuanzhi couldn’t help but be stunned when he saw You Ming’s appearance. In the past, he had only seen You Ming’s disguised appearance, so this was the first time that Lin Xuanzhi saw his real face. His surprise was due to no other reason than the fact that this appearance was very similar to Yan Tianhen’s features reflected in the mirror that could show one’s true appearance.
Yue Suhua was the first to speak, and her voice was soft as she smiled, “Demon Venerable You Ming is right. These stinky men don’t smell very good.”
The smelly man Lord Chuibi cast Yue Suhua a look from the corner of his eyes.
However, You Ming also smiled, bright and gorgeous. “Even if you deliberately flatter me, I still have no good feelings for you all — just a group of sc.u.ms who can only play dirty tricks behind the scenes.”
“You Ming, don’t go too far!” Yin Xinghan’s anger couldn’t be restrained, and a strong pressure burst out of his body. Yan Tianhen frowned, feeling a little uncomfortable.
You Ming suddenly became energetic as well. “What’s the matter? You guys delivered yourselves right to my door; do you want to fight? Come, come, come. Fight, fight, fight. As if this Venerable is afraid of you all!”
Yue Suhua covered her lips and laughed a few times.
As soon as Lord Chuibi opened his mouth to speak, he heard You Ming say, “The East Sovereign is an infatuated and single-minded person, but it’s quite a pity for that delusional sister of yours. Tsk tsk, if I were her, I would’ve definitely already become a monk by now, accompanied only by the lamps and Buddha statues for the rest of my life, never daring to come out to see anyone again in this lifetime.”
“You…You Ming…”
Yue Suhua hurriedly pressed down on Lord Chuibi’s shoulder, comforting him, “Don’t argue with him. He’s nothing more than an abandoned wife who fell out of favor. I don’t see King Ye being kind to him either.”
You Ming’s face became cold, and his fingers clenched so much they emitted cracking sounds.
Lord Chuibi coldly glared at You Ming, looking as though he would start fighting in the next second. The atmosphere was tense for a moment.
Esteemed Lan Yue stood by and watched coldly. When he saw that they really would start fighting unless someone stopped them, he spoke up, “What are you guys here for? Is it just to argue?”
“Naturally not.” Yue Suhua smiled and let go of Lord Chuibi who was about to be pressed into the ground by her. She was very thankful that she had no dark history for people to poke at and spoke with a smile to Esteemed Lan Yue, “We are here this time to discuss a matter.”
“Spit it out!” You Ming cut a long story short.
“Aiya, what’s Demon Venerable You Ming in such a hurry for?” Yue Suhua said, “Right now, three of the five seals have been broken. To tell you the truth, we just obtained the Heavenly Thunder Tripod from the North Continent not long ago, and the Twin Lotus Lamp is here with you. The Four Directions Seal is about to appear. Instead of trying to kill each other and letting a third party take advantage of our situation, it’s better to put down our grudges for the time being and join hands to seize the Great Demon-Sealing Array first, so that other people will have no chance to s.n.a.t.c.h the treasure. After that, we will rely on our own abilities to fight it out. What do you think?”
After listening to her, You Ming didn’t even think about it before refusing, “This Venerable doesn’t think so.”
Yue Suhua’s smile cracked a little. “Then what is Demon Venerable You Ming thinking?
You Ming gave her a contemptuous look. “Do you think we’re stupid? The Jade Cicada King is in our hands right now. With it, what kind of barriers or great arrays can’t we find? You all just can’t find the entrance, so you want to take this opportunity to fish for information from us. If we secretly went to the Great Demon-Sealing Array without you, wouldn’t we also be happy?”
Yin Xinghan also regained his composure and argued, “You can’t say that. The Five Continents’ seal can be truly broken only by gathering together all five magic treasures connected to the seal. If we can’t cooperate right now, I’m afraid that it’ll be more difficult if we choose to cooperate when that time comes.”
You Ming replied, “Cooperation is naturally possible. Since you came in a hurry to flatter this Venerable, this Venerable is naturally willing to give this opportunity to my lovely grandchildren–provided that the remaining magic treasures belong to us. If this major premise is not met, then we have nothing to discuss!”
“You Ming, you are too petty!” Yue Suhua was simply fed up with You Ming’s disgusting temperament. “You guys want four of the five magic treasures. Do you think this is possible?”
You Ming sneered, “I think it’s very possible. After all, no matter how powerful you all are, you’re just newcomers in the Five Continents. It was just a fluke that you obtained the Heavenly Thunder Tripod. From now on, even if you want a magic treasure, I’m afraid that you won’t have a chance.”
Yin Xinghan’s expression darkened completely. “If that’s the case, then don’t regret it.”
You Ming responded, “f.u.c.k off and get lost. Don’t come here anymore; you’ll just disgrace yourselves.”
Yin Xinghan left a few ruthless words and glared at You Ming a few times. Before leaving with the other two people, Lord Chuibi stared at Lin Xuanzhi’s face for a moment and revealed a very strange sneer that people couldn’t understand.
“That person has a grudge against my Dage?” Yan Tianhen remembered Lord Chuibi’s uncomfortable smile.
