18. A Reasonable Deal
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Bailong smiled. "Sect Leader Xu, permit me to say something before I state my demands!"
"And that is there's no one in the Mortal Realm, even Sun Li-. Er, High Immortal Sun Liang, who can guarantee the Light Tiger's safe delivery."
"How arrogant!" Xu Fengyan said sceptically. "Are you saying even the High Immortal wouldn't know what to do? The only reason I won't let him near the tiger is in case he tries to cast a seal on the cub."
"Sect Leader Xu, High Immortal Sun wouldn't know what to do, not because he is weak, but because the Light Tiger was too eager to hide her child, and this led her to do something stupid.
"Even the Sky Emperor would need to summon three legendary seal-breakers to save her."
Xu Fengyan absorbed what he said. "Explain."
"Of course!" Bailong stood up and started pacing.
"There's something called the Tri-Moon Formation. It's a powerful seal in Sky Realm that can trap and hide anything from a being, to treasure, hiding its trace completely.
"However, with a single mistake, whatever is hidden might never be regained, and whatever is lost might never be found. The Light Tiger's knowledge was limited, so she never realized that the seal is largely unstable... It certainly shouldn't be used on something not fully in existence.
"Her cub is still between two worlds. It doesn't 'fully exist' here, so the Seal has not taken effect. But once the cub is ready to come out..."
Xu Fengyan slammed his fist on the small table before him. "Are you saying the cub will disappear?!"
"Not only that. The part of the cub in our world was already linked to his mother when she cast the seal. What happens when the caster of such a dangerous seal, is affected by the seal as well?"
Xu Fengyan's eyes grew wider than they already were, but Bailong simply sat across him.
"Breaking the Seal is easy, but it's not a spell I would share easily."
"And how did you come to learn about it?" Xu Fengyan asked.
Bailong felt a wave of sadness.
He had created the Tri-Moon Formation to hide something within someone, and one of the Mermen from Four-Petal Garden must have found part of his records back then and spread it.
But he couldn't exactly say all that, so he reached into Luoyin's memories.
"Mother was from a long line of beast hunters." He answered, settling for half a truth... The Duan family of the Chuyi sect were indeed revered beast hunters!
"Mother left me a book older than the Chuyi Sect itself, and it had all these things. I suppose inheriting her bloodline made me interested in studying beasts." He finished with a smooth lie.
"Hao." Xu Fengyan said, observing him carefully. "And what is it that you want in return for saving the entire sect?" But much to his surprise, Bailong knelt, cupped his hands and bowed his head.
"Sect Leader Xu, I do not mean to withhold such a secret when the entire Sect is at stake. I'm merely desperate. I will promise to break the seal before anything happens, even if we can't reach an agreement.
"However, if you grant my wish, not only would I guarantee the safety of mother and cub, but I'll also sever any of the cub's ties to Sky Realm, without harming his immortality.
"After that, I'll bind him to Xu Weiyan. It won't be as powerful as the Soul Bond, as that would waste its mother's sacrifice. But my method would still make the cub have a natural affinity with Xu Weiyan's blood."
Xu Fengyan was nodding as he listened, and he sighed in resignation.
"It's an honorable business deal. What is it you want?"
Luoyin grinned and dropped his hands. "Ehehe, I won't ask for too much!
"Just Five Gold foundation pills, four Light-Years cultivation pills, five stems of Twilight Ganoderma, two rare Spatial Lilies, two Blessed Silk Worms, and a chest of gold!"
"H- HOW IS THAT NOT ASKING FOR MUCH???!!!"
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A few minutes later, Xu Fengyan and Luoyin had settled on four Gold foundation pills, three Light-Years cultivation pills, three stems of Twilight Ganoderma, a rare Spatial Lily, two Blessed Silk Worms, and three chests of gold!
"I did not realize you could drive such a hard bargain!"
"Sect Leader Xu! It's because I'm indeed desperate!"
"Don't sound weak! I won't fall for it again!"
"U- Understood...!"
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That night, Bailong grinned like a satisfied cat in his room.
