Chapter 300: Thunderous Fury

Tianyu Sect's stated reason was simple: Niu Youdao was cunning, and Feng Entai had very likely fallen into one of his schemes. Even if Feng Entai had made mistakes, the entire affair had begun because of Niu Youdao. Tianyu Sect had no intention of wiping Niu Youdao's ass for him. Once the permits were handed over to Niu Youdao, he could keep them, give them away, or sell them for money. Tianyu Sect would not interfere in any way. He could dispose of them however he pleased. There was only one condition. The matter could no longer have anything to do with Tianyu Sect. If Niu Youdao refused and made life difficult for Tianyu Sect, then he should not expect to live comfortably either. Tianyu Sect would no longer care whether the liquor profits suffered. It would immediately send men to Qingshan Commandery and wipe out the three sects together with every force belonging to Niu Youdao. Of course, Tianyu Sect was not an organization that broke its word. But that applied only so long as its own survival was not endangered. If Niu Youdao agreed, then Tianyu Sect would honor Feng Entai's promise concerning the liquor profits allotted to the three sects. Peng Youzai personally guaranteed it in his capacity as Sect Leader. He would not go back on his word.

Finally, the letter stated openly to Feng Entai that he was permitted to show it to Niu Youdao. Even Linghu Qiu's teeth hurt after reading the contents. Niu Youdao, by contrast, gradually calmed down. He handed the letter back. Feng Entai took it and passed it to the disciple beside him, then smiled ingratiatingly at Niu Youdao.

"Little Brother, you understand everything now?"

Niu Youdao said blandly, "Brother Feng, I forgot to tell you something. I came from the wild mountains. Truthfully, there are a great many characters I don't recognize. I can't read the thing. I couldn't be bothered finishing it." He clasped his hands behind his back and turned as though to leave. "Ah, what fine weather today."

"Cough, cough!" Linghu Qiu covered his mouth with one fist. Suppressing his laughter was painfully difficult.

"..." Feng Entai stared at him in disbelief. Illiterate? What kind of rotten excuse was that? He hurriedly grabbed Niu Youdao, snatched the letter back from the disciple, and tried to stuff it into Niu Youdao's hands.

"Little Brother, look again."

"Look at what? I told you I can't read. There's nothing I can do about that. You can all take your time reading it yourselves."

Niu Youdao refused to accept the paper.

"Don't!" Feng Entai clung to him. "If you can't understand it, how about I read it aloud to you?"

Niu Youdao spun around, snatched the letter from him, and jabbed a finger toward Feng Entai's nose. "Feng! You know better than anyone what actually happened. What the hell does it mean to call me cunning? What the hell does it mean that you fell into my scheme? Tell me honestly. What kind of bullshit did you report back to your sect just so you could shove responsibility away from yourself?"

"Impudent!" One of the Tianyu Sect disciples could no longer endure it.

He stepped forward to stop Niu Youdao from insulting his Martial Uncle.

"You want to fight?" Niu Youdao gave a cold laugh. "Heh! I'd love that. We might as well make the whole affair even bigger!" Then he suddenly roared, "Men!"

A rush of footsteps sounded outside. A group of cultivators immediately poured into the room, making the chamber feel cramped.

"What the hell are you?" Niu Youdao pointed at the Tianyu Sect disciple and crooked a finger toward him. "Since when was it your turn to step forward? Come on. If you've got the guts, make a move and let me see. Do you believe that if I kill you right here, you'll have died for nothing? I guarantee Peng Youzai won't utter a single word!"

The disciple flushed with rage and grabbed the hilt of his sword.

"Enough. Get out. Get the hell outside. This has nothing to do with you. Why are you blindly jumping into the middle of it?" Feng Entai grabbed him and pulled him back. Then he waved for all the unrelated people to withdraw as well.

Black Peony nodded. The disciples of the three sects gradually filed back outside. The Tianyu Sect disciple had no choice but to leave under humiliation.

Niu Youdao still called after him. "Don't go! Tianyu Sect is really irritating me right now. How does Peng Youzai manage to fill his sect with useless trash?"

