Su Li's eyes were filled with shock. An Ice Spirit tide! How could there be an Ice Spirit tide here? Even if the Ice Spirits had been restless lately, how could they have marched all the way to Black Mountain Fort?
Chen San was also stunned. The two of them exchanged a glance; one put away his axes, while the other extinguished the fire in her hands. Just below the city walls lay the garrison quarters, and the faint sounds of crackling flames, freezing frost, battle cries, and wails could already be heard drifting from that direction. Yao Wu had already hoisted Nannan onto his back; the little girl's breathing had stabilized slightly, but she remained unconscious.
“Ah Qi, what do we do?” Chen San slipped his twin axes back behind him, cast a wary glance at Su Li, and then looked at Du Qi.
Du Qi fell silent for a moment. “We stop fighting. A pyrrhic victory helps no one. Now that the Ice Spirits are besieging the city, they are our greatest threat.” He cast a complicated look toward the garrison quarters, then glanced at the city walls—the battle cries had already ceased over there, leaving only the glow of fire and freezing frost. “Why hasn't the City Lord's manor arranged an evacuation? Did the guards die that quickly?” His tone carried astonishment, questioning, and an inexplicable certainty.
These words were meant for Su Li. The phoenix had already detached from her body. She clutched the wound on her arm, her face pale, clearly exhausted by the secret technique. Her mind finally caught up, and she felt a bit embarrassed—she wasn't unaware that after the destruction of the Formation Sect, the high-ranking officials of the northern towns were merely puppets used by the Central Continent Alliance to amass wealth. But what did that have to do with her? It wasn't like she was the one who sent them. The slight embarrassment on her face quickly faded back into her usual indifferent expression.
A truce was fine, but she had to get some benefits. She had suffered such a heavy injury for nothing; why should she just stop fighting because they said so?
“Fine,” Su Li said, sitting on the back of the listless phoenix. At some point, she had changed into a white robe—her previous red one had been burned to ashes during the fight. “But I came here to retrieve Jiang Ci's soul. If you want a truce, you must offer something of equal value.”
Lu Yan's heart tightened. It really was because of him. If he hadn't brought Jiang Ci back, Yao Wu's medicine hall and Nannan wouldn't have been dragged into this because of him. He glanced at Yao Wu, but Yao Wu didn't look back, his eyes entirely focused on Nannan. However, Lu Yan felt a reassuring pat on his shoulder.
“It's fine. We're brothers, aren't we? It's not like this is the first time you've dragged me into trouble,” Yao Wu said.
Lu Yan pursed his lips, his heart relaxing. “If we survive this, I'll pay you back.”
“Holy shit, don't raise a death flag!” Yao Wu cursed in exasperation. Having been with Lu Yan for so long, he knew that whenever Lu Yan said something like that, his luck afterward would be terrible. Lu Yan called this “raising a flag,” and Yao Wu had picked up the term. Lu Yan fell silent. He was currently a bit worried about Jiang Ci and Hong Jiu. Were they safe? Had they run into any trouble? And what did this woman want? Jiang Ci's soul? Lu Yan gritted his teeth, a sudden wave of nameless anger rising in his heart.
Du Qi raised an eyebrow. If she was willing to negotiate, that was great. Negotiation was his specialty; after all, as a scholar, persuading people with reason was a basic requirement. “What do you want?”
“Isn't there a bounty of ten thousand spirit crystals on that stupid wanted list? Pay me triple. Or you can compensate me with items of equal value.” Su Li began picking at her fingernails again, speaking casually. The slight smile that had just begun to form on Du Qi's face instantly flattened. Talk about a lion's share—this was a fucking dragon's share! What kind of decent person starts by demanding thirty thousand spirit crystals?
Du Qi spread his hands, completely giving up. “Not a single cent. At worst, we keep fighting. We still have plenty of medicine on our side. Anyway, those with nothing to lose have nothing to fear. Let's see who the Ice Spirits kill first when they get here—you, who just unleashed a calamity seed, or us, whose spiritual energy is almost drained!”
Su Li was dumbfounded. How was this different from what she had imagined? She had planned it out perfectly—ask for a high price, let them counter-offer, get some compensation, and everyone could save face and move on. Who would have thought these rascals would be so thick-skinned and fearless, instantly grasping her Achilles' heel? She couldn't afford to die here; if she died, the Beast Taming Sect would be completely finished.
She suppressed the urge to fight them for another three hundred rounds—she had been hot-headed earlier, but she wasn't stupid. Given the obvious situation, she wasn't about to fight a battle with zero returns. She felt a bit irritated; she absolutely hated having her rhythm disrupted and being led by the nose. But she absolutely could not back down in momentum.
Su Li narrowed her eyes. “Are you threatening me?”
Du Qi played the shameless rogue to perfection, his smile not reaching his eyes. “How could this be a threat? Besides, you just used a secret technique, so your current strength probably isn't even at the Void Refinement stage, is it? Of course, you could always use another calamity seed to blow us all up. But that's assuming you can withstand the pressure of being targeted for using a calamity seed amidst an Ice Spirit tide, and whip all four of us to death before the Ice Spirits arrive. You're welcome to try.”
Su Li's expression turned incredibly ugly. She had to admit she had lost this round. The other side had analyzed the pros and cons thoroughly. She gritted her teeth and squeezed out a sentence through them: “You're ruthless.” Unable to suppress her anger, she could only comfort herself—she was the fortunate one, so it was fine for her to yield.
Just as she was about to admit defeat, Du Qi changed the subject and threw out another enticing proposal. “How about a partnership? We have the best healer and the strongest formation master here. We don't know the scale of the Ice Spirits yet. As long as you stay with us and protect our safety, we can heal your injuries, provide you with pills, and restore your spiritual energy.”
Du Qi was incredibly sharp-eyed. During the fight earlier, he had noticed that this woman only resorted to using the calamity seed because she had run out of pills. When she reached for the calamity seed, she had hesitated for a breath or two longer than she did when reaching for pills. This brief hesitation was enough for him to deduce that she had no recovery pills left.
Su Li was tempted. She figured that once they finished treating her, she would just break the agreement and see what they could do about it. She nodded. “Fine.”
The moment those two words left her mouth, a chain of golden characters instantly merged into her body. She felt an inexplicable shackle settle inside her—Commanding Speech. A Confucian cultivator's contract. With a dark expression, she stared at Du Qi, who was smiling brightly after securing a free bodyguard. Even with her excellent upbringing, she couldn't help but curse out loud.
“You fucking set me up!”
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