Taking a sip of tea, Master Ye did not dare to look Meng Qi in the eye, somewhat like a cowardly, kneeling playboy when threatened by someone with a knife.
Yet, Meng Qi felt that Master Ye had insightful eyes that seemed like a bottomless lake, often with gentle ripples.
"Master Tang, surely we're going to talk about fighting for the Wang family and against the Huanhua Swords Sect." Mrs. An smiled very attractively. With large breasts, she looked sexier in a dress than the most popular courtesan, making people long to tear off her clothes. Even the nearly 50-year-old Tang Ren could not help glancing at her.
Meng Qi had seen lots of beauties, and would not be seduced. "Why should I join the Wang family rather than the Huanhua Swords Sect? We, the Tang family, always get along well with the Huanhua Swords Sect. If we choose to cooperate with the Wang family, we'll be labeled as ingrates."
With dewy eyes, Mrs. An smiled and said, "Not only has Lord Tang the Fifth's action caused animosity between your Tang family and the Huanhua Swords Sect, but we can also talk about some of the benefits that you might get. When this is done, the Huanhua Swords Sect will sell its lands, manors, and shops at low prices and all of that can be shared equally by the four families—Tang, Ye, Ling, and Wan. What's more, you can even get instruction from the experts of the Exterior of the Wang family from Zhou County and be allowed to read relevant ancient books and records. Now you're merely 26, already with Six Apertures opened, and have mastered bladesmanship. Thus, it's possible for you to reach the Half-step Exterior Scenery.
"Surely, you'll be the next Master in your family."
If one succeeded in reaching the Half-step Exterior Scenery, reaching the Exterior was just a matter of time for those aristocratic families that had rich materials about the intersection between the internal and external realms. And if still at a young age, there was no need to worry about it at all.
"Knowing that 'second young master Tang' has gone through difficulties and become a bladesmanship master, are they about to seduce me with Kung Fu scripts?" Meng Qi thought without changing expression, because he was not the real second young master Tang and could not get any benefits from it. Therefore, he could make an objective judgment as a bystander.
"Apart from lands, manors, and shops, I can still get all other benefits if cooperating with the Huanhua Swords Sect, and I can even get more. Anyway, the properties in Yi City aren't very important and are just to control water transportation. So, why should I choose to cooperate with you?"
Meng Qi asked in the voice of a Master with the thought of interests first. He knew that the Ye family and the Ling family had already worked for the Wang family, but wondered why the Wan family and the Tang family should run the risk of betraying and offending the Huanhua Swords Sect only out of such a temptation.
Tang Ren no longer looked at Mrs. An and calmed his nerves. Noticing this, Meng Qi could not help changing his facial expression. "When have I become so calm?"
For me, although Mrs. An is charming, I can keep myself away from temptation. Because there's still a distance between us, and she's fully dressed without much seduction, so I slightly feasted my eyes on her but soon became engrossed in analyzing what others were saying and finding clues. Now, compared with Master Tang Ren, I have a higher resistance to the temptation of beauties.
Just when Mrs. An was about to answer, Meng Qi butted in, saying, "If I agree with you, how could you appease my second uncle and seventh uncle? What promise did you use to keep them at peace?"
Master Ye looked into Meng Qi's eyes and smiled. "Before, we promised Second Uncle Tang to be Master who could annex the properties of the Huanhua Swords Sect. Besides that, Fifth Uncle Tang and Seventh Uncle Tang would respectively take their people to other places in Zhou County and purchase land and properties under the support of the Wang family's wealth and masters to make the Tang family flourish. Now, if you become the Master of your family, Second Uncle Tang will, of course, get the part of Fifth Uncle Tang."
"No wonder Fifth Uncle Tang and Seventh Uncle Tang choose to cooperate with Second Uncle Tang." Meng Qi suddenly realized it, but still held a little doubt. "Lord Tang the Fifth could have worked for the Huanhua Swords Sect and gotten more than he expected. Or, he was a coward and fawned upon others when seeing the ongoing failure. But if so, would such a man have the courage to offend the Huanhua Swords Sect?"
Master Ye seemed to have ripples in his dark eyes, which showed his shrewdness. He said, "If you're not satisfied, the Wang family can give you a garden for planting medicinal materials and a Greenwater Copper mine near Yi City."
Greenwater Copper was a high-quality material for making Refined Weapons. Even Meng Qi, the fake second young master Tang, could not help being moved, with Karma points, Karma points, Karma points lingering in his mind.
Making a Refined Weapon required a refiner that had a good mastery of Kung Fu and fire, and it was very time-consuming. But with enough materials, the Tang family had the capability to create four or five Refined Weapons each year.
Meng Qi said in a deep voice, "Did the Wang family pay such a big price just to drive out the Huanhua Swords Sect? Even if they can totally control Yi City, they can't make up for the loss."
"Haha. The Wang family has their reasons. The benefits later in Yi City will be 10 times as much, and you'll also share the profits," Master Ye said with a laugh.
"What benefits?" Meng Qi asked.
Master Ye smiled, saying, "It's a secret. I can't tell you now in case that it should be leaked out. We'll make a Soul-pledging Oath and meet our commitment."
