The Steward Demonic Emperor
chapter-982

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“A seller who had his heart broken when master threw him away.”

The old man lamented then derided, “Miss, besides buying goods, there’s still the matter of will to lead to a smooth trade. I, however, am unwilling to sell it to you no matter how much money you give me. So just leave it and go.”

The woman’s face fell while Qiao’er was getting anxious, “Let me have it! He gave it to me and won’t sell it to you…”

“Yeah, he won’t sell it. What a shame. What I want, I buy, even if he doesn’t want to.”

With cold bloodthirst shining in her eyes and a sinister smile, she released her power to pin the old man on the wall.

The woman’s hand oozed sword energy, her tone deadly, “Old fool, I’m no dealer and certainly not here to bargain. I don’t care who you are, but you’re going to pay for defying me, humph…”

The woman flicked her hand and a sword flew out. The old man couldn’t even blink in the face of such mighty power, stuck there on the wall.

He knew this was going to happen from the start, choosing now to welcome the death he knew would come.

He had been ever loyal to Serene Shores Trading. To voice the wrong on the chairman, he dared to spit in the other’s face and now he was bold enough to give up his life for the bond between master and servant.

He had let go of everything and was ready to pass on…

“Stop!”

A shout came from the dark corridor, followed by a calm voice, “Miss, you can kill all you want, but try to do it outside Sea Bright City, lest you’d want to have all eyes on all of us.”

The woman smirked, looking at the dark corridor’s entrance with mockery, “You think I care?”

“Miss doesn’t care about all but one man’s opinion.”

Zhuo Fan walked out of the shadows, his tone flat, “The man doesn’t want miss to make trouble or it will earn his ire. And over what, a shabby mask? Ha-ha-ha…”

The woman’s brow shook and winced. Her heart sank and mulled things over before withdrawing her aura.

The old man slumped from the wall and gasped for his life.

He was ready to die, but anyone alive was happy to have come out of that with his life still.

Staring hard at Zhuo Fan, the woman squinted and clenched her fists as she growled, “Who are you? Do you know who I am?”

“I don’t.”

Zhuo Fan shook his head and bowed, “I am but a steward of the Qian clan of northern lands, Qian Fan. This frail store is in my clan’s care and I hope miss will be forgiving, ha-ha-ha…”

The woman stared hard, “Qian clan? One of the three great merchants?”

“Yes.”

“Lies!”

The woman spat, “Merchants only care for money, always weighing gains and losses. You think they’d haggle with me over some run down shop like this? And by the looks of you and your impassive face, you’re not just anyone either, to not twitch under my killing intent. There’s no way a tiny Qian clan would have someone like you as its steward. Who the hell are you?”

Zhuo Fan gave a slight bow with a wide smile, “Thank you for the praise miss. As for who I am, there’s no need to ask, just how there’s no need for me to ask who miss is. In short, I’m of no threat to miss and if miss doesn’t see me as an enemy, we can each go our own way. There’s plenty of road for the both of us to never intersect, ha-ha-ha…”

“But you already know who I am!”

The woman was confused how someone just popped up that had leverage on her. Who was he?

“How can I trust you mean no harm to us without declaring who you are?”

Zhuo Fan shrugged, “Do I really know? Ha-ha-ha, miss, you’re jumping the gun here. I only feel like miss shouldn’t make a scene, that’s all. Miss needn’t look into me as well. Being able to tell your identity shows you needn’t know any more, that any probing will be fruitless and would only bring more problems than solutions.”

“Is that a threat?”

“A warning.”

With an insufferable grin plastered on his face, Zhuo Fan’s eyes held a sharp glint, “If you’d go to western lands, you’d come to realize the world is vast and that there are people above you still. That no one can avoid certain calamities. Caution is always prized in life, lest the slightest mishap might bring it all down. Growing overconfident helps no one.”

The woman’s frown shook, her eyes bewildered, “Western lands…”

“You’re that…”

The woman gasped and grimaced at the sudden realization.

