Chapter 223 (1): It's Yours

The four of them then got some stuff to eat.

However, Chen Xiaolian and the two brothers, Lun Tai and Bei Tai only ate the things they had packed inside the Storage Watch. The Countess found some food from the storeroom, but no one wanted to touch it.

“Are you afraid that I put poison in it?” The Countess frowned as she looked at Chen Xiaolian who was stuffing himself with bread. “I went to attend a funeral today. Why would I bring any poison with me?”

Chen Xiaolian did not say anything. He simply continued eating the bread quietly. After taking several gulps of mineral water, he said coolly, “Better safe than sorry.”

The Countess sighed. Next, her eyes were attracted by Chen Xiaolian’s next set of actions.

“These things that you people are eating and drinking. Where did they come from?” The young woman observed Chen Xiaolian with a curious expression and asked, “You people did not bring any bag with you. Yet, you were able to bring these items out. Where did you hide these items?”

Chen Xiaolian stood up and walked to the side. He used the remaining mineral water to wash off his hands. After wiping his hands clean, he turned around and addressed the Countess, “Why do you have so many questions?”

“Of course, even though I have only been with you people for a few hours, the number of questions I have had only increased.”

“All right then.” Chen Xiaolian clapped his hands together and walked until he was standing before the Countess. Then, he sat down and looked into the Countess’ eyes. “In that case… … let’s talk about the conditions we’ve discussed before. I’ll tell it to you right now, the price you set is too high.”

The Countess’ expression turned tense and she asked, “You disagree?”

Chen Xiaolian smiled. He deliberately paused for a moment and observed the anxious expression within the young woman’s eyes in detail. Then, he purposely said in a slow manner, “However, after weighing certain factors… although the conditions are harsh, I decided to agree to it.”

The Countess raised an eyebrow.

“Your Excellency, I think…”

“No, just call me Xian Yin.” She looked at Chen Xiaolian. “Didn’t you just give me this name? I think this name sounds quite good.”

“… … very well, Xian Yin,” said Chen Xiaolian as he shrugged his shoulders. He appeared indifferent to the idea and continued, “I can accept your three conditions. First, to ensure your safety and help you deal with those who ambushed you. Second, I will tell you what you wanted to know, including the answers to the strange incidents that are happening to you. Third… to satisfy your curiosity.”

Xian Yin seemed relieved by that.

However, Chen Xiaolian then uttered another sentence.

“But…”

“Wait a minute, what do you mean but?”

“The selling price may be as high as the Heavens while the offer price may be as low as the Earth.” Chen Xiaolian shook his head. “I agreed to your price. However, I feel that the payment method needed to be changed.”

"What do you want?"

“Very simple, I want to see the item first,” Chen Xiaolian said coolly. “I want to get the blade first.”

“Unacceptable!” Xian Yin promptly shook her head. “You people are very strong. If, after taking the sword blade, you people choose to not honour your promise, then there will be nothing that I can do about it.”

“No, I can honour part of it first,” Chen Xiaolian slowly said. “Also, I am also facing the same risk here. You should already understand, the people who ambushed you possess very powerful strength. Going against people like them is not a simple matter for us. Additionally, one of my companions had already been badly injured. If we continue to confront them, the damage on our side would likely increase! After we suffered from all those damages, in case you are unable to give us the sword blade – don’t give us the crap about you using yourself as hostage.

“In the event that you could not produce the sword blade, even killing you would not yield any result.

“Furthermore… these words of mine might hurt your self-esteem. However, you living or dying holds no practical significance for us – even if we are to kill you in the end, it could not make up for the loss that we have suffered.

“So, I cannot take this risk.”

Xian Yin silently thought about it for a moment before asking, “So, which part of the promise do you intend to fulfil first?”

“I can answer your questions and unravel the confusion in your heart.” Chen Xiaolian smiled and said, “These are my conditions.”

“… …just that?”

“Listen up!” Lun Tai who was seated beside and listening in to the conversation suddenly stood up. He cast a cold stare at Xian Yin and said, “You had better get something straight! For us, there are two choices. Protect you and fight off those people!

“However, if we do not protect you… … those fellows could easily catch you. Then, they will do whatever they need to get the sword blade from you!

“When that happens, if we want the sword blade, we will just have to fight against them all the same.

“In other words, protecting you or not will still lead us to fight against them! There is no difference for us.

“Do you understand?

“So… … if you are willing, then we can cooperate.

“If you are unwilling, then we will just leave! After those fellows find you and get the sword blade from you, we will just snatch it from them.”

Xian Yin's face fell.

“Also… I believe you have already witnessed how they go about achieving their goals… … they are not beneath the acts of killing!”

After saying that, Lun Tai deliberately cast a cold stare at Xian Yin.

Chen Xiaolian who was at the side, chuckled secretly. Lun Tai’s accompaniment to his words were done very well. The two of them performed the good cop bad cop routine to a tee.

