Chapter 2001: Audacious Plan
Chapter 2001: Audacious Plan
Zu An looked at Wang Cong, who was now completely calm; his previous fury was nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, Pan Qiaoqiao had an ambiguous smile, but she was looking straight at him. Li Feiqing fiddled with the jade xiao instrument in his hands as he leaned against the window. He looked as if he didn’t care about anything, but he was actually watching for any eavesdroppers outside while also keeping an eye on Zu An. The three of them were now practically surrounding Zu An in the middle.
Zu An reacted quickly and realized that whether it was Wang Cong or Li Feiqing, all of the animosity they had shown outside in front of the others to make their relationship seem awful was actually just a kind of cover. These individuals actually had a secret plan they were discussing on the down low! The three of them had used the pretext of the World School being offended, but they were actually here for Fang Biao’s reply. He could well imagine that if Fang Biao’s answer wasn’t to their liking, they would immediately strike to ensure that the secret wasn’t exposed.
But just what did Fang Biao discuss with these people?!
Zu An thought to himself that his luck was really bad. Even some random person he had ended up impersonating was involved in this kind of thing. He seemed completely calm on the surface, but his brain was moving rapidly.
These people were all a part of different factions and weren’t all that close to each other. Just why did they need Fang Biao’s help? Whether it was Fang Biao’s strength or reputation, they were much weaker than the others. What could they need his cooperation for?
Li Feiqing in particular, according to Fatty Hu’s description, was interested in the arts and was usually proud and arrogant. He flaunted himself as elegant and distinguished, looking down on people like Fang Biao who used drugs to take advantage of women the most.
When he saw that Zu An was still quiet, Wang Cong got a bit impatient and snapped, “Why aren’t you saying anything?”
Zu An thought of something and quickly made up his mind. He replied, “Sorry for being blunt, but I still know my limitations. Whether it's cultivation or other factors, I can’t compare to you guys at all. What if you guys stab me in the back? There’s nothing I can do at all.”
It seemed as if he was saying a lot, but he actually wasn’t saying anything meaningful. He wanted to use such ambiguous words to fish out more information from these people, which would help him guess what they were talking about.
When they heard what he said, the other three couldn't help but smile, remarking, “Everyone always says Fang Biao is the most arrogant and conceited out of the bunch, but it seems that’s not entirely the case.”
Zu An harrumphed, pretending to be annoyed.
Wang Cong said, “You don’t need to worry about that. We're all in the same boat here, and you are still the Yin Yang Path Master’s son. Why would we take the risk of doing something to you? If we were exposed, we’d be finished.”
Zu An frowned slightly. He still couldn't really tell what their plan was. He said, “Hmph, that’s hard to say.”
Li Feiqing was getting a bit annoyed. He had never been fond of Fang Biao in the first place. He said, “You keep stalling back and forth. Are you going to refuse?”
Zu An could tell that Li Feiqing was already itching to attack. Zu An naturally wasn’t scared of him, but he was quite interested in what plans this group had, and just why all of this had ended up becoming so mysterious.
“What are you in such a rush for? If you want me to agree, you have to throw in some more benefits first,” Zu An said. Judging from the earlier conversation, he'd learned that at the very least, these three were allies. They seemed to want Fang Biao to join them too.
“We already told you what benefits youd receive. Is young master Biao still unsatisfied?” Pan Qiaoqiao asked with a smile as she moved a bit closer. It seemed as if she was about to lean her head on his shoulder.
Zu An only tapped his feet and made his chair slide slightly backward. He brought Zhang Zitong with him to avoid making contact with her, saying, “It’s not enough.”
Pan Qiaoqiao hadn’t expected her charm techniques to not be enough. A hint of surprise appeared in her eyes as she remarked, “It seems we’ve underestimated young master Biao.”
Zu An picked up his teacup in an unhurried manner and took a sip as if he were an elegant and wise man.
Li Feiqing harrumphed. “You’ve already been bullied by your two brothers enough, right? And the concubines at your side are frequently taken by them. What benefits are there for you in the Yin Yang Path anyway? You only get the leftovers after the two of them have their pick. If we were to put it nicely, you’re the Yin Yang Path’s third young master, but if we were to be more blunt, your position is no different from that of a servant.”
“That’s enough!” Zu An snapped. Even though didn’t actually care, he still had to express the anger Fang Biao would have shown.
“Feiqing, you’re going a bit too far,” Pan Qiaoqiao said as she gave Li Feiqing a reproachful look and immediately tried to smooth things over.
Wang Cong also said, “Even though brother Li’s words are a bit direct, they aren't entirely without reason. If things continue like this, when will brother Fang ever make a name for yourself? If I'm not mistaken, your second brother was here to demand that silver token envoy of yours, right?”
Zu An remained silent, but his unhappy expression said enough.
Wang Cong continued, “If you help us conclude this affair, you’ll have us as your friends to support you. If we were to boast a bit, we still have some say within our respective schools and paths. Also, with a sister-in-law like Qiaoqiao to assist you in the background, you’d definitely be living a much better life.”
Pan Qiaoqiao said with an annoyed laugh, “You’re so annoying! Nothing’s even started yet; what sister-in-law...”
Zu An was startled. Sister-in-law? He already had a suspicion.
“These are all some empty promises. I need something more tangible,” Zu An said with a gloomy expression.
