The silver-haired youth felt a bit relieved. The number of members in his Dark Shaman clan was not as many as they were in their glorious past, but there were still hundreds of them, most skilled in dark witchcraft. Even ordinary special forces' soldiers posed no threat to them.
For the sake of safety, however, the silver-haired youth still made a phone again and this time, his call was on hold for a while before it got picked up.
"Can we have more discussion about this issue, Monsieur?"
"Do you think it's still necessary for us to talk?" asked Tang Xiu with a chuckle. "20-plus of my men, all of which are cultivators, have arrived in Thailand now, and they should appear in the land of your Dark Shaman clan within several hours. You can expect the land of your clan to be littered with corpses and rivers of blood hours later. Ah, right. There's something I gotta tell you, though. Take a look below if you're inside the Northern Gold Edifice."
The silver-haired youth looked down the building and was shocked that four black SUVs were parked outside the main entrance of the edifice. Twelve stalwart men were standing in front of the SUVs, while a handsome youth was holding a mobile phone and waving in the direction of the building.
"How did you find us?" the white-haired youth asked with a bit of a trembling voice.
"Well, I forgot to tell you the last time I spoke with you," said Tang Xiu with a chuckle. "I'm not only a cultivator, but also a member of the Chinese Special Bureau. I only need a phone call and I can make the entire information network in China work for my own use. Macao is Chinese territory, so I can naturally track your position when you called me."
"G.o.ddammit!" The silver-haired youth cursed, preparing to hang up and flee immediately.
"Don't rush to hang up. I would think about how to live instead of just escape if I were you," said Tang Xiu. "Believe me. With my ability to spend a billion or two billion US dollars to purchase the zodiac jade carvings, I'm also able to put out a hundred or two hundred million US dollars worth of bounties to hunt members of Dark Shaman clan, including you. Do you think you'll have a safe hiding place on Earth if I were to throw tens of billion US dollars at it?"
"You indeed have the ability to mercilessly exterminate all the members of the Dark Shaman clan if you're really a Chinese cultivator," said the silver-haired youth in a deep voice. "But I can also tell you something—if you dare touch anyone in my Dark Shaman clan, you'll never find the jade rat—ever."
With that said, he directly hung up the phone and took the jade rat out before handing it over to the pet.i.te woman. He stated in a heavy voice, "Take this and do your best to escape Macao. Remember, go to the next safe place and wait for me there. If I die here, throw this jade rat into the Pacific Ocean."
"I don't wanna go, Young Master," called out the pet.i.te woman.
"Do what I told you to do if you don't want me to die," said the youth sternly, "He wants the jade rat and he won't kill me as long as it's in our hands. Hurry up and find a way to escape this place and avoid them."
"I…" the pet.i.te woman bit her lower lip before she firmly nodded her head and dashed toward the outside. Of the entire Dark Shaman clan, she was the best at hiding and deserved to be called the 'first', the only one in the entire clan who had thoroughly comprehended the Dark Domain.
However, she met Tang Xiu, a freak who could cover several hundred square meters of area with his spiritual sense. With his shadow flas.h.i.+ng, he had already arrived in the corridor on the fourth floor of the building and blocked her.
"You won't be able to fly and escape, even if you have wings. That's what your situation is now," said Tang Xiu while folding his arms smilingly at the pet.i.te woman.
The pet.i.te woman's eyes held some contempt as she released Dark Force to billow out. The tens of meter long corridor was instantly covered by a thick black mist while she flashed away toward the nearest room.
"Still wanting to escape, huh?"
A sneer snickered out. Just as she rushed near the window, a big hand grabbed her neck like steel pincers. The contempt on her face also froze in an instant.
Tang Xiu took out the red, lifelike jade rat from her sleeve as a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. He then went outside while pinching her neck.
A few minutes later.
BAM…
The door was kicked open, causing the white-haired youth and the five black-robed old men in the room, as well as the middle-aged man who managed to get them here from the second safe house, have a drastic change in expression.
After Tang Xiu, Mo Awu, and the rest entered the room, he smiled faintly as he looked at the six people inside. He then threw the pet.i.te female to the front of the sofa as he took a seat and put his feet on her back. He looked at the silver-haired youth and said, "Those who once threatened me have been sent to h.e.l.l by myself. You dare to threaten me with the jade rat—you truly have the guts to act recklessly. You didn't know how to differentiate the good from the bad, huh?"
The white-haired youth's complexion turned ghastly pale as he looked at Tang Xiu and his men. It was his first time that he finally felt intense regret inwardly. He knew perfectly well of the escaping ability the pet.i.te woman possessed, yet she couldn't escape and was caught by these people. It was evident that these people had absolutely terrifying abilities to the point that they were people he needed to look up to.
"I still have one thing that I can use to negotiate with you," said the white-haired youth in a deep voice after taking a deep breath.
"You have piqued my interest," said Tang Xiu grinningly. "Tell me then. What do you got to escape your death, eh?"
