Pei Xi walked in, waving his hand. Two guards immediately stepped forward, intending to escort the old man and King out.
Their demeanor was less than polite, treating them as prisoners to be manipulated at will.
King cracked his knuckles, his gaze casually sweeping over the pressure points on the guards' bodies. The guards felt a chill down their spines, their movements freezing.
When they looked again, they were already drenched in sweat.
The old man was fiddling with a white worm on his fingertip, its two antennae pointing skyward.
It was a blood-sucking worm.
Pei Xi's smile remained unchanged as he asked calmly, "Do you two intend to resist by force?"
The old man's response was a cold sneer. He raised his fingertip, and the worm wriggled, catching the scent of living humans.
"Do you want to find out?"
Pei Xi's expression remained impassive, his eyes merely hardening slightly.
King said slowly, "It's not that I'm saying, but whether you want to be king or eliminate the other princes, what does it have to do with us?"
Pei Xi slowly turned his gaze to him.
"But you shouldn't have crossed us," he added with a hint of ruthlessness in his tone. "I'm not someone who likes to meddle in reality, but I'm also not someone to be bullied."
The atmosphere grew heavy, as if something was fermenting in the air.
It was about to explode.
Pei Xi cast a deep glance at King, his mind rapidly calculating. If he were to eliminate these two now...
His chances of winning were slim.
The old man's mastery of poisons was formidable. Furthermore, if King, Fu Jingshu, and Shen Qingqing fought back desperately, he alone would not be able to handle them.
Most importantly, King's influence...
This was precisely why Pei Xi had been making small moves, probing cautiously, and had never directly attacked them.
He took a deep breath, and a smile slowly spread across his face. In an instant, the tense atmosphere dissolved, as if the previous tension had merely been a figment of their imagination.
"Miss Shen, what do you say?"
Shen Qingqing's gaze was indifferent. "You should know why we haven't resisted."
If it weren't for the special medicine...
Pei Xi nodded. "Of course. How about this, we strike a deal?"
Shen Qingqing remained silent.
Pei Xi didn't seem to mind and continued, "As long as you cooperate with me from now on, I guarantee that in a few days, I will persuade Father to let you leave. The premise is that you do not interfere with my succession."
"Not worth it."
Shen Qingqing didn't need to consider it; the deal was unfavorable.
Their identities were here. The King could at most imprison them but couldn't do anything drastic, as they were, after all, Chinese.
Moreover, their identities were not simple. If anything were to happen to them here, the King would have difficulty explaining.
Pei Xi poked a finger at her, chuckling softly. "You..."
She was indeed difficult to fool.
"If you want a deal, show some sincerity," Shen Qingqing said sarcastically. "Are you trying to fool a child with these unfair terms?"
"Alright," Pei Xi shrugged. She was too sharp, so he had to compromise. "I can give you the special medicine. That thing is actually useless to me, but you know, I can't give it to you right now, or if the four of you were to gang up..."
Shen Qingqing did not disagree with this statement. "Fine."
Pei Xi nodded. "Then it's settled."
"Okay, but I have a condition too." Shen Qingqing's eyes flickered as she glanced at King and the old man. Those two were also sharp and immediately interrupted her.
"We don't need it."
King frowned, saying irritably, "I am your teacher. If my safety requires my student to exchange herself for me, then am I still fit to be your teacher?"
The old man was even more displeased. "Shut up."
Shen Qingqing was both amused and exasperated. "I haven't even spoken yet, and you two are really..."
They were infuriating, yet touching.
However, after this incident, the two understood that they had a temporary truce with Pei Xi and no longer opposed his arrangements, leaving with the two guards.
As soon as they were gone, Pei Xi suddenly changed his tone.
"Next, we need to discuss another transaction."
"Are you going back on your word?" Shen Qingqing asked coldly.
"Certainly not," Pei Xi waved his hand, then pulled over a chair and sat down. He looked languid and comfortable, but the words he spoke were decidedly unfriendly.
"I just want to make another deal with you."
...
King and the old man were led to another room, separated only by a wall.
But the room was well soundproofed. The old man even climbed onto the wall to listen, but no sound from the other side could be heard. He pouted, quite disappointed.
Just then, the large LCD screen on the wall suddenly lit up.
King and the old man looked up, both startled.
On the screen, the scene from the previous room appeared, showing Fu Jingshu and Shen Qingqing, and Pei Xi sitting in a chair, his gaze seeming to glance in their direction.
The old man spat. "What is this guy up to now?"
"This kind of scene, this kind of screen..." King had used such tactics before, mostly for sowing discord. "It seems the other party wants to sow discord between us. I just don't know if the target is you or me."
The old man also understood and was even more disgusted. "This method is truly dirty!"
King: "..."
It was like being shot.
At this moment, a voice came from the screen.
"Aren't you curious why I arranged a three-day sea cruise and asked you to participate?"
It was Pei Xi.
Shen Qingqing, tired of standing, sat down by the bed and pulled Fu Jingshu. "Curious. I've always thought you were sick for this. Those people threaten your claim to the throne, but we don't threaten you. Why would you provoke me?"
Unnecessarily making so many enemies for himself.
King and Fu Jingshu were both formidable opponents, and of course, she wouldn't admit that she herself was not easy to deal with.
Pei Xi propped his chin on one hand, saying slowly, "Because I want to invite someone, but this person is difficult to invite. Only when you all come will he come."
Shen Qingqing's gaze darkened.
Was it King, or the old man?
These two had a deep connection with Pei Xi, one being a suspected former master from many years ago, the other being an equally matched old rival.
Pei Xi said maliciously, "How about you guess?"
He seemed to enjoy playing such games, his originally somewhat bored expression becoming lively.
"Guess right and win a prize."
Shen Qingqing didn't want any prize. "I'm not guessing. Say what you want."
Pei Xi faltered and said irritably, "You, you're not romantic, and even worse, you're not interesting at all. I don't understand, what does Fu Jingshu see in a woman like you?"
"Watch what you say."
Shen Qingqing was unhappy. What did she mean by a woman like her?
"Is that the point?" Pei Xi rolled his eyes at her and pulled the wildly off-topic conversation back. "If you don't ask, I'll tell you myself. King is indeed formidable. He's the only opponent I've encountered in many years, but he's not enough to make me set up this whole scheme."
"What do you want?"
Knowing that his target was the old man, Shen Qingqing's gaze grew colder, and her eyes hid a hint of vigilance.
A disciple who betrayed his sect and disappeared for many years suddenly reappearing was definitely not for reminiscing with his former master; it was likely for his life.