Chapter 431: Chapter 428: The Price for Targeting Mo Qi (5)
"Don’t worry about that. My methods are nothing like the shameless, despicable ways of your Cold Cicada Valley."
Wu Bainian’s tone was nonchalant, but that only made the sarcasm in his words bite deeper.
"Insolence!" the Silver-haired Granny snapped. "Do you truly believe I can’t do anything to you?"
She could tolerate Wu Bainian’s disrespect toward her, but she could not bear to hear him insult Cold Cicada Valley.
Wu Bainian lifted his head, gave the Silver-haired Granny a cold look, and said, "I possess the Cold Cicada Bloodline, yet I don’t live in your Cold Cicada Valley. I’ve lived for centuries, yet I have never once met my mother! Do I need to spell out the sordid details for you one by one?"
Upon hearing this, the Silver-haired Granny’s body trembled, and most of her anger dissipated.
Due to the unique nature of the Cold Cicada Bloodline, Cold Cicada Valley forbids any outside men from entering, nor does it permit any man to remain within its borders.
Continuing their lineage was left entirely to fate.
Every disciple of Cold Cicada Valley who reached the age of twenty was given one opportunity to travel and experience the outside world.
In reality, it was a chance for the young women to find a partner, experience love, and conceive the next generation.
Afterward, the Valley would forcibly recall the disciple. If she gave birth to a girl, the child would be brought back to the Valley to be raised.
If it was a boy, he would be left with his father, abandoned to fend for himself.
It sounded incredibly cruel and brutal, but it was the only way for Cold Cicada Valley to survive and continue its lineage!
The Silver-haired Granny had gone through the same ordeal in her youth, and she, too, had given birth to a boy.
In the end, she had no choice but to abandon her husband and son and return to Cold Cicada Valley.
Therefore, she could deeply understand how Wu Bainian felt at this moment.
"Cold Cicada Valley’s methods are shameless and despicable. Am I wrong, old woman!?" Wu Bainian enunciated each word with force.
The Silver-haired Granny opened her mouth, wanting to argue, but she didn’t know what to say.
Finally, she could only sigh. "Young man, many things are not as simple as they appear on the surface. You’ll understand that later. Go on, tell me what you want me to do for you."
"I only need two things from you. First, you will oversee the exchange in the Hall of Envoys to ensure it is fair and guarantee Mo Qi’s safety. Second, when I go to Cold Cicada Valley, I want to see someone. You must make the arrangements, and my father must come with me!"
The Silver-haired Granny frowned. "The first matter is simple enough. But the second... I know who you want to see, and arranging a meeting is not a problem. But as for your father..."
"That part is non-negotiable. Take it or leave it!" Wu Bainian’s tone was resolute.
He would never forget the countless nights his father, Wu the Old Ghost, had tossed and turned, tormented by his longing for his wife.
He had cultivated frantically, paying any price, just to find the location of Cold Cicada Valley and see his wife again, leaving himself covered in scars and utterly exhausted.
But later, because of his son’s issues with the Cold Cicada Bloodline, he’d had to suppress his longing for his wife and pour all his energy into finding ways to prolong Wu Bainian’s life.
Now that Wu Bainian had the leverage and the standing to negotiate with Cold Cicada Valley, he certainly wasn’t going to pass up this opportunity.
Wu the Old Ghost would give everything for him, and likewise, he would face death without fear for his father.
Seeing Wu Bainian’s resolute stance, leaving no room for discussion, gave the Silver-haired Granny a headache.
In terms of raw power, even ten thousand Wu Bainians wouldn’t be a match for a single swing of her cane.
But after their earlier clash with the Ice Spear, the Silver-haired Granny knew that if Wu Bainian was determined to destroy his own bloodline, she couldn’t stop him.
The crux of the matter, however, was that the rules of Cold Cicada Valley had been in place for tens of thousands of years; they could not be changed.
Just as she was wrestling with the dilemma, an old woman wearing a small golden flower in her hair appeared beside her.
"Alright. We accept your terms!"
The Silver-haired Granny hesitated for a moment before turning to the old woman. "Elder Sister, is this truly wise?"
"There’s nothing unwise about it." The old woman waved her hand dismissively. "The important matter takes precedence. Special circumstances call for special measures. What difference does it make if there’s one man in the Valley or two? I’ll explain things to the Valley Master."
The Silver-haired Granny nodded and said nothing more.
This old woman was the Silver-haired Granny’s biological older sister, Granny Jin Hua.
Whether in terms of strength, methods, or influence, she was far more powerful than the Silver-haired Granny.
So when she appeared, even though the experts from the Hall of Envoys had long suspected she was nearby, they still grew more restrained.
"You all heard our conversation, I assume?"
Granny Jin Hua’s cold gaze swept over the crowd. She was slightly shorter than Granny Yin Hua, but her aura was stronger by leaps and bounds.
"I don’t care what conflicts you have among yourselves. And if you want to believe that nonsense about some inheritance from an Ancient Great Power, that’s none of my business either. I’m only here to remind you of one thing."
"The rules for the Sub-Palace exchange were jointly established by the Five Great Holy Lands of the Immortal Realm. Are you certain you want to break them?"
The experts from the Hall of Envoys were left speechless.
’They were all dying to ask: Since you know these rules were established by *our* Five Great Holy Lands, what does this have to do with your Cold Cicada Valley? Who asked you to run your mouth?’
Of course, they only dared to think such things. They would never say them out loud.
Granny Jin Hua seemed to be offering a kind reminder, but she was actually issuing a veiled warning: if they continued to act recklessly, Cold Cicada Valley might just report the matter to the Immortal Realm!
The experts from the Hall of Envoys exchanged glances, communicating silently amongst themselves.
They finally reached a consensus: they would let Mo Qi go for now. Everything else could wait until after the exchange.
After all, while the law doesn’t punish the masses, that principle generally applies to the ignorant, who are considered blameless.
However, if they continued to play dumb after Granny Jin Hua’s explicit reminder, they would be knowingly violating the rules. That would be a direct slap in the face to the Five Great Holy Lands of the Immortal Realm.
At that point, the Five Great Holy Lands wouldn’t hesitate to purge all one hundred Sub-Palaces in the West District.
"Haha, Granny Jin Hua, you worry too much! We will of course abide by the rules of the Sub-Palace exchange. What happened before was just a misunderstanding, haha, a misunderstanding."
"Indeed. We were merely concerned about the inheritance from the Ancient Great Power, worried the juniors wouldn’t grasp the gravity of the situation and squander a heaven-sent opportunity."
"Since Granny Jin Hua has said that the inheritance of the Ancient Great Power is nonsense, then the information we received must have been false."
"Let the Sub-Palace exchange continue! Everything will proceed according to the rules!"
One after another, the experts from the various Sub-Palaces chimed in, immediately downplaying the conflict and shifting the focus back to the exchange event.
Mo Qi and the Pig Emperor stared at each other, speechless. He’d never expected things to end this way.
He especially hadn’t expected the Silver-haired Granny and Granny Jin Hua from Cold Cicada Valley to be so formidable. They had completely intimidated the people from the Hall of Envoys and forced them to compromise.
’Since that’s the case... I’ll be sure to put on a good show for all of you!’
"Pig Emperor, do you remember our original plan? With the exception of Feng Liang and Ruyan, I want you to make sure that no one else in the Spirit Pool gains a single thing!"
