"What is with her?" thought Fan Cai as his quizzical gaze fell on his mothers who looked like she was about to punch soone.
His gaze kept alternating between his mother and ng Jiayi, finding the whole thing incredulous.
Not once has he ever seen her look so visibly agitated and so part of him found it refreshing.
At least he wasn't the only emotional one in the family.
He was so absorbed by his mother's current look that he quickly forgot the request he had made earlier to the Yu clan elder, but there were a few people in the office who had not, and one of them made that point known.
"So Miss Fan Ha do you still wish to continue with the andnt of the contract or does it stay in Its original form and terms which would an its dissolution since the terms have been completed?" politely asked the envoy of the Silver Rose Vermilion Pavilion,Li Tian.
His question seed like it had plunged the entire office into a tundra as the temperature dropped and the air got heavier.
Looks of anxiety and concern were shared all around amongst the team to the left and the right of the table.
So like ng Jiayi and Fu Hui did a good enough job of hiding it but soone keen enough could notice they looked apprehensive and invested in the answer to that question despite their calm countenance.
Fan Cai as expected was a bundle of nerves. He poorly tried to hide it and feign indifference like the rest, but his shaky hands, darting pupils,veiny forehead sold him out in a heartbeat.
Eventually the young man decided to own up to said emotion which rather than give way to calm as should have happened , seed to have opened the flood doors to other emotions.
It got so overwhelming that he decided to settle on one, defiance. From his scrounged up eyebrows, to his mouth that gave the illusion of a smile and anger all wrapped into one , gave him a thugish look.
If gamble and blackmail ever had a face , it would be the face Fan Cai had on. He even put his tea cup down, spread his legs apart slightly, leaned forward, clasped his hands together as he rested them above his knees and supported his chin on top of the clasped hands, to further accentuate the look.
His ssage was clear.
"If you sell yourself down the river know that I'll sell myself down that sa river with you. Now decide."
Whether he would actually ever mouth off those words to realizing his mother was highly volatile and highly strung spirit beast, was a question for another day, but at this mont, only one question was worth an answer, a question that almost everyone present, regardless of their intention, desperately needed an answer to.
Just as Fan Ha was about to give her answer, Fu Hui spoke up, a calculated move on the elder's side.
"Daoist Fan Ha before you make your choice there's a few things I'd like to ntion first if you don't mind," Fu Hui said, showing a rare air of consideration and politeness in his conduct. Sothing most would have assud he was incapable of because of how he conducted and portrayed himself from the mont he walked through those doors.
"Here it cos," thought Yang Qing as he eyed the elder with interest.
No one except Fan Cai was surprised by the change in his deanor.
A person who could reach the eighth stage of the palace realm wasn't a simple character and the fact that he was the one delegated to handle today's matter on behalf of the Yu clan further accentuated that fact.
The Yu clan likely had other mbers who had the sa cultivation base as him or were likely stronger, yet he was the one sent here. This showed the trust and confidence the clan had in him to handle the task.
There is no way a long-standing clan like that would trust a fool.
"Go ahead, Elder Yu Hui,"
"If you agree to join us our guardian, we will extend our pact of non-aggression from 500 years to 10,000 years, and in addition, we will also hand back the earth profound jade stone to sect master ng Jiayi.
Not only that, we will still maintain the sa agreent you had with the Starlight Lake Sect when it cos to resources support.." Yu Hui paused as his attention moved from Fan Ha to Fan Cai whose heart instantly started racing when he felt the elder's attention.
That dread and panic that washed over him gave rise to profound clarity. He loved his life at that secluded mountain he called ho for the past 14 years. Yes, he occasionally got into fights with his volatile neighbors but who doesn't, and yes, maybe he occasionally had nightmares about being eaten by one of them, especially the recluse palace realm one, but who doesn't?
The way he saw it those nightmares were a way to help him temper his spirit and mind. The day he could sleep comfortably whilst knowing he was surrounded by murderous neighbors was the day maybe he could catch a glimpse of the road to the palace realm.
All these years, other than fantasizing about what it would be like if his mother acted like a normal mother, instead of the figure she was in his life, he spent a greater part of his fantasies imagining life outside of that mountain.
But now faced with the choice of joining so unfamiliar clan for the entirety of his life, all he could think of was how life really wasn't bad at that mountain and how he could picture himself staying there all his life. The spiritual qi was great, the view beautiful, and the resources plentiful. He had alot of material to practice his craftsmanship. And other than the occasional tassel with his spirit beast neighbors, the environnt was tranquil, free from the chaos of life.
He had the freedom to cultivate and do as he pleased on that ground. All these sects and clans, isn't that what they pursued when they looked for a place to lay their roots?
They all looked for little pocket of spaces that they considered to be good enough to anchor themselves to for years and years to co. Sothing that would nurture and sustain them, sothing that was theirs and that they considered a safe haven from the troubles of the world.
A tiless refuge and treasure and he had that but now he was at the cusp of losing it.
Only when you were about to lose sothing would you start to realize its true value to you.
Fan Cai felt like he was about to vomit and cry at the sa ti as he saw Elder Fu Hui open his mouth to speak.
Whatever happened next, he didn't regret his choice, it's a lie he definitely did. At the start when he made that brash statent fired by the passions of youth he didn't, but now with a sense of clarity washing over him, he could now confidently say he regretted it, and he would add it to the long list of grievances he had against his mother for forcing him to make such a choice.
But regardless, the die had already been cast, all he could do now was swallow it and find a way to accept whatever his new life would be.
Would it be as a craftsman in seclusion or as a lifeti lackey of a clan he knew nothing about and his mother's incessant reminders of how he was a fool?
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