Ye Chen’s expression looked very gloomy. He gave Ye Zifeng a freebie to get something that he wanted, but if Ye Zifeng goes too far, Ye Chen would definitely try to fight back. Afterall, he was still one of the more respected elders of the clan and Ye Zifeng should not be able to defy him.
Ye Zifeng’s expression looked respectful, “Wow. Second uncle is sure direct. I, Zifeng won’t be too harsh then.” He smiled and held up four fingers.
Ye Chen looked at this, confused, “What do you mean by this?”
“Give me four hundred gold coins.”
Ye Chen lightly sighed, “You want money?” All these years of being in the Ye clan, he had taken a lot of bribes and have stashed up quite a bit of money. To Ye Chen, giving away some money wasn’t a problem.
“If you want money, that’s fine. However, don’t you think overvaluing yourself?”
In the Ye clan, even Tang Feng, the master’s wife only got around 50 gold coins in a month. However, this Ye Zifeng actually wants eight months worth of allowance of her allowance in one go?
Ye Zifeng shook his head, “I’m still the young master of the Ye clan. My life is worth way more than 400 gold coins. Actually, it’s a bargain for you. To the other clan members, 400 gold coins is a bit of a problem but to second uncle, it shouldn’t be much.”
Ye Zifeng knew that the Liu clan and Ye Chen had some fishy things going on. He knew that the Liu clan would privately send some money over to Ye Chen for some favors. It seems like the fall of the Ye Clan wasn’t all because of Ye Zifeng. Ye Chen probably played a part in it as well.
Ye Chen’s expression change and looked calmer, “Fine. fine. Fine. Ye Zifeng, I don’t know what kind of medicine you ate to become so daring lately. You even dare to solicit money from your second uncle.”
Ye Chen took a long pause and then continued, “Fine. I’ll promise you. 400 gold coins. It’ll be for you medical fees. However, before I give it to you, you need to make a blood oath…..”
“Fine. I, Ye Zifeng will make a blood oath today. When I receive the 400 gold coins from Ye Chen, I will not talk with anyone about the furnace explosion. If I were to break the oath, I will be struck by the heavenly tribulation lighting, and be consigned to eternal d.a.m.nation.” While saying that, he bit his thumb, infused his qi with his blood and scattered it all over the floor.
“Alright. When you finish applying medicine to your back, come to my room and i’ll give you your 400 gold coins.”
“Alright. Deal.”
The two smiled at each other. For two people who hated each other, it was a miracle that they were able to reach such an agreement.
Ye Chen had no choice but to agree to Zifeng’s terms. He was a cautious and prudent person. It was because his son couldn’t beat Ye Zifeng that he had to rely on underhand methods. This time, even though he didn’t kill Ye Zifeng, everyone in the clan suspected that he was related to the incident. If he make any suspicious movements right after what just happened, he will definitely be found out. When Ye Chongtian comes back, he will definitely be killed. So right now, what Ye Chen needs to do is to have a temporary truce with Ye Zifeng. Using some money to shut him up was the best course of action.
Ye Chen hesitated a bit but then asked, “However, I still have a question. Can you give me an explanation…….”
Ye Zifeng smiled, “ Go ahead and ask.”
“Actually, I didn’t want to kill you this time around. I made Huichi put just enough explosives in the furnace to destroy the furnace. What I don’t understand is how this little amount of explosive was able to injury you so severely. When Huichi and I saw your back, we were very shocked. We didn’t understand how that could happen.”
Ye Zifeng calmly looked at him and then his mouth suddenly curved up. He glared at Ye Chen with eyes filled with coldness.
“When a furnace explodes, do you think that a cultivator like me would have the same injury as a commoner?”
Ye Chen was startled. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing, “Are you saying….. You did this on purpose…..” When he said that, he unconsciously moved back a few steps.
“That’s right. When the furnace exploded, the shockwave wasn’t that strong. If I use my qi to defend myself, I wouldn’t even be injured at all. At most, my clothes would be torn. But in the heat of the moment, I thought of something. I thought of a way for people to suspect that you guys were behind everything. Thus, I didn’t use any qi to defend myself and sacrificed my body.”
“You….. To make other people suspect me, you would actually do something like this?” Ye Chen gasped.
“If I wasn’t injured and the furnace exploded, the story would be exactly how Huichi described it. Everyone would think that it was my inability to refine pills. But now… what do you think people are thinking?” Ye Zifeng’s glare was as cold as ice. Each and every one of his pierced through Ye Chen’s heart like blades.
Other than those kids who don’t understand things, everyone else were probably suspecting Ye Chen.
Ye Chen bitterly smiled and shook his head. Just what kind of person did he provoke. He was a hairless brat. How did he have the willpower and determination to use his own body in order to put the blame on him.
