Chapter Eighty-Seven: Haggling

But if Lei Dong were truly the kind of man who gave up easily, then he would not be Lei Dong.

Spend more than three days with him, and you would understand: for all the terrifying fury he could unleash, there were probably very few people in this world who could outlast him in patience.

Bold, careful, and shameless. That, it seemed, was the creed Lei Dong had always believed in without question.

And now, this fierce Taotie clearly bore him no real malice. He might as well be bolder. As for shamelessness, that had always been one of his strengths. What remained was caution.

Lei Dong’s eyes rolled restlessly as his mind raced through every detail of what had happened after meeting the Taotie.

The creature had clearly been about to say something, only to force the words back down. Either it did not want to speak, or it could not.

He and this fellow had never crossed paths before, so there was no direct grudge between them. True, he had cursed it once, but aside from a flash of anger, the creature had actually stopped just before biting through his throat. Whether that was because it felt a strange closeness to him, or because it had noticed the Heavenly Spirit Lock and become wary, the fact remained that it had shown no intent to harm him at all. And during their later conversation, the other side had revealed no disgust toward him either. Besides, the words had already been on its tongue—what could it possibly have been unwilling to say?

Then perhaps it could not say it?

If it could not, there were only two possibilities: either it would be bad for him, or it would be bad for the Taotie itself.

Bad for him?

Just thinking of the way that creature had nearly laughed itself into a fit when it learned he did not understand what the Heavenly Spirit Lock really was, thinking of the undisguised gloating in its voice, Lei Dong immediately ruled that out.

Impossible.

Then it must be bad for the Taotie itself.

Why would that be?

This fellow was an ancient and unusual beast, and his cultivation was terrifyingly powerful. Even in the face of divine punishment that could erase him to dust in a single strike, he had dealt with it as casually as breathing. The two swindler-like masters Lei Dong had studied under for hundreds of years in the Great Ascension stage definitely did not possess such ability.

So by that logic, in this world the fellow could be considered one of the absolute top existences, the kind that could swagger sideways through life without fear. What could he possibly be afraid of doing? Unless...

Lei Dong could not help looking up at the flawless blue sky, and in that instant a flash of insight struck him.

Unless there was a far more powerful existence that had some taboo concerning this matter.

And the fellow in front of him had just uttered the word immortal.

Lei Dong slapped his forehead and shouted, “I get it!”

Even though the Taotie had lived for more than two thousand years, it could never have imagined that in such a short span Lei Dong had already pieced together so much. It still wore its usual disdainful expression. “And what is it you claim to have understood now?”

Lei Dong gave a few cold, sinister chuckles, lowered his voice, and enunciated each word as though unveiling a grand secret. “I understand why you won’t say it. You’re afraid.”

He even raised his voice deliberately, drawing on the breath in his dantian and using the bel canto technique he had learned from the arts-loving Bei Shiliang, giving his words a metallic edge and a piercing force. Even the mighty Taotie showed a brief flicker of daze.

Shaking its huge head, the Taotie snorted. “Afraid? Hah. What has your lord ever feared?”

Its voice still rang directly in Lei Dong’s mind, still loud as ever, but to Lei Dong it sounded strangely hollow, as if the creature lacked confidence and was forcing itself to be brave. He gave a dark, chilling smile. “What you fear, don’t you know yourself?”

“Of course I... Your lord fears nothing under heaven!” The Taotie shook its head almost reflexively.

Lei Dong’s heart settled at once. He had guessed right.

The creature’s reaction proved there was indeed something wrong. Otherwise it would not be hesitating like this.

Lei Dong kept his expression mysterious and eerie, lifted a finger toward the sky, and said in a low voice, “What you fear is up there...”

He deliberately paused there. The Taotie grew tense at once. “Up there... what?”

“Up there, the immortals—”

Before Lei Dong could finish, his vision blurred, and a furry hand suddenly clamped over his mouth.

“What the hell?” Lei Dong jumped in fright. How could a hand appear out of nowhere like that? Looking closely, he saw that the Taotie’s left foreleg had abruptly shot out, suddenly long and thick, and the furry paw at its end had shrunk to the size of an ordinary dog’s paw.

Oh? It even had that kind of ability?

Lei Dong felt as though he had discovered a new continent. But the Taotie across from him had gone pale. “Don’t say it! Don’t bring disaster down on your lord!”

Lei Dong sprang back and broke free of the paw, then opened his mouth again. “You’re afraid of immortals—”

Whoosh.

That magically lengthened left foreleg slapped over his mouth once more. “Don’t say it! If I reveal heaven’s secrets, I’ll be struck by divine retribution...”

Lei Dong retreated another huge step until he stood several yards away. The moment he opened his mouth, he said, “Then you’ll be struck by divine retribution, not me. I’m going to say it anyway. You fear—”

“Please, don’t say it. I’ll call you my lord if you want!” The Taotie’s voice was already trembling.

Lei Dong was secretly delighted, though his face still showed relentless determination. He straightened his neck and said, “No. You won’t say it yourself, and you won’t let me guess it? What kind of logic is that? I’m saying it no matter what. You fear—”

Lei Dong looked utterly impervious, neither bribed nor threatened by anything. The Taotie was completely panicked now and hurriedly said, “Then... how about this? I can teach you a spell that lets me speak directly to you in your mind without opening my mouth. How about that? I’ll teach you!”

“No way! Your cultivation is so much higher than mine. What’s so special about using divine sense to leave a voice in my sea of consciousness? Besides, with the Heavenly Spirit Lock on me, I can’t use any magic at all. What good would your teaching do? And besides, won’t I learn from my master in the future anyway? Why would I need you to teach me? No. I’m going to say it!”

The Taotie had lived for more than two thousand years and had never suffered such humiliation. Seeing that Lei Dong was determined to say it no matter what, rage surged upward. Its tiny green-pea eyes blazed with light, its mouth opened slightly, and a pair of icy fangs glimmered with chilling menace. If Lei Dong dared utter that sentence, no matter what his background or what mighty being stood behind him, the beast would swallow him first and ask questions later.

“It’s time.”

Lei Dong saw every change in the Taotie’s expression and every twitch of its body. The moment he saw it about to explode, he immediately changed course.

“Fine, I don’t have to say it. Either you eat me right now, or...”

“Or what?” The Taotie heard that there was still room for negotiation and forgot everything else, blurting out the question at once, afraid Lei Dong might change his mind.

Lei Dong tilted his neck and remained silent for a long while. He kept the Taotie hanging, building its appetite until it was on the verge of impatience, and only then did he slowly say, “Unless... unless you heal these comrades of mine.”

He pointed at the companions lying unconscious on the ground, covered in blood, including Dark Cloud and Water Jade Immortal and the rest of his battle companions.

Only then did the true purpose behind Lei Dong’s every move, all his careful scheming and step-by-step pressure, finally become clear. He had been driving the Taotie’s emotions up and down, tightening and loosening the noose in turn, until at last he had forced it into a corner where it had no choice but to agree to help him with one thing.