The second day of being 'Zhang Luoyin' had been quite promising, and in addition to the items he had asked for, Lord Xu had given him a spatial ring!
"Count yourself lucky that I have several!" Xu Fengyan had said. "It will vex me to no end if someone steals those precious items because you have no storage!"
At present, Bailong lay on his back and stared at the ring.
"What's making you so happy?" Yinying's voice cut into his thoughts.
"Lao Ying!" He turned to see the black tiger perched on one of the window sills. "You came just in time! Did you get any herbs?!"
Yinying froze at the sight of Bailong.
He cocked his furry head left and right, staring at his master's excited face, but leapt down a moment later.
"What a selfish Master!" He complained. "'How was your day? Did anyone see you? Were you safe?' How can you not ask even one of these things?!"
"Ehehe, I know nothing like that happened. Bailong grinned, gently stroking Yinying's head. Yinying might be older than his father, but he was ultimately still a cat, and he stretched languorously as Bailong pet his fur.
"And besides," Bailong continued. "...it's for both our sakes! I managed to acquire a few items, but I'll need some generic herbs to make them work. Perhaps you can even regain your original form!"
"Oh?" Yinying was still stretching. "I got a few low-grade herbs and pills." As he spoke, the items appeared in front of Bailong. "What did you get?"
"Hmph." Bailong triumphantly held his hand out, and all the items in the ring came pouring out.
Yinying's eyes rounded in wonder.
"Xiaobai! Did you rob someone's treasury!"
"Heh! I merely had a business deal!" He boasted, then filled Yinying in on the day's events.
"The only thing dampening my spirits is Xu Weiyan!" He said with a scowl.
"Ei?! But didn't she give you those four pills?!"
"That's not the issue." Bailong explained what happened beneath the pine, and Weiyan's history with Luoyin, and how he was feeling Luoyin's emotions.
"That is odd." Yinying explained. "All that's left of the human should be their body and memories. Nothing else."
"And there's more." Bailong said, drawing back his sleeve and waving a hand over his wrist, to reveal the Spirit-binding seal.
One of the arrows was now pointing inward.
"You identified one of the grievances?!" Yinying asked in surprise.
"Yes... It's Xu Weiyan! This happened after I held her hand today!"
"You held her hand?!!!"
"I- It was necessary! 'Luoyin' couldn't ignore Xu Linhua's bullying!"
Yinying shook his head in exasperation, as he and Bailong stared at the Spirit-binding seal in silence.
"I don't understand... Why would Zhang Luoyin want to kill his 'Sweetheart'?" Bailong wondered aloud.
"A grievance may not be revenge, and revenge may not even mean death!" Yinying shook his head. "Either way..."
He leapt off the bed and stared at Bailong squarely. "Avoid any interaction with Xu Weiyan from now on, till you must face her. It would be troublesome if Zhang Luoyin wants her dead, but his own emotions are stopping you from taking swift action!"
"Tch! I won't approach her, even if you don't say it!"
"Yet, you held her hand and rescued her from this Xu Linhua?"
"Ei? Wasn't that all Luoyin?" Bailong asked with an amused shrug.
"Yin Bailong, be serious!"
It was the first time Bailong had heard 'Bailong' spoken aloud since he awakened, and he looked panicked.
"Laoying, don't say that name aloud! Someone might be listening!"
Yinying looked sceptical. "Why?" He asked. "What's wrong with your name?"
"Since I'm not completely dead, Mount Caoyang will remain afloat, and the Immortals won't be able to enter.
"If I know Fei Y-!" He caught himself.
Completing the Fate Immortal's name would be even worse!
"If I know 'Fate Immortal' well, he wants to be certain I'm dead. He'll be keeping an ear out for my name."
"But wouldn't they be looking for your birth name?" Yinying used his paws to write out: 'Yin Xiaolong' in the air, his claw leaving a black trail.
"Do they know the name --?" This time he wrote 'Yin Bailong' in the air.
Bailong shook his head. "Fate Immortal will ignore 'Yin Xiaolong', because too many humans know it and might say it.
"But no human knows the other name, while Fate Immortal knows it a little too well..."
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