The disciple whipped around furiously. Feng Entai waved repeatedly, ordering him to hurry away. Then he turned back to Niu Youdao with a smile. "Little Brother, is there really any need to make trouble for him? You're deliberately looking for a fight."

Niu Youdao chuckled. "Exactly. I'm deliberately looking for trouble. Tianyu Sect is pissing me off. So what if I curse Tianyu Sect a few times? Do you have a problem with that?"

"No problem, no problem. Little Brother, calm down. Calm down." Feng Entai patted the back of his hand soothingly. "Serious business comes first. Let's resolve the serious business."

Niu Youdao said, "If it's serious, then hurry up and resolve it."

Feng Entai said, "Why pretend you can't read? You saw what was written."

"The sect has given its order. This matter is to be handed to you. I don't dare disobey."

Niu Youdao said, "Handed to me? Then tell me how I'm supposed to resolve it."

Feng Entai coughed dryly. "Isn't the letter very clear? You can keep the permits, give them away, or sell them for money."

Even he sounded guilty saying it.

Niu Youdao laughed. "Oh, you make it sound so simple."

"Then what's the difference between you handling it and me handling it?"

"Old Feng, just how incompetent are you? Just how little does Tianyu Sect trust you?"

"This is supposedly such a simple matter, yet they don't even dare let you handle it."

"Then what the hell did Tianyu Sect send you here for?"

Feng Entai was as round-faced and genial as ever and surprisingly capable of swallowing humiliation.

He sighed. "Little Brother, fine. I admit I'm not as capable as you. Is that enough?"

"Just deal with the matter quickly. We really can't drag this out any longer."

Niu Youdao said, "Deal with it how?"

"Keep them?"

"You people don't dare keep these things, so you want me to keep them? That would mean I think my life is too long and I'm looking for a way to die."

"Give them away?"

"How?"

"Give them to whom?"

"Who would dare accept them openly?"

"And what use is giving them away secretly? Even if I somehow slipped them to someone in secret, that person might make killing me to silence the witness his very first move!"

"Sell them for money?"

"Who dares buy them openly?"

"There are crowds of people outside watching every move. You tell me who I'm supposed to sell them to."

"Go on. Teach me how to sell them."

"Even if I publicly burn every permit to ash, the emperor will be the first person to come looking for trouble with me. I'd be the first man he wanted dead!"

He slapped the letter in his hand and cursed furiously.

"Feng, you're really something."

"You created this mess, and now you want me to wipe your ass?"

"You begged me to stabilize the situation for you first, and this is what came out of it?"

"This is Tianyu Sect's answer to me?"

"I trusted you this much, and this is how you repay me?"

Feng Entai said awkwardly, "If you hadn't provoked that Grand Princess in the first place, where would all this trouble have come from?"

Niu Youdao laughed.

"Fine!"

"The great road faces Heaven. Each of us walks his own side."

"We'll each solve our own problems and have nothing more to do with one another!"

"Tianyu Sect can do whatever the hell it wants with Qingshan Commandery."

"I simply won't return to Qingshan Commandery. Will that do?"

"I refuse to believe I'll stop being able to live just because I leave Tianyu Sect behind."

"Ah!" Feng Entai grabbed him again.

"Little Brother, calm down. Calm down. I misspoke. I misspoke!"

"What I mean is, we can still think of another way."

Niu Youdao said, "Good. Then think of one for me."

"As long as you can come up with a good solution, I don't mind stepping forward to handle the matter."

Feng Entai sighed. "If I had a solution, I would've told you already. Would I have waited until now? Aren't you making things difficult for me?"

"Fine!" Niu Youdao's tone changed abruptly.

All the anger vanished.

He said calmly, "I won't make things difficult for you anymore."

"Running into you people counts as my bad luck."

"Let's do this. You leave. I'll shoulder the whole affair myself. How about that?"

Linghu Qiu, Black Peony, and the others all turned toward him at once.

Feng Entai stared. "Really?"

Niu Youdao nodded. "Completely. You people can leave."

Feng Entai said, "Fine. Then give me the agreement I wrote first."

Niu Youdao pointed toward the brazier nearby, at the ashes from the papers Yuan Gang had sent earlier.

"Burned."

"Burned?" Feng Entai stared in disbelief.

