Chapter 42: Willing to Die

Must admit, after Li Kuan pulled off this stunt, the representatives of the Four Surnames and Seven Clans, who had previously harbored intense resentment over his failure to show up, now viewed him in a completely different light.

What an ambitious warlord!

"In that case, please lead the way, sir." Lu Jing of the Fanyang Lu clan, who had remained silent throughout except for his initial self-introduction, had now discarded his previously enraged demeanor and adopted a gentle tone.

"Well then, everyone, we shall set off immediately... Ah, right," the figure in black suddenly pointed at Li Qingqing, the dainty maiden representing the Zhaojun Li clan, and said, "This young lady need not come."

"What do you mean?!" Li Qingqing, who was still marveling at the lavishness of the gift-giver, bristled instantly. "Why should a single word from you bar me from going?"

"Young lady," the voice of the man in black within the room remained entirely unruffled, "in doing this, I am actually looking out for your own good. After all, my young master does not possess a mild temper. Should the two of you come into conflict shortly, it would hardly be pleasant. Of course," the man in black seemed to cast a belated glance at the chest on the floor, "as for this token of greeting, please accept it, young lady, so your trip will not have been in vain."

With that, the man in black immediately strode out and walked straight down the stairs.

After his departure, the room fell into a temporary silence.

"Everyone, what are we waiting for? Shall we go?!" As the initiator of this venture, Wang Tong of the Taiyuan Wang clan naturally refused to miss this opportunity. After all, their top-tier aristocratic families had been demoted to the third tier by Emperor Li Er in the *Record of Clans* (with the imperial family at the first tier and the empress's family at the second). To them, this was an immense humiliation. Therefore, this concerned not only a grand scheme to amass wealth, but more importantly, the chance to seize the opportunity of the current locust plague to place a high-stakes gamble with infinite returns. Why not participate?

Thus, propelled by him, the two young masters of the Cui clan, the aforementioned Lu Jing, and Zheng Yuanlong of the Xingyang Zheng clan all silently followed Wang Tong out of the room.

"You people!" Li Qingqing bit her lip as she watched the representatives of the other five clans, who had completely ignored her throughout, walk out of the room. A sense of grievance steadily grew and spread within her heart.

Was this what they called sharing a common bond?

Hah...

Her previous provocation had originally been a probing test tacitly agreed upon by everyone.

And look at the outcome: upon witnessing the other party's immense extravagance, they not only immediately altered their attitude, but not a single person even bothered to put in a good word for her.

"Fine, very well!" Out of anger, the young maiden left behind saw the curves of her chest rise and fall rapidly. "I'd like to see just what you people can possibly gain from someone of such unknown origin!"

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Having arrived ahead of time at Eagle Beak Cliff, Li Kuan found a patch of green grass to sit down on cross-legged, staring blankly at the nearby cascading waterfall and losing himself in thought.

Although the incident with the Zhaojun Li clan earlier was merely an accident, Li Kuan felt it could be put to good use. After all, his upcoming plan would completely alter how these powerful aristocratic families viewed the imperial court from then on.

It was time for their arrogant heads to bow...

At high noon, five of the representatives from the Four Surnames and Seven Clans, excluding Li Qingqing, arrived at Eagle Beak Cliff.

"My young master is waiting to receive you all in the clearing ahead." After leading the group to Eagle Beak Cliff, the man in black stood at a distance and gestured for the other five to proceed forward.

Cui Mo, the young master of the Boling Cui clan, possessed sharp eyesight: "Judging by his figure... your young master seems to still be an immature youth?"

As his words fell, the other four said nothing aloud, but expressions of disdain naturally arose upon their faces.

"Everyone," the man in black remained neither humble nor arrogant, "please!"

For the sake of the gifts, Cui Mo and the others did not say anything further and silently proceeded to where Li Kuan was located.

Considering that his opportunities for "showing his face" in public were rather limited, Li Kuan had originally not intended to conceal his appearance when meeting these people from the Four Surnames and Seven Clans. However, thinking that this matter must be foolproof, Li Kuan had cautiously purchased a half-face fox mask from the marketplace before coming. Worn by a youth like him, it indeed looked somewhat peculiar.

"Gentlemen, I have long admired you." As Cui Mo and the others walked up to him, Li Kuan slowly stood up from the ground, dusted off the blades of grass clinging to his rear, and then very formally executed a bow toward the figures before him: "Shan Ling pays his respects to you all!"

