"I say no," I replied, and then left Huang Hong Lin behind.
"What the fuck!?" Huang Hong Lin spluttered, unable to believe her ears. "You can't be serious! I have a lot to offer! With your skills and my wealth, we'll be able to prevail in the Spirit War!"
"I am serious," I replied wearily. "I'm not interested in the Spirit War at all. I have no intention of ascending to the Spirit Realm."
"You mean you just want to survive?" Huang Hong Lin sulked in disbelief. "What a waste of your skills! With your abilities, you have the potential to win this Spirit War!"
"You place an awful lot of faith in me," I observed skeptically. "Even though you have no reason to believe in me."
"You must be kidding! I just experienced your strength firsthand! Also, you're from the prestigious Zhao family! The family known for producing one of the best summoners!"
"Really?" I snorted. "You haven't heard of how much of a failure this generation was?"
With what happened to my brother, and how my cousins were completely crushed in the opening stages of this war, I was surprised that the Zhao family still somehow managed to preserve their reputation. No doubt they were hinging everything on trying to force me to return to the Zhao family, but I refused. No matter what, I was never going back there.
The moment they betrayed my trust, all bonds between us had been broken beyond repair.
"I've heard about your brother and your cousins," Huang Hong Lin admitted. She lowered her head. "I don't man to be rude, but to be frank, among the circle of elites, the Zhao family has become a joke recently."
"They deserve it." I couldn't help but chuckle. Perhaps I was being childish and petty, but I enjoyed the feeling of vindication.
"Rumors say that they will restore their name with you back at the helm, though."
"Those rumors are false," I sneered. "I'm no longer from the Zhao family. Never have been a member ever since they exiled me. They burned all their bridges when they not only kicked me out, but also even tried to kill me."
"Can't say I blame you." Huang Hong Lin scratched her head and ran a hand through her long hair, smoothing out the strands. "Everyone is laughing at the Zhao family now, saying that the matriarch has gone senile. In order to preserve the status of heir for the firstborn son, they kicked out their more talented second son and even tried to assassinate him. And now when their firstborn son has been crippled, and then even killed in combat for foolishly provoking the imperial family and causing the cancellation of the engagement with the imperial family's daughter, they wish to get their second son that they banished and tried to kill back. Sounds like something right out of a trashy cultivation or son-in-law story."
"All I need to do is change my name to Han San Qian and it'll be a copy of a certain son-in-law story."
"Han San Qian?" Huang Hong Lin repeated with a frown. "Who?"
"Never mind," I muttered under my breath. "Anyway, if you don't bother me, I won't bother you."
"No, wait! Please reconsider! It's better to forge an alliance!" Huang Hong Lin pleaded. "Even if you don't want to get involved, the other summoners will still attack you! You can't stay out of this war forever!"
"If they are foolish enough to attack me, then I will destroy them."
I couldn't help but smirk as I pushed my glasses up my nose and turned away.
"Please!" Huang Hong Lin dove at me, trying to grab my arm, but before she could reach me, she suddenly jumped a few paces back. Wind currents rippled between us, the air becoming as sharp as knives. The first daughter of the Huang family winced, stumbling back.
"Who gave you permission to touch my husband?"
Mu Rong Shu had shown up at some point in time, and she was determinedly placing herself between us, her arms raised in a combative stance.
"Ah, sorry!" Huang Hong Lin bowed frantically. "That wasn't what I was trying to do! I just want him to agree to an alliance! And sister, if you can help out too, that would be great."
"Huh? Me? Help out?" Mu Rong Shu lowered her hands, looking confused. "What do I have to do with this?"
"I know you're fighting by your husband's side. I need all the help I can get!"
Huang Hong Lin lowered her head humbly. Mu Rong Shu and I exchanged glances, but before I could shake my head, my wife took pity on her.
"What do you mean?"
"She's another summoner," I explained. "She's Huang Hong Lin, and she can summon Gan Jiang and Mo Ye."
"What? The Huang family? Why would the daughter of the Huang family summon…?"
"Ahem," Huang Hong Lin cleared her throat. "It's sort of a long story."
"You have somewhere to go?" Mu Rong Shu asked coldly. Huang Hong Lin looked uncomfortable, so Mu Rong Shu prodded her further. "You're the one asking us for an alliance. Isn't it insincere if you hide things from us?"
"Ugh…" Huang Hong Lin was unable to refute that logic. She kept her head lowered, but she took a deep breath and offered an explanation. "As you know, my brother, Huang Fei Hong, is the heir to the Huang family. So my family invested a lot of resources into nurturing him. He's one of the most powerful cultivators in our generation."
I nodded thoughtfully. I had indeed heard of Huang Fei Hong. They said he was the second coming of Huang Fei Hong…um, the guy played by Jet Li in several 1980s and 1990s Hong Kong movies. I mean the legendary Qin dynasty martial artist who was famous for his Hung Ga and No Shadow Kick.
"So the only way for me to compete against him…to gain recognition in the Huang family was to carve out my own path in cultivation." Huang Hong Lin looked sheepish. "To be honest, my parents don't have many expectations for me, but they do spoil me quite a bit. They gave me a lot of money. So I invested their money into learning summoning techniques, in order to not lose against my brother."
