Chapter 931: Opening the Lion's Jaws

It was not that Yuwen Yan had lost his composure. After observing Zijin Cave's words and conduct, he understood perfectly well that this time Zijin Cave had made up its mind to bite off a piece. He no longer expected the matter to be settled merely by relying on face. There was truly no point continuing to circle around it with empty talk.

What he needed to consider now was how to resolve the problem while minimizing the loss.

But with Yuwen Yan speaking so directly, Gong Lince found it difficult to make his own appetite look too ugly. Exploiting another party's weakness to extort something from them still required a fig leaf. For the moment, it was not easy to simply name a price outright.

To put it pleasantly, even if he wanted to squeeze something out of the other side, he still needed reason on his side. Otherwise, Tianhuo Sect was not dead. If Zijin Cave could make trouble without justification, Tianhuo Sect could turn around and do the same to Zijin Cave's disciples.

"Elder Niu, you are directly involved in this affair. What do you think of Sect Leader Yuwen's words?" Gong Lince suddenly threw the question to Niu Youdao. Niu Youdao wanted twenty percent, so Gong Lince assumed he would naturally want the asking price to be as high as possible.

Put plainly, Gong Lince wanted Niu Youdao to be the one who opened the lion's jaws. Niu Youdao could serve as the buffer and the fig leaf, after which Gong Lince could step in to mediate and collect the benefit.

Niu Youdao was somewhat surprised. He had come prepared to sit quietly and listen without saying a word. He had not expected Gong Lince to call on him.

He was no fool. How could he fail to understand Gong Lince's intention? He had no desire to play the villain and let all Tianhuo Sect's anger be directed at him afterward. It would be far more appropriate for Zijin Cave to carry that black pot.

He had come this time precisely to extricate himself cleanly: cleanly on Zijin Cave's side and cleanly on Tianhuo Sect's side. He intended to borrow Zijin Cave's momentum to achieve his own objective while keeping the trouble from sticking to him. He had been planning for this for a long time.

So he refused to take the bait. He even had a perfectly proper answer. Rising, he cupped his hands respectfully toward Gong Lince. "I have no opinion. Everything will be decided by the sect!"

The words sounded simple and ordinary, yet they were watertight. Gong Lince could hardly take issue with them, while the people on Zijin Cave's side found them pleasing to hear. At the very least, Yan Li and the others could see that Niu Youdao was genuinely keeping his promise this time. He truly had handed full authority over the married couple to the sect.

Niu Youdao did not take this negotiation particularly seriously in the first place. He knew perfectly well that if Zijin Cave insisted on obtaining the right to dispose of the husband and wife, it would never settle for some token compensation from Tianhuo Sect. It would certainly open its lion's jaws wide.

And Tianhuo Sect would never allow itself to be butchered like meat on a board. Once the two sides found it difficult to reach agreement, Tianhuo Sect would inevitably try another possibility—and Niu Youdao had already reminded Tianhuo Sect of that possibility.

Everything that was happening today had already been prepared for. He was simply waiting here for matters to spread beyond the negotiating table and be resolved elsewhere.

For now, he would reveal no hint of anything unusual. He would neither make Tianhuo Sect suspicious nor anger Zijin Cave.

So as far as he was concerned, this entire negotiation was nonsense. He only needed to listen and watch. Of course, he had come personally in case events moved outside his plan. If anything unexpected happened, he would find a way to correct the course and bring matters back onto the track he had laid out.

Yan Li was finally reassured by Niu Youdao's attitude. What he feared most was Niu Youdao playing some trick.

Yuwen Yan glanced sidelong at Niu Youdao. He was already considering the contents of that mysterious letter. He had previously suspected it might have something to do with Niu Youdao, but there was no evidence whatsoever. More importantly, judging by the current situation, Niu Youdao did not seem to be the one calling the shots.

Gong Lince found it rather baffling. The fellow who was usually so overbearing and loud had suddenly become remarkably well-behaved. Whether Niu Youdao was merely putting on a show for outsiders or not, Gong Lince could hardly criticize him for refusing to cooperate. The man had kept his word and handed the matter over entirely to the sect. What was there to say?

