A banquet at West Lake saw Yan Shouyi consolidate the first force under his command.
The Zhao family having obtained the "Shen Nei Jing," it was expected they would soon regain their former strength and become a force to be reckoned with.
The day after Zhao Zhenghao's departure, Lin Zhitong, under the protection of Lü Jing and others, also embarked on her journey eastward.
Yan Shouyi and Lin Zhitong bid a reluctant farewell. Everyone also sent Lin Zhitong many life-saving magical artifacts, all of which she accepted. She repeatedly reassured everyone that her journey would be perfectly safe and asked them not to worry.
However, after Lin Zhitong left, it felt as though a vital spark had departed from Yan Shouyi's side.
Yan Shouyi had always been a man of few words. Lin Zhitong, like a chirping skylark beside him, always managed to liven up the atmosphere. Now that Lin Zhitong had temporarily departed, Yan Shouyi felt an emptiness in his heart.
Fortunately, he still had many companions. Dragon Feicheng, in particular, was an extreme chatterbox. As soon as Lin Zhitong left, he wanted to take Yan Shouyi for a foot massage and pampering. Yan Shouyi naturally refused.
However, he did fulfill his previous promise, letting Dragon Feicheng lead Sanlong and Lǎ Lítóu out for a night of revelry.
The next day, when the two returned, their spirits were noticeably dampened.
Yan Shouyi had expected Sanlong and Lǎ Lítóu to leave soon after standing in for him, but he did not anticipate that they would express their desire to stay in Rongcheng for a few more days.
Upon inquiry, he learned that the two of them had returned to Rongcheng for two main purposes.
The first was, naturally, to deal with the Zhao family on Yan Shouyi's behalf.
The second was a private request from Yan Chou, hoping they would stay for seven days to mentor Yan Shouyi.
Therefore, they asked Yan Shouyi to prepare himself, handle his affairs, and then enter a period of closed-door cultivation for half a month.
Upon hearing this, Yan Shouyi was not apprehensive of the half-month seclusion but rather quite expectant.
He had witnessed the capabilities of these two uncles, and receiving their guidance was something he welcomed wholeheartedly.
However, before entering seclusion, he still had one matter to attend to.
That night, Yan Shouyi arrived at Ping'an Building. Navigating the darkness, he took the elevator to the 44th floor. As soon as he opened the door, he was startled.
"What are you doing here?"
He saw Luo Ning outside the elevator on the 44th floor, conducting research on several corpses.
She replied, "I have nowhere else to go. Besides, you should be here to see Zhao Yiyao today, right? Lin Zhitong asked me to keep an eye on you before she left."
Yan Shouyi responded with a wry smile, "Are you really going to follow me?"
"What else?" Luo Ning rolled her eyes at him, then tossed him a set of keys. "This Miss Zhao has a terrible temper; you'd best be careful."
Yan Shouyi had long since experienced Zhao Yiyao's temper. How much worse could it possibly get?
As Yan Shouyi took the keys and was about to open Zhao Yiyao's door, the main door inside Zhao Yiyao's room suddenly slammed shut with a loud bang, its frame visibly buckling.
"What's going on?" Yan Shouyi quickly ran back to ask Luo Ning, "Did you give her Huang Si Pi back?"
Luo Ning shook her head. "No."
"Then how does she have this kind of strength?"
"Her aunt just arrived a few days ago."
"..."
Was it her aunt, or adrenaline?
To be on the safe side, Yan Shouyi directly summoned his Zanpakutō using a burning talisman for summoning. He cautiously opened the door.
The moment the door opened, an iron bed was violently hurled at Yan Shouyi. Fortunately, Yan Shouyi reacted quickly and dodged it.
"What did you do to my family?!" Zhao Yiyao furiously demanded, staring at Yan Shouyi.
The so-called "Hongmen Banquet" should have ended four days ago, but Yan Shouyi had not come to release Zhao Yiyao. Moreover, Zhao Yiyao had heard that other Zhao family members confined there had been taken away.
Unaware of the situation, Zhao Yiyao assumed Yan Shouyi had killed them all.
