Some people whispered, some were silent and others just baffled. The VIP booth that Feng Maling was in was above ground and people couldn't really see her well. The people that couldn't see craned their necks, wondering if there was another beauty in there that this Dark Palm Sect master was aiming for. Though, the moment they saw who was standing next to the Feng Matriarch they went slackjawed.
"Is that a human-sized raisin?"
"My god... why would he want that old crow..."
"That wrinkled up potato is the 'lovely lady' ?"
The people in the audience whispered among each other, holding their hands over their mouths while trying not to stand out. This development was far too shocking for the commoners, not knowing how they should react. This also prompted them to gossip and murmur with each other.
Luckily Yang Kai was far too focused on the person that he wanted to take home, the granny in question far too taken aback to react. She looked at the baffled people around her, Zhang Jin was just scratching his head while Huo Qiang and his retainer were sweating in the back not sure what to do about this situation.
"The young lord must be joking..."
Feng Maling spoke out, not sure if she should feel flattered that a handsome young man like that was interested in her or is she should feel disgusted. The man might look like a nice catch on the outside, but she knew well that he was rotten on the inside. There were warning signals firing off in her mind, there must have been a deeper reason why he wanted her and not the younger Feng Matriarch instead.
"Young lord, you shouldn't be making fun of old ladies like me."
She tried laughing the whole thing off, attributing it to being a badly timed joke.
"You shouldn't be acting so bashful, don't worry this young lord can see your true inner beauty~."
Yang Kai's eyes were sparkling as if he saw some kind of divine being. The people next to the old lady that were from the triforce alliance noticed this and visually cringed. It as if the man was looking at some once in a lifetime beauty, he became more animated his expression become less stern and he was even slightly blushing.
'Is this guy serious, what kind of situation is this?'
Zhang Jin was to the side looking at the whole thing. He knew his way around the ladies, but he still couldn't see what the man was seeing.
'Maybe if she was two hundred years younger...'
The old granny was quite the looked back in the day, he still remembered those good old days. Though have barely survived the aftermath of his fooling around.
'But wait... this might be a good thing...'
Zhang Jin rubbed his chin and nodded, then he sent his voice next to the Feng elder ear so that others couldn't hear them.
"Hey, you old bat, why don't you agree to his offer?"
Feng Maling just twitched and moved her gaze to the side to the old fox that was sitting slightly to the side.
"What do you mean you old fart?"
She replied to him while using the same technique.
"Think about it, the young lass will be saved and your Matriarch won't be taken either."
The old man started talking, from his perspective the whole situation was already too dire. If they made any mistakes everyone in here along with their clans could end up dead or enslaved.
"He isn't so bad looking and below the age of a hundred. He is quite a good catch for you!"
Feng Maling trembled even more and tried not to show any facial expressions while the two talked. While this was happening Yang Kai was throwing praises and sweet words towards her, so it was quite hard to concentrate. Zhang Jin, on the other hand, was running his mouth like he was trying to sell her off. This made it look like he was some father trying to convince his daughter to an arranged marriage.
"See... it's the best choice in the situation... maybe he will give you a good rejuvenation pill... you'll just pop him out a couple of kids and it will all be fine in the end!"
"You'll be laughing about it in a couple of years, think about how the clan will prosper... it's a small price to pay!"
The old woman wanted to vomit. Why was an old granny like her getting sold off to a powerful sect master as a bride now, this just didn't make any sense. Still, if she thought about it, this was the lesser of two evils. This would be better for the Feng clan and her granddaughters, the younger one was still on that battle stage.
Deng Cai had moved away from his target at the moment, waiting for his master to be done with the arrangements. He was still mad about the wound, but if his master ordered him, he would let the girl go. Zhang Liu was still standing on the side while glaring daggers at the Dark Palm youth. Zhang Jin, on the other hand, was trying to prevent the fight at all costs. He didn't want his grandson to face that youth, not due to fear of him losing but more of the fear of him actually winning.
'That Yang Kai's word isn't worth shit, if Liu trashes that brat of his I'm sure he will intervene...'
Is what he thought to himself. If push came to shove he would protect his family to the bitter end, he was still on the fence about alerting his youthful Patriarch that was still back at Spirit Spring City. He was sure that Zhang Dong would quickly rush here with all his might if he sent him a message with a communication jade.
