Chapter 404 - Tianhao Ruins (12)

"If you're lucky, you'll see why soon." Shen Tianyu replied with her arms behind her head. She seemed like she was going to start whistling any second, not fitting in with the tense atmosphere at all.

Just like a crow's mouth1, the sound of a female scream echoed throughout the cavern as soon as the words were uttered. 

"What is the meaning of this?!" A male voice up ahead roared.

"Aaaaand there it is. Why don't you guys go and take a look?" She turned to Ke Qingyan and asked whether the younger recruits wanted to see the commotion.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click <a href="#%E2%80%99s-courtesan-wife_11622167006444805/tianhao-ruins-(12)_52363438214671359">#%E2%80%99s-courtesan-wife_11622167006444805/tianhao-ruins-(12)_52363438214671359</a> for visiting.

A number of them perked up and scooted through the crowd of bodies to see what all the noise was about. Wen Ya could already guess what happened and decided to stay behind but Ke Qingyan joined in the others on their curiosity.

Shen Tianyu leaned on the railing, waiting for the commotion to pass since there were a good number of people in front of them. Since they couldn't all push through, they might as well wait. Rong Jian stood between the crowd of people and Shen Tianyu with their subordinates discreetly surrounding them in a protective bubble. 

"What do you think you're doing?!" A fierce middle-aged man with a mustache and short beard shouted at an average-looking young man holding up a sword. 

The sword was rested across the neck of a slender woman dressed in light blue robes. Her almond eyes were misted over with tears as she stared at the middle-aged man, her nails digging into the arm that was keeping her still. 

"Don't be so anxious, Old Xu. I'm just trying to make a deal. You just better be careful of your answer or else... Well, the railings of this bridge aren't that high so you wouldn't want my hands to slip, would you?" The young man sneered.

'Even though you have a sword pointed at her throat, what are you saying? Trying to make extra work for yourself?' Shen Tianyu huffed as she handed over her Night Pearl to her partner and fished out a book from her bag.

'Isn't it more work pushing her off the bridge than just slitting her throat?' She opened her book as she waited for the commotion to end and they could all continue on.

"What kind of a deal requires this? Do you take me for a fool?!" The old man puffed at him.

"Well you don't have a choice, now do you Old Xu? Unless..." The younger man pressed his sword closer to the young woman's throat.  Her incessant trembling made the sword cut into her flesh and a line of blood can be seen flowing down her pale white throat.

"Tsk. Lady, I told you to stay still. What if the cut had gone deeper, we don't want that now, do we?" The young man scolded the woman lightly but that just made her shed her tears instead.

"Anyways, what do you say, Old Xu? We can make an alliance in here and share what we both find... I'm not asking for much, just 70% of the stuff you find if I don't get what I want." The young man didn't bother with the woman in his arms any further. 

70% may not seem like much, but one must remember this, and any, Ascendant Monument held priceless treasures of great cultivators from eons past. One could jump several levels with one item if they were lucky and even the unlucky ones that managed to get something could get a life-saving item that would be crucial in the middle of battle. In addition, with so many groups vying for something from the Monument, the amount that one group could find, if they all competed fairly, really might not amount to more than a single person's worth. 

Yes, if they competed fairly.

"Nngh... Fine! We'll do as you wish now hand Ru'er over!" The middle-aged man agitatedly agreed. 

'Hm... Is that woman her daughter? She seems a bit too young to be otherwise. But if that was the case, he should have protected her better so something like this didn't happen.' Shen Tianyu flipped to the next page of her book.

"I think it's about time we call the young ones back to regroup." She said to no one in particular as her eyes stayed on the book in her hands. Rong Jian was acting as an obedient lamp as he held the Night Pearl over her shoulder so she could read in the darkness. 

Shen Tianyu could feel a massive amount of eyes keep looking over her way, probably from her partner's subordinates that have never seen him like this. 

"Yes, Young Miss." One of the older members received Shen Tianyu's order. He wasn't much older than the new ones in terms of age but he had been in the organization for longer, one of the those who were already in it before Shen Tianyu decided to reform the entire thing. 

"We can't do that now, old man. What if you renege on the promise later?" The young man refused to release the young woman. 

Ke Qingyan and them who had been watching the entire show with disgust, but unwilling to step in, were called back. They shuffled back to their place a the back of the crowd with uncomfortable expressions all over their faces. 

As to why no one else decided to step in when there were so many people. Well, the girl can be considered lucky. Such a bridge, though it was not narrow, it was easy to push others into the abyss and pass it off as an accident. At every stage of exploring the Ruins, people are constantly trying to get rid of their competitors or the manpower of their rivals. Using someone's life to make a deal or alliance with another group was already considered lucky for the victim involved since you still get to keep your life. Now that the man had made a deal with another group, the others can be considered as having one less competitor since that middle-aged man's group can now be seen as one with the young man's. Though if one group made too many alliances, it was not good either. Firstly, they might have problems upholding their end of the promise and secondly, they become too powerful for the other groups to ignore. The others remaining might just ban together to get rid of the ones showing it's head above the crowd. Doomsayer; someone who brings bad things about by talking about them