“Enough!” Chen Xiaolian understood the meaning of the word overkill. If they were to continue scaring this young woman, it might end up backfiring on them. After all, this young woman before them was no ordinary person. She was an aristocrat with a net worth upward of billions.

He timely interrupted Lun Tai and looked at Xian Yin. He slowly said, “I have said it clearly. I can satisfy one of your conditions. I can answer those questions of yours right now. Then, you need to hand over the sword blade to me. Additionally… … I will not accept any bargaining here. This is my final price. If you do not agree to it, then that’s fine. We’ll leave here immediately.”

“… … …”

Xian Yin pondered her choice carefully.

After a while, this young woman revealed a faint and peculiar smile. “Besides helping me deal with those who ambushed me… can I choose the other two conditions?”

“Mm?” Chen Xiaolian’s heart pounded.

“What I mean by that is… I will not ask you to answer the questions regarding the strange incidents that are happening to me first. I wish that you would first satisfy my other desire!”

That caused Chen Xiaolian to be taken aback.

He did not expect this young woman to make such a request.

“Your other desire?” asked Chen Xiaolian with a frown. “What is it?”

“I want to… see the Sword in the Stone’s hilt.” Xian Yin looked at Chen Xiaolian. “That item must be on you, am I right? I am willing to bet that it is. You must have used that strange method to hide it upon your person.”

“You want to see it?” asked Chen Xiaolian. He took a deep breath.

“That is correct, I want to see it,” Xian Yin said with a very serious voice and expression. There was no hint of her joking around on her face.  “Right here, right now, in front of you. You are all stronger than me and there is no way for me to pull any tricks. I merely want to look at it… … after I am finished looking at it, I will return it to you. Then… … I will hand over the sword blade to you people.

“How is it?

“This requirement is not that difficult.”

Chen Xiaolian narrowed his eyes and asked, “Aren’t you anxious to find out about the things that are happening to you?”

“Finding out about it a little later is no big deal,” Xian Yin said coolly. “At any rate, it has been so long. I can afford to wait a few more days. Didn’t you people promise to fulfil my three conditions as long as I hand over the sword blade to you? I will choose to trust you.”

“So, you just want to take a look at the sword hilt? After that, you will give us the sword blade... … just like that?”

"Yes."

Chen Xiaolian turned to look at Lun Tai before turning to look at Bei Tai. The both of them had confused expressions on their faces – this request that Xian Yin had made was not difficult. Rather, it was too easy.

“Very well!”

Chen Xiaolian first checked the system radar to see if there were any green dots around them.

Next, Lun Tai quickly moved out of the stone fortress. He quickly patrolled around once to ensure that no one was close by.

“It’s secure!”

After walking back in, Lun Tai quickly said, “The surrounding terrain is very open without any place for people to hide. I am sure that it is secure.”

Chen Xiaolian nodded his head and brought out the Sword in the Stone’s hilt from his Storage Watch.

The moment this old, broken, rust covered item appeared in Chen Xiaolian’s hand, he could sense that Xian Yin who was standing before him had seemingly stopped breathing.

The young woman’s eyes were shining with light as she stared at the item held in Chen Xiaolian’s hand!

“Is this… … the Sword in the Stone’s hilt?”

Xian Yin hesitated a moment before stepping two steps forward. She approached Chen Xiaolian and asked, “Can I… … take it for a closer look?”

In a straightforward manner, Chen Xiaolian directly handed the sword hilt to Xian Yin’s hands – under the present circumstance, Chen Xiaolian was not afraid that this young woman might pull any tricks.

Xian Yin took the Sword in the Stone in her hand and weighed it. Finding it to be heavy, her wrist became somewhat startled. She forced herself to hold on to it tightly. Then, her slender fingers stroked the layer of rust upon the surface of the hilt. She was seemingly feeling the cold roughness of the surface of the hilt.

On the top part of the hilt, there was a small portion of sword blade. The portion had been broken; the broken portion was very rough and had long since been covered by a layer of rust. It was simply impossible to see how it originally looked like.

However, as Xian Yin slowly caressed the broken part, her eyes revealed a complicated expression. Who knew what was going on in her mind.

She carefully inspected the item, bit by bit. It appeared as though she wanted to imprint the image of this item deep into the depths of her mind.

She inspected it for a long time, more than 10 minutes.

Chen Xiaolian did not make any move to urge her nor did he make any impatient expression.

At long last, Xian Yin let out a long breath and carefully returned the sword hilt to Chen Xiaolian.

“I’m done looking.”

Chen Xiaolian nodded his head. He readily accepted the sword hilt and placed it back into his Storage Watch.

Xian Yin’s eyebrows were raised and her eyes were fixed onto the watch on Chen Xiaolian’s wrist. She asked, “Your things are all stored inside the watch? What is it? A magic equipment? Or a high-level spatial storage equipment?”

“You know quite a lot,” said Chen Xiaolian with a faint smile. “Have you been reading a lot of fantasy stories or science fiction movies?”

Xian Yin shook her head but did not say anything.

"Now is your curiosity satisfied?"

“… … satisfied.”