Chapter 925: I Don't Do Such Despicable Things

"You..." Qian Fucheng was left choking with frustration. He had not expected Niu Youdao, after agreeing so readily, to pull something like this.

How could Kunlin Shu be left here? Whether or not Qian Fucheng could account for the matter after returning, so long as he brought Kunlin Shu back with him, the trouble would be greatly reduced.

No matter what, Kunlin Shu, who possessed Tianhuo Sect's supreme secret art, could not be allowed to fall into an outsider's hands. And this was no ordinary case of falling into an outsider's hands—he was going to become a slave. Once he became a slave, would he not have to do whatever his master told him? What if he were ordered to hand over Tianhuo Sect's secret art? Taking ten thousand steps back, it would be better if Kunlin Shu met with some accident and died. Otherwise, as far as Tianhuo Sect was concerned, even ten thousand deaths would not absolve Qian Fucheng of the blame.

He regretted it. Bitterly, desperately regretted it. Even now he was still asking himself why. Why had he ever agreed to conditions like those?

Niu Youdao said, "Elder Yan, please trouble yourself to see Elder Qian out."

Qian Fucheng hurriedly said, "Elder Niu, you can keep Fire Phoenix here as a hostage. So long as she remains, I guarantee Kunlin Shu will return after he comes out of Sacred Realm and honor his promise."

At those words, Kunlin Shu's cheeks tightened, but he had no face to say anything.

Niu Youdao said, "There's no need. See the guest out!"

Yan Li did not feel in the least as though he had become Niu Youdao's errand runner. Niu Youdao ordered him around as naturally as could be, and Yan Li cooperated just as naturally, without the slightest incongruity. He stood and gestured. "Elder Qian, please."

Guan Fangyi gave Yan Li a peculiar look. The phrase "habit becomes second nature" flashed through her mind.

Qian Fucheng still wanted to say something, but Yan Li's face hardened. In a deep voice he repeated, "Please!"

Reality was cruel. Before all this happened, they might still have weighed the matter and shown Qian Fucheng a measure of face. Now that Qian Fucheng himself was in danger of losing his position, Yan Li had far fewer scruples.

Looking at the people around him watching like tigers, Qian Fucheng had no choice but to yield to reality. Before leaving, however, he still warned Kunlin Shu, "Kunlin Shu, Tianhuo Sect has treated you well. Don't forget the dire oath you swore before the match!"

Kunlin Shu knew exactly what he meant. In order to persuade Qian Fucheng to agree before the match, he had sworn that no matter what the outcome was, he would never reveal the sect's secret art to anyone.

A dire oath? What oath? Niu Youdao raised a brow slightly and glanced toward Kunlin Shu.

"This disciple will not forget. No matter what happens, I will never violate that oath." Kunlin Shu made the promise again.

"I hope you keep your word." Qian Fucheng gave a cold snort, flung out his sleeve, and left.

Yan Li did not bother seeing him far. Things had already become ugly enough that there was no point showing more courtesy. He simply ordered someone to escort Qian Fucheng out of the mountains.

Kunlin Shu stood beneath the eaves watching him go, utterly dispirited. Niu Youdao strolled over, clasped his hands behind his back, and stood beside him. After watching his expression for a while, he slowly said, "I told you before that this road was one you chose yourself. Don't regret it. Kunlin Shu, everyone has to take responsibility for what he does."

Yan Li strode back toward them. Seeing the two men talking, he began pacing below the steps as though nothing were happening. In truth, it would not have been wrong to say he had pricked up his ears to eavesdrop.

Kunlin Shu said painfully, "Elder Niu, I want to see my Junior Sister."

He and Fire Phoenix had been separated. Niu Youdao feared that the two of them might do something foolish together. They were, after all, Tianhuo Sect disciples, and Fire Phoenix had even volunteered to accept those conditions for Kunlin Shu's sake. Niu Youdao therefore had no choice but to guard against it. He had no intention of letting what had already fallen into his hands slip away after all this effort.

Niu Youdao said lightly, "Calm down first. I understand how the two of you must feel after something like this. I won't stop husband and wife from seeing each other, but you'll have to wait until both of you are emotionally stable."