“What tangible things do you want?” Wang Cong asked with a frown.
Zu An smiled and said, “I’m from the Yin Yang Path, so of course I need a good pill cauldron. Your World School and Freedom Path can send your prettiest junior sisters over here and I’ll be more than grateful too. And big sis Pan, if you can personally exchange some pointers with me on Yin Yang Path dao, what more could I ask for?”
“You scoundrel!” Li Feiqing exclaimed furiously. “Our Freedom Path doesn’t have many people to begin with, and the most beautiful female disciples are constantly surrounded by attention. How could we possibly give them to you?!”
Wang Cong also sneered. “Brother Fang, aren't you asking for too much?”
You have successfully trolled Li Feiqing for +388 +388 +388...
You have successfully trolled Wang Cong for +388 +388 +388...
Pan Qiaoqiao moved closer to Zu An’s side. Even though she was smiling, her expression was completely cold. She replied, “Young master Biao wishes to engage in pair cultivation with me? You’re quite brave, aren’t you? You clearly know that there’s a chance of me becoming your sister-in-law, and yet you’re not scared of your big brother flaying you alive?”
Zu An smiled and said, “It’s not as if I’m asking you to be with me on your wedding night; you can come to me later. How will he even know?”
“Enough. Why don’t you take a look in the mirror first? Do you think there’s a chance?” Li Feiqing snapped impatiently. “Come up with something more realistic.”
“Then just give me a few dozen chests of immortal-grade ki stones. And give me some of your branch’s cultivation methods to sift through,” Zu An said nonchalantly.
Pan Qiaoqiao chuckled and remarked, “This was probably your real objective, right? It seems everyone underestimated you.”
Li Feiqing and Wang Cong also narrowed their eyes. They also realized that they had let their emotions get carried away by this guy.
“You can praise me all you want, but I’m not lowering my price,” Zu An said with a snort.
Pan Qiaoqiao didn’t get annoyed and said, “Immortal-grade ki stones aren’t too realistic. How about this? Everyone will give you ten chests of heaven-grade ki stones each, and we’ll each teach you one of our branch’s special techniques. How about that?” When she saw that Zu An was about to say something else, she added ahead of time, “Young master Biao, you should know when to stop. This is already the most we can compromise with.”
When he saw the dangerous glint in their eyes, Zu An knew this was pretty much the limit. He said, “I guess it’s fine. But I want it now.”
Wang Cong chuckled and replied, “What if you take the stuff and go back on the deal? That’s why we can only give you the ki stones now. As for the skills, we’ll teach them to you once the affair is complete.”
Zu An pretended to be unhappy, but he still agreed in the end. “Fine.”
He was currently lacking these resources for pill and artifact refinement, so he hadn’t expected to have this kind of unexpected gain. As for the skills these people were talking about, he didn’t care much about them at all.
The three exchanged a look, then each took out ten chests of heaven-grade ki stones and left them in the room.
Zu An was a bit surprised. It seemed these people had already prepared beforehand! Otherwise, why would they carry so many ki stones with them?
“Is it really fine to just leave them here? What if your two older brothers just steal them? We won’t be giving you more if that happens,” Li Feiqing said with a sneer.
Zu An said nonchalantly, “That’s not something you need to worry yourself about.”
Wang Cong stepped forward to ease the tensions, saying, “Young master Biao has already agreed, which is a happy thing for all of us. Let’s discuss the concrete details now.”
Zu An nodded and replied, “Alright, tell me about your plans.”
He was even starting to admire himself a bit. All this time, he hadn’t even had any idea what these people wanted to do, and yet he'd ended up getting on good terms with them. He'd even seized the advantage in the discussion.
Sure enough, no one suspected him and Li Feiqing said, “Fang Long is getting married the day after tomorrow. The new bride will be delivered from the Heavenly Devil School to the Yin Yang Path. Fang Long will be greeting the guests at the feast, so the bride will be all alone. That’s when we’ll strike.”
Zu An was startled. It was just as he'd suspected! However, he hadn't expected the marriage date to be the day after tomorrow. Thank goodness he'd decided to move quickly! He definitely hadn't thought Qiu Honglei would agree to this marriage, but people had all been saying that Fang Long was marrying the saintess, so something had clearly happened that made Honglei have no choice to agree; or perhaps she had been forced to agree.
But now I’m here, so of course I can protect Honglei.
Just then, Wang Cong said, “When the time comes, we can find some way to befuddle Fang Long and get him so drunk that he has no idea what is going on. Young master Biao, you should find a way to remove the Yin Yang Path’s guards, after which brother Li will use that chance to bring the saintess away. You can then take big sister Pan into the bridal room to take the saintess’ place. Then, there should be no problems at all.”
“No problem,” the others all answered with looks of excitement.
Zu An’s thoughts moved quickly. Li Feiqing was infatuated with Qiu Honglei, so it made sense why he was willing to go through such dangers to chase his goddess. Meanwhile, Pan Qiaoqiao liked Fang Long and was envious of Qiu Honglei. Not only did she want to marry her crush, she also wanted to take Qiu Honglei’s place in the Heavenly Devil School. Her willingness to take this risk was also understandable.
But why was Wang Cong getting involved? The whole affair would be exposed the next day. Once people began to point fingers and deliver punishments, there was no way he’d be able to get away with it!