“Obviously he has a deep grudge.” You Ming rejoiced in someone else’s misfortune as he explained, “His name is Ying Chuibi, and he has an older sister named Ying Linglan with the same father and mother. Ying Linglan had liked to pester Xuan Wushe ever since she was a child and would run to the East Lands whenever she had a chance. Everyone in the Nine Lands knew that Ying Linglan likes Xuan Wushe. Xuan Wushe’s mother was also very satisfied with this prospective daughter-in-law and even personally agreed to the two’s marriage twenty years ago. Xuan Wushe didn’t refute it at that time, but also didn’t agree to it. The Ying family took it for granted that the matter of Ying Linglan marrying into the Xuan clan was a foregone conclusion, and even had the wedding robes made for Ying Linglan. Unexpectedly, n.o.body knew what suddenly went wrong with Xuan Wushe’s brain, but when the wedding was right around the corner, he actually announced to the entire world that he already had a wife and will never marry a second person in this life.”
Yan Tianhen couldn’t help glancing at Lin Xuanzhi. “The Patriarch of the Xuan clan is quite bad. He agreed to this affair, but he actually got cold feet and regretted it. If I were Ying Linglan, I would definitely hate him to death.”
You Ming Tsk’d twice. “It’s not like that either. It’s always a matter of power and authority. It’s hard to say whether it’s right or wrong. In those days, the East Sovereign was also constrained everywhere and was suppressed by both internal and external forces. Even that biological mother of his was full of crooked thoughts, which made her hard to deal with. Besides, the marriage with the Ying family was personally facilitated by his mother. The Xuan family’s Matriarch isn’t anyone good. She was born in the Ying family, to begin with. Ever since the previous East Sovereign’s death, she had always wanted to change the Xuan family’s name to Ying. Her ambitions were obvious.”
Lin Xuanzhi didn’t want to make any comments on the East Sovereign. He had never seen this man before and didn’t know what kind of temperament he had, so naturally, he couldn’t judge this person.
“You turned down Yin Xinghan today. Judging from his reaction, he may become furious from embarra.s.sment,” Lin Xuanzhi reminded You Ming.
“As if I’m afraid of him. There are still many opportunities for him to become furious from embarra.s.sment in the future. On the other hand, you have to be especially careful about Lord Chuibi; he’s extremely petty.”
Yan Tianhen couldn’t help but sigh. “Before, he screamed at us and tried to kill us, but then changed his att.i.tude at the drop of a hat and now wants to cooperate with us. Could it be possible that these people’s brains are full of holes?”
You Ming smiled. “Right? Most people in the Nine Lands have holes in their brains. They have no eternal friends, but they also don’t have eternal enemies. Even if one side had killed the other’s father and destroyed their entire clan, when they need to cooperate, they would still get together and laugh as if they were mentally disabled. However, I will never cooperate with them.”
Not to mention how Lin Xuanzhi was slapped by Yue Suhua’s Great Reversal Palm; just based on the deep blood feud Feng Jingyu and Ling Chigu had with them alone, You Ming would never give them even a tiny bit of false pretense.
Lin Xuanzhi nodded. “The Jade Cicada King said that the entrance to the Great Demon-Sealing Array will open in three days. When will we leave?”
Esteemed Lan Yue answered, “There are many illusions and obstacles on Thousand Stars Island, and the vast sea is boundless. However, with the Jade Cicada King and an astrolabe as a guide, the difficulty will be much lower. We might as well leave early so we can arrive in time.”
Yan Tianhen added, “When we leave, we must leave quietly. We can’t let those bad guys find out.”
Esteemed Lan Yue smiled. “Those who live in the mountains naturally have their own tricks. They know how to ‘lure the tiger away from the mountain’ to strike the unguarded mountain, but can’t we also enact ‘the cicada sheds its carapace’ to pull a disappearing act?”
The next day, Lin Xuanzhi and the others set off in disguise.
They went straight to the beach near the small fis.h.i.+ng village. In order to prevent anyone from finding any clues, they directly hired a fisherman and a fis.h.i.+ng boat which could resist the wind and waves. They took advantage of the large number of people going to the sea. In recent days, in order to find the South Continent’s magic treasure, there were countless people who went out to the sea everyday, so Lin Xuanzhi and the others weren’t too conspicuous.
As the boat left the sh.o.r.e, Esteemed Lan Yue stood at the bow of the boat and looked towards the direction of the small fis.h.i.+ng village for a long time. He remembered his conversation with You Ming a few days ago.
“Three days later, you take them out to sea. I’ll stay here and use the puppet arts to draw these people away.”
“You must be joking, Elder Martial Brother. In terms of cultivation, you’re not higher than mine right now and in terms of deduction, I think I can’t compare with you. You have to do more mental work, while people like me who can only fight and can’t think are suitable for this kind of physical work. Naturally, I will stay here and lead them away.”
“It’s precisely because you don’t want to think too much and don’t want to use your brain, that you’ll suffer when you face Yin Xinghan. I have my own method to escape from their hands. What else do you have besides brute force?”
“Elder Martial Brother, I won’t be happy if you say that about me. Alright, alright, it’s not like I’m going to sacrifice my life. Those people still aren’t enough to enter my eyes. Even if I get hurt, I absolutely won’t die. I still have this confidence.”
Lan Yue could neither s.n.a.t.c.h anything from him nor win against him. This junior martial brother of his wasn’t stupid at all, but he clearly never used his brain in the right place. After some more arguments, Esteemed Lan Yue was still defeated by You Ming’s strong resistance. This time, Lan Yue was responsible for protecting the children out at sea as they searched for the magic treasure.