He immediately ran to the brazier and inspected the ashes. His face twitched. Something was wrong. The agreement he had written was only one thin sheet. How could it possibly have produced this much ash? He straightened up.

"Little Brother, stop joking."

Niu Youdao said, "I'm not joking."

"Are you leaving or not?"

"If you aren't, then we'll leave instead."

"Little Brother, curse if you want to curse, argue if you want to argue. This old brother made a mistake. I'll endure it. I'll admit it."

"But I have no road left to retreat along."

"Even killing me won't solve anything."

Feng Entai muttered those words, folded his arms, and raised his head to stare at the ceiling, looking as though he intended to plant himself here and refuse to budge.

Leave?

How could he leave?

Without getting back the agreement he had written, how was he supposed to go anywhere? The moment he left, Niu Youdao could immediately produce proof that the permits had been given to Tianyu Sect. With so many people hunting and intercepting him, could Feng Entai even escape the borders of the State of Qi? And even if he did escape, what about the trouble that would fall onto Tianyu Sect afterward?

As long as Niu Youdao refused to hand over what Feng Entai had written, Feng Entai could not possibly let him go. While Feng Entai was not looking, Niu Youdao gave Linghu Qiu a meaningful glance. Linghu Qiu understood and stepped forward to pull Feng Entai outside.

"Old Feng, come out first. I'll try persuading him again."

"Don't fool me. If he runs away, who am I supposed to find?"

"What would I be fooling you for? Just have your people keep watch."

Feng Entai was finally dragged away. The room became quiet. Niu Youdao, who had only moments ago been in a thunderous rage, instantly calmed down. He walked to the table and sat. His brows drew together as he stared silently at Tianyu Sect's secret letter and the ten exit permits lying there.

"Master Dao, what are we going to do?" Black Peony stepped closer and asked softly.

"Are we really abandoning everything in Qingshan Commandery?"

"Ah." Niu Youdao sighed.

"The Commandery Prince has placed great hopes in me."

"The Commandery Princess has lowered herself for years, combing and arranging my hair like a maidservant."

"How could that kind of affection and loyalty simply be discarded because I say so?"

"If I truly did that, I would genuinely become a petty man who betrays trust and abandons righteousness."

"And it would be a pity to throw away the foundation we've built over there."

"A man who abandons his lord and starts again somewhere else is already looked down upon by three parts before he even begins. Others may not trust him either."

"They certainly wouldn't give us the kind of freedom the Commandery Prince and Commandery Princess have."

"Tianyu Sect has gone too far in this matter, but as things stand now, we truly cannot afford for Tianyu Sect to collapse."

"For the time being, we still need its protection."

Black Peony asked, "Then what was all that with Feng Entai just now...?"

"You thought I lost my temper and cursed too viciously?" Niu Youdao chuckled.

"If I let him see clearly how difficult this is for me, I can force him to make concessions."

"And Tianyu Sect will understand that they owe us."

"If I accepted everything too quickly, wouldn't they start thinking it's only natural for me to work like an ox and horse for them?"

Footsteps sounded outside. The conversation inside stopped at once. Linghu Qiu strode back in and sat directly beside Niu Youdao.

"You had me drag him outside. What exactly are you planning?"

"Don't tell me you're really thinking of taking this entire matter onto yourself."

Niu Youdao said, "At this point, we'll take things one step at a time."

"Elder Brother, right now I need you to help me with something."

Linghu Qiu smiled bitterly. "Don't make things difficult for me."

"My so-called network sounds impressive, but that's only a pleasant way of putting it."

"In truth, I'm merely a broker who introduces people and builds connections."

"I'm nowhere near as capable as all of you imagine."

"With the power of the emperor of the State of Qi behind this affair, if I try to stir up waves in his hands, I'm afraid I wouldn't even be enough to fill the gaps between his teeth."

"Little Brother, I truly don't have a solution to this."

Niu Youdao said, "Elder Brother can hear what I need first. It won't be too late to refuse afterward."

Linghu Qiu said, "Go ahead."

Niu Youdao asked, "Do you know the people from those three sects on the surrounding mountains?"

[End of Chapter 300]