Yan Shouyi cleared his throat dryly and said, "Calm down. Your family is safe. I had a pleasant conversation with your father that night, and we even became sworn brothers. By rights, you should be calling me uncle."
"Pah!" Zhao Yiyao retorted angrily. "Do you think I'd believe you? If an agreement was reached, why are you only coming here today?"
"Well... that's your father's wish. He thinks you're young and impetuous, with too much killing intent, so he asked me to keep you locked up for a few more days to temper your sharpness."
"What?!"
Clearly, this tactic did not temper Zhao Yiyao's sharpness; instead, it intensified her murderous intent.
At this moment, Yan Shouyi realized that Zhao Zhenghao, that old scoundrel, had likely anticipated Zhao Yiyao's rage and deliberately asked Yan Shouyi to detain her for a few more days. By the time he had escorted the Zhao family back north, Zhao Yiyao's anger would not affect Zhao Zhenghao.
That scoundrel Zhao Zhenghao, was that how a father should be?!
To make Zhao Yiyao believe his words, Yan Shouyi tossed her a mobile phone, allowing her to call Zhao Zhenghao directly for confirmation.
Zhao Yiyao, of course, did not believe him and immediately called to verify. However, after receiving Zhao Zhenghao's reply, she was utterly crestfallen.
Just days ago, they were mortal enemies, and now they were in a master-subordinate relationship.
Furthermore, on the phone, Zhao Zhenghao had instructed Zhao Yiyao to strive to become Yan Shouyi's right-hand man, starting by being his little secretary.
This made Zhao Yiyao even more frantic and angry.
She had come to kill Yan Shouyi!
How could she have become his lackey in just a few days?!
"I don't accept this!"
Zhao Yiyao crushed the phone with her bare hands and said coldly, "Zhao Zhenghao agreed, it has nothing to do with me, Zhao Yiyao. Return my Huang Si Pi to me, and I'll leave here immediately!"
Yan Shouyi stared in disbelief. "Good heavens, so I captured Lu Xun, and it has nothing to do with you, Zhou Shuren?"
"Return my Huang Si Pi to me!"
"That might be difficult," Yan Shouyi said calmly. "Before your father left, he had already instructed Huang Si Pi that if you insisted on leaving, Huang Si Pi would not return to your side."
Zhao Yiyao gritted her teeth, her fists clenched. With a final kick, she smashed the toilet in the corner and shouted loudly:
"Damn it!"
Yan Shouyi's eye twitched. Truly a tough woman from the Northeast.
"So, I'm a hostage my father has surrendered to you now?" Zhao Yiyao asked after calming down.
Yan Shouyi nodded. "As a transaction, the grievances between our two families are settled. And there's this."
Yan Shouyi casually tossed out a stack of documents printed on A4 paper. Zhao Yiyao took them and was somewhat dumbfounded.
" 'Shen Nei Jing,' something so important, and you printed it?"
"To be precise, it's a photocopy."
"The Zhao family has it?"
"I only gave your father one copy. How he handles it is none of my business."
Holding the "Shen Nei Jing," Zhao Yiyao's mind struggled to process the information. If Yan Shouyi weren't there, she would have immediately sat down to cultivate it.
However, she managed to maintain her composure, quietly put away the "Shen Nei Jing," and asked, "How long do I need to stay by your side?"
"No more than three years," Yan Shouyi replied.
"Why three years?"
"Within three years, my mortal calamity will arrive. If I survive it, everything will be fine. If I don't, you will regain your freedom."
Upon hearing this answer, Zhao Yiyao was stunned.
She asked dazedly, "Why is your mortal calamity so soon?"
Cultivators of short-lived techniques inevitably faced a mortal calamity, but most people's calamities did not arrive so early. Hence, people like Luo Ning and Agong were not in a hurry.
Yan Shouyi sighed. "I committed too many sins in my previous life, so my life is shorter in this one."
Zhao Yiyao was silent for a moment, then finally agreed:
"Alright, for three years, I will do as you command. After three years, we go our separate ways! Also, you can make me work for you, and I'll brave any danger, but you cannot force me to do anything I don't want to do."
"Such as?"
"I don't eat cilantro, I only eat dumplings on Winter Solstice, and I only eat savory tofu pudding and zongzi."
"..."