"It's about the jade pig," said the silver-haired youth quietly. "I know its whereabouts."
The jade pig?
Tang Xiu's expression slightly changed. His eyes were as though turned into sharp arrows, causing stinging pain in the white-haired youth's eyes that made him subconsciously close them.
"Tell me. Where's this jade pig?" asked Tang Xiu with a deep voice.
The white-haired youth opened his eyes and said solemnly, "I'll tell you where the jade pig is if all the enmities between us are written off! I'll give you the jade rat, but I wanna buy the lives of most members of my Dark Shaman clan with the information of the jade pig."
"You only need to buy the lives of more than half of your clansmen?" Tang Xiu knitted his brows and said, "You… seem you want to use me?"
"No, it's not that," the white-haired youth shook his head and said, "I don't mean to use you."
"Your life in my eyes is simply worthless." Tang Xiu, who was silent for a while, slowly said, "All I want are the zodiac jade carvings; it was your greed that enraged me, to be honest. Else, I'd have bought it from you for 100 million US dollars. Alright, tell me where the jade pig is! As long as your information is correct, I can spare the lives of most members of your clan, including yours."
With his spirit more mellow, the white-haired youth answered, "That jade pig is in my big brother's hands. I've been planning to completely have my clan under my control and then grab the jade pig, but I never thought…"
"You didn't expect that you'd lose the jade rat instead of successfully conning me. Is that correct?" interjected Tang Xiu.
"That's right," said the white-haired youth bitterly.
Tang Xiu squinted his eyes and slowly asked, "Do you also know that the zodiac jade carving is a valuable object, by chance?"
"It is a great object as it contains enormous energy within." He nodded and said, "My Dark Shaman clan can improve our power by absorbing the energy inside it."
"Come again?"
Tang Xiu stared blankly with disbelief on his face. He had been studying the zodiac jade carvings as for how he could absorb the energy inside them; yet, the Dark Shaman clan had actually figured it out?
He fell into silence and instantly made up his mind. Regardless of what method he used, he must get the ability of the Dark Shaman clan to control these objects. If the technique was indeed able to absorb the energy from the zodiac jade carvings, he could make use of it to boost his strength, making his cultivation likely rise sharply.
"Tell me the method to absorb the energy contained in the jade carvings then. I'll help you get rid of your big brother and his men. Also, I can give you a billion US dollars," said Tang Xiu with a deep voice.
The silver-haired youth was startled and immediately beckoned to the black-robed old man.
The black-robed old man understood tacitly and took a book out of his sleeve as he handed it to Tang Xiu, saying, "This is our Shaman Devouring Art which has been pa.s.sed down by our Dark Shaman's primogenitors from generation to generation. The method to absorb the energy inside the jade rat is written on it."
Tang Xiu received it and kicked the pet.i.te woman away. He then spent two hours to carefully read the whole book.
'I understand it now.'
Tang Xiu suppressed his excitement inwardly and turned to look at Mo Awu, "Contact Hao Lei. Tell her to transfer a billion US dollars to this kid. Also, inform our men who have snuck into Thailand and tell them to put the attack on the Dark Shaman clan on hold and wait for my new order."
"Roger that!" Mo Awu immediately nodded.
Tang Xiu looked at the white-haired youth and then pointed at him, asking, "What's your name?"
"Singluen," answered the white-haired youth.
"You got a good name." Tang Xiu smiled and said, "So what's your status in your Dark Shaman clan?"
"My father is the patriarch of the Dark Shaman clan and I'm the Second Young Master of the clan," replied the white-haired youth.
"Well, I was going to kill you, but it turned out that not only did you provide me the whereabouts of the jade pig, but you also told me how to absorb the energy inside the zodiac jade carvings, so I'll make an exception and change my decision," said Tang Xiu. "Now tell me the detailed information about your big brother, the person you want to get rid of."
"His name is Singkuo. I'll tell my men to give you detailed information about him," said Singluen hastily. "I won't take your one billion US dollars as long as you can get rid of him."
"No. I'm going to get rid of your big brother not because you want to use me, but because of the jade pig. I'll still transfer the one billion US dollars into your account." Tang Xiu shook his head and said, "That is on the premise that you take me to Thailand right away. I'll keep my word as long as I can get the jade pig, but you'll know the consequences if I can't get it there."
"I know," said Singluen respectfully.
Tang Xiu nodded and was about to speak some more when Jin s.h.i.+ walked in from the outside and quickly whispered next to his ear, "Your father is looking for you, Boss."
Tang Xiu raised his brows and recalled that he stored his handset inside his interspatial ring which barred any cell signal. He immediately headed outside and took Jin s.h.i.+'s cell phone and said, "Are you looking for me, Dad?"
"I'm afraid I need your help to deal with my problem here, Xiu'er." Tang Yunde's voice came out of the phone. "You better come in person if you have the time. I'm afraid that there will be an accident here."