Master Duo usually seemed gentle and refined, fond of putting on airs and carrying himself with a certain authority, but he didn't seem to have much of a temper.
What a misjudgment. This was an absolutely colossal misjudgment.
Master Hu understood everything in an instant. His behavior over the past few days had clearly infuriated Master Duo and cost him Master Duo's trust. Whatever affection had once existed between them had been completely used up.
Master Duo was treating this as strictly business.
We're just business partners, so why should I help you solve your problems?
Just as Qian had said before, no matter who took over the castle, what difference did it make who you partnered with? The words might have been blunt, but they were true.
If you, Master Hu, treated him as nothing more than a business partner, wasn't it only fair that he treated you in a strictly businesslike manner?
It wasn't as if you could guilt-trip him into helping.
Master Duo's question was perfectly reasonable. If there was some affection between them beyond business, where had it shown itself? Master Hu had seized someone else's foundation and taken over such a vast territory. Even if Master Duo of the Treasure Tree Clan hadn't helped him kill anyone, Master Hu had still borrowed the clan's influence and traded on its reputation. Had he offered any extra compensation?
And now he was saying that, given their relationship, Master Duo couldn't just stand by and let him die?
What was that supposed to mean?
He used people when they were useful and discarded them when they weren't. Did he really think the Treasure Tree Clan's bloodline was some street-corner commodity, to be ordered around like those two batches of lowly Mushroom People?
Master Duo's face was dark. He