Poison Master

Deacon Han sensed that something was wrong. The young man had been perfectly fine just moments ago, but now he had ended up like this.

"You're Poison Masters?"

Hearing the words "Poison Masters" come from Deacon Han's mouth, the young man's stiff face could no longer show any expression. All he could do was widen his eyes in shock.

"Poi...son Masters?"

Li Xingluo slowly rose and walked over to the young man, fixing him with a cold stare. The young man was already unable to move, and now Li Xingluo was looking at him like this.

All he could do was try to intimidate Li Xingluo by invoking his elders. "Boy, do you know who I am?"

"I don't care who you are. You've fallen into my hands, yet you're still acting so arrogant. You must be used to bullying the weak. How about this old man teaches you a good lesson today?"

Seeing that things were about to get out of hand, Deacon Han hurried forward to smooth things over.

"Esteemed guests, please calm down. There's something you two don't know: this young master is the grandson of the Elder Liu you're looking for."

"Deacon Han, if you were me, wouldn't you know what to do right now? Why are you standing here telling me who he is?"

Li Xingluo shot Deacon Han a cold glance. Deacon Han sucked in a breath, looked at the young man, then hurriedly fled outside in a panic, unsure what to do.

The young man watched Deacon Han flee in disarray. His stiff face twisted into an expression of terror.

"I advise you to let me go, or when my grandfather gets here, he'll make you pay!"

Li Xingluo didn't bother with him at all. He sat back down and turned the black Storage Ring in his hand, as if to say, So what if your grandfather comes?

Seeing how composed and unruffled Li Xingluo was, Xiao Yi Xian felt the unease welling up inside her fade.

Before long, footsteps sounded in the corridor outside. They drew closer and closer, then stopped at the door of their room.

Out of the corner of his eye, Li Xingluo saw a person standing in the doorway, seemingly sharp and capable, with a calm gaze. Deacon Han stood behind him, panting.

The newcomer glanced at the young man, then slowly entered the room and carefully sized up Li Xingluo and Xiao Yi Xian. Li Xingluo looked perfectly calm, without the slightest trace of panic.

Deacon Han bowed respectfully and introduced the newcomer with the air of a toady. "You two, this is the Second Elder of our Aus Auction House."

Listening to Deacon Han's introduction, Li Xingluo didn't react as Deacon Han had imagined he would.

As Liu Yuntian sized up Li Xingluo, Li Xingluo was observing him as well. The moment he entered the room, Liu Yuntian had released a pressure toward him.

Liu Yuntian realized the Dou Qi pressure he had directed at Li Xingluo hadn't caused him the slightest discomfort. He couldn't help but think more highly of him.

"Friend, I heard you wanted to see me. I've come. Would you be willing to release my grandson now?"

Liu Yuntian paused briefly, then seemed to feel that wasn't enough and continued, "Please forgive my grandson for offending you two."

Li Xingluo thought to himself, So you couldn't make me submit with pressure, and now you're putting on a different face?

If he hadn't still needed to buy a few things, Li Xingluo wouldn't have agreed so readily.

Li Xingluo gave Xiao Yi Xian a slight nod. She immediately understood, rose, and lifted a hand slightly before sitting back down. The young man tried moving his arm.

Now that he was free again, the young man had learned nothing from what had happened. Instead, he complained to Liu Yuntian.

Li Xingluo could only shake his head at the sight. Is this kid stupid? And you, Liu Yuntian, are sitting in a chair too.

"Grandfather, they've humiliated your grandson like this! You have to get justice for me!"

Liu Yuntian didn't blindly take his grandson's side. He scolded him sternly. "Liu Li, don't think I don't know you've been using your status to bully others. I think what happened today is a good thing. Otherwise, you'll keep acting like the sky's the limit and cause even bigger trouble someday."

Liu Yuntian's words made Li Xingluo think more highly of him. But Liu Li's next words made Li Xingluo shoot Deacon Han a cold glance.

"Grandfather, I heard someone was giving you trouble. You know how many people have come after you over the years. Who knows if they might be—"

Deacon Han instinctively avoided Li Xingluo's sharp gaze when Li Xingluo suddenly glanced his way.

It was as if someone had seen right through him. Li Xingluo had taken in Deacon Han's every move. It seemed there was someone at the Aus Auction House who was taking outside interests over the house's own.

Li Xingluo signaled to Liu Yuntian with a glance. The perceptive Liu Yuntian quickly understood what he meant and ordered Deacon Han to go outside and attend to the other guests.

"May I ask what brings you two friends to see me?"

Li Xingluo took Liu Ya's letter from his Storage Ring and handed it over. Liu Yuntian gestured for Liu Li to take it. Liu Li reluctantly accepted the letter from Li Xingluo.

He handed it to Liu Yuntian in a huff, then sat down in a nearby chair.

Liu Yuntian unfolded the letter. The more he read, the tighter his brows furrowed. Liu Li had initially been eating pastries without a care in the world, but when he saw Liu Yuntian's knitted brows, he set his pastry down and asked with concern,

"Grandfather... what's wrong?"

Liu Yuntian slowly folded the letter closed. Tears involuntarily welled up in his eyes, and the sudden sight left Liu Li deeply shocked.

"What did you do to my grandfather?" Liu Li shouted.

Liu Li's reaction gave Li Xingluo a bit of a favorable impression. He was rather overbearing, but at least he was very filial.

Li Xingluo saw Liu Yuntian secretly wipe away a tear from the corner of his eye. His voice carried a hint of weariness.

"Liu Li, don't be rude!"

"Grandfather..." Liu Li didn't understand why Liu Yuntian was acting this way today. In the past, he would have stood up for him.

Liu Li sat down with a pout, cheeks puffed out. Looking at him, one could hardly find a trace of a man's bearing.

Liu Yuntian put the letter away, rose, and bowed to Li Xingluo and Xiao Yi Xian.

The gesture left Liu Li even more baffled. His eyes widened in disbelief, and he even rubbed them, as though what he was seeing couldn't be real.

"My thanks to you both!"

Seeing Liu Yuntian bow so deeply, Li Xingluo didn't know what the letter said, but the other man was an elder, after all. He rose to return the bow and signaled to Xiao Yi Xian at the same time.

Xiao Yi Xian understood. She blinked in reply.

"Grandfather, are you all right? Why are you bowing to them?"

Liu Yuntian wore an expression of exasperation, but didn't answer Liu Li's question.

"Elder Liu, there's no need to be so courteous."

"I'll have someone prepare the items you need right away. It will just take a little time."

Li Xingluo understood that Liu Ya had probably mentioned the things he needed in her letter. He didn't make a fuss about it.

"Then thank you, Elder Liu. May I ask how long it will take?"

"About three days."

"Three days?" Li Xingluo murmured, lowering his head.

Liu Yuntian said with a smile, "There happens to be an auction the day after tomorrow. Perhaps you two might be interested."

"Uh..." Seeing how certain Liu Yuntian sounded, Li Xingluo figured he must have a reason.

"As an elder of the auction house, I shouldn't reveal items that haven't yet been put up for auction. But since you're Xiao Ya's friends, I'll make an exception."

Liu Yuntian kept smiling as he continued, "The day after tomorrow, there'll be a mid-level Xuan-tier Dou Technique. It's suitable for Poison Masters to cultivate."