116: Chapter 116 My buddy is as fierce as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle without its shell.

Tu Ziguan forced himself to endure it, squatting in the corner and drawing talismans on the brick dust with a carving knife, biting down so hard his cheeks grew sore.

Over the past few days, he had received no shortage of side-eyes and sarcastic remarks, making him so angry that he barely ate his sesame seed cakes.

The real conflict was the venue allocation itself.

On the north side of the square, there was a large tract of open space cordoned off by warning tape. No exhibition boards had been set up, and no materials were piled there; it was just left empty like that, with an area that could at least match two Qingyun Sect exhibition zones combined.

Mo Tang walked back and forth across the square a few times, confirming that the open space did not belong to any known exhibition area allocation. She went straight to find the Chiwu Sect Outer Sect Disciple responsible for venue arrangements—a Fourth Realm Cultivator surnamed Tang.

She asked if a portion of the Qingyun Sect exhibition zone could be moved over there if that open space was temporarily unused. They did not demand extra area, only normal treatment.

That Deacon was stunned for a moment, then waved his hand dismissively.

"That open space is reserved."

It seemed he was ready to find an excuse to brush this young girl off and be done with it.

Unfortunately, Mo Tang's emotional intelligence did not allow her to be brushed off just like that, especially since this young lady of the Mo family was currently furious.

"What backup? There are so many fewer Loose Cultivators this year than in previous years; is there any need for a backup?"

The Deacon began to speak in a barbed and sarcastic manner.

"Backup is backup, where do you get so many questions? This year our Sect is hosting, so naturally, the preparations are comprehensive! It is already a blessing that your Qingyun Sect is not ostracized this year, and it is good enough to have a spot. Why bother asking for a larger venue?"

At the end, he added another sentence.

"Your esteemed Sect has far too many matters this year. To avoid implicating others, it is best to keep a low profile."

She could be cursed, and the rune Puppet she made could be cursed, but cursing her Qingyun Sect?

That she truly could not endure.

Mo Tang pressed forward by a full two steps, raised her hand to point at the open space, and asked that Deacon who on earth said it wasn't allowed to be used.

Watching the surrounding Loose Cultivators and other Sect Disciples gathering more and more, and being watched by everyone, the Deacon's expression was already not looking too good.

Tu Ziguan also stood beside Mo Tang.

Deacon Tang, forced to face the gaze of more people, said to the two impatiently that this year the Chiwu Sect simply couldn't give the Qingyun Sect too much space. The other Sects were watching the matters of Ranhuo City, and if they weren't satisfied with this arrangement, they could leave on their own.

After finishing, he muttered in a low voice.

"You two juniors shouldn't push your luck. Xie Feng has already been listed as a high-risk Cultivator who can't even wipe his own butt; why are you still worrying about others?"

The surroundings fell quiet for a split second.

Qiao Song grabbed Tu Ziguan's wrist from the side.

This Artifact Hall Senior Brother looked at Deacon Tang with a normal expression, his tone as calm as ever: "Deacon Tang, if there is an Alliance document for the Qingyun Sect's venue allocation this time, we will naturally abide by it. If not, your esteemed Sect unilaterally reduced the exhibition area and then pointed to the open space and said it was a backup?

Is it really a backup, or did you put up a fence in advance?

If there are any guest-welcoming items hidden in this open space, you might as well state them clearly together. The Sects of Qingzhou Prefecture are branches of the same tree, why must you speak so distantly."

Deacon Tang's face twitched, and just as he was about to bring out that set of rhetoric from before, Qiao Song had already cupped his fists and withdrew his stance.

"Since that is the case, the Qingyun Sect will take its leave."

Since others looked down on them, the Qingyun Sect had no hobby of pressing a hot face against someone else's cold buttocks.

Tu Ziguan carried his maxim machine gun, his expression extremely ugly.

"When the shellless ninja turtle comes back, I'll let you bastards see what 'explosion is art' really means."

The few of them had already turned around, preparing to leave the square.

Deacon Tang's voice chased from behind, unhurried, as if he suddenly remembered a small matter he forgot to mention.

"Cultivator Qiao, hold on. Since your esteemed Sect is voluntarily withdrawing from this year's joint admissions, according to the old precedents set by the Alliance, even if the venue wasn't used, the stall fee and the breach-of-contract Spirit Stone still need to be paid as usual. The fee is the same as the stalls of the same size from previous years, totaling four hundred Spirit Stones. Your esteemed Sect is a major Sect, you shouldn't be unable to scrape together this little bit of Spirit Stone, right?"

He emphasized the three words "major Sect" heavily.

Qiao Song stopped his steps and turned around.

"Deacon Tang, the Qingyun Sect didn't even use the exhibition zone this year. Your esteemed Sect unilaterally reduced the venue first, and now you want us to pay the full stall fee. Under what category does your esteemed Sect plan to record this stall fee?"

"The venue was left for you, and you didn't use it yourselves. Who can you blame?"

Deacon Tang stood with his arms crossed in front of the cordoned-off open space on the north side of the square.

