Chapter 24: The Transaction
“Xia Feng.”
A deep, bubbly male voice spoke from above. After taking a spoonful of steamed egg custard, Xia Feng raised his eyes. “What is it? Speak.”
He had met the elegant, plump man named Panda a few times before, but this was his first encounter with Yan Xujia.
Seeing that this guy had no intention of stopping his meal and was instead acting like a big shot receiving a report from a subordinate, Yan Xujia couldn’t help but frown.
He placed his hand on the chair, a smile appearing on his handsome face. “May I sit here?”
Xia Feng glanced at him, about to speak, when with a *zzzzla*, Yan Xujia had already pulled out a chair and sat down.
The surroundings were quiet. Yan Xujia’s arrival drew the attention of almost everyone in the dining hall to this small dining table.
Mushroom couldn’t bear this unnerving feeling of being under everyone’s gaze. Under the table, her small hand subconsciously tightened its grip on Xia Feng’s clothes.
Yan Xujia casually cast a soundproof barrier around them and said with a light smile, “Xia Feng, you don’t need to be nervous. I’m just here to make a deal with you today.”
“A deal?” Xia Feng’s spirits perked up at the word, and he instantly understood. “You want me to stay away from your goddess, right? Fine, I get it. Ten million, and I promise not to say bad things about you to your goddess.”
“…” Yan Xujia’s intended words were swallowed back. After a full three seconds, he said in a deep voice, “What I want is more than just that—”
“Oh? Then what else do you want?” Xia Feng furrowed his brows.
Yan Xujia took a deep breath, regained the initiative, and said calmly, tapping the table, “Xia Feng, you might not know the details of the Saintess trial. Let me put it this way: the four candidate Saintesses—”
“I know that. Stop wasting time and get to the conclusion,” Xia Feng interrupted, frowning.
“…” Yan Xujia was choked up again, confused as to how this guy knew everything!
But that was good; it saved him the trouble of explaining. He clasped his hands on the table and said with a calm gaze, “Since you know, I won’t waste any more words. Nai Xue has chosen to cultivate ‘Solitary Moon,’ so she naturally needs to minimize her emotional ties. The best way to do that is death.”
As he spoke, Yan Xujia smiled playfully. “But obviously, we can’t actually kill you, can we~”
Panda had warned him not to assassinate Xia Feng again, but he hadn’t forbidden him from doing other things.
“So, I thought of a stable method, and this method requires your help, Xia Feng.”
Yan Xujia’s lips curved strangely, but his tone was sincere. “Considering our past friendship, I’m sure junior student Xia is willing to make a small sacrifice for Nai Xue’s future~”
Though he grumbled internally, “What does it have to do with me?”, Xia Feng still smiled and nodded. “Sure, I’m the most naive, simple, and kind person. Tell me, I’ll see if I can help.”
“Rest assured, it’s nothing difficult.”
Yan Xujia smiled broadly. “You only need to agree to two conditions, junior student.”
“Hmm?”
“First, hand over the pocket watch that Nai Xue gave you. Second, agree to go to the Northern Territory and not leave for ten years.”
“As compensation, I can write you a letter of recommendation for the East Marquis’s territory, allowing you to become a glorious Marquis’s knight.”
“.?” Xia Feng’s spoon paused halfway to his mouth. He looked up and was silent for a long time, only one word echoing in his mind: *idiot*. Was this guy an idiot?
The Empire and the Nightmare Clan had been at war for thousands of years, resulting in two border zones: the Northern Territory (District 49) and the Southern Border (District 13).
These two places weren’t just chaotic; they were extremely chaotic.
The Northern Territory had been relatively peaceful in recent years, but the Southern Border was a mess. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that battles were fought every second there.
Xia Feng, being a seasoned couch potato, would never stand if he could sit. And he expected him to leave District 51? Dreaming! Let alone the Northern Territory, a place where war could erupt again at any moment.
As for the pocket watch, it was a token of love exchanged between him and Cha Nai Xue when they were children. Cha Nai Xue also had one of his.
“How is it? This transaction is very fair, isn’t it?”
