"Did I say that?" Pei Buwan turned his head around with a completely blank expression.
"No!" everyone around shouted in unison.
Pei Buwan looked at Yang Kai, clasped his hands behind his back, and chuckled. "See? They all say I didn't. I definitely never said anything like that."
Yang Kai's face twitched as he stared at the man in disbelief. "Shopkeeper Pei, are you serious?" The guy was actually playing dumb! He'd never encountered anyone quite like this. The man was a Fourth-Order Open Heaven cultivator, for crying out loud, and the shopkeeper of an establishment to boot. Merchants were supposed to value integrity above all else — with this kind of behavior, it was a miracle the business hadn't gone under. If it ever went bankrupt, Yang Kai would eat his hat.
Sure enough, the guy was a complete scoundrel, just as Luo Haiyi had said.
Pei Buwan just kept chuckling, offering no reply.
"Consider me schooled!" Yang Kai cupped his fists, turned, and walked away. He'd been played for a fool, and the indignation burned fiercely inside him, but this was the man's turf and the gap in their strength was enormous. There was nothing Yang Kai could actually do about it. He silently vowed to drag the Proprietress over here and have her teach this fellow a lesson.
Behind him, Pei Buwan watched him go, stroking the stubble on his chin. "Kid, fight one more match for me, and I'll hand over that ten million without fail."
Yang Kai didn't slow his pace. Once trust was broken, it was nearly impossible to mend. Having been burned once, there was no way he'd fall for the same trick twice.
"I'll personally supplement it with five hundred thousand Open Heaven Pills of my own!"
Yang Kai let it pass over his ears like a breeze.
"One million!" Pei Buwan gritted his teeth. Seeing Yang Kai about to step out of the inner courtyard, he bellowed, "I swear upon my own Dao Seal!"
Yang Kai had one foot already out of the inner courtyard. The moment those words reached him, his body froze in place as though someone had cast a binding technique on him.
A good while passed before he slowly turned around and walked back.
Pei Buwan grinned broadly, watching Yang Kai settle into a seat off to the side. He followed suit, leaning in close. "Kid, fight a match — eleven million Open Heaven Pills, paid on the spot!"
"Swear first." Yang Kai cradled his teacup without even looking up, his gaze cool and detached.
Pei Buwan said, "Swearing is easy enough, but I have one more condition. You have to win. If you lose, not only will there be no Open Heaven Pills, I won't let you off lightly either."
Yang Kai glanced sideways at him and caught the fierce glint in his eyes — this was no joke. He frowned. "You can't be asking me to fight someone in the Open Heaven Realm, can you?"
Pei Buwan said, "Relax. Your opponent isn't in the Open Heaven Realm. They haven't even reached half-step Open Heaven. The gap between your strengths is minimal."
"Then swear," Yang Kai nodded.
As long as the opponent wasn't in the Open Heaven Realm, there was nothing Yang Kai needed to fear — let alone someone who hadn't even reached half-step Open Heaven.
"Confident like that?" Pei Buwan was genuinely surprised. He'd been racking his brains trying to convince Yang Kai to take the fight, and now that Yang Kai was acting this way, he felt unexpectedly uneasy.
"If you trust me, then swear. If you don't, I'm leaving right now." Yang Kai took a sip of tea, set down his cup, and rose to his feet.
Pei Buwan's brow furrowed deeply, his expression hesitant. But after only a moment, he shot upright and swore solemnly, "I, Pei Buwan, swear upon my own Dao Seal that as long as—what was your name again?" That last part was directed at Yang Kai. When Yang Kai had introduced himself earlier, he probably hadn't been listening.
Yang Kai told him again.
Pei Buwan continued, "As long as Yang Kai wins one more fight, I will deliver eleven million Open Heaven Pills in full. Should I go back on my word, let my path be severed and my Great Dao collapse!"
From the side, Yang Kai remarked in an unhurried tone, "Include my opponent's cultivation realm!"
Pei Buwan bared his teeth, then swore again with Yang Kai's requirement attached. Only then did he lower his head to look at Yang Kai. "That should be enough, right? Pushing it any further would be too much, kid!"
Yang Kai nodded. "That works."
The man had sworn upon his own Dao Seal, which carried genuine weight. Nobody dared trifle with a Dao Seal oath. If he truly went back on it, it would leave a flaw in his heart, and then his path really could end and his Great Dao collapse. Yang Kai was genuinely curious — why exactly did this fellow want him to fight someone? What was in it for him? If there was no benefit, why offer eleven million Open Heaven Pills?
But he couldn't be bothered to figure out how a man like this thought. He rose to his feet. "Where's my opponent? Call them out." The sooner he finished, the sooner he could collect and leave.
Pei Buwan gave a sly chuckle. "Your opponent isn't here. Tell you what — rest here tonight and conserve your energy. Tomorrow, tomorrow I'll take you over there to stir up a proper storm!"
Yang Kai's brow furrowed slightly. He was starting to think he'd underestimated how complicated this was. The way Pei Buwan was talking, it sounded like they were going somewhere to crash a party...
Had he walked into a trap? A sudden sense of unease crept over Yang Kai. But there was nothing he could do — the deal was already struck, and eleven million Open Heaven Pills was far too tempting a sum to back out now.