"You want to take his position as heir of the Huang family?" I asked, already getting a headache. What was with this big family and politics? I had to survive against my brother who schemed against me because he was afraid that I would usurp him, even though I had no intention of competing against him for the position of heir at all. Fortunately, Huang Hong Lin laughed at that.
"Of course not! My ambitions lie higher than that." She smiled coldly. "I want to enter the Spirit Realm. The moment I ascend to the Spirit Realm, what Huang family, they will become nothing to me."
Then she sobered up and looked at me, gathering her resolve.
"That's why I need your help. If you cooperate with me, then my chances of winning would be higher. My brother has agreed to help me as well, and I know you heard of his reputation."
"So where is your brother?" I asked, looking around warily and half-expecting Huang Fei Hong to show up. That wasn't possible. I didn't sense his presence at all.
"Uh, he's busy with something else. Besides, I never intended to kill you. I was simply testing your skills."
Well, that was true. Even though I mentioned earlier that she attacked me with the intent to kill, I meant that figuratively. I didn't detect any killing intent from her at all. In a way, she reminded me of Mu Rong Shu.
Except…it was kind of funny that she ended up depending on her parents' wealth and brother's strength to achieve her goal. So much for not wanting to lose to him. Mu Rong Shu caught that as well and raised her eyebrow in puzzlement.
"So your brother is willing to help you compete against him?"
"What can I say? My brother pampers me as much as my parents." Huang Hong Lin looked embarrassed. "Besides, he's more than happy to help me achieve ascension to the Spirit Realm. Such a thing can only raise the power and influence of the Huang family. And it's not as if I intend to take his position as heir. Both of us intend to work together to raise the Huang family to greater heights than ever."
Watching her joy when she spoke about her brother, I could only envy their sibling relationship. Unlike them, I had to avoid getting murdered by my own brother, having been targeted by subterfuge and assassination attempts my whole life, getting oppressed because he and grandma viewed me as a deadly rival to his position.
"And you can share the benefits too!" Huang Hong Lin tried to appeal to me. "Summoners who can get into the Spirit Realm will gain access to incredible resources! We will achieve levels unimaginable to most cultivators! We will stand at the very pinnacle of cultivation!"
"I'm not really interested in all that," I grumbled.
"But wouldn't it allow you to take your place back from the Zhao family?" Huang Hong Lin stared at me in disbelief. "You'll be able to regain your status in the Zhao family and succeed as their head!"
"Not interested. I've cut off all ties with the Zhao family and I'm never going back there. They can fall to ruin, for all I care. Their life and death no longer has anything to do with me."
"He married into the Mu Rong family," Mu Rong Shu added, holding my arm. "He has a home here with me."
"Ugh! Stop rubbing your public display of affection in my face! You're making me jealous!" Apparently Huang Hong Lin was single. She shook her head and tried another tack. "How about I pay you? I'll hire you as mercenaries. Bodyguards! And I'll give you some of the cultivation resources too! I know you're not interested, but…it won't hurt to share. I know you work as a tomb explorer now, retrieving relics and treasures. You can think of this as a long term job. A contract."
"Well…" I turned to Mu Rong Shu, who shrugged.
"It's up to you," she said. "I'll support whichever decision you make."
"Thanks, I appreciate it, but I would like to know what you think. Your personal opinion on this, regardless of what I decide."
"Hmm…" Mu Rong Shu thought about it. She shrugged. "I honestly don't see a reason why you wouldn't take this job. It sounds pretty lucrative. And this is the Huang family we're talking about here. I'm sure the young madam will offer us a generous sum as remuneration."
"You bet I will!" Huang Hong Lin latched onto that small hope. She dove forward and grassed Mu Rong Shu's hands. "Please, sister! Please convince your husband to accept the job! I'll pay the both of you several dozen million yuan! A hundred million yuan, if you really think that's not enough!"
Wow. That was indeed an enormous sum. It certainly was equivalent to the profits that Mu Rong Shu and I would make from going to over ten tomb explorations and getting treasures from them. But for the Huang family, who was worth many billions, such a sum was but pocket change.
"What do you think, dear?" Mu Rong Shu looked at me helplessly. "I mean, regardless of whether you accept or not, I believe the other summoners will still be targeting you. Having an ally instead of one more enemy would be much better."
Not to mention, we would be making money off it. Even though Mu Rong Shu didn't say that, I knew my wife well enough to detect that unsaid current. I couldn't help but chuckle and nod.
"All right," I said, stretching a hand out to shake Huang Hong Lin, who accepted it eagerly. "We'll take the job."
"Great! I'll send the contract to you by tomorrow morning, at the latest!" Huang Hong Lin pumped my hand up and down excitedly. "You won't regret this! I guarantee it!"
"Yeah…" I pulled my hand back, taken aback by her enthusiasm and feeling embarrassed by her glowing admiration. I glanced at my wife, who nodded approvingly, then turned back to Huang Hong Lin with a smile. "We look forward to working with you."