As soon as the Devil Lord uttered those words, the people below lowered their necks once more, chanting in unison, "We dare not."
A moment later, Fan Lingrong, the one at the very front, spoke again in a soft, discerning tone: "Allow the Devil Lord to know, our contact with Duan Xiang was truly driven by a desire for convenience. This man boasted that he had extensive cooperation and a deep friendship with the Devil Lord, and that this matter would also please the Devil Lord, requiring no great effort. We were half-in-doubt, yet constrained by the pressing current situation, we also hoped to invest less and believed him for the time being. As a result, however, we have offended the majestic might of the Devil Lord. This is entirely the fault of our narrow horizons, and we earnestly hope the Devil Lord will forgive us."
The Devil Lord let out an "oh," showing no sign of excessive anger, nor uttering any words of forgiveness, but simply saying, "Duan Xiang's way of doing things has always been thus, which is not surprising. Yet figures like you lot actually mingled with him and operated according to his playbook—heh, no wonder the Sea Merchant Guild battered you into such a scattered mess..."
In truth, how could it stop at merely that?
Though merchants of the southern realm might not necessarily be bound to perform good deeds and accumulate virtue, and could even engage in all sorts of shady dealings behind closed doors, they still had to maintain a veneer of respectability. If the scene unfolding at this very moment were to leak out, the reputations of these various zhai, shops, and halls would be completely dashed to the bottom, never to rise again.
To say nothing else, the Sword Discussion Pavilion alone