"It's also good to let you all know, it's not that my Chiwu Sect is making things difficult for the Qingyun Sect. Your Xie Feng was protected by Lord Zuo at the Qingzhou Prefecture Yamen, but can Lord Zuo protect him for one, can he protect your Qingyun Sect for a lifetime? I advise you few to be a bit more sensible."

The laughter of a few surrounding Loose Cultivators trickled over, not loud, but extremely clear.

The stout fellow carrying an iron sword leaned against the edge of the passageway, laughing right out loud when he heard the words "stall fee".

Qiao Song pressed down on Tu Ziguan's wrist, his strength three parts greater than before, turning his head to say in an extremely low voice:

"The Sect Master just finished wrangling, and afterwards there will be the Qingzhou Sect assembly. We cannot add burdens to his old self."

Tu Ziguan unloaded the maxim gun mount from his shoulder and propped it against the brick-dust ground.

Deacon Tang watched the Qingyun Sect people show no intention of taking out Spirit Stones, let out a smirk, and waved his hand.

The spiritual power fluctuations of a Fourth Realm Cultivator spread clearly from the center of the square. Six Cultivators wearing the regular attire of Chiwu Sect Outer Sect Disciples walked over from both sides of the square, all with cultivations around the Third Realm.

Seeing this, several onlookers among the Loose Cultivators immediately retreated several steps. Laughing aside, when it came to actually fighting, no one wanted to be dragged into a Sect conflict.

"Cultivator Qiao, I'll say it one last time." Deacon Tang paced forward a step, "Four hundred Spirit Stones, not a single coin less. If you don't pay, you few might not be able to leave today."

Tu Ziguan abruptly tore off the oilcloth of the maxim, and the dark bronze barrel refracted a chilling metallic luster at the edge of the square.

Mo Tang's wooden box thumped heavily onto the ground. The lid sprang open, and the rune circuits of the Puppet core began to light up layer by layer.

Qiao Song released Tu Ziguan's wrist and pushed his sleeves up, revealing several old burn scars on his lower arm left from Ranhuo City.

"I'll tell your esteemed Sect one last time, the Qingyun Sect does not owe your esteemed Sect Spirit Stones. If your esteemed Sect insists on forcibly collecting them, you might as well have the Alliance send a deacon over to confront us face-to-face. As for fighting right here?

This Qiao will accompany you to the end."

Deacon Tang looked unhappily at Qiao Song and pointed at Tu Ziguan.

"You're the one who was rude to my Revered Master when you first arrived, right? As long as you, this unbred little Cultivator, apologize, it's not like I can't consider giving you a discount."

Qiao Song was originally full of angry expression, but upon hearing these words, his expression changed, and he suddenly began to speak in a flustered manner.

"Calm down, let's talk things over nicely, you mustn't be rash, this isn't something that can be solved by rushing, we can discuss it step by step! You must stay calm!"

With a click, Mo Tang put the Puppet away and put on a most harmless expression.

"Right! Don't be like this, calm down, things aren't what you think, we can explain, this is a little joke, that's right, this is just a little joke between the two Sects!"

Deacon Tang chuckled, and then used a posture he felt was very handsome to draw his sword and point at Tu Ziguan.

"Now you know that our Chiwu Sect is not someone to be trifled with either? Hurry up and pay the money cleanly! Apologize to our Elder Feng!"

Then he suddenly realized as if... Qiao Song and the others... as if, roughly, perhaps?

Weren't talking to him?

Abruptly, an aura of the Fourth Realm, yet not quite like it, came over from behind Deacon Tang.

Cold and damp, scorching and irritable yet lazy and viscous, a weird and frantic aura continuously surged out from behind him, and a pool of black slurry slowly submerged Deacon Tang's cloth shoes.

Deacon Tang felt terrified for no reason. He didn't know what was behind him, but he always felt that his spirit was being distorted by something.

His stomach began to produce a sense of nausea, just like a towel being wrung out of water.

His head began to ache, auditory hallucinations appeared in his ears, and the colors in front of his eyes gradually melted.

Until a hand rested on the back of his neck, he could even feel that in the center of the palm seemed to be a tongue writhing, licking his skin.

Accompanied by the sound of some kind of insect carapace rubbing, it slowly reached his ear:

"Who the f***ing hell are you telling to apologize?"

Deacon Tang turned his head with difficulty.

Right meeting that black veil.

Beneath the veil, three split red eyeballs leaking bloodshot veins protruded from their sockets, desperately squeezing into his pupils.

So, when a legendary investigator—who worried that his good buddy would be backstabbed by Nyarlathotep in the Sect—arrived at the Sect, discovered that his brother had taken a mission and gone out, and thus, even more worried, rushed anxiously to the mission site.

Ain't that a coincidence?

He didn't hear the front, and he didn't hear the back.

He only heard a single sentence.

"This unbred little Cultivator."

Very well then.

Now.

Our legendary self-detonating king—Xie Feng, has arrived at the scene.