Chapter 304: Decisions (1/2)
[Volume 5 – A Distance Within Reach]
The young warrior went mute on the spot. He managed to force out a few words as he watched Qianye calmly put on his clothes and then walk toward the door. “Don’t… be reckless! Our family… our family’s young master has something to say to you.”
He hadn’t even finished his words when he ran scuttling toward the courtyard.
Qianye walked to the door and saw that ten-odd people had arrived in this small courtyard, led by a tall youth. He had seen the relevant information and thus knew that he was the Song clan’s second young master, Song Zian. Yin Qiqi’s maternal lineage was attached to his branch of the Song clan. This person was one of the three champions of the younger generation and also recognized as first in combat strength.
Song Zian sized Qianye up from head to toe and said nothing. It felt to him that even speaking a couple of words to his brother’s subordinate was beneath him.
A follower beside him said, “So, you’re the Seventh Young Master’s guest warrior? Our second young master needs to use the cultivation chamber. Please vacate it! Afterwards, no matter how much compensation you want, we’ll reward you.”
Qianye’s fury completely calmed down at this point and his emotions were as calm as the water surface. Glancing at the crowd and recognizing the steward at the rear, he extended a finger and said, “You, come here.”
The steward didn’t dare speak directly after being picked out and said with an apologetic smile, “Well, Steward An, you see that Second Young Master has his reasons for doing this. All of this is for the examination. So, why don’t you switch to another room? After all, you’ve already cultivated for an entire day, right? Things like cultivation can’t be rushed…”
There were no fluctuations in Qinaye’s expression as he cut the steward short. “Is my time up?”
The steward was immediately drenched in sweat and said with a salute, “Well, there is indeed some time left…”
The follower from Song Zian’s party who had spoken just now shouted in dissatisfaction. “Brat, Second Young Master is waiting for your reply!”
Qianye ignored both the man and Song Zian’s somewhat unsightly expression. He only gazed fixedly at the steward and said calmly, “Since my time isn’t up, then why did someone open the cultivation chamber door?”
The steward forced out a few words. “This… I guess they were just a bit impatient.”
“Please bring over the elder on duty.” Qianye’s tone was neither high nor low and was devoid of any fluctuations.
“Eh? Elder?” The steward's sweat fell like rain.
“I remember there’s an elder on duty here every day. I wish to see the elder.”
The steward couldn’t help but bow down and said apologetically, “We don’t need to alarm the elder with this small matter, do we?”
“You have no right to decide whether or not this matter is small. Will you go and invite the elder or do I need to go myself?”
One of Song Zian’s followers could no longer endure. He stepped toward Qianye and said furiously, “Brat, you don’t want to be given face huh?”
Qianye lowered his gaze. Even under the cover of medicine, one could see that his hand on the gun had lost color and green veins were throbbing on the back. He inhaled deeply but ultimately decided not to act. Instead, he turned toward Song Zian and said coldly, “Does a stately Song clan second young master not dare to meet an elder?”
Song Zian finally frowned and gestured for that follower to return. “You’re called An Renyi, yes? This cultivation chamber is very important to me. How about this? State your terms and I’ll grant them as long as they’re not too excessive.”
Qianye raised his brows at Song Zian’s words and was quite surprised.
However, Qianye had no idea that Song Zian was actually forced into showing his weaker side due to the circumstances.
He hadn’t thought that a mere regional steward under Song Zining was actually so shrewd and ruthless in his conduct. He was neither servile nor overbearing, neither alarmed nor angry. So much that he hadn’t even gotten into an argument with his subordinates and only demanded to see the elder. He had originally wanted to use the conflict as a pretext, but now his calculations had all gone awry.
This way, the situation had become fairly tricky. Song Zian’s party was in the wrong in this matter. Regardless of who the on-duty elder today was, even if it was one who supported him, it would be very problematic if this matter was blown-up. Even if he and his followers could get off just fine, the steward absolutely wouldn’t be able to escape the crime. He would certainly be sacked and investigated.
No matter how mediocre Song Zining was, he was still the seventh young master of the Song clan. How easy would it be for him to cause trouble for a clan member without office?
If such an incident came to be, who would be willing to express goodwill or work for him in the future?
Qianye pondered in silence. He was fairly hesitant because the other party had come with great momentum but had turned soft in the end. He hadn’t expected Song Zian to actually lower his stance like so. But this incident was clearly intentional—they had done this deliberately in order to prevent him from entering the arena. How could Qianye be willing to let the matter drop like this?
Song Zining’s voice came through from afar just as the two parties were in a deadlock. “Second Brother seems to be in high spirits today.”
Everyone glanced over and found Song Zining approaching swiftly with a number of followers. Among them was a burly man who quite resembled a steel-tower. He was an entire head taller than the others and every step he took would cause the ground the shake. He was surrounded by an almost tangible killing intent and his facial features seemed as if they were carved with knives and axes.
After the steward turned around to see this kind of lineup, sweat fell from his forehead like rain and extreme regret welled up in his heart.
The corner of Song Zian’s eyes twitched momentarily. He greeted Song Zining and then took the initiative to repeat the conditions he had given to Qianye.
Song Zining had already walked to Qianye’s side. His expression changed greatly as his gaze landed on the corner of Qianye’s mouth and that trace of blood the latter had no time to wipe away. Killing intent immediately surged up from the bottom of his eyes.
But his expression had normalized by the time he turned back to Song Zian and said with a smile, “It’s rare for Second Brother to be in such high spirits. This is a small matter. As long as Second Brother compensates us with twice the time quota afterwards, this cultivation chamber is yours.”
Song Zian broke into a frown and was immediately overcome by a major heartache. Usage rights for the sky-grade cultivation chamber could only be acquired by quota and converting contribution merits. This chamber was registered for two more days, so it would come down to four days after conversion. Even though he was already formally participating in clan affairs, this would amount to an entire half year of contributions.
But Song Zian was also a decisive person. He knew that it was the most beneficial for him to immediately settle the matter at hand. Realizing from Song Zining’s words that he had no intention to look into the matter of his guest warrior’s injury, the former immediately said, “Seventh Brother is indeed considerate. Then it’s settled.”
With that Song Zian said to the steward, “Transfer four days from my quota to Zining’s name”
“I’ll do it immediately!” Feeling lucky to have gained a new lease life, the steward immediately fled to handle the procedure.
Afterwards, Song Zian once again said, “Thank you, Seventh Brother, I visited the Sparkling Plains not long before and brought back a number of pretty good local produce. I’ll have someone send them over to you soon.”