Negotiations, Hai Bodong's Compromise
"Please speak plainly. I don't like beating around the bush..."
After weighing the pros and cons, Hai Bodong dispersed his ice-attribute Dou Qi. In the end, he chose not to attack.
He sighed inwardly that he was getting old. With his experience as a Dou Huang expert, he was confident that his current Dou Ling strength could match an ordinary Dou Wang expert, but the presence radiating from that fox-eared woman was simply too powerful.
Especially that half-smiling gaze-it seemed capable of seeing through everything, sending a chill down his spine.
She had just exposed all his secrets with a few words, yet he knew nothing about her.
If she truly meant him harm, she probably would have attacked long ago.
"A wise person knows which way the wind blows. Since that's the case, I'll get straight to the point. We mean you no harm, Ice Emperor. You could even call us friends." Tushan Rongrong withdrew her Demonic Power as well, smiling.
"We can help remove the sealing curse Medusa placed on you and restore your peak strength..."
"And the price? What do I need to give in return?"
Although Hai Bodong had chosen not to attack, he had not lowered his guard. Ice gathered on the aged hand behind his back, ready to fight or flee at any moment.
He knew there was no such thing as a free lunch. They had traveled all this way to find him in this border town; he did not believe they would be so kindhearted.
"Talking to clever people really is easy."
"We don't actually need you to give us anything. Once we go to Jia Ma Holy City, if my young master comes into conflict with the Misty Cloud Sect or the Jia Ma Imperial Family, we simply hope that you and the Mittel Family will stand on our side," Tushan Rongrong said, still smiling.
"You even know about my connection to the Mittel..."
Hai Bodong blurted it out, but quickly caught himself. She already knew so many of his other secrets. What was his little connection to the Mittel Family compared to those?
That had been an oversight on his part.
Picking up on certain details in her words, Hai Bodong learned that these two were actually master and servant.
A Three-Star Dou Shi under twenty, with such monstrous talent, and a Dou Wang expert serving as his guard-the power behind him surely had a Dou Huang expert overseeing it, perhaps even a legendary... Dou Zong expert!
No wonder they were prepared to make enemies of the Misty Cloud Sect and the Jia Ma Imperial Family.
In this barren Jia Ma Empire, a single Dou Emperor was already an expert who could command the winds and clouds. If a Dou Zong appeared...
"Is that really all?" Hai Bodong still found it hard to believe. After going to such lengths to remove Medusa's seal for him, were they really only asking him and the Mittel Family to counterbalance the Misty Cloud Sect and the Jia Ma Imperial Family?
"Hehe... nothing much else. Just come with us to the Snake-People Tribe after we remove your seal..."
"What?! Go to the Snake-People Tribe?!"
The moment he heard the words "go to the Snake-People Tribe," Hai Bodong lost his composure. Cold sweat poured from his forehead, and the hand gathering Ice Dou Qi behind his back began trembling uncontrollably.
He knew things would not be that simple.
Once bitten by a snake, one fears a well rope for ten years.
The terror of Queen Medusa twenty years ago was still deeply branded into Hai Bodong's mind. He often woke from nightmares drenched in cold sweat, especially between his legs...
"Your legs are trembling? Could the Ice Emperor be afraid?"
"Who... who's afraid! Would the mighty Ice Emperor be afraid? I'm... just a little... a little terrified, that's all." Hai Bodong swallowed, forcing himself to appear calm.
"Queen Medusa is a nine-star peak Dou Emperor. Even at my peak, I couldn't withstand a single exchange with her."
Medusa was the most terrifying being he had ever encountered in his life.
Even though both were opponents at the peak nine-star Dou Emperor level, he would rather take on Yun Shan than provoke Queen Medusa again.
"Hehe... there's no need to be afraid, Ice Emperor. My young master and I aren't going to the Snake-People Tribe to fight. We're going to negotiate a deal, just like we are now. All you need to do is lend us your presence. Even if a fight does break out, you won't have to deal with Queen Medusa. Aren't there a few Dou Wang chiefs there...?"
Tushan Rongrong was highly skilled at grasping people's hearts, patiently guiding him along.
Hai Bodong's aged face twitched.
He truly did not know which words out of this woman's mouth were true. First she said there would be no fighting, then she said that if they fought, he would only have to deal with the tribes' Dou Wangs...
"Well... let me think it over."
His survival until now came down to one word: caution.
So Hai Bodong did not agree immediately, instead carefully weighing the pros and cons again.
