Chapter 555 - Arrogance (1/2)

“I know what to do. Why are you so anxious?!”

The brusque remark made many heads turn this way and the atmosphere turned suddenly palpably still. Whispering from over his shoulder, Yang Qing cautioned him. “Urm… Brother Xiao…”

Xiao Chen said nothing. He waved a hand as if dispelling an imaginary smog of unease and leaned back into his chair. The servant came back just moments later and spoke softly into Lord Black Sand’s ear, saying, “It’s confirmed, my Lord. It can be done.”

The commander of the Black Sands did not take his feet off the table. Still leaning heavily into his chair, he waved the servant away and narrowed his eyes at Xiao Chen, nonchalantly saying, “All right then. Tell me, where are these people now?”

“With the Black Horns.”

Despite his muffled tone, Xiao Chen’s voice rang like a tower bell on the words “Black Horns” in the silence of the hall that the same awkward silence pervaded the entire length and breadth of the chamber once more, and more eyes turned around again. Hardly anyone presented failed to catch the rumors about how a thousand Black Horn soldiers were killed in one single night, including how two of their Halls were utterly decimated.

The look on Lord Black Sand’s face hardened at those words. He removed his feet from the table and shifted himself uneasily in his chair. Looking deeply into Xiao Chen’s eyes, he asked, “Which part of the Black Horn?”

“One of the Twelve Halls, Wuyan Chamber.”

Lord Black Sand’s expression changed, as taut as a bowstring. Coolly, Xiao Chen asked again, “What is it? Is there any problem?”

“Hahahaha!” the commander of the Black Sands threw his head back in a boisterous fit of laughter. “Be it the highest strata of the High Heavens, or the deepest abyss of the Underworld, rest assured that the Black Sands will finish the job!”

The servant standing as still as a statue at Xiao Chen’s flank broke into movement. The task of recovering targets from the gaols of the Black Horn was no easy feat and would certainly cost a king’s ransom, and that made Xiao Chen an important client.

He scurried off and returned with some drinks. Xiao Chen and Chu Qi sat at the table, whilst Yang Qing and the rest of the companions stood behind them. Hence believing them as the leaders of this party, the servant came with only two cups. One of them, he placed it before Xiao Chen, while the other, he placed it in front of Chu Qi. But he stole a glance at the girl, and her beauty mystified him for one fleeting second so that he accidentally spilled some tea on her shoulders.

Horrified, the servant wanted to use a napkin to wipe away the water. But he could not do so, not without offending the modesty of Chu Qi as a woman. He stared at the fair-white skin of her shoulder, aghast and not knowing what to do, stammering, “E-E-Errr… M-M-My apologies, my lady…”

“Fool!”

Lord Black Sand pounded a fist on the table. He hurled his cigar into the face of the servant, and reached a hand at the shivering man, magically summoning him into his grasp. He grabbed the poor man and slammed him onto the tabletop, then he drew a dagger from his waist and lanced its blade right through his hand, impaling it into the hard timber of the table with a sickening crunch of flesh and blood.

Under the man’s hand, a puddle of blood grew across the surface of the table as his screaming agony pierced the otherwise silence in the hall. Hundreds of eyes looked this way, but no one dared to utter a word.

“THIS IS MY GUEST! YOU SEEK DEATH, YOU FOOL?!” bellowed Lord Black Sand, his terrible rage in full display.

Two burly men, both fully-clad in black, but with their fully-tattooed chest peeking out, appeared. Lord Black Sand withdrew his dagger from the table and tossed the servant like a bag of filth to them, growling, “Toss him out. But take his hands.”

“AH!? Please, my Lord! My Lord! Have mercy—!” the servant begged and begged, but to no avail; the two burly men dragged him away to punish him.

Lord Black Sand returned his dagger to its sheathe on his waist and gestured for everyone to calm down. With a smile, he said, “My apologies for the disturbance. My fool of a servant needed some disciplining. I hope that hasn’t offended decorum.”

Xiao Chen hardly said anything. If anything, the whole brouhaha sounded more like an attempt to intimidate him. But he brushed it away casually, and went back into their subject, “How much will it cost? For two men?”

“Three million Spirit Stones,” said Lord Black Sand.

Xiao Chen frowned, “Three million?!”

“Three million APIECE,” shrugged Lord Black Sand, “That would mean six million stones altogether.”

Xiao Chen’s eyes burned with cold fury. Yang Qing placed a hand on his shoulder, “Peace, Brother Xiao…”

“Six million stones,” repeated Lord Black Sand again, “If you pay the sum now, we’ll get your men tonight.” He snapped a finger and another servant came up, producing another cigar.

He took a lazy sip and exhaled a smoke ring, then he asked, “So?”

“How about a question instead: do you know how high a heap six million Stones can be?” Xiao Chen asked coldly.