Yan Li glanced over and muttered inwardly that Niu Youdao really had begun treating them as his own people. He seemed rather attentive.

Guan Fangyi leaned a shoulder against one of the pillars beneath the eaves, round fan swaying in her hand. She too had her ears pricked.

Kunlin Shu's voice trembled. "I've wronged Junior Sister. I want to see her. I want to know how she's doing."

Niu Youdao said, "Don't worry. So long as you're fine, she'll be fine."

But Kunlin Shu pleaded again and again to see her. At that moment he no longer wanted to think about Tianhuo Sect. He only wanted to see Fire Phoenix.

After studying his expression, Niu Youdao fell briefly silent. "You can see her. I'll let you. But first you have to answer one question. It's something I've wanted to understand ever since I agreed to fight you."

Kunlin Shu immediately asked, "What question?"

Niu Youdao said, "Don't overthink it. I'm not trying to threaten you. There's simply something I haven't been able to understand. The difference between our identities and standing is enormous. How could Tianhuo Sect have agreed to let you come challenge me? Not only that, a Tianhuo Sect Elder personally brought you here and personally handled the matter. It doesn't make sense. I can't figure it out, and I want to know the answer. Can you tell me?"

Yan Li stopped pacing and listened closely. This was also why Zijin Cave had cooperated with Niu Youdao in tormenting Qian Fucheng's party. Naturally, Yan Li wanted the answer too.

Kunlin Shu remained silent for quite some time. In the end, he did not conceal it. "The sect originally refused. In fact, even now it has never agreed..."

He slowly explained what had happened. He told them that during his ten years of seclusion he had succeeded in cultivating the Heavenly Fire Limitless Art, Tianhuo Sect's supreme secret art that no one since the sect's third generation had been able to master. He told them that he wanted to challenge Niu Youdao, but the sect refused. Under sect rules, anyone who spent years in seclusion in the forbidden grounds had to repay the sect afterward, and the matter of Sacred Realm happened to arise at that time. The Sect Leader did not much want him to go to Sacred Realm, but he himself desperately wanted to challenge Niu Youdao. So he used the Sacred Realm matter to approach the various Elders, and that was how everything had come about.

Niu Youdao and Yan Li exchanged a glance. Both were somewhat surprised that this had been the situation.

Kunlin Shu's account was not especially detailed. Perhaps there were things unfavorable to Tianhuo Sect that he did not want to say. But neither Niu Youdao nor Yan Li was a fool. Yan Li in particular had spent his whole life navigating the internal affairs of a major sect. Naturally, he understood why Tianhuo Sect's Elders had agreed to let Kunlin Shu come challenge Niu Youdao.

Yan Li was a little disappointed. He had thought there might be some earth-shattering secret behind it. This was all? Zijin Cave had mobilized a whole crowd from top to bottom to help Niu Youdao torment those people just for this?

Yan Li looked at Niu Youdao with suspicion in his eyes. Had all of them been used by this fellow?

Niu Youdao raised his brows slightly. Yan Li was disappointed, but his own thoughts had gone in another direction. He muttered inwardly: So he really did master the Heavenly Fire Limitless Art.

To Niu Youdao, snagging a fighter like this was an unexpected delight. Who would have thought Kunlin Shu would fall into his hands for precisely this reason?

After mentioning that he had mastered the Heavenly Fire Limitless Art, Kunlin Shu added, "I swore a dire oath that I would never reveal the sect's secret art, and I will keep that oath." It sounded as though he were reminding certain people not to entertain ideas they should not have.

Niu Youdao smiled faintly. "Something only you have managed to master after all these years? I'm not interested, and I have no intention of wasting time studying it."

"I've told you the truth. Can I see Junior Sister now?" Kunlin Shu asked eagerly. He had only just married her, yet because of him she had already been reduced to slavery. His heart was full of self-reproach, and he was desperate to see her and speak with her.

Niu Youdao was direct. "I keep my word. I'll give the two of you a quarter of an hour. Is that enough?"

