Chapter 84: An Exchange
Xiao Nanfeng's forehead beaded with sweat. If the golden centipede spirit really was a Spiritsong-realm beast, then this dragon-quelling spike might be ineffective against it.
"Hasn't the Yan emperor told you about the situation here?" the golden centipede spirit continued.
Xiao Nanfeng's eyes widened. He suddenly realized that the golden centipede had mistaken him for a citizen of Great Yan because of the blue armor he was wearing!
He suddenly recalled that, the first time he had encountered these blue-armored cultivators, they had been interrogating one of his seniors. One of their techniques was to implant poisonous insects into their prisoners' bodies, and his senior had died as a result of a large centipede breaking out of his chest.
The poisonous insects that they had implanted were centipedes, and there was a huge nest of centipedes in front of him. Could there be a relationship between these centipede spirits and the Empire of Great Yan?
"I came on Lord Wei's orders," Xiao Nanfeng replied, hiding his nervousness. "I apologize, but access to information is limited in my current position, and Lord Wei said that I would learn what I needed to after coming here."
Xiao Nanfeng wasn't sure if his probing remarks would be of use. He clutched his dragon-quelling spike tightly in preparation for self-defense.
The golden centipede spirit stared at Xiao Nanfeng, not easily believing his words. Unfortunately, Xiao Nanfeng had grown to become too skilled an actor for it.
"Have you any proof?" the golden centipede spirit asked archly.
Xiao Nanfeng mentally sighed in relief. His strategy had worked!
"A seal from my lord," Xiao Nanfeng replied, reaching into his robes but actually accessing his storage ring instead.
Xiao Nanfeng proffered the seal, which the golden centipede spirit claimed with a scythe-like claw.
Xiao Nanfeng was very relieved. Back in the frozen cavern, when the Lady Arclight killed all the cultivators around, including Xiang Wei's posse and the four blue-armored cultivators, he had searched through the corpses and collected a few seals and some trifling bagatelles. Owing to his thriftiness, he had taken them all—and one of the seals had the character Wei engraved on them.
Xiao Nanfeng didn't know if this seal would be effective.
"This is the seal of Clan Head Wei, which represents his authority and status! Why would he let someone like you carry it?" The golden centipede spirit scrutinized Xiao Nanfeng carefully as killing intent seeped out of its body.
"Lord Wei had intended to come himself, but he was heavily injured and was unable to make the trip. He had me come on his behalf, bringing this seal with me to show his sincerity," Xiao Nanfeng replied carefully.
The golden centipede spirit's killing intent slowly retreated.
"Heavily injured? More like he doesn't dare to show up! You might as well be a scapegoat," the golden centipede spirit called out.
At this point, it had gained a preliminary level of trust in Xiao Nanfeng. Certainly, a seal as precious as this wouldn't easily have made its way into an outsider's hands, but it still didn't trust Xiao Nanfeng completely.
"May I ask if you're a Spiritsong-realm spirit?" Xiao Nanfeng probed.
"Lad, don't you know? The envoys of the divine domain have already shown up in the spirits' domain, requiring all Spiritsong-realm spirit kings to fight for opportunities in the divine domain. None are allowed to remain," the golden centipede replied imperiously.
Xiao Nanfeng let out a breath of relief. So you aren't a Spiritsong-realm spirit! What a fright.
"I apologize. I was misled by the fact that you were able to produce human speech," Xiao Nanfeng replied with a smile.
If the centipede was only at Ascension, he had nothing to fear. Even if they were to end up fighting, his dragon-quelling spike would be able to take down the spirit.
"Our king, powerful as he is, strengthened all our bodies before he departed. I can naturally speak the human tongue. He has gone to the divine domain to seek power, and we are in charge here," the golden centipede replied proudly.
"Is that so?" Xiao Nanfeng nodded in understanding.
However, Xiao Nanfeng was inwardly hung up on the centipede's use of "we", rather than "I". Were there other Ascension-realm spirits in the vicinity?
"What did Clan Head Wei have you come here to do?" the golden centipede spirit asked Xiao Nanfeng.
Xiao Nanfeng understood that this golden centipede was still trying to test him. If he answered poorly, all his earlier hard work would have been for naught.
"Asking such a question is a discourtesy," Xiao Nanfeng replied firmly. "If you think my visit here is extraneous, I'll leave immediately."
The centipede spirits didn't know that he had landed in the chasm by accident, and were still suspecting him of attempting to pass himself as an envoy of Great Yan. However, Xiao Nanfeng's threat of departure disrupted the golden centipede spirit's plans, forcing it to reevaluate on the fly.
"Farewell!" Xiao Nanfeng called out, then walked toward one of the walls of the chasm. With a leap, he shot up the cliff, then stabbed his blade into the wall to serve as a foothold. He then prepared to jump up again in an attempt to climb out of the chasm.
When the golden centipede spirit saw that he really was about to leave, it suddenly became anxious. What was it to do?!
"Come back!" the spirit thundered.
Countless centipede spirits appeared on the rock face around him and knocked Xiao Nanfeng down. Xiao Nanfeng didn't retaliate; he deliberately allowed himself to fall, returning to the depths of the chasm once again.
"What do you mean by this?" Xiao Nanfeng cried out, seizing the initiative.
"Is this lair a place where you can come and go at will?" the golden centipede asked imperiously.
"I risked my life to get past the red-armored cultivators' defenses, only for you to try and interrogate me once and again. And when I leave, you stop me? Just what do you want?" Xiao Nanfeng cried out.
The golden centipede spirit stared at Xiao Nanfeng, trying to uncover a flaw in his acting, but it was no match for the wily cultivator.
"We have the object." The golden centipede finally relented. "Have you brought the items from Yan?"
