Chapter 38: Negotiations (2)

Allying with the Zhu Clan to deal with the Sand Race wasn’t something that Su Chen had come up with on a whim. He had planned for this a long time ago.

From the very beginning, Su Chen was suspicious of whether the Zhu Clan had successfully tricked Pall. This was easy to determine after examining Culler’s reactions and decision-making abilities; he had been way too easy to trick.

If Pall trusted him to keep watch over the castle while he was gone, then Su Chen didn’t believe that Culler would be a person who was all brawn and no brain. The only reason he would act like that was if he had been purposefully instructed to act like an idiot.

This also meant that Pall was likely close by.

However, according to Su Chen’s initial plan, the Immortal Temple would wait to make a move after Pall appeared. The Zhu Clan would fight with Pall first before the Immortal Temple would swoop in to reap the rewards.

However, in the end he had exposed himself while trying to deal with the Darkness Demon, forcing Shi Mingfeng and the others to reveal themselves and save him.

As such, the plan needed to be modified from swooping in at the end like an oriole to allying together to fight.

When Zhu Baiyu heard what Su Chen said, he squinted his eyes. “Ally with you guys? What a joke!”

Su Chen said indifferently, “You will agree in the end.”

“Why? Just Pall isn’t enough to scare us!” Zhu Xianyao laughed coldly.

“What about You Tianyang? Don’t forget that he’s still in my hands,” Su Chen replied.

Upon hearing that name, everyone was temporarily rendered speechless.

Shi Mingfeng said, “Even though the Zhu Clan and the Immortal Temple have some grudges, it isn’t anything that can’t be dealt with. In the end, all we are fighting for are some material benefits. Those Sand Race individuals are of a different tribe. When faced against these foreign tribes, we should team up against them.”

Ba Lieyuan frowned. “Don’t try and intimidate us with just that. I would rather the secret stashes fall into a foreign tribe’s hands than into the Immortal Temple’s hands.

“Ba Lieyuan, don’t try and play this game with me. The Immortal Temple has no grudges with the You Clan. You should be a bit quieter for the sake of your clan’s Young Master.” Shi Mingfeng was instantly able to see through Ba Lieyuan’s harsh pretense.

Ba Lieyuan immediately shut his mouth.

Su Chen said, “I can promise you that, as long as we team up right now to deal with Pall, I will immediately let You Tianyang go once this whole ordeal is over.”

“We don’t even know who you are. Why should we believe your words?” Zhao Jingwen laughed coldly.

“That’s right. If you want us to believe in you, you should at least reveal your real appearance, right?” Zhu Baiyu said.

“That......” Su Chen hesitated, then said with a bitter smile, “For the sake of a pleasant cooperation, I feel like it would be better if I didn’t reveal my true appearance.”

What did that mean?

Everyone was immediately stunned.

Zhu Xianyao’s gaze grew more focused. “It sounds like he has a blood debt with my Zhu Clan.”

Everyone was enlightened and realized why the opponent wasn’t willing to reveal his true appearance.

However, the Zhu Clan and the Immortal Temple had fought many times, and there were quite a few such blood debts on both sides. Even though they couldn’t think of an expert that specialized in consciousness power that had killed many Zhu Clan members, the fact that they assumed Su Chen was someone from the Immortal Temple meant that nobody even considered Su Chen as a possibility.

Zhu Baiyu coldly harrumphed. “I also have the blood of a few Immortal Temple lives on my hands, but aren’t you still here asking me for peace? If you don’t reveal your true appearance, how can I trust you?”

Su Chen immediately said, “First of all, I’m not suing for peace. This is a negotiation. Second of all, the reason I am not revealing my true appearance is because I want the negotiations to go smoothly. The Immortal Temple has a lot of tolerance, and we can overlook the fact that you have killed our members before, but that doesn’t mean that the Bloodline Nobility Clans will also be so generous. Third of all, if you don’t trust me, then you can have the Rain Master vow in my stead with his Origin Energy as a seal. After this battle, I will definitely release a complete, undamaged You Tianyang back to you.”

Su Chen’s words were extremely thorough, rendering everyone speechless for some time.

As she pondered it over, Zhu Xianyao asked, “Then what about Kapius’s secret stores? How will we divide those up?”

She originally thought that Su Chen was going to come up with some way of distributing them, but instead he said without hesitation, “They’ll belong to us.”

What?

Everyone from the Zhu Clan was simultaneously enraged.

Su Chen said, “Young Miss Zhu, you want Kapius’s secret stores because you want to regain your memories, right?”

Zhu Xianyao’s face reddened. “So you had already impersonated him all the way back then.”

Zhu Xianyao had told Su Chen the reason that she wanted to find Kapius's secret stores after the assassination attempt. Now that Su Chen said it out loud, she naturally knew that Su Chen had taken You Tianyang's place for quite a long time. In other words, the You Tianyang that she had gradually fallen for wasn't actually You Tianyang. How could this not agitate and distress her?

Su Chen said, “I know of a way to help you remember the truth. If you are willing to leave Kapius's treasure to us, then I can help you remember the truth again.”

Shi Mingfeng was totally speechless.

Oh, Su Chen, you sure are shameless.

Everything that happened back then was all because of Su Chen. Naturally, he could also resolve the situation.

The key was the words that he used, ‘I can help you remember the truth.’

He specifically mentioned the truth but not her memories.

However, that truth would still come out of his mouth. Whatever he said, Zhu Xianyao would have to listen to it!

Exchanging the secret stashes for a story? That was quite an exchange.

Shi Mingfeng quietly gave Su Chen a big thumbs up in his heart.

Even Zhu Xianyao was stunned.

She stared at Su Chen. “You...... will help me rediscover the truth?”

“Yes! Even though I cannot reveal my face, I can at least have the Rain Master testify on my behalf. If I don’t do as I say, then the Rain Master will cut off his own Origin Energy and accept punishment from the Heavens, a fate worse than death!”

“……”

Everyone was rendered speechless for some time.

Don’t use other people’s lives to make vows so carelessly, okay?

Shi Mingfeng stared at Su Chen. “Brat, are you trying to force me to put my life in your hands? If you don’t fulfill your promise, then I’ll be the one who ends up in huge trouble.”

Origin Energy vows were no small matter. They could be somewhat hit-or-miss.

There were many profound mysteries of the heavens that couldn’t be described.

If this vow wasn’t fulfilled and was used instead to achieve a certain aim, Shi Mingfeng really might end up in some trouble because of this vow.

The gaze that Shi Mingfeng was giving Su Chen was filled with bitterness.

Su Chen shrugged. “You could always not do it.”

“……”

Damn your mother!

Shi Mingfeng cursed to himself.

Of course he could choose not to, but that meant that the negotiations would have a hard time proceeding.

And as long as he did make that vow, the Zhu Clan would give up on all of the profits and even help them deal with Pall.

The entire plan had been orchestrated by Shi Mingfeng in the first place. He had no reason to throw it away now by his own hands.

As such, he could only give Su Chen a hard stare. “If you don’t fulfill your end of the deal, I’ll skin you alive!”

Su Chen said with a slight smile, “You should say that a bit louder. I think that they’d like to hear it as well.”

“Get the hell out of here!” Shi Mingfeng aimed a kick at Su Chen, who laughed and dodged easily.

Culler said darkly, “Even if you ally together, you won’t be strong enough to defeat Leader!”

“At the very least, you’ll be dead before that happens,” Su Chen replied.

Whoosh!

He raised the blade in his hand and let it fall, directly cutting off Culler’s head.

Now that the battle was near, there was no point in leaving this guy alive. He would only be a burden on them.

Even so, everyone was stunned by the decisiveness and ruthlessness of that blade strike.

There wasn’t much time, so Shi Mingfeng instantly made the vow.

Only Zhu Xianyao continued to observe Su Chen.

She didn’t know why, but she still felt like this person before her was a bit familiar.

Now that he was not pretending to be You Tianyang, Su Chen’s way of speaking had returned to normal.