Chu An Lou didn't pay much attention to Huang Li's attitude toward Niu You Dao. He cupped his hands and greeted him with a smile: "Sect Master Huang also grows more remarkable with each passing day!"
Niu You Dao likewise disregarded Huang Li's indifference. He gestured with an outstretched hand, inviting everyone: "Please, have a seat!"
Chu An Lou returned, took his seat at the table, and waved Huang Li over.
Huang Li also approached the table and sat down. Several of Huang Li's people came and stood behind him.
Niu You Dao also took his seat, while Yuan Gang and the others stood behind him. Niu You Dao instructed Black Peony to pour tea for everyone.
Huang Li made it clear by his demeanor that he had no intention of drinking tea here. He looked at Chu An Lou: "Steward Chu, what are the instructions from the Ice and Snow Palace? Our Dachang Mountain will comply with everything. We came here specifically for this. This Huang awaits clarification. "
This clearly showed that if it weren't for the Ice and Snow Palace, he would not have come here at all.
Chu An Lou: "Sect Master Huang speaks with great seriousness. Did the shop steward not relay my words? Very well, I'll say it again. Your affairs do not concern me. The Ice and Snow Palace has its own laws. I cannot interfere in your matters either. Resolve them as you see fit."
When it came to this point, Chu An Lou truly wished he could reveal his relationship with Niu You Dao. However, this fellow had skillfully painted images for the Mistress. Later, Chu An Lou had asked Hai Bing whether to reveal their relationship or not. But Hai Bing had already promised Niu You Dao that she wouldn't tell anyone that he had come here to paint for the Mistress. And so, Chu An Lou was forced to remain silent about it now.
"What a load of rubbish!" Huang Li cursed inwardly: "Why is this fellow sitting here? And they called me all the way here just to talk with him. And you, Chu An Lou, why are you sitting here then?"
Huang Li looked at Niu You Dao with a cold gaze: "You asked for me, and I came. What is the matter?"
Niu You Dao: "I heard Dachang Mountain wants to kill me?"
Huang Li: "There was no such thing."
Even if it were true, he wouldn't dare admit it until he understood the relationship between Niu You Dao and the Ice and Snow Palace.
Niu You Dao: "Shao Ping Bo from Beizhou must be familiar to you?"
Huang Li: "So what?"
Niu You Dao: "I heard that Shao Ping Bo incited Dachang Mountain's people to cause me trouble."
Chu An Lou sat beside them, slowly sipping his tea. He had heard of Shao Ping Bo, but had not paid him much heed.
Huang Li: "Heard? Boy, don't speak nonsense without proof. I, however, heard that you composed nursery rhymes about Shao Ping Bo in the Han Kingdom. Do you confess to that?"
Niu You Dao retorted with a laugh: "Nursery rhymes? Am I a three-year-old child?" — he likewise could not admit to it.
Huang Li raised a hand: "No need for nonsense. Speak seriously, why did you summon me?"
Niu You Dao pointed a hand at Chu An Lou: "I asked Steward Chu to come today because there truly was a reason for it. I heard that Shao Ping Bo wanted to use the Ice and Snow Palace to get rid of me. And Shao Ping Bo is precisely supported by Dachang Mountain. I wonder, Sect Master, have you heard about this?"
"Shao Ping Bo wanted to use the Ice and Snow Palace? What is this about?" Chu An Lou narrowed his eyes.
"Again with your 'heard'?" Huang Li sneered coldly: "Young man, don't spout nonsense. You prove that Shao Ping Bo wanted to use the Ice and Snow Palace. There's no need for such rubbish."
He naturally understood that this was no trivial matter. How could Dachang Mountain dare to offend the Ice and Snow Palace? He certainly did not dare to admit it.
Niu You Dao: "Very well. Shao Ping Bo used the Liuxiang Sect and other sects to try and kill me. I won't speak of that. For other matters, I have no proof, so there's no point in discussing them. Steward Chu is here with us today. And he represents the Ice and Snow Palace. Sitting before him, does Sect Master Huang dare to guarantee that Shao Ping Bo will not use the Ice and Snow Palace?"
Huang Li: "There's no need for a guarantee. He cannot and is not capable of using the Ice and Snow Palace."
Niu You Dao: "And what if he is capable of using it? He is, after all, under your support."
Huang Li was truly apprehensive. He worried that Shao Ping Bo might indeed have committed some foolish acts. Thus, he tried to evade the question, but he could not remain silent now: "Impossible! If he truly dares, Dachang Mountain will be the first to not let him off!"
"Good!" Niu You Dao turned to Chu An Lou: "Steward Chu, if someone dares to use the Ice and Snow Palace, how will the Palace respond?"
Chu An Lou cursed inwardly: "What are you trying to do, little brat? Aren't you using me right now?"
However, Niu You Dao was mainly referring to the Mistress, and it clearly didn't concern Chu An Lou personally. Moreover, the matter of several hundred thousand also weighed heavily on him.
"It doesn't matter what I say. However, everyone already knows the consequences. Whoever isn't afraid of death can try." Chu An Lou said in a cold tone.
The wind lashed his face, but within Huang Li, who had just stepped out of the inn, rage was storming. Had he traveled all this way just to discuss such a trivial matter?