Yan Xujia said with a light smile, “You don’t need to physically die. As long as you die in your master’s life and gradually fade away, you can also dilute the fetters that bind your master’s cultivation.” Seeing Xia Feng still leisurely eating his steamed egg custard, completely ignoring him, Yan Xujia frowned and continued,
“Looking at you, you probably don’t even understand the meaning of becoming a knight of the East Marquis’s territory.”
He gestured behind him.
“You all, introduce yourselves to this young brother.”
Seven or eight youths who were blocking the afterglow of the sunset stepped forward. One of them straightened his chest, took a step forward, and said to Xia Feng with a confident smile, “My name is Rhode. I am a Holy Radiance Knight of the Marquis’s territory, with three stars of meritorious service and honor. I hold the rank of lieutenant colonel. My father is the commander of the Northern Territory’s Third Legion.”
After speaking, he straightened his back and took a step back, standing in the sunlight, always erect.
The tall, thin man beside him stepped out, his tone calm, as if stating a trivial matter. “Huo Yisen. Holy Radiance Knight of the Marquis’s territory, with five stars of meritorious service and honor. I hold the rank of colonel and am twenty-five years old.”
“My name is Xi Jia. Silver Radiance Knight of the Marquis’s territory, with two stars of meritorious service and honor. My father is Count Schiller, and my mother is the president of the Azure Sky Chamber of Commerce. My personal assets exceed one hundred million.”
“.?” Xia Feng listened silently, feeling an ineffable helplessness, as if he were listening to primary school students bragging.
“Qiu Li, Holy Radiance Knight of the Marquis’s territory, with four stars of meritorious service and honor. My father is…”
!
A total of eight people, each introducing themselves either proudly or calmly, made Xia Feng’s eyes twitch. Were these people trying to…
Show off?
But it was true; they had the capital to show off, as each of them was the son of nobles.
“Let me tell you a secret. Actually, I am the second son of the East Marquis, the son of a marquis!” Yan Xujia said with a low laugh. “Now do you understand? As long as you become a knight of my East Territory, you will have the fastest promotion channel, even the opportunity to obtain a noble title, and you will also gain the friendship of our Northern Territory nobles. Your future will be bright.”
Xia Feng didn’t know if his future would be bright, but this deal seemed incredibly foolish.
Seeing Xia Feng frowning and seemingly lost in thought, Yan Xujia lost some of his patience. “If you are worried about the engagement with the Mu Clan, you don’t need to be. The head of the Mu Clan is just a small viscount. I have plenty of ways to make Miss Mu go to the Northern Territory with you.”
As he spoke, he adjusted his collar and stood up indifferently, looking down from above. “So, Xia Feng, you have no objections to this transaction, right?”
He and the eight tall knights behind him watched Xia Feng silently, their eighteen eyes showing the same indifferent gaze.
Silence.
The soundproof barrier had already been removed. Although the students in the bustling dining hall didn’t know what had happened at first, they still heard the last few confrontational words.
A strange and oppressive atmosphere quietly spread.
They subconsciously held their breath, their eyes fixed on the black-haired young man quietly eating his steamed egg custard in the center.
Xia Feng put down his spoon with a clink. “To be honest, Yan Xujia, I have a question.”
“What?”
Xia Feng smiled and leaned back. “You’re acting like such a lapdog, does your Goddess Tea know about this?”
Yan Xujia’s expression froze imperceptibly, and he said in an unfriendly tone, “I’m not a lapdog!”
Xia Feng smiled without speaking. He knew that Cha Nai Xue’s three guardian knights all had powerful noble families behind them. Yin and Panda’s positions were quite stable, but Yan Xujia had almost been fired by Cha Nai Xue several times.
Each time, Yan Xujia would bring large amounts of resources from his family to Cha Nai Xue, begging for a chance to make amends and not have his position revoked.
From Xia Feng’s understanding of this profit-driven woman, those who were useless would be discarded, and those who were useful would be discarded after being utilized.
If Yan Xujia couldn’t become an heir and wasn’t valuable like Yin and Panda, he would eventually be completely abandoned once his resources were no longer useful.
While contemplating, Xia Feng raised his eyes and tapped the table. “Let me put it this way: it’s not about whether I have objections anymore, but whether your condition is even valid.”
