Chapter 966: Favoritism

Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales

With eyes lit up in surprise, Singluen excitedly said, “Alrighty! The day I’ve been waiting for has finally come. If anything, I’m ready to leave at a moment’s notice from you.”

“Frankly speaking, I’d have chosen your older brother if we hadn’t had an agreement first,” said Tang Xiu with a faint smile. “You’re a little behind him in doing things, though perhaps it is due to your age.”

“I know that I’m not as good as Singkuo in many aspects. That I admit,” said Singluen with a wry expression, “But there’s one thing that I’m much better than him at, though. That is what makes me sure that I’ll be the final winner.”

“Mind telling me which aspect is it?” asked Tang Xiu with a curious face.

“It’s luck,” said Singluen smilingly.

His answer made Tang Xiu think for a moment and he immediately said with a smile, “True that. You’re the one who first met me, so your luck is better than your older brother. Also, I’m a man who always keeps my word, so I’ll make sure to hold my part of the agreement, even though your big brother eventually found me and wanted me to stay out of the issue between you both. Well… that includes ignoring the fact that he also gave me the jade pig I want.”

“What did you say?” exclaimed Singluen. “He gave you the jade pig already? This….”

“Don’t worry about that.” Tang Xiu patted his shoulder and said, “He did give me the pig jade and I gave him my word that I wouldn’t be involved in anything happened between the both of you while you’re in Thailand. If he can kill you there, you can only blame your bad luck and fate. Pity for him that he wasn’t able to kill you, though.”

It made Singluen remember the time when Tang Xiu had just left Thailand. That night, his older brother took a lot of experts to besiege and kill him. He would’ve died that time had he not taken his closest men to escape via his underground tunnel.

Regardless of succeeding in fleeing that day, he still suffered from being chased even three days later. If it weren’t for two experts who suddenly appeared, he’d have lost his life under the hands of the many men under Singkuo who chased him. However, he already knew that those mysterious people were Tang Xiu’s subordinates.

Shortly after, Singluen said, “Anyway, I sensed something amiss when I first came to this island, Mr. Tang. Do you mind if I ask you about it?”

“Do ask,” said Tang Xiu.

“I sensed a kind of mana that had yet to dissipate the moment I came here,” said Singluen. “This magic power was different from the one that my Dark Shaman clan’s cultivation system is based on, however. It was much purer and a bit like the mana left behind by the Celestial Wizard clan.”

“You know about the Celestial Wizard Clan?” asked Tang Xiu with a changed face.

“How would I not know about them?” said Singluen. “I know a lot about the Celestial Wizard clan. This clan is from Poland, and it has many clansmen, about 10 times more than my Dark Shaman clan. They also have a lot of powerhouses, so much so that even my current strength is just equal to average experts among them. No, I may be just an average person among them.”

“What exactly is the relations.h.i.+p between your clan and the Celestial Wizard clan?” asked Tang Xiu.

“We are related, and it is quite a deep relations.h.i.+p if I may say,” said Singluen. “The Dark Shaman clan was separated from the Celestial Wizard clan a little over seven centuries ago. It was because my clan ancestors broke the custom of the Celestial Wizard clan, thus facing the situation of being killed and excommunicated. Therefore, my ancestors led dozens of clansmen from our family branch to blaze a b.l.o.o.d.y path before they finally came to Thailand and took root there. But after more than seven centuries, and after the elite clansmen continued to fall, our wizardry arts can no longer be compared to as they were in the past.”

Tang Xiu immediately understood and asked again, “Then what do you feel about the Celestial Wizard clan now?”

“I don’t have any particular opinion about them.” Singluen shook his head and said, “If they don’t provoke us, my clan has simply been a bystander. After all, if it weren’t for the ancestors carving a b.l.o.o.d.y path back then, the Dark Shaman clan descendants wouldn’t exist nowadays.”

“I see.” Tang Xiu nodded and said, “Well, I will tell you that I and the Celestial Wizard clan are mortal enemies. I won’t take any action to get rid of them for the time being as I have many things to deal with at hand at the moment. But if they dare to come and make trouble again, then I’ll make sure to completely destroy them. It’s good that you don’t want to have anything to do with the Celestial Wizard clan anymore.”“Ehh?! You have a blood feud with the Celestial Wizard clan? What exactly happened?” asked Singluen, surprised.

“This clan’s people came to Nine Dragons Island to rob and occupy my place,” said Tang Xiu calmly. “The two people who came were killed in the following fight, so a large number of Celestial Wizard clan experts came rus.h.i.+ng to nearby waters, thus clas.h.i.+ng with my men.”

“And the result of it?” asked Singluen hurriedly.

“Heh. That clan’s Grand Elder led a lot of powerhouses, but they eventually fled miserably after many of them were killed by me and my men. Only more than ten of them were able to escape.”

Tongue-tied and dumbfounded, Singluen stared at Tang Xiu. He had heard about the Grand Elder of the Celestial Wizard clan who possessed terrifying power. The man was absolutely a dreadful figure, so much so that even his father and most of the Dark Shaman’s experts were far inferior to.

