After that, the meeting ended. The Nine Dao Gate Elders busied themselves with their own discussions, while Redmond looked utterly incredulous, staring at John Chou.
"Damn, John Chou, you bastard, you're basically forcing decent folks into indecency. You're even more of a bandit than I am!"
Redmond muttered to himself, bursting into laughter. Yuna Ji giggled along.
"Alright, the worries are gone now, aren't they, Redmond? With your old mountain king instincts, how could you miss something this simple?"
I was utterly surprised. Why were the Nine Dao Gate Elders so completely caught up in John Chou's rhythm, unable to break free, forced to follow wherever he led?
Later, Mr. Brown told me that the Nine Dao Gate Elders were aware of Rufina Howard's situation. Now, with Redmond in the strongest position, the breakthrough in negotiations would likely come from him.
The other case was Lord Shenyan, who is now merged with Quentin Kue and cannot be separated. Quentin Kue, as a Taoist figure, could be separated from Lord Shenyan through Daoist power, which is quite effective—even though he's a ghost.
Next is Basil Bertram. Although he is a ghost, the source of his power comes from the world of the living. Daoist power would help him greatly.
"What about John Chou?"
I asked. Mr. Brown shook his head.
"Ah, only the young master himself knows what he's thinking. The Dao Sect must suspect he wants their help to break through the Sanzu Force or something, but there's no way they'd agree to that."
Mr. Brown said this as I glanced at John Chou, who was smiling.
"You let yourselves be bound by worldly conventions. Hmph. Who says a deal must be equal? Even if it's not, so what? The key is whether the other side wants what you have. If they do, even an outrageous price can be accepted. Besides, it's not like we'd actually demand something outrageous."
"Brother Chou, you're absolutely right. Of the seven of us, your mind is the sharpest. This time, we'll follow your lead."
Basil Bertram spoke as the Nine Dao Gate Elders had already moved off to a distant spot, sitting together in meditation. Nearby, quite a few disciples stood guard.
Especially as John Chou mentioned, the final items—the Five Sacred Relics—are all Daoist artifacts. While the Nine Daoist Gates are considered the orthodox Dao Sect, there are plenty of other Taoists, often called wild Taoists. That Zhang Anle is likely one of them. Those Taoists will certainly covet these relics too.
"Uncle Chou, this time you've struck right at the lifeblood of those nine elders. Heh, I bet they're already at their wits' end. Brilliant move."
Old Tom walked over, smiling as he spoke.
"Kitten, I've told you before—not to get stuck in rigid thinking. Otherwise, you'll suffer for it."
"Once again, Uncle Chou, you've shown us how to turn the tables."
"What's wrong, brother? I'm serious—if they don't want those five artifacts, just take them to Wu Zheng, let that guy have a look, and get Luban's opinion too. In the end, they'll be useful one way or another."
I shook my head.
"The real question is, will they agree?"
"Whether they agree or not doesn't matter. What matters is whether we're willing to give them the artifacts."
Night fell, and the Nine Dao Gate Elders were still meditating. It seemed that, in their haste to accept Yin Choujian's proposed deal, their previous preparations had been completely disrupted.
"If they refuse, do you really plan to leave?"
I asked Yin Choujian, who was drinking beside me. He just smiled.
"What do you think, brother? Of course I'd leave. No point staying for such a dull meeting."
I glanced toward where everyone was eating, over a hundred meters away. I spotted my cousin. I'd noticed earlier that he seemed to be subtly avoiding me. I remembered what Hu Tianshuo told me this morning—to stay out of my cousin's business for now. He wouldn't tell me anything.
The Nine Dao Gate Elders kept meditating straight through to the next morning, not stirring at all. Finally, at 2 p.m., the meeting resumed.
"Do they really need that much time?"
Redhair was visibly impatient—he'd been unable to sit still for ages.
"Fine, I'll go first. My terms."
Just then, Yin Choujian stood up, glared at Redhair, and Redhair gave an "oh" and sat down.
Xuanjizi rose, looking at Yin Choujian, then spoke.
"The Nine of us have discussed it. Five items—for the five artifacts. We can only agree to five requests."
Yin Choujian sneered.
"There are seven of us—how did it become just five requests?"
"Mr. Yin, our abilities are limited. We hope you understand—the Nine Dao Gate Elders aren't all-powerful. All we can do is agree to five requests. And I trust your requests won't be impossible miracles, Mr. Yin?"
Yin Choujian nodded. I understood what Xuanjizi meant—he was afraid Yin Choujian would make things difficult for the Nine Dao Gate Elders.