Of course it was not. Kunlin Shu wished he could stay with her constantly. But he seemed to possess no right to bargain, so he could only nod silently.

Niu Youdao immediately tipped his head toward Guan Fangyi.

Not long afterward, Fire Phoenix arrived with red, swollen eyes. One look told everyone she had been crying for a long time.

The moment husband and wife met, Fire Phoenix caught Kunlin Shu and looked over all the injuries covering him. She anxiously asked, "Senior Brother, how badly are you hurt?"

Kunlin Shu urgently asked her in return, "Junior Sister, they didn't do anything to you, did they?" He was plainly still haunted by Niu Youdao's earlier threat to find seven or eight men for her. Nor had he forgotten Niu Youdao's remark that his Junior Sister was rather pretty.

Husband and wife worried over one another, each questioning the other back and forth without end.

Yan Li found the whole thing rather dull.

Niu Youdao watched coldly from the side. Restrictions had been placed on both of them to prevent them from using their cultivation, and the time they had been given was limited. Unless they reached some agreement between themselves first, they were unlikely to do anything foolish immediately. Letting them meet briefly presented little risk.

As the allotted time was nearly over, Kunlin Shu was still repeatedly confessing his guilt and saying how he had wronged his Junior Sister. Niu Youdao suddenly cut in with a reminder. "Just now Elder Qian wanted to take the two of you back. I stopped him..." He then told Fire Phoenix what had happened when Qian Fucheng tried to take them away.

Yan Li looked at Niu Youdao in surprise, not knowing why he had suddenly chosen to mention this. He immediately began turning the words over in his mind.

After hearing it, Fire Phoenix looked toward Kunlin Shu. He nodded, confirming that this was indeed what had happened.

"Enough. Time's about up. Both of you calm yourselves properly for now." Niu Youdao tipped his head and gave the order. Fire Phoenix was taken away again.

Kunlin Shu became anxious and tried to follow, but someone restrained him. Once Fire Phoenix had disappeared from sight, Kunlin Shu immediately turned to Niu Youdao. "Don't hurt my Junior Sister."

Niu Youdao smiled. "That depends on whether you want your Junior Sister hurt. So long as nothing happens to you, naturally nothing will happen to her." He tipped his head again. Someone immediately came forward and led Kunlin Shu away as well.

Only then did Yan Li move closer. He warned, "He possesses Tianhuo Sect's supreme secret art. Tianhuo Sect will never willingly let him remain in your hands. They'll inevitably pressure Zijin Cave to return him. I doubt you'll be able to keep this man."

Niu Youdao clasped his hands behind his back and chuckled. "We'll talk about that when it happens. For now, I'm keeping him. By the way, has Qian Fucheng left?"

"You think he's in any mood to stay?" Yan Li asked in return. Then he shook his head and sighed. "He doesn't dare run, but he can't go back and account for the situation either. Even I'm worried for him. Brother Qian is in enormous trouble this time." He tilted his head toward Niu Youdao again. "Little Brother, you're the ruthless one. You brought in a money-house manager as a neutral witness. This time Qian Fucheng couldn't repudiate the wager even if he wanted to. If you ask me, this is a perfect chance to get a grip on Qian Fucheng..."

With something like this, witnessed by so many people, Niu Youdao considered it inappropriate to use the affair as a weakness with which to threaten Qian Fucheng. He replied casually, "I am, after all, an upright and honorable Elder of Zijin Cave. I don't do such despicable things."

"..."

Yan Li was speechless.

After Yan Li left, Niu Youdao strolled over to the place where Fire Phoenix was being confined. The moment he entered, he saw her sitting beside the couch wiping tears from her face.

She had only just married and things had already become like this. One could imagine her state of mind.

When she looked up and saw Niu Youdao enter, Fire Phoenix recoiled toward the wall in fright. Tense and nervous, she asked, "What do you want?"

She too remembered the remark someone had made about her looks.

Niu Youdao said, "Qian Fucheng wanted to take Kunlin Shu away. With that wager binding him, do you know what will happen to Kunlin Shu if he leaves Zijin Cave?"

[End of Chapter 925]