“You…” Singluen wanted to speak out something, but his mind was so chaotic that he didn’t know what to say.

“Well, you’re not related to this problem, Singluen. This has nothing to do with your Dark Shaman clan either,” said Tang Xiu with a light smile while patting his shoulder. “Oftentimes staying out of the way is a wise decision to make. Just continue your cultivation, and we’ll gather to leave for Bangkok tomorrow. This time, apart from killing your older brother, your old man should also abdicate and give up his position. I look forward to having more business deals with you as the Patriarch of the Dark Shaman clan in the future.”

What Tang Xiu’s said was understandable for Singluen, so he nodded and said, “No worries about that. The Dark Shaman clan will always be your closest ally as long as I live.”

“Alright!”

****

Bangkok, Thailand.

Surrounded by vast towering mountains, there existed a complex of reinforced buildings. The eldest prince of the Dark Shaman clan, Singkuo, hurriedly walked toward the complex with a grim complexion. Behind him were dozens of his men, many of whom glancing at him with concern and worry.

Deep inside the building complex was a low-rise building, a house with an altar, in which the current Patriarch of the Dark Shaman clan lived in. Singtuo was on that altar with black fog covering his whole body, including his face. Despite it, his eyes were extremely keen and lit up as his vision looked around the altar and saw Singkuo coming in from the outside.

“You seem to be in a foul mood, Singkuo?”

A voice that seemed like it was from afar came out of Singtuo’s mouth.

“I can’t hide anything between me and Singluen, can I, Father?” Singkuo nodded and said, “He’s going to kill me, so I’ve got to give him back the same kindness in return.”

Singtuo fell into silence for quite a while before he sighed and said, “You both are already grown up, and I understand what you have in mind. I know that there’s no room left for any peaceful resolution between you and him from now on, so I have no other choice. I’m still the current Patriarch of the Dark Shaman clan and I have no way to be partial to you nor Singluen. Hence, you can only solve this life and death issue between you both.”

“You know the power I have, as well as that more than half of the Dark Shaman clan listen to my command, Father,” said Singkuo. “Singluen has allied with the head of a mysterious force in China, and he wants to remove me by relying on the help of this foreign power. Should we engage in the final battle, our clan would very likely suffer serious damage even if I come out as the victor, so I need your help in this matter.”

A chilling light flashed in Singtuo’s eyes as he asked with a deep voice, “Is the other party really strong?”

“They are very strong,” answered Singkuo. “I took my men to besiege Singluen and his men a couple of days ago. But two mysterious people came and saved all of them in the end. I even lost quite a number of my men.”

This time, Singtuo was silent for a very long time and asked again, “How do you need me to help you?”

“Issue a decree to return to the clan,” said Singkuo. “It will make Singluen come back immediately. As long as he returns to Bangkok, the problem between me and him can be easily be dealt with. That Chinese man has promised that as long as I can defeat Singluen before he is done dealing with his affairs, then he won’t become enemies with our clan. He even said that he and our clan could also strike business deals.”

“What kind of deal exactly?” asked Singtuo.

“I’m not sure about for now, but it should be beneficial to us.” Singkuo shook his head.

“If so, then I’ll issue the decree to return to the clan.” Singtuo nodded and said, “But you will rely on yourself for the rest.”

****

Hong Kong.

Li Juren was sitting on the sofa in his office, groaning and complaining inwardly while looking at the two middle-aged men in front. Their expression was that of anger, and they released their oppressive auras as they glared at him.

These two men before him were really too strong-headed and powerful! These men came with seething anger, wanting to punish him just because he didn’t help them collect enough raw jade. It was due to him giving Tang Xiu the rest of the raw jade he had acquired.

“I really had no means left. The price of raw jade has risen nearly twice as high as before on the market, while a large number of jewelers are also desperately buying raw materials for jade. Some small jade businesses are even in crisis due to the short supply nowadays. Two gentlemen, I told you that I need at least half a month. I will definitely give you enough raw jade at that time, even if I must steal them,” said Li Jure with a forced, wry smile while wiping off beads of sweat on his forehead.

The two middle-aged men looked at each other, and the oppressing aura coming out of them weakened a bit. One of them the coldly hmphed and said, “We have no time to waste, so we can’t give you two weeks! We’ll give you seven days, and we’ll fulfill our end of the deal if you get all the raw jades we need. But if you fail, don’t blame us for being ruthless when we make you taste regret.”

Li Juren gulped and said with a helpless face, “I can only say that I’m going to try my best. Killing me if I still can’t fulfill the deal in the end is also no use.”

“Hmph…” snorted the middle-aged man as he got up and said before he left, “We’ll be back seven days from now. I really hope you can show us a good result.”

Li Juren wanted to stand up and send them off, but his legs were slightly trembling, so he remained on the sofa and waved, “Take care, gentlemen.”