Chapter 1319: The Deal

The old man surnamed Wang wore a bitter expression. When he heard the question, he answered honestly, "Manager Lian will have to forgive the embarrassment. This boy is one of my descendants. He was accepted as a disciple of the Jidao Sect, and since his journey took him through Black Crow City, he came here to pay his respects to this old man."

"Pay his respects?" The middle-aged beauty nodded faintly. "How rare of him to show such filial piety. But... it wasn't just a simple visit, was it? How did Manager Wang's token end up in this boy's hands?"

As she spoke, she suddenly opened her palm, and an invisible suction force shot out, pulling a token from Wang Yuhan's hand—the very one the old Wang-surnamed manager had given him.

The old Wang-surnamed man's expression flickered between light and dark, his face twisted with frustration.

He had no idea that Wang Yuhan had been so audacious as to use his manager's token to communicate with the young woman called Xiao Qing through spiritual sense, issuing orders in his name to obstruct the Harmony Tower's transaction. If he had known, would he have so casually handed the token over?

His original intention had simply been to avoid getting personally involved in the younger generation's affairs, to give his grand-nephew a bit of a helping hand.

Now that such a thing had happened and drawn the attention of the middle-aged beauty, matters would likely be difficult to resolve.

Faced with the middle-aged beauty's questioning, the old Wang-surnamed man didn't know how to respond and could only maintain his silence. Manager Lian was an exceptionally sharp woman; after only a moment's thought, she had roughly pieced together what had happened. Her expression turned cold, and she secretly transmitted her voice to the old Wang: "I don't care what grudge your descendant has with that boy, but for an outsider to rashly interfere with the Harmony Tower's affairs—and even obstruct our transactions—you should know the consequences!"

The old Wang's heart lurched, and his expression grew even more bitter.

The middle-aged beauty gave a soft snort and continued transmitting: "However, since things have already come to this, I can hardly blame you further in front of outsiders. I'll let it slide this time. The boy's offer isn't low—as long as he's still willing to take Yue'er away, the deal can still go through! Manager Wang, your punishment this time will be one year's salary. Do you have any objections?"

"I wouldn't dare. The matter is entirely in Manager Lian's hands!" Hearing this, the old Wang's expression relaxed slightly, and the weight on his heart eased a little.

"Additionally, your descendant is no longer welcome in the Harmony Tower from now on. If he sets foot here again, don't blame me for being unkind!" The middle-aged beauty added one more warning. The old Wang naturally nodded repeatedly in agreement.

The two had been communicating through spiritual sense, and Yang Kai had observed the whole exchange. Though he didn't know the details of their conversation, from the look of the situation, things didn't seem too bad. There was still room to maneuver. At this thought, his expression immediately relaxed considerably.

After a moment, when the middle-aged beauty had finished dealing with the old Wang, she finally raised her beautiful eyes and looked at Yang Kai. A smile touched the corner of her lips as she said, "Boy, although your offer is quite tempting and more than enough to redeem Yue'er from this place, you dared to forcibly take someone away before we had fully agreed. You even attacked Xiao Qing. You really don't think much of us, do you?"

Yang Kai's expression flickered, then he broke into a grin and cupped his fists. "This junior's actions just now were indeed rash. I hope the seniors can be magnanimous and forgive my offenses. Miss Xiao Qing, I owe you an apology as well."

With his sharp mind, how could he not have seen that all the previous obstruction had been Wang Yuhan overstepping his bounds? The middle-aged beauty and the others were clearly satisfied with his offer. The only remaining trouble was that his earlier actions had damaged the Harmony Tower's reputation. After all, the commotion had been considerable—many guests who had come to the pleasure quarters for entertainment were peeking out from nearby pavilions, their faces full of curiosity.

If the middle-aged beauty simply let him leave without consequence, the three managers would lose all authority. All they needed now was a way to save face, and Yang Kai was more than happy to provide one.

Seeing how understanding he was, the smile in the middle-aged beauty's eyes deepened. Still, she turned to the woman called Xiao Qing and said coldly, "Xiao Qing, what do you say? This boy attacked you just now. If you want to teach him a lesson, just say the word. I won't let him off easy."

The young woman glanced at Yang Kai and said softly, "Although this gentleman struck at me just now, he didn't harm me in the slightest. He merely restricted my freedom a little. I wasn't injured at all. This matter is entirely at Manager Lian's discretion."

"Good!" The middle-aged beauty nodded with satisfaction. After a moment's consideration, she looked at Yang Kai and said, "Very well. The previous deal still stands, but the terms will need to be modified."

"Modified?" Yang Kai raised an eyebrow.

"That's right. I won't ask you to pay any more—lest you say I'm abusing my position. Since you want to take Yue'er away so badly, you must truly value her, and I'm not about to break up a pair of lovebirds. Why not let you have your happy ending? However, those items you pledged here earlier will serve as the deal's price. You won't need to redeem them—consider it your punishment. After this transaction, Yue'er will have no further ties to the Harmony Tower, and we won't come after you to settle accounts later!" The beauty gazed at Yang Kai with a radiant smile. Clearly, the two bottles of Void Grade pills he had "pledged" earlier had quite tempted her.

"Well..." Yang Kai put on a look of extreme reluctance, perfectly timed.

"What? You still don't agree?" The beauty's face turned cold. "If that's the case, then the deal is off. Leave Yue'er here, and we'll have a proper discussion about your disrespect toward our establishment."

Yang Kai's face twitched, and he forced a smile. "Senior is joking. This junior is very satisfied with the proposal—how would I dare disagree? Very well, everything will be as the senior says. However, before that, this junior has one more request!"

Seeing that Yang Kai truly agreed, a flash of delight passed through the depths of the beauty's eyes. But she kept her stern expression and said, "Boy, don't push your luck."