Sometimes, this approach might even improve the terms of a negotiation.
Unfortunately, he was facing Tushan's second-in-command, Thousand-Faced Demon Rong, the greatest schemer of them all. Trying to gain an advantage over her? Absolutely impossible...
"Since you're unwilling, Ice Emperor, we won't force you. I just wonder how many days you have left to live with only Dou Ling strength now..."
Tushan Rongrong called to Luo Yang, who was playing with a map fragment, and turned to leave.
"Young master, let's go."
"All right, Sister Rongrong."
Luo Yang returned the map fragment to the bookshelf and quickly walked over to Tushan Rongrong.
The two headed toward the shop entrance side by side.
Watching the master and servant about to step out of the shop, Hai Bodong gritted his teeth and finally made up his mind...
"Young friend, please wait!"
Hearing this, Tushan Rongrong's expression did not change at all. She still wore that smile of "everything is under control."
"Fine! As long as my strength is restored, what's wrong with joining you for another wild ride?!" Hai Bodong slapped the desk, his aged eyes revealing incomparable resolve, having seen through life and death.
Just as Tushan Rongrong had said, if Hai Bodong did not regain his Dou Emperor cultivation, he did not have much time left before dying of old age.
Every Dou Huang expert had their own pride. Since death awaited him either way, rather than suffer such a stifling death as his lifespan ran out, he might as well take a gamble at the Snake-People Tribe. Even if he died, it would be with a thunderous blaze.
Besides, he would not necessarily die.
He only had to deal with a few tribal chiefs with Dou Wang strength. If it really came to facing Medusa, he could simply grease his soles and make a run for it.
With these two drawing attention, even fleeing would be much easier for Hai Bodong than it had been twenty years ago.
"Hehe, congratulations on making the right choice, Ice Emperor. Many years from now, you will surely be glad you made such a sound decision," Tushan Rongrong said, turning around with a smile.
Naturally, she understood his little calculations perfectly well, but there was no need to spell everything out. Otherwise, everyone would lose face.
Having endured for twenty years, Hai Bodong could no longer wait to become a Dou Huang expert again. Even his words had become somewhat muddled.
"How will you remove my seal? Pill refining or something else? If it's pill refining, I have a recipe for the [Adversity Breaking Pill] here..."
"There's no need for all that trouble."
"Luoluo, hold this for me."
Tushan Rongrong tossed "Battle Through the Heavens" to Luo Yang beside her. Only after freeing her hands did she prepare to begin removing Medusa's Snake Seal from Hai Bodong.
"Oh." Luo Yang obediently caught it.
Although he was Tushan Rongrong's master, when faced with Sister Rongrong's fully unleashed presence, he could not utter a single word of refusal.
His experiences over the past six months had taught Luo Yang thoroughly that listening to Sister Rongrong could never go wrong.
He only needed to swagger around and run wild, leaving everything else that required worrying to Sister Rongrong. With her backing him up, Luo Yang really could do whatever he pleased.
Tushan Rongrong was not only Luo Yang's strategist/secretary, but also his master and the benefactor who had saved his life.
What Yao Lao? What old grandpa in a ring? Compared to Tushan Rongrong, they did not measure up at all.
And this was a Tushan Rongrong who had read "Battle Through the Heavens."
Heaven and earth formed the board, and all living beings were pieces upon it.
However bold Luo Yang's ambitions were, Tushan Rongrong had the strategies to match.
"Don't resist. Relax your body and mind..."
"True Fox Thought Technique!!"
[Name: Tushan Rongrong] [Sex: Female] [Age: Confidential] [Height: 150 cm] [Weight: 37 kg] [Cup size: A-] [Measurements: 54-50-55] [Body: Virgin] [Likes: Luo Wenxuan] [Taboo: Saying she has small breasts] [Personality: Amiable, shrewd, calculating, holds grudges intensely] [Race: Tushan Fox Demon] [Identity: Tushan's second-in-command, strongest Red Thread Immortal (hand-holding success rate: 100%)] [Relationship: Older sister/master/strategist/bodyguard] [Affection: 92 (intimate)] [Cultivation: Demon King/Dou Wang ★★★★★] [Talent: Transcendent] [Intelligence: ????] [Equipment: Jade Bead Abacus, Demon-Revealing Device, Dream Recollection Hammer, Illusory Memory Powder, Nine Revolutions Profound Yin Water] [Skills: Forgotten Promise Palm, Disguise Technique, Fox Thought Technique, Star-Shifting Technique]