These four hundred gold coins. Ye Zifeng deserved it.
……
Two hours later, Ye Zifeng got his four hundred gold coins and returned to his room.
Outside of his room, Ye Xueyi had been pacing back and forth for a while now. When she saw the Ye Zifeng had finally returned, she quickly ran up towards him.
“Brother Zifeng, did second uncle threaten you or something? I wrote a letter to father, and told him to come home quickly!” Ye Xueyi was very anxious and worried.
Ye Zifeng chuckled and replied, “Don’t worry. Second uncle and I came to an agreement. This matter is finished. He won’t do anything to me again and I won’t expose his doings. Besides, he gave me four hundred gold coins as compensation.”
Saying that, he put the bag of money on the table.
Ye Xueyi was stunned. Four hundred gold coins was a lot of money. It wasn’t easy to solicit any money from Ye Chen at all. To the members of the younger generation like Xueyi, this was a colossal amount of money. With this amount of money, he can probably get a new furnace and a bunch of other things!
Thinking about the possibilities, Xueyi asked her brother, “Brother Zifeng, are you going to buy a new furnace and bring it back home?”
Ye Zifeng shook his head, “No way. If I bring it back here, the clan members would suspect something and pay more attention to me. It’ll be hard for me to refine pills here. Also, that stupid brat Huichi might do something dumb and break my furnace again. I’ll need to watch it every day. It’ll be bothersome.”
*Puchi* Ye Xueyi snickered.
“What are you laughing at?”
“Back then, Huichi hated the fact that you were a r.e.t.a.r.d. But now, you’re the one calling him stupid brat.
Ye Zifeng was amazed. It seems like the old Ye Zifeng was not only sick person and a good for nothing, but he was r.e.t.a.r.ded as well? Inconceivable…..
“Alright. Let’s not talk about this.” Ye Xueyi can see that her brother was in a predicament, “Now that your furnace is broken and you can’t refine in the house anymore, what’re you going to do?”
“Well I plan to go to the pill shop in the morning tomorrow and then I’ll see what happens afterwards. If they have any furnaces in stock, I’ll buy it and hide it somewhere in the wilderness. I’ll also cultivate and refine pills there so I don’t waste any time traveling back and forth.” Ye Zifeng thought about it and answered.
“Refine pills outside the city? Wuuu……..” Ye Xueyi muttered to herself. “That’s fine too then. If you need anything when you’re there, you can ask me to come any time. I’ll try my best to help you out. If I can’t help you out, I’ll get mother to come and help out too.”
Ye Zifeng smiled and patted her head lightly, “How can you sell your mother out like that. If I was your mother, I would feel extremely sad at what you said just now.”
Ye Xueyi laughed embarra.s.singly. Her face turned red and she pushed Ye Zifeng.
Being pushed, Ye Zifeng’s back hit the wall as he stumbled backwards. He had a painful look on his face as he started to breathe harder.
“Brother Zifeng. I’m sorry. I got too excited that I forgot you were injured.” Ye Xueyi softly apologized filled with regret.
Ye Zifeng forced a smile, “Don’t worry about it. I’ve already applied medicine. This is only a light injury. After resting for a bit later, it’ll get better tomorrow.
Xueyi apologetically nodded, “Well brother Zifeng, it’s getting late so I won’t bother you anymore. When you sleep, you have to be careful.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be careful.”
Ye Xueyi turned around and took a few more glances at Zifeng before she finally left. Today, Ye Zifeng had risked his life to save her. She was very moved by his actions.
After Ye Xueyi left, Ye Zifeng finally let out a deep breath. His face turned more and more pale. It seems like his injury was more serious than he thought.
He was acting strong in front of the entire Ye clan, in front of Ye Chen and then in front of Ye Xueyi. Now, he couldn’t hold it anymore. The pain in his back felt as if thousands of blades had pierced it. He was in so much pain that he wanted to rip his entire back off.
He took this risk because he wanted to win against Ye Chen. When the explosion happened, he really didn’t use any qi to defend himself. He put his life on the stakes in order to win. If the Ye clan members didn’t come quickly and if the doctor didn’t apply the medicine in time, then Ye Zifeng might really have died.
Ye Zifeng sat crossed legged and started to use his qi to treat his injuries.
When he started to circulate his qi, an evil qi suddenly appeared as well. The evil qi did not harm him but it made the red veins on his arm clearer and clearer. The most important thing was that when his red veins started to expand, the qi started to treat his back. Very quickly, his back started to recover and scar up.
Ye Zifeng was shocked at what just happened.
“What the h.e.l.l is this? Could it be that not only can this martial spirit help me attack, but it can also help heal me?”