Gong Lince could only nod slightly. Niu Youdao sat back down, looking every bit the obedient listener.

"Brother Gong, it seems you'll still have to name the price yourself." Yuwen Yan gave a cold laugh. He was no fool either and exposed the matter directly. "Stop circling around it. I can't follow all this winding talk, and it only makes things troublesome for you. How much do you want, or what do you want? Say it and let me hear."

He was deliberately pushing Gong Lince toward the word extortion. He wanted to establish clearly that Zijin Cave was extorting Tianhuo Sect. Once that was established, Tianhuo Sect would settle the account sooner or later. The people of Zijin Cave would not spend their entire lives hiding inside these mountains; sooner or later, some of them would have to travel outside. If Zijin Cave could do the first, Tianhuo Sect could do the fifteenth!

Gong Lince was not foolish enough to paste that label onto himself. His voice sank. "Brother Yuwen, that's not right. What do you mean, name a price? If you insist on measuring everything by price, then let me ask you this: how much is Zijin Cave's face worth, and how much is Tianhuo Sect's face worth? If you insist on putting it that way, then there is nothing more to discuss. The wager was signed willingly by both sides, with someone from All-Under-Heaven Money House as witness. A wager freely made must be honored. We can simply follow the agreement and spare ourselves any further argument that might damage the harmony between our sects."

His side would hold firmly to the matter of face. A Tianhuo Sect disciple had come to Zijin Cave and caused trouble without justification. A modest punishment and warning were only proper.

Yuwen Yan was infuriated by the other side's conduct of playing the whore while erecting a memorial arch to chastity afterward. Yet the same problem remained: Zijin Cave had reason entirely on its side, while Tianhuo Sect had come asking for a favor.

Yuwen Yan had no choice but to swallow his anger. "Then let's put it another way. What will it take for Zijin Cave to release them?"

Gong Lince said, "Releasing them isn't difficult. The difficulty is that we cannot release them too easily. Zijin Cave cannot allow people to come here whenever they please, cause trouble, and then walk away without consequence. No sect beneath Heaven works that way. If I simply let them go, how am I supposed to answer to the people below? I must give everyone in Zijin Cave some sort of accounting, mustn't I?"

Yuwen Yan asked, "What sort of accounting do you want?"

Niu Youdao listened from the side, secretly amused. After circling around and around, they had come right back to where they started, all for the sake of finding the right wording.

Gong Lince said, "An apology with compensation!"

Yuwen Yan said, "I apologized the moment I arrived. Was that still not enough?"

Gong Lince said, "A few easy words spoken from the mouth and the matter is over? Brother Yuwen, do you really think I can answer to my entire sect that way?"

Yuwen Yan said, "Then it seems you require something tangible."

Gong Lince asked, "Does Brother Yuwen think that is unreasonable?"

Yuwen Yan said, "What sort of apology will allow me to take them away?"

At this point, Gong Lince no longer stood on ceremony. "Neither of our sects reached where we are today easily. A sect's face is priceless. Since it is priceless, I won't make things impossible for Brother Yuwen. Let's put it this way: three hundred thousand warhorses, plus three hundred million gold coins!"

Niu Youdao's brow moved slightly. The asking price really was rather high. Still, he could understand it. If one was going to name a price, one naturally started high enough to leave room for bargaining.

The instant the words left Gong Lince's mouth, quite a few people on the Tianhuo Sect side shot to their feet, every one of them furious.

Yuwen Yan did not want the situation to become deadlocked. He immediately lifted a hand to stop them and motioned for everyone to sit and remain calm.

"Brother Gong, your asking price is excessive. You should know the situation with warhorses. Gathering three hundred thousand warhorses from across the entire State of Qi is already beyond what Tianhuo Sect alone has the authority to decide! And three hundred million gold coins? That's an astronomical sum. Where am I supposed to find that much money to give you? You say you don't want to make things difficult for me, but if this isn't making things difficult, what is?" Yuwen Yan demanded sharply.

