Chapter 995: Yielding

Proofreader : Papatonks

An awkward silence dominated.

As the carriage rushed between the snowflakes, the mood inside was strained, to say the least. Ever since Frigid Rain Sword King joined the party, the others felt as if a viper was looming over them, shivering constantly. They were so on edge, they didn't even twitch, or breathe too loud with their now red faces from strain.

Baili Yuyu was casual, like nothing had anything to do with her. Just that she sometimes gave a disparaging smirk to them and to Zhuo Fan, who she abhored.

[Just why the hell did Patriarch even send me along?]

"Invincible Sword resumed to hide his tracks and the men from Sun Sea Sect aren't pursuing out of fear of the witch. All is quiet."

Zhuo Fan sighed and spoke as he looked at the endless snow outside.

Baili Yuyu shot him a piercing glare.

[I'm right here and yet he has the nerve to call me a witch?! If it weren't for Patriarch's order, ugh...]

Bali Yuyu gnashed her teeth and reined in her boiling fury.

Zhuo Fan didn't know when to stop, "We've met with Baili Yutian and it could be said we had a nice chat, resulting in an agreement to each mind our own business. Though the old man was quite annoying on insisting in jabbing a thorn in our side, it won't matter much. The mission will still finish. He shouldn't be so set against Devil Mountain so soon, we just have to live with things as is. It wouldn't matter even if he filled us with thorns either."

The rest were sweating buckets the further he 'talked to himself'. They just kept hinting at him to stop with painful faces.

[Dude, that's private talk between brothers. Why do you insist on saying it to the enemy. Are you suicidal? This is a Sword King we're talking about here. You might find life boring, but don't drag us down as well!]

Bam!

It came at no surprise that Bali Yuyu's short temper quickly ran out under Zhuo Fan's repeated disdain. She made a hard face at him and cursed, "Watch your mouth! There's a limit to my patience!"

The others shuddered as the witch spewed hellfire.

"Ha-ha-ha, yeah, if you had any patience you wouldn't be a Sword King."

Zhuo Fan just kept on going, "But now you're in my employment and you'll have to suck it up no matter how little you have. You best not forget Patriarch's words. He gave you a mission when he sent you to me. It would be a shame to go back empty-handed, no? I've seen the old coot's style and I'm pretty sure he won't let it go just cause you're a Sword King, ha-ha..."

Bali Yuyu balled her fists at his mocking grin, spatting, "I don't even know what Patriarch wants me to do, but you do?"

"Of course, and so do you."

"I do?"

"It's public knowledge, actually." Zhuo Fan gave a vague smile that had her confused.

[Then why do I still not know what it is?]

Zhuo Fan beamed and turned to Qiao'er fiddling with her eagle mask, "Qiao'er, would you be so kind to share with this old crone what the geezer wants from her?"

Glaring at him, Bali Yuyu's anger spiked, but she turned to Qiao'er with a questioning gaze.

"Have you gone senile already? We just heard him say it."

Qiao'er rolled her eyes, annoyed someone had to disturb her fun, sticking out her lower lip, "The old guy said to listen to your every word. That's her mission!"

"Well, ain't it your mission, senile biddy, ha-ha-ha..." Zhuo Fan mocked as he glanced at Bali Yuyu.

The others were still very much afraid of Bali Yuyu's savage wrath, but even they had to stifle a laughter at that.

Bali Yuyu's face twitched, going beet red, and yanked at Zhuo Fan's clothes and shouting in his face, "You're toying with me..."

"Oh my, you better watch your tone. Baili Yutian had you hang on my every word, not touch me. You're best worrying about finishing the geezer's task and not getting punished instead."

Patting her hand, Zhuo Fan mocked her still.

She was so furious she wanted to slap him into the afterlife. The only thing staying her hand were Patriarch's words. So she could only push Zhuo Fan aside and grumble into a corner with red eyes and tearing up.

She was a woman of immense pride, favored since she was born, but now she felt the world was coming to an end.

[What is Patriarch thinking?]

Zhuo Fan smiled and turned to the rest, "Frigid Rain Sword King has principles so she won't bother us. We can just ignore her as we discuss like usual. Our goal differs from the central area anyway so it won't hurt us at all."

The guards looked from him to the teary Bali Yuyu and nodded, feeling their admiration for Zhuo Fan soaring.

[This lord is incredible, shaking off the likes of Invincible Sword and the Nine Sword Kings with mere words.]

That worked in removing Bali Yuyu's threat, almost, and the mood became more natural.

"Sir, having incited the Sun Sea Sect to deal with Frigid Rain Sword King will give us headaches with Sea Bright Sect. How should we proceed?" One guard spoke his doubs.

Zhuo Fan merely smiled, "Not to worry, I only stirred them back there, and not had them pushed to attack. Without any evidence, they can't do anything to us."

"You're the one who made them stop me?" Bali Yuyu jerked her head around, her eyes still having traces of tears.

Zhuo Fan was quite blunt, "Yep, it was becoming a pain to have you constantly on our tail and ruining our stuff, so we let it slip to those guys about you to stall you. Once you started attacking, you'd be sure to make a huge scene too, so big not even Baili Yutian could cover so he had to come out and meet me. That's how I was able to strike a non-aggression pact with the Patriarch. While Invincible Sword had given you free reign to kill, but you're here in hiding after all. Once the noise gets loud enough, it wouldn't stop at fighting one sect, but drawing all of northern lands' strong into this.

"So I was absolutely positive that when you got back to Patriarch's side, he would give you some heavy punishment. Giving you the right to kill did not mean you can go on a rampage. Now all eyes are looking here, a huge detriment to central area's team. So he had enough of your rash actions, sick of you being so bad at your job, and gave you to me to get rid of you, ha-ha-ha..."

"You're full of it! Patriarch would never think of me like that!"

Bali Yuyu shot down Zhuo Fan's mockery on the spot. But then she said in confusion, "You just told me your plan. Aren't you scared that I'll tell it to Patriarch? Are you trying to trick him?"

Zhuo Fan shook his head in disdain, "That's why I said your bad at your job. You couldn't even figure out this simple truth. I was not tricking him, but you. Furthermore, your Patriarch noticed this from the start. He knew the moment you made a scene that you lost so he had to see me fast before the northern lands' strong showed up and wouldn't get another chance. So the question is, knowing his nature and going back to him by making it worse through reporting, how would he deal with you? Ha-ha-ha, I heard it was a quite the stinging whip, he-he-he..."

Bali Yuyu grimaced as she gnashed her teeth, "You're as despicable as that conniving Baili Jingwei!"

Zhuo Fan merely stared at her with bright eyes.

He knew exactly why Baili Yutian got this Sword King to watch him, to see the limits of Devil Mountain. But with such a strong asset around, it would be a damn shame not to use it.

His mind was now filled of countless ideas how things might evolve or devolve...

Over the next three days, the carriages had rode without any issues, only making a stop on the morning of the fourth day, when a guard perked up at the road ahead, "Sir, that's Galefrost Town. We have a shop here we can use to contact Qian clan and give Frigid Rain Sword King a cover."

"Then we'll make a short stop there!" Zhuo Fan decided.

Whoosh~

A whistling wind suddenly passed as a very familiar sent wafted from a carriage pulled by the same type of 3rd level spiritual beasts as theirs got ahead of them.

Zhuo Fan looked ahead at the carriage's back and his eyes shone.

[That carriage looks familiar...]