The ripples in his eyes became a vortex, so charming and fascinating. He said, "If you agree, the two maids, Ruyi Sceptre and Chen Xiang, will become yours. They're born seductive. They are still young, but are at least as sexy as Mrs. An..."
The atmosphere seemed flirtatious. The candlelight became faint, which made the beautiful women even more attractive.
Meng Qi suddenly felt dizzy. With the Vital Spirit of his mid-brows Will-projecting against the invasion of the two maids' seduction by itself, he immediately became clear.
"Hmph! Master Ye, how dare you use such an evil method!" Meng Qi shouted and drew out Evil Ordeal.
If he did not have the Transformation Strategy and the Immortal Pressing Art, he could have been allured!
Tang Ren stood up while slanting his Canglan Knife toward Master Ye. The knife was black and it seemed to make numerous waves of water crash in the room.
Master Ye turned his head up, as two lines of blood flowed out of his nose. He smiled obsequiously and said, "Cool it, Brother Tang. I was only a little bit hasty and, thus, made a mistake in the moment."
"You're not sincere! Grandpa Ren, let's go!" Meng Qi took Evil Ordeal toward the door.
At the same time, he said in the Secret Voice-sending way, "Grandpa Ren, he tried to control me in a spiritual way! I think he probably did the same to second uncle, fifth uncle, and seventh uncle. He bribed the ones who could be allured and controlled the others by force. After that, he sent the maids to maintain spiritual control."
"That's why brother two, brother five, and brother seven have all taken maids as concubines just now!" Tang Ren answered angrily.
For second master Tang, a Master from an aristocratic family, he could have a maid and take her as concubine at any time—it was an ordinary thing. So, when Master Tang fell ill, everyone was so jittery that no one noticed it or suspected anything.
"That's it. No wonder the four families act in concert..." Meng Qi confirmed his speculation.
It's more difficult to deal with the Tang family. The Master is in a coma and, thus, three members need to be bribed and controlled. While for the other three families, only an opportunity is needed to influence their masters because the other elders in the three families won't know the real situation. Once they offend the Huanhua Swords Sect, it will be irredeemable.
With the friendship between Master Ye and the playboys from the other two families, it's not difficult to meet the Masters in private. The only problem is the spiritual control. Stronger control may be recognized, but weaker control may only last one minute. When has Master Ye become so strong in spiritual control?
Spiritual control cannot work well all the time. First, it can only function when fighting against those inferior. And second, during the period of Enlightenment, to make those being controlled follow orders completely, it's necessary to make them lose their autonomy, which will make them look sluggish. Everyone can notice that and, thus, the control needs to be done in moderation. That's to allure him doing things that he's not so opposed to doing normally. So Master Ye can "control" other Masters and make them "work for" the Wang family, but can't make them send Precious Weapons from their own families to others.
What's more, the spiritual control can't last long. Without a follow-up method, people who're controlled will soon become sober and know that they've been lured into a trap. Even if Master Ye has sent "maids", as time goes by, they'll become either more sluggish or more sober. Thus, it can only be a short-term activity. What's worse, there're still different worries. What if professionals or masters that have reached the Half-step Exterior Scenery recognize it? What if the other person is familiar with Precious Weapons and the weapons try to kill "demons" by themselves?
Isn't Master Ye scared that the other aristocratic families will join together and take revenge on him?
This matter has a very negative influence. After realizing it, the Six Fan School will definitely issue an arrest warrant to kill him, and the Ye family may be turned over. Why does Master Ye dare to be so reckless?
Only if he is fearless even with somebody at his back!
Only if he doesn't care about the consequences!
"Maybe, he's not Master Ye, indeed..." Meng Qi suddenly understood it because, otherwise, how could it be possible for Master Ye to become stronger than all the Masters from the other families?
Besides, the spiritual training ways during the enlightenment period are so rare. Even Jiang Zhiwei has to rely on the Transformation Strategy!
"... it's impossible for the Wang family to pay such a high price... If the Tang family and the Wan family are willing to work for the Wang family, they'll surely feel satisfied and send Wang Zai to settle the situation down. But if the Wang Family have to pay the cost of the garden for planting medicinal materials and the Greenwater Copper mine—no one would be so foolish to do so.
"So it looks like 'Master Ye' conspires to do a one-off trade after which he'll soon escape. So the promise that they made in the name of the Wang family is not real..."
Before all doubts became clear, but Meng Qi could not guess at "Master Ye's" real purpose.
At this time, Meng Qi pretended to go out angrily, and Tang Ren followed him.
Master Ye still apologized in a casual manner while Mrs. An kept her smile without reducing her seduction and the two maids had no expressions on their faces, just like two delicate dolls.
Near the door, Meng Qi suddenly turned around to draw Evil Ordeal out of the scabbard. His voice came out like mad earsplitting thunder:
"Let's start!"
From the beginning, he planned to attack first!
A sudden attack can disrupt the other's prior plan. Why should I wait for them to surround me to kill or assassinate me?
The knife, like lightning, seemed powerful enough to destroy everything!