After hearing Qiu Yuan's words, Xin Chenzi remained perfectly unruffled, while Mei Luzi exchanged glances with the others.
None of them could make up their minds. The other side clearly had no intention of returning the treasured furnace, leaving them only two choices: turn hostile and seize it, or turn around and leave.
Trying to seize it by force was certainly out of the question. Over the years, Tang Shi had taken many Immortal Elixirs that had made their way out of the Ming-Yu Immortal Market, greatly advancing his magical power.
He felt that his magical power now fell little short of the Green-Robed Ancestor's back then, but the Magic Treasures he had refined were far inferior. Defeating Shi Feiyang was utterly impossible.
Yet if they returned without making a single move, the Red-Haired Ancestor would certainly punish them. Though he was not as savage as the Green-Robed Ancestor, who would bite off someone's arm at the slightest provocation and chew it raw, he was still viciously ruthless when enraged. They were not personal disciples like Hong Changbao, after all, and could expect not a scrap of mercy from him.
Seeing Xin Chenzi remain silent, Tang Shi knew that he was close to Hong Changbao and would have someone to plead for him when the time came. Only the other three would bear the brunt of their master's wrath.
He therefore said to Qiu Yuan, "Please announce us. We have something to discuss with Reverend Shi."
"Didn't you come here to take back the Five Elements Divine Fire Furnace?" Qiu Yuan turned his left palm upward, revealing a small, five-pointed furnace. "Your people captured me without cause and drove a Hook Knife through my shoulder blades. If my honored master hadn't saved me, I would be dead or crippled by