Xiao Nanfeng was surprised. The cultivators of Yan were planning on executing a trade with the centipede spirits? Had he unwittingly found himself participating in some conspiracy? Why did this golden centipede spirit suddenly feel like a mafia boss?
"I want to examine the goods first," Xiao Nanfeng replied, quickly getting into character.
The golden centipede spirit seemed rather doubtful, but this was its territory, and it had nothing to fear here. It opened its mouth to reveal a small ball, which flashed with black light. Large chests flew out of the ball.
"A storage treasure?" Xiao Nanfeng was surprised. This was the first time he had seen a spiritbeast use the like.
Twenty full chests were placed tidily on the ground. The golden centipede closed its mouth, swallowing the storage treasure once again.
"This is what you want," the golden centipede announced.
Xiao Nanfeng glanced over. Each chest had been engraved with large amounts of text, and tattered seals were attached to them. Xiao Nanfeng thought he could make out the character Qi. If the red-armored cultivators guarding the chasm were from Great Qi, could they have been standing guard because the centipede spirits had stolen their chests?
"Aren't you going to open it and have a look?" The golden centipede spirit continued to stare at Xiao Nanfeng.
Xiao Nanfeng hesitated. Many of the seals on these chests had been torn, clearly the work of the centipedes. The fact that they still hadn't gotten the chests open...
Xiao Nanfeng tried touching one of the chests. As expected, they were warded against thieves. When Xiao Nanfeng tried to open one, it glowed with golden light, repelling his hand.
"You can't open it, either?" The golden centipede's eyes flashed with exasperation.
"Isn't it normal that someone like me won't be able to open these chests?" Xiao Nanfeng continued his act perfectly.
"Alright, these are the chests. Where are the items that Great Yan has promised us? If you can't hand over what we're owed, we won't let you go," the golden centipede spirit threatened.
Xiao Nanfeng: ...How was he supposed to know what Great Yan had offered in trade?
He met the golden centipede's gaze. In the end, he was unwilling to waste a dragon-quelling spike on the golden centipede spirit. Rather, he grabbed the first thing he could find, pulling out an Ascension-realm leopard carcass.
"Oh? You have a storage treasure too?" the golden centipede asked in surprise.
"Don't you?" Xiao Nanfeng replied, on guard.
"This storage treasure was left behind by our king. As for yours..." the golden centipede spirit trailed off menacingly.
"My storage ring was given to Lord Wei by the Yan emperor, and he's loaning it to me for the time being. What, were you trying to snatch it away?" Xiao Nanfeng replied.
Upon hearing that it had been bequeathed by the Yan emperor, the golden centipede spirit snarled in frustration. In the end, it didn't attempt to snatch the storage ring away, but it didn't doubt Xiao Nanfeng's status any longer. If not to ensure that the trade went smoothly, how could an Immanence-realm cultivator have the qualifications to own a storage treasure?
"What do you mean by these carcasses?" the golden centipede spirit called out.
Xiao Nanfeng knew that this wasn't what the centipede spirits had demanded, but this was all he had in his possession—the Ascension-realm carcasses that Croak had given him.
Xiao Nanfeng took out twenty Ascension-realm carcasses in one fell swoop, laying them out in the depths of the chasm. The centipedes all around glanced at the carcasses with stark interest, already jostling each other for position as they prepared to bite the meat off each one.
"This isn't what we negotiated," the golden centipede spirit replied sullenly.
"Lord Wei stated that he would need to inspect the contents of the chest first. These carcasses aren't meant as part of the trade, but rather given freely to all of you as a bonus. Once Lord Wei has confirmed that the chests have what he wants, you may claim the trade goods from him."
These spiritbeast carcasses were meant as a bonus, not as part of the exchange? The golden centipede was stupefied. When had Clan Head Wei become so generous?
"This represents our utmost sincerity," Xiao Nanfeng emphasized. "As long as you don't attempt to play any tricks, the Wei clan would be happy to conduct trade with you. If you're in a hurry, you can head to the Wei estate yourself to collect on the loan. You should know where they're located, don't you?
The golden centipede naturally knew where the Wei clan was, but these spirit carcasses were worth a significant amount. Clan Head Wei wasn't known for his generosity; this seemed to be beyond him.
"Lord Wei said that this was a lavish bonus for you centipedes, but that there will be plenty of opportunity for further collaboration. What's more, our men will have to remain in the spirits' domain for some time, and we may need your further assistance. I hope you won't reject that request then," Xiao Nanfeng added, dispelling the golden centipede's confusion.
Upon hearing Xiao Nanfeng's words, the golden centipede finally relaxed.
"Very well. We'll accept this spiritbeast flesh, but Lord Wei has to hand over the trade goods he promised. Otherwise, we might swamp his manor with centipedes," the golden centipede spirit threatened.
"It's settled, then!" Xiao Nanfeng replied gaily. The trade between Clan Head Wei and the centipede had nothing to do with him.
"Very good." Only then did the golden centipede nod and return Clan Head Wei's seal to Xiao Nanfeng.
Xiao Nanfeng claimed the seal and all twenty chests, which he stored in his storage ring. "In that case, I'll bid my farewell now."
"There are men from Great Qi outside. Can you avoid them?" the golden centipede asked.
"You won't have to worry about that. I have an escort waiting." Xiao Nanfeng climbed back up the abyssal chasm once more.
The golden centipede stared at Xiao Nanfeng, but didn't stop him.
"You over there, follow him and see what he does!" the golden centipede commanded a group of centipede spirits by one part of the chasm.
The centipedes nodded immediately, darting into the rock wall and vanishing from sight. The other centipedes in the chasm stared piteously at the golden centipede, who finally commanded, "Eat your fill!"
All the centipedes swarmed toward the spiritbeast carcasses, madly devouring the veritable banquet.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel