116: Chapter 117 Empty Name

Young Master Pei Tiange looked at the black-silver account tag, his gaze like two bottomless cold pools, wanting to drown that tiny seal within them.

He suddenly spoke, his voice unhurried yet carrying a chilling clarity that made one's spine go cold: "You have pushed Lu Jin's Half-Gate path into a route that the Merchant Alliance can acknowledge."

Young Master Su Jiuheng said: "It is admitting that it is already valuable."

Young Master Pei Tiange said: "Valuable things attract more eyes. You think hanging an account tag can protect the right of way? No, you will only attract more wolves."

"There were already plenty." Young Master Su Jiuheng's smile faded slightly, but the light in his eyes did not extinguish. "At least now, those who stare at it must first see the account. To see the account, they must follow the rules; following the rules is easier to defend against than hidden daggers."

Lu Jin reached out and pressed down on the Black Chip Seal. The Jiuheng private tag on the seal lit up, like a heart beating in the darkness. His black fire did not consume it, but only pressed it into the outer layer of the battle map, alongside the Half-Gate Fire Line, without merging.

"The guarantee is accepted." Lu Jin said.

Young Master Su Jiuheng let out a breath, that breath carrying a trace of relief and a trace of the fortune of having guessed correctly: "Refreshing."

Wu Fu said coldly from the side: "He has accepted it, and now you will start to feel the pain."

Young Master Su Jiuheng looked at her, putting on a terrified expression: "That is very ominous."

"But accurate." Wu Fu was expressionless.

"Then should I thank you?"

"No need. Convert it into Cold Ash and bring two more portions next time."

Qiao Ye finally laughed out loud. The edge of the fire platform, which had been tense for so long, loosened a little from these few words, like a bowstring finally relaxing from a fully drawn state to half-drawn.

Young Master Pei Tiange did not laugh. He looked at Young Master Su Jiuheng, his gaze carrying a penetrating scrutiny, as if wanting to peel open the skin of the merchant before him to see what kind of abacus beads were stuffed inside: "Are you betting on Lu Jin for the workshop's profit, or to avoid the Pei family?"

Young Master Su Jiuheng withdrew the afterglow at the edge of the Black Chip Seal's projection, his expression calm: "Both."

Young Master Pei Tiange said: "You are very honest."

"Being dishonest makes it easy to lose money." Young Master Su Jiuheng smiled, but the smile did not reach his eyes. "Being honest also leads to losses, but at least the loss is clear."

Young Master Pei Tiange looked at him for a moment, as if wanting to dismantle every word he said into numbers and recalculate them: "Young Master Su Jiuheng, you are now on this line too."

The smile at the corner of Young Master Su Jiuheng's mouth did not recede; instead, it deepened slightly: "I know."

"You can no longer sit in the spectator's seat."

"When I placed the bet, I did not put myself in the spectator's seat." Young Master Su Jiuheng met his gaze without backing down. "I am sitting at the gambling table, and I am betting on Lu Jin's side. If Young Lord Pei wants to move me to the opposite side, you must pay more."

Young Master Pei Tiange nodded slightly, the action carrying an unfathomable meaning: "Then I will count you in."

Young Master Su Jiuheng said: "Please calculate accurately, Young Lord Pei. I am not a person of great courage; if the accounts are miscalculated, I will run, and I run very fast."

Qiao Ye looked at him and couldn't help saying: "You aren't courageous? Placing a bet with a private book, you call that not courageous?"

"People with great courage do not look at accounts." Young Master Su Jiuheng said, his tone carrying a touch of self-mockery. "I look at them every day, to the point where I cannot sleep at night, and my hair falls out in handfuls. This is called caution, not courage."

Ning Yanqiu had not said much. She pressed the Cold Mirror Auxiliary Seal into her sleeve; the edge of Master Crow's feathers still carried cold ash, like an unhealed scar. Only now did she suddenly speak, her voice as cold as if it had been fished out of an ice cellar: "Where are the people Young Master Pei Tiange brought?"

Young Master Su Jiuheng looked at her, a flash of surprise flitting through his eyes, which then turned into appreciation: "Miss Ning's question hits the mark."

Pei Chengxu frowned, taking half a step forward, his voice carrying a trace of wariness: "Young Master Su Jiuheng, are you trying to check the Pei family's accompanying list?"

"How would I dare to check the Pei family's bottom line?" Young Master Su Jiuheng took a very thin silver-black account sheet from his sleeve. The sheet trembled slightly at his fingertips, like a leaf that could be blown away by the wind at any moment. "The Merchant Alliance handles the outer layer light material account, and incidentally checks who needs to lead the way, who needs to receive ash, and who needs to receive sealed protective gear. This is the rule, and it is also for the record. Young Lord Pei surely knows this."

He pushed the account sheet toward Lu Jin, his fingertips tapping lightly on the paper's surface: "After the Pei family's assistance application was submitted just now, the outer layer of the forward station had already reported the quota for accompanying light materials. Young Lord Pei, Pei Chengxu, two field-sealing hands, and one old-lock review deacon. A total of five people, names clear, duties understood."

Young Master Pei Tiange heard this, his expression unchanged, as if he had known all this from the beginning.

Young Master Su Jiuheng did not stop. His fingertips slid to the very bottom of the account sheet, stopping at a blank space: "There is also one more person who received protective gear."

Pei Chengxu's expression darkened slightly, his voice turning cold: "The Pei family's entourage has its own side accounts; whether there is one more person or one less, there is no need to report to the Merchant Alliance."

Young Master Su Jiuheng nodded, smiling amiably: "There is, which is why I said it is strange."

He raised his head, his gaze sweeping over Pei Chengxu and landing on Young Master Pei Tiange's face. That smile finally revealed a trace of chill: "This person is not in the Pei family's main account, nor in the side accounts. He received the Temple's outer layer general-purpose protective gear, but is registered under the Pei family's assistance team's tail number. In other words, he follows the Pei family's team, but does not spend the Pei family's money, nor is he recorded under the Pei family's name."

Wen Zhao looked up, the Line-Marking Nail spinning once in his palm: "Name."

Young Master Su Jiuheng lowered the account sheet, his voice so soft it was as if he were telling a ghost story: "What is written on the account is a blank name."

"Only a temporary fire line shadow."

Lu Jin took the account sheet. The sheet was very light, as light as a feather, yet it carried the warmth of having just passed the Merchant Alliance's seal, as if it still retained some unknown body temperature. The lines of names above were clear, the handwriting neat, but at the last line, the place for the name was empty, like an eye socket gouged of its eyeball, hollow enough to make one's heart palpitate.

Beside it was only a grey line shadow, so faint it was almost invisible.

That shadow did not resemble the common divine fire of the Human Race, nor did it resemble the aura of any known race; it was more like a thin insect thread stuck to the edge of the account sheet, faint and indistinct, yet carrying a hair-raising, sticky sensation.

Wen Zhao took one look, his expression changing immediately, his knuckles tightening on the Line-Marking Nail until they turned white: "This line should not be in the team list."

Young Master Pei Tiange also finally looked at the account sheet. His gaze landed on the blank name entry and paused for a breath. That breath was very short, but for someone like Young Master Pei Tiange, it was enough to make the surrounding air drop in temperature.

"Chengxu." Young Master Pei Tiange spoke, no emotion detectable in his voice.

Pei Chengxu lowered his head, his voice tense: "I will investigate."

Young Master Su Jiuheng stuffed a small guarantee seal into Lu Jin's hand, the face of the seal still hot, as if it had just been taken from his bosom. He lowered his voice, so low that only Lu Jin and Ning Yanqiu beside him could hear: "Keep this. Light material entry, repair account processing, Merchant Alliance guarantee—all recognize it."

Lu Jin looked at him, his gaze as deep as the night.

Young Master Su Jiuheng's voice was even lower, as if squeezed through his teeth, carrying an unprecedented gravity: "Also. Among the people Young Master Pei Tiange brought, there is one name not on the Pei family's account. That person... might not be human."

The wind by the fire platform suddenly stopped.

The Half-Gate Fire Line burned quietly on the second layer of the battle map, the light of Duan Jun's Living Registry Anchor flickering slightly, like an restless heart in the darkness.

And the blank name entry on that silver-black account sheet, like a silent eye, was coldly watching everyone.