Zhuo Fan’s mouth curled, playing the mystery card, “Miss doesn’t need to say it, just know it. It’s best we each go our own way and not throw everything into chaos.”

The woman felt conflicted, but then huffed and left in a rush.

“Wait.”

Zhuo Fan held out his hand with a smile, “May miss be so kind as to return my daughter’s mask?”

Pausing, the woman shot Qiao’er a look then scoffed, “Your daughter, ha-ha-ha. Someone as average as you actually has such a pretty and adorable daughter? The heavens must be blind!”

“Ha-ha-ha, there’s nothing strange about it. Her mother takes all the credit.”

“Enough with the smugness. Letting you off is already kind enough on my part. Don’t ever think you’ll get the stuff that I have my eye on!” The woman snorted and refused.

Zhuo Fan said, “Then I don’t have a choice. Among practitioners, the more friends the more options you have. Since miss insists on making a scene, if anything happens and an investigation starts because of you, that man…”

“You say we should go our own way, but you’re clearly butting in our own side…”

“It’s not us doing it, but you who is provoking it.” Zhuo Fan’s cold stare was fixed on her, “Miss, I am just like you, unable to let go of what catches my eye, even if it’s a dime or pin. The same goes for my daughter. What sets us apart, however, is that I have no such thing as the empathy or consciousness holding me back from making trouble over it, unlike miss here…”

The woman’s face shook and growled as she flicked her hand in rage, throwing the mask at Zhuo Fan, “You haven’t heard the last of me…”

The woman left with that threat hanging as she stormed out the door…

Zhuo Fan’s creepy grin surfaced as he caught it, giving it to the hopeful and happy Qiao’er by his side.

“Sir has such valor to talk that witch into giving up. I am in awe!” The old man bowed before Zhuo Fan in gratitude.

Zhuo Fan smiled, “You know who she is?”

“From the central area.”

The old man’s fading eyes shook as he sighed, “Intel says mighty experts have invaded northern lands, ten imperial princes and Invincible Sword leading five Sword Kings. Among the Nine Sword Kings, the only woman is Frigid Rain Sword King, Bali Yuyu!”

Zhuo Fan nodded, “Exactly her!”

“Then how did young master manage to scare her away…”

“Fear of consequences.”

Zhuo Fan said, “She fears one man only, Invincible Sword Baili Yutian. They have invaded northern lands yet didn’t show themselves because Baili Yutian demanded it of them to be subtle. All this wait is for the perfect moment to strike. It’s safe to say that any disturbance they cause beforehand will earn his wrath. So I figured she was more afraid of him than being pigheaded. That’s why I did not fear her at all.”

The old man mulled his words and nodded, ‘Why then did she return the mask? She could have…”

“Fear again.”

Zhuo Fan smiled, “Baili Yutian won’t take anything short of victory in this operation but now they have someone butting in their business, ha-ha-ha. Whoever brought about this disaster is bound to be subjected to Baili Yutian’s rage.”

“But who could hinder them when they have such power…”

“Have you heard of the matters in western lands?” Zhuo Fan looked aside at him, “Your company’s intelligence should know that Baili Jingwei had men looking into me in western lands and should know of the terrible event…’

“Devil Mountain?”

“Precisely!”

Zhuo Fan nodded with a glint in his eyes, “Devil Mountain is too much of an unknown while showing unprecedented strength. It caused the Nine Sword Kings and even Invincible Sword to be weary. Humans fear the unknown so I hinted I’m from Devil Mountain. The stronger I appear, the weaker they feel. Since she knew next to nothing of me, she feared doing anything that might cause trouble. Maybe Devil Mountain is nothing, but on the off chance that it is, their plan would be foiled and who would Invincible Sword take it out on? Ha-ha-ha, that means any that get Devil Mountain’s attention is one poor devil. This is one liability she could not afford to have!”