"I wonder what the child down there has to do with you."
Niu Tian's gaze swept over Xu Lanqing in the valley as he asked the question, seemingly offhand.
"What does that have to do with your negotiation?" Ice Empress didn't answer.
Truthfully, she didn't know how to define her relationship with Xu Lanqing.
Calling them friends felt a little embarrassing. They'd only known each other for a few days.
But calling them partners sounded too distant, and might hurt his feelings. So she simply didn't answer.
Snow Empress was different. She stayed silent because calling them friends felt too distant, but she couldn't think of a better way to describe their relationship either.
Seeing Snow Empress and Ice Empress's reactions, Niu Tian's heart sank. Things seemed to be going badly.
He tried to reason with them. "My sworn brother discovered the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and laid down a rule: you could take only seven herbs. But you've come all the way here from the Far North, so that must be fate.
"How about this? As long as you don't damage the place or drive anything to extinction, you can use whatever you like. What do you say?"
"Then you can leave," Ice Empress said coolly.
"Don't be in such a hurry. I have one small request. It won't put you in a difficult position."
Niu Tian's gaze fell on Xu Lanqing once more. He said slowly, "Just hand him over to me, and we'll leave at once. It'll be no trouble for you at all. What do you say?"
The moment he said this, the scene fell so silent you could hear a pin drop.
Hearing Niu Tian's condition, Ice Empress pressed her lips together. She didn't say anything, but she felt inexplicably furious and irritable.