Gong Lince was not angry. He asked in return, "Then how much does Brother Yuwen think Zijin Cave's face is worth? Why don't you tell me?"

He was allowing the other side to bargain.

Yuwen Yan said, "Deal with the matter itself. Stop dragging face into everything. Tianhuo Sect has apologized—that itself is giving you face. Three hundred thousand warhorses and three hundred million gold coins are impossible. At most, I will give you ten million gold coins! To compensate ten million over this affair already strips Tianhuo Sect of every bit of face and gives Zijin Cave more than enough. If what Zijin Cave truly wants is face, then you can kill Kunlin Shu and his wife right now. Tianhuo Sect will accept it!"

Killing Kunlin Shu now and destroying their own bargaining chip was obviously impossible. As for ten million gold coins, that was far below Zijin Cave's expectations.

The result was predictable.

The two sides immediately erupted into argument. Gong Lince and Yuwen Yan themselves did not quarrel; instead, the others on both sides began disputing furiously with one another.

Niu Youdao sat there watching the two sides argue without saying a single word. He was the quietest person present, conspicuously so. He also noticed Yuwen Yan glancing toward him from time to time.

Eventually, the argument reached the point where it was obvious nothing more could be settled for now, and the meeting was suspended.

The Tianhuo Sect party remained behind to consider the matter. Whatever the quarrel, there was still no shortage of food and drink for honored guests.

Gong Lince led the people from Zijin Cave away for the time being.

Once they left the guest quarters, Niu Youdao immediately prepared to split off and return on his own. Gong Lince stopped him. "Junior Brother Niu, come to the main hall with us and discuss the matter."

Niu Youdao shrugged. "Better not. I don't have any authority over the decision anyway. Besides, I've already handed the matter over to the sect. I keep my word. You can take your time discussing it. I'll go back first. Call me when negotiations resume." He cupped his hands and left, having no desire to get dragged into this tedious bargaining.

"We do all the work while he acts as though none of it concerns him. In the end, he only has to sit and wait for his share." Elder Mo Lingxue voiced a trace of dissatisfaction.

Yan Li sighed. "Senior Sister Mo, it seems you truly don't understand him. If he gets involved, I'm afraid things will change. I think it's actually a good thing that he can keep out of this."

Everyone watched Niu Youdao's departing back for a moment but said nothing further. Afterward, they returned together to the sect's council hall to continue deliberating.

When Niu Youdao returned to the Maolu Annex, Guan Fangyi, who had been waiting, immediately asked how the negotiations had gone.

Niu Youdao gave her a brief summary and told her not to concern herself with it. There was no chance the matter would be settled in one or two rounds. Their side would meet all changes by remaining unchanged. One word: wait!

Toward evening, the chanting of the monks from Nanshan Temple rose through the mountains as birds returned to their nests among the trees. Yuwen Yan arrived at the Maolu Annex with a group of people.

Faced with Zijin Cave's enormous demands and its posture of refusing to release its bite without tearing away a chunk, Tianhuo Sect had no choice but to seek another path. That mysterious letter had ultimately left a thorn in their hearts. In the end, they decided they ought to test the situation and see what they could learn before doing anything else.

Naturally, they did not tell Zijin Cave what they were thinking. They merely said they wanted to confirm that Kunlin Shu and his wife were still present and still alive. If the people were already gone, there would be no reason for Tianhuo Sect to continue negotiating.

Zijin Cave had no grounds to refuse such a request. They could only allow the other side to verify the hostages.

The setting sun was boundlessly beautiful, dusk dyeing layer upon layer of forest. The mountain woods, left to nature, were at their loveliest.

Yan Li arrived first and explained the situation to Niu Youdao.

He had only just finished speaking and obtained Niu Youdao's agreement when Yuwen Yan and the others arrived as well. Gong Lince had also brought several people to accompany them.

[End of Chapter 931]