Chapter 2832 — A Shift in the Heavens

"Huh? So it was smuggling all along..." Liu Tianli's expression changed at once, and he felt his resolve waver. He no longer wished to be drawn into Boss Lang's affairs.

"Boss Liu, what we say today is just idle talk—you hear it and let it go; once we step out that door, none of it ever happened," Cui Mianshi said. "What our Boss Lang means is that you need only put up the money. You needn't trouble yourself with anything else, and you'll take your share of the profits just by sitting still! The contract we sign can be framed as a loan from our company to yours, repaid with interest. That way, whatever we do has nothing to do with you, Boss Liu, and you needn't fear a thing."

"That does make sense!" For some reason, once Liu Tianli heard Cui Mianshi's words, his heart settled at once. He nodded and said, "All right, then. This business can work. How much do I need to invest?"

"To start with, thirty to fifty million will be plenty. No need for more," Little Pureheart said. He meant to cast a long line to hook a big fish, so naturally he would not name too high a sum at the outset and frighten Liu Tianli away. Even with Cui Mianshi present, the scheme would still succeed, but then Wei Zhao might grow suspicious and wonder whether something was wrong with it—and it would no longer look like an ordinary commercial fraud.

"Oh, that's not so much!" Liu Tianli nodded and said, "Good. Then let's sign the contract right now, and I'll have my finance people wire you the funds."

"Straight to the point—I knew Boss Liu was a man of action," Little Pureheart said, then turned to Cui Mianshi. "Assistant Cui, bring out the contract and let Boss Liu have a look."

"Yes, Boss Lang." Cui Mianshi took the already prepared contract from his briefcase and handed it to Liu Tianli.

Liu Tianli might lack any pioneering spirit, but in business he was a careful and capable hand. He read the contract over closely, found nothing amiss, and signed his name. Then he instructed his secretary, Little Zhang, to set the financial procedures in motion.

"Boss Lang, about those cigarettes—might I have them now? This craving of mine... heh heh..." Liu Tianli truly could not hold out any longer.

"Haha, of course. Little Cui, give Boss Liu the cigarettes!" Little Pureheart hastily instructed Cui Mianshi.

"Right away. Here you are, Boss Liu." Cui Mianshi handed the cigarettes in his hand to Liu Tianli.

Liu Tianli took them and, without a moment's delay, tore open a pack, pulled out a cigarette, and began to puff away in great clouds of smoke...

The Mystic Pill Sect.

Little Taohong knocked cautiously on Tian Canbian's door. These past few days, Tian Canbian had seemed to be in poor spirits. Apart from the necessary pouring of tea and water, he would not let Little Taohong disturb him. He spent his days reading and studying the art of pill refinement, and paid no heed to anything else. Matters of the sect were almost all reported to the Mystic Pill Sect's master, Tianjixing; in the past, Tian Canbian had handled them on his behalf.

"Who is it? Come in!" Tian Canbian said.

"Young Sect Master, it's me, Little Taohong." Little Taohong pushed open the door and said, "Young Sect Master, there is a matter. The Ancestor Xuanzhen, who holds watch over the sect, instructed that you go to him. There is something he wishes to discuss."

"Oh? I'll go at once." Hearing that Ancestor Xuanzhen had summoned him, Tian Canbian immediately set down the book in his hand and strode out of the room toward the side courtyard where Ancestor Xuanzhen was staying.

Little Taohong patted her chest. For some reason, these past few days, when facing the Young Sect Master, she felt an indescribable pressure—as though the Young Sect Master had grown distant from her. And yet perhaps not, for he seemed lukewarm toward everyone.

"Guess who I am?" Just as Little Taohong was lost in thought, a pair of hands covered her eyes.

Little Taohong gave a start and hastily pushed the person's hands away. "Brother Kang, stop fooling around..."

"Haha, Little Taohong, you're really sharp—guessed it was me right away!" Kang Jingming turned with a grin and came around to face her. "What's the matter, Sister Taohong? You look like you're not in the best of moods?"

"Brother Kang, the Young Sect Master has seemed... off these past few days, and he's grown a little distant from me. Did I do something wrong?" Little Taohong's standing in the Mystic Pill Sect rested entirely on her being Tian Canbian's attendant. Without that identity, she would not even rank with an ordinary disciple. How could she not worry?

"No, surely not? The Young Sect Master is quite courteous to me?" Kang Jingming blinked. "If anything, I'd say his attitude toward me has been getting better and better!"

"Is that so..." Little Taohong gave Kang Jingming a look of complicated emotion. Could it be that the Young Sect Master... she...

"That's right!" Kang Jingming nodded. "Little Taohong, aren't you overthinking this? I'm sure it's just that the Mystic Pill Sect's trial hasn't ended yet, and the Young Sect Master is worried about the results. These past few days he keeps asking me whether any trial participant has come back successfully, and he told me to report to him the moment I hear anything!"

"I see..." Little Taohong thought it over, and it made sense. Tian Canbian did seem to be paying especially close attention to the outcome of the Mystic Pill Sect's trial lately, so his poor mood was not so hard to understand. At that thought, she felt considerably reassured.

Tian Canbian quickly arrived at the side courtyard where Ancestor Xuanzhen resided. He knocked on the door, and at once heard the Ancestor's deep, kindly voice: "Come in!"

Tian Canbian entered the courtyard cautiously, stepped into Ancestor Xuanzhen's room, and said respectfully, "Master, your disciple has come!"

"Tianbian, you're here? Sit wherever you like." Ancestor Xuanzhen gestured toward a cushion not far away.

"Yes, Master!" So Tian Canbian's true name was in fact Tianbian! He voiced no objection to being addressed thus by Ancestor Xuanzhen, and sat respectfully facing the Ancestor.

"Tianbian, I hear you've been out of sorts these past few days?" Ancestor Xuanzhen set down the book in his hand and looked at Tianbian with a warm gaze.

"Master... I... I feel I'm not cut out for this. The Young Sect Master's duties are so tiring and so hard. I'm not the right material..." Tianbian lowered his head, not quite daring to meet Ancestor Xuanzhen's eyes. "I wonder when my sister will be able to come back—whether she can return safely..."

"Tianbian, you must understand: you are the true Young Sect Master. All these years, your sister has stood in for you in that position—how hard it has been for her! A girl, bearing pressures and hardships greater than your own—when will you finally grow up?" Ancestor Xuanzhen sighed, his tone tinged with the frustration of one who wished iron could become steel. "Your sister was born only a few minutes before you. You are twins, a dragon and a phoenix; in theory, you are the same age. But look at you—and then look at your sister!"

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