He knew that his grandson would act rashly, fighting would be unavoidable. Offering up Feng Maling might be cruel, but it was the better option. Everything could be resolved and everyone here could still go home to their loved ones. He was also sure that the old lady was thinking along these lines as well.
"And that is why fairy Maling should..."
Yang Kai was still at it, but his face suddenly contorted. He was a master at a certain level and he could tell that the old woman that he was talking to was very absent-minded. At first, he thought that she was just being shy and overwhelmed with his forward approach. Who wouldn't be bashful if such a young lord as him showed him so much affection?
But then he noticed another suspicious elder sitting in the VIP booth. The old man had gray hair and he had a large scar ruing through his face. It looked like someone tried slicing his face with a sword, but just managed to get part of his eyebrow along with his cheek while missing the eye by a millimeter as it was still there.
Kai could tell that the man was quite intimate with the woman he was going for. The two were apparently exchanging information with each other. You could feel the faint spiritual fluctuations that they were using to communicate if you concentrated hard enough. His heart rate increased and he clenched his jaw tightly while slamming his fist down on the edge of his VIP booth.
"You! what is your relationship with Fairy Maling! Tell me this instant!"
The people's faces contorted in a strange way as soon as they heard the man attributed the word 'fairy' to the old burned potato looking grandma.
"Y-you see..."
Zhang Jin jumped back slightly, he could feel the man's overbearing aura moving his way as if he was trying to make him back off.
"I am just a humble cultivator from the Zhang Clan..."
He had to at least introduce himself to the man, he probably was thinking it was rude that the two were talking with each other while he was doing his monologue. The old man decided to remove himself from the equation, just bowing his head down hoping that Yang Kai would just attribute it to his old age.
"You two clearly know each other..."
The man squinted with his eyes. The person named Zhang Jin was close to the age of the person he was trying to pull to his side. They were also clearly very familiar with each other and were even in the same VIP booth, there had to be a reason for it. What if this old man was also someone striving for the affections of this lovely old lady. He must have also noticed the peculiar qualities that this Feng Maling possessed and he wanted to snatch them for himself.
'Hah, I'm on to you old man... that woman will be mine...Zhang, Hm?'
The man looked at the youth that declared that he would fight to save that Feng junior. He could just take the old woman and that would be it, but that would be too easy.
"Hm, well I think we had talked for far too long. That youth was willing to face my disciple, so let the battle start."
Yang Kai smirked, he would show that old fart his place by letting his disciple massacre that junior of his. He was on the winning end in every situation, his disciple losing to some backwater cultivator wasn't possible. Deng Cai just stepped away from Feng Nuana, the girl slowly limping away while trying to get as much distance from her enemy as possible.
"My lord, please wait...we don't have to..."
Zhang Jin's stomach churned and his palms got sweaty as things were moving in a direction that he wanted to avoid. He could see that Dark Palm Disciple moving away, the energy shield that covered the ring got removed as well. Zhang Liu didn't care much for what those elders were talking about, he just didn't want the girl to get beaten and bruised any more than this.
"That's enough from you, sit down!"
Yang Kai held his palm out and looked at Zhang Jin in a stern fashion. His stare got quite intense which forced this elder to shut up and follow the order. This wasn't over though, many other core formation experts started gathering around the colosseum and even close to the VIP booth that the triforce alliance was in.
These were the various bodyguards that the Dark Palm Sect master possessed. They were mostly in the late stage of core formation and there were ten of them. They had gathered there to keep everyone in check, their young lord didn't want any of those people to flee. The atmosphere in the area got quite stuffy, but suddenly the familiar voice of the peppy announcer boomed out to lower the tension.
"What a twist! Our young Lord Cai has a new opponent and it's Zhang Liu, let us give a round of applause for our contenders!"
The people could only sneer to themselves while clapping, knowing well that the poor Zhang junior would be trashed by this Dark Palm junior. While this was happening Feng Nuana was limping off stage, Zhang Liu was next to her and the two were passing each other. The short girl looked at the boy with mixed feelings.
"P-please be careful..."
She sounded meeker than before, her eyes were darting around as she wasn't sure what to look at. Then the youth did something strange, he held his hand out to the side his palm open. He then glanced at the girl and waited.
"W-what?"
She wasn't sure what to do but the youth just waited while indicating that she was supposed to do something. The girl then thought back to the ancient texts, there was something in there like this, but how did this youth know about it. It took her a bit to react but she gently tapped her palm against Liu's, the youth then finally moved on while saying.
"Tag in!"