The others were also enraged. When they returned to the back of the shop, an elder said discontentedly: "That crazy brat! Even killing him wouldn't be enough to quell my hatred!"
Huang Li, pacing the room, raised a hand: "That brat is in an honored room of the Ice and Snow Palace. We cannot touch him until we understand their relationship. We must be patient. Furthermore, he called me all this way; it surely isn't just for this trivial matter. Tell Shao Ping Bo not to cause trouble. Let him be more careful, or he'll have no one but himself to blame later!"
Having said that, he waved his hand and went into the inner room to rest. He was clearly furious...
After seeing the guests out, Niu You Dao returned to his room with Yuan Gang. And Yuan Gang asked: "Lord Dao has warned Dachang Mountain, and now Shao Ping Bo won't dare to do anything."
He implied that the Red Yang Fruit could now be stolen.
Niu You Dao opened the window and looked at the snow. He chuckled: "Dachang Mountain has been warned. A warning can be frightening to an incapable person. But for a capable, self-assured person, it's no hindrance. He won't react if he has no methods. And Shao Ping Bo is precisely such a person. He will most likely come up with something. If he doesn't respond, it would be strange!"
Yuan Gang furrowed his brows: "What will Huang Li do? Why did he bring so many people with him?"
Niu You Dao took a deep breath of the cold winter air: "Sometimes, one must be audacious. Lingering in one place also sometimes brings benefits. Let's see their reaction. Huang Li saw everything himself and will now be wary. For a while, he won't dare to attack us. It can be said that when we leave the Ice and Snow Palace, there will be one less risk. On the other hand, this might just be the beginning!"
Two days later, a message arrived from the Liuxiang Sect's shop. Sect Master Fei Chang Liu had arrived.
Niu You Dao was in no hurry to meet him. He waited for everyone to gather.
A few more days later, the sect masters of the Heavenly Jade Sect, Peng Yu Cai; the Floating Clouds Sect, Zheng Jiu Xiao; and the Subtlety Mountain Sect, Xia Hua, all arrived at the Ice and Snow Palace.
Then Niu You Dao invited all of them. And this time, Niu You Dao did not summon Chu An Lou.
The four sect masters arrived at the upper floor of the Rainbow Inn. It was the first time any of them had seen this floor.
Xia Hua was a woman, and not a young one. She was dressed in colorful attire. She was also made up, but not as loosely as beauties in pleasure houses usually were.
As for the Heavenly Jade Sect Master, thanks to Bai Yao, he had heard much about Niu You Dao. He was a tall and robust man. Niu You Dao immediately recognized him as Peng Yu Lan's father.
The Floating Clouds Sect Master was the educated and refined Zheng Jiu Xiao. He had long whiskers, which he occasionally stroked, giving himself the air of an immortal.
The Liuxiang Sect had originally held ill will towards Niu You Dao, so their Sect Master behaved reservedly.
Among all present, only Peng Yu Cai held sway over an entire region, so the other sect masters treated him with respect.
No matter how everyone regarded Niu You Dao, he received them all warmly in the main hall. Wu San Liang and Lei Zong Kang stood downstairs, preventing anyone from coming up.
"Speak, what happened?" Peng Yu Cai sat majestically, his hands resting on his knees.
As for Niu You Dao, he was not enthused about being invited here either. Yet this fellow, considering his relationship to him, had even dared to summon Peng Yu Cai here? Where had such a thing ever been seen!
Black Peony began serving tea to everyone, and Niu You Dao extended a hand, saying with a smile: "Since Sect Master Peng is in a hurry, I will immediately begin consulting with the Liuxiang Sect Master."
Fei Chang Liu shot him a sidelong glance.
Niu You Dao asked: "Sect Master Fei. Everyone already knows that the Liuxiang Sect has tried to capture me more than once. I won't speak of that. I only want to ask one question. Can we erase all our grievances?"
Fei Chang Liu looked at Niu You Dao, whom he had failed to capture several times already, and said seriously: "I can overlook past grievances. But what about the losses at the Zhaixing City shop?"
As he spoke, he also looked at Zheng Jiu Xiao and Xia Hua: "The two esteemed ones also suffered considerable losses."
Zheng Jiu Xiao: "We lost over a million gold coins!"
Xia Hua: "Us too. Our shop in Zhaixing City was practically emptied."
Peng Yu Cai was surprised. "What is this? What happened to these shops in Zhaixing City?"
The elders standing behind him were also surprised. They had not heard about this. And where were the shop guards? Did he kill them?
Fei Chang Liu: "Niu You Dao. Since you robbed our shops, shouldn't you return what you stole to us? Only then can our grievances be appeased."
Peng Yu Cai looked at Niu You Dao with glittering eyes. "And this fellow robbed three shops? How did he manage that? Why had there been no reports from Qingshan County about this?"
Over a million gold coins was quite a large sum for sects of their scale. Therefore, for the sake of money, they were willing to end their feud with Niu You Dao. After all, over a million gold coins was the result of many years of work for them.
And, of course, also because they were currently sitting in the Rainbow Inn.
"I don't understand what you're talking about." Niu You Dao did not confess.
Only an idiot would admit to having robbed shops in Zhaixing City.