"Surname Shan?" The first to speak was Lu Jing: "What relation are you to Shan Xiongxin?"

"Shan Tianchang is my eldest brother." Li Kuan did not give a direct answer to Lu Jing's question, fearing that if Li Er ever found out he was casually claiming fathers, his legs would be broken.

Therefore, he offered an answer heavy with implication.

Shan Tianchang was the eldest son of Shan Xiongxin and was still holding a mountain stronghold somewhere in Guanzhong.

"Why the concealment?" Before Lu Jing could continue, Cui Li, the young master of the Qinghai Cui clan, asked in a cold voice.

"My face was injured in my youth, and I am unwilling to display my scars to others." When Li Kuan replied, his tone was extremely cold. "If you gentlemen harbor doubts about me, then there is no need to discuss the matter further. Please return."

With that, Li Kuan stood up and walked toward the Shadow Assassin waiting in the distance. Since he was acting, he naturally had to commit to the full performance.

"Wait!" Sure enough, just as Li Kuan took a few steps away, Zheng Yuanlong of the Xingyang Zheng clan eagerly stepped in to smooth things over: "Young Master Shan, why go this far? We merely doubted your sincerity; we never said we wouldn't discuss that business deal with you..."

"Sincerity?" Li Kuan slowly halted his steps and turned his gaze to Zheng Yuanlong: "Does Your Excellency believe that the gifts sent earlier were insufficient to prove my sincerity?"

"Not at all," Wang Tong, who had been quietly observing Li Kuan, suddenly interjected. "What we mean is, how can Young Master Shan prove that you have the capability to pull off this transaction?"

"Capability?" Li Kuan looked thoughtfully at the crowd before him, then turned and made a theatrical gesture toward the man in black in the distance.

Shortly thereafter, five Shadow Assassins appeared on the mountain path leading up to Eagle Beak Cliff.

Following the appearance of these five men, Li Kuan turned to introduce them to the representatives of the Four Surnames and Seven Clans (weaving a complete fabrication): "When I was six years old, to escape disaster, I fled from the Central Plains to the Western Regions, and then went to Da Shi. There, relying on these retainers who followed me, I gradually grew and expanded..."

During his speech, the five Shadow Assassins had already arrived by Li Kuan's side.

"Now... you want me to show sincerity, or rather, demonstrate capability." Li Kuan looked at the increasingly impatient representatives of the Four Surnames and Seven Clans and suddenly said, "Then I have no other choice."

"This subordinate, Jing Sheng, willingly goes to his death for the grand cause of the young master!" As his words fell, another voice rang out. Immediately afterward, one of the Shadow Assassins surged forward from Li Kuan's side and, amidst the shocked gazes of the others, leaped off Eagle Beak Cliff!

"This is my sincerity—or rather, the capability I display—given to the Taiyuan Wang clan." After watching one person jump, Li Kuan looked at Wang Tong and spoke word by word.

"You... this..." Wang Tong clearly had never witnessed such a spectacle.

"Next is your Boling Cui clan." Li Kuan shifted his gaze to Cui Mo, who had been the first to voice doubts, and whose face was now deathly pale.

Following the exact same phrase of "willingly goes to his death," yet another figure leaped down from Eagle Beak Cliff.

"Ugh..." For some reason, Cui Mo, who had previously been brimming with arrogance, suddenly bolted to the side and began to retch.

"Next is the Qinghai Cui clan." Li Kuan immediately turned his gaze toward the trembling Cui Li...

In the end, five figures descended.

Among the representatives of the Four Surnames and Seven Clans present, excluding the two young men with poor psychological endurance, the remaining three elderly men, though shocked, all remained completely silent.

As aristocratic families with a heritage spanning thousands of years, they were not entirely unfamiliar with madmen who treated human lives as mere etiquette.

To look no further, just in recent years, the Nine Clans of Zhaowu in the Western Regions possessed such perverse customs.

Yet they could never have imagined that this young master before them possessed such terrifying strength.

For a retainer to enact etiquette was akin to an entire nation enacting it.

"Gentlemen, what do you think?" While uttering harsh threats, Li Kuan secretly recalled the Shadow Assassins who had plunged off the cliff and were still suspended mid-air back into his spatial domain.

He then turned to reveal a mocking, wild expression, gazing at the five pale-faced men before him: "I believe that this time, both my sincerity and my capability should be quite clear to you all..."