Chapter 335 - Leaving the Divine Storm Palace (1/2)
”You...!” Chengban had to forcibly suppress his anger through gritted teeth. ”I will use treasures in exchange for this bet! What do you want in return?”
With everyone's eyes on him, even Chengban could not shamelessly refuse to acknowledge the earlier bet.
Therefore, he could only propose an alternative.
For country bumpkins who did not even belong to a major influence, surely promise of treasures would be too tempting to resist!
But what Chengban failed to recognise was that Lu Tianzi had even rejected an offer to become a core disciple of the Divine Storm Sect, so how would he care for the treasures that Chengban had to offer?
Lu Tianzi simply continued standing there, smiling at Chengban without saying a word.
”Do you want to do it now, or would you prefer I do it for you?” Dongquan Juewei could not watch on anymore. He just wanted to get this whole fiasco over and done with.
Chengban's expression darkened when he heard those words, and more so when he saw the looks of schadenfreude on the faces of the members of the Southern Faction.
Even some of the guests were wearing looks of amus.e.m.e.nt on their faces, seemingly not even trying to hide it.
How humiliating!
And yet, there was no helping it.
On this day at least, Dongquan Juewei was the man of greatest authority.
There was simply no defying his instructions.
Chengban glared at the hateful Lu Tianzi while slowly raising his trembling hand. With gritted teeth, he put strength behind his arm before slapping himself.
Pa-!
Pa-!
Pa-!
Three consecutive strikes resounded clearly across the silent main hall.
Chengban did not compromise on the strength behind the slaps.
He could not.
If he had compromised on the strength of the slaps, it would only be even more humiliating in the eyes of others!
”Are you satisfied now?” Dongquan Juewei asked with a tone that was as cold as before.
”I didn't want things to come to this either, but I believe it is only right to honour any bets made. I believe that's a virtue that the great Divine Storm Sect would advocate as well,” Lu Tianzi clasped his fists towards Dongquan Juewei. ”Sir Dongquan, if there's nothing else, I'd take my leave.”
”Go,” Dongquan Juewei's eyes shone with malice. ”But please be careful from now on. After this incident, people who aren't fully in the know might actually think that you are on bad terms with the Divine Storm Sect and target you because they want to curry favour with us. We will try to clear the air about this matter as soon as possible, but it'd be best if you stay cautious as well.”
Lu Tianzi narrowed his eyes and smiled. ”Thank you for the warning, Sir Dongquan. I will be careful.”
Dongquan Juewei turned back to the host of the ceremony. ”Continue.”
”Y-Yes!” the host quickly answered.
Nobody was interested in the host as he introduced the next item on the list.
All eyes were on Lu Tianzi and Nanlan Qianxue as they were led out of the main hall by a servant.
The servant was extremely tense from the stares, and even Nanlan Qianxue could not help but fidget uncomfortably.
Mengxi sighed in her heart. She knew that this was not going to be the end of it.
Even if the Divine Storm Sect did not do a thing, Dongquan Juewei's words at the end were like a signal to everyone who wanted to earn brownie points with the sect.
All of them would be begin to target Lu Tianzi just so they could gain a better standing in the eyes of the Divine Storm Sect.
In the end, it might have been a good thing that Lu Tianzi did not join their Southern Faction.
With his reckless personality, he might just do the faction more harm than good.
It was indeed as Dongquan Juewei said – talent alone was not enough to survive in this world!
Yet despite everyone's thoughts, it looked as though Lu Tianzi himself was oblivious to the danger he was in.
He completely ignored everyone's attention that had gathered upon him, exuding an air of confidence as he followed the servant out of the main hall.
”D-Do you wish to return to your room?” the servant asked nervously after they left the main hall.
”Don't worry, we didn't leave anything behind,” Lu Tianzi shook his head. ”Just lead us to the exit.”
”Okay...” the servant did not want to dally further, quickly bringing them to the main exit of the Divine Storm Palace.
”Let's go,” Lu Tianzi said to Nanlan Qianxue before heading straight for the city gate.
Nanlan Qianxue did not question Lu Tianzi's actions, simply following behind him in silence.
To everyone else on the street, they appeared to be just another passerby. But only they themselves knew what situation they were in.
Time was not on their side.
Before the banquet ended, they had to get as far away as possible!
Mengxi was not the only one who understood the underlying meaning behind Dongquan Juewei's words.
After having gone through so much, how could Lu Tianzi not know that it was not merely a threat?
It was equivalent to putting a bounty on their heads, calling everyone to punish them for the sake of the Divine Storm Sect!
Lu Tianzi knew this for a fact, and Nanlan Qianxue surmised as much from Lu Tianzi's actions.
Even so, the two of them did not hurry, maintaining a steady pace until they finally reached the city gate.
Speed was not the only thing that mattered.
Apart from that, they also had to put on a facade of not knowing that they were being pursued. Only then would any pursuers let down their guard, delaying any actions for the moment.
But everything changed the moment they exited the city gate.
”Go!” Lu Tianzi told Nanlan Qianxue through voice conveyance.
The two of them immediately sped up, shooting off into the distance.
Behind them, there were some people whose expressions suddenly changed.
The attendees of the wedding banquet were all people of at least a certain status, and all of them naturally had their own subordinates. These people might not have left the venue, but many of them had already passed down instructions to their subordinates waiting outside, asking them to keep an eye on Lu Tianzi and Nanlan Qianxue.
Having received their orders, their subordinates had been tailing Lu Tianzi and Nanlan Qianxue since they left the Divine Storm Palace, satisfied with the casual pace that the duo was taking.
Who knew that they would suddenly speed up like that?
”Damn it! Give chase!”
”Don't let them out of our sights!”