Ceasefire

In the afternoon, Zhang Chun Wu strode out from within a great courtyard in the distance. Behind him, the two elders, Zhang Wu Zhi and Zhang Wu Dao slowly followed him, hesitance clearly written on their faces. As he marched towards his destination, he heard a voice speak from within him.

"Are you sure they'll accept the temporary alliance, William?"

Without pausing his steps, William gave a slight smirk.

"When a grown man is desperate, even death cannot stop him, what more of honour?"

Turning around slightly, he could see that the two elders had not distanced themselves from him. Of course, he didn't plan to saunter into the Li estate completely helplessly, which is why he had asked the two head elders to accompany him.

After all, the actions of fools brought great suffering upon their allies, and William couldn't be completely unsure that the Li family elders didn't have a screw loose.

As the three individuals made their way toward the Li family estate, William began to look around. Having finally been outside of the Li family courtyard, he was quite interested in seeing the new world that he had been brought to.

Passing by a crowded street, William could see numerous businessmen, peasants, and journeymen striding up and down the road, some carrying a myriad of supplies, while others tread forward with empty hands.

As he slowed down to enjoy the scene, Zhang Chun Wu suddenly spoke again.

"Since we are not doing anything important, why not tell me about my Prime Artifact?"

William scoffed in response to his question.

"Nothing important? Why do you think I came out without a carriage? Let me enjoy the view dammit!"

For a moment, no response came, then, Zhang Chun Wu spoke again.

"I didn't realize that you were from the country-side."

Suddenly feeling judged, William stopped

in his tracks.

Seeing William stop, Zhang Wu Dao, who had closely been following by, paused as well.

"Is something wrong young lord?"

Quickly snapping out of his trance, William quickly apologized for delaying the two elders, before continuing on his way.

Seeing William continue, the two elders relaxed, but they failed to see him grumbling under his breath.

"Damn bastard, just wait till I get to Kozmo ships, I'll teach you who's a country boy!"

After about half an hour of marching, a long wall slowly began to reveal itself in the distance.

Seeing the approaching walls, Zhang Chun Wu spoke, "That's the Li family estate."

William nodded to confirm.

A moment later, Zhang Chun Wu spoke again. "I'll be doing the negotiations, okay?" He was still a little bit hesitant to let William speak on his behalf. Who knew what he might say to mess up the situation? Zhang Chun Wu certainly didn't want another misunderstanding to begin floating around.

"Hey, what happened to your 'it's a great dishonour to ally with an enemy' speech you ranted about this morning? Just let me do the negotiating, okay?" William said, overruling the former.

On other things, he was fine with letting Zhang Chun Wu act. After all, this was still his body they were talking about.

However, William had a sinking feeling that if he were to let Zhang Chun Wu speak, his warped sense of honour might start getting in the way of a successful negotiation.

As he thought about the possible consequences, a shiver ran down his back.

As the three walked up to the front gate of the Li estate, William noticed two guards sprawled near the entrance of the main gate. A moment later, the guard on the left noticed him as well, and quickly poked the other guard with the butt of his pike, arousing the other from his daydream. The two entered a defensive position.

"Halt! This is the Li family courtyard! Identify yourselves!"

Seeing the raised pikes, Zhang Wu Dao opened his mouth to speak, but William beat him to the punch.

"Representing the Zhang Clan, Zhang Chun Wu wishes to speak to the elders of the Li family." Seeing that William had already introduced himself, Zhang Wu Dao backed down. This was, after all, Zhang Chun Wu's own idea, and he intended only to aid in the negotiations if Chun Wu was running into difficulties later.

Upon hearing William's introduction, the guard on the right, who was still slightly groggy, suddenly jumped up like he had been struck in the back. Immediately closing in on the one who had woken him up, he whispered a few words that William could not catch, before he sprinted into the estate.

The other guard looked at William, before a bead of sweat ran down his face.

"The third young master of the Zhang Clan?" The aged guard had of course, heard about Zhang Chun Wu's cultivation achievements, but he couldn't wrap his head around why the child had come to the Li family's estate. As far as he knew, the two clans weren't on the best of terms.

Time passed slowly while the four people waited to see what would happen. A couple of minutes later, William heard footsteps approaching. A moment later, several figures emerged from within the estate walls.

Upon seeing the individuals that had come out to meet him, William cracked a slight smile.

"Zhang Chun Wu, don't think you can bully our Li clan just because you beat me in a duel!"

Li Fei Yuan's angry voice spoke out.

Walking out behind Li Fei Yuan, Li Hou Jun frowned as he noticed the two wizened figures standing behind Zhang Chun Wu.

"What brings the Second and Third Head elders of the Zhang clan to our humble Li estate?"

Pausing to take a breath, he then added, "Although we agreed to take responsibility for yesterday's actions, don't you think you're here a little too soon?"

Seeing the tense atmosphere, both parties began to prepare for a fight, when William broke the tense atmosphere.

"Relax guys, we didn't come here to fight." He spoke nonchalantly. "But I do need a quieter place to discuss some things." Looking around, William checked the surrounding areas for any signs of other parties.

<~>

"What? You want an alliance with our Li Clan? What is this ridiculousness!?"

In front of William stood an old woman, who appeared to have a similarity in age to Zhang Wen Ming. Beside the old lady sat Li Hou Jun and another man that William had never met before.

Apart from them, Li Tai Shan and Li Fei Yuan also stood by the three elders of the Li family that were currently in charge.

"Zhang Wu Dao, whatever you are planning, you can just spit it out! Don't think you can fool our Li family with such petty tricks!" The old woman continued to holler.

In response, Zhang Wu Dao helplessly shook his head.

"Li Tian Xi, this was the child's idea. I had nothing to do with this."

The old woman stared at him for a moment, then scoffed.

"Alright then, boy, let's hear what you have to say. Why should our Li family ally with your Zhang family?"

Seeing that he had been given the chance to speak, William smiled.

"I believe everyone in the room knows about the Five Element Sect's outer disciple selection, so I won't elaborate more on that."

William turned and looked around at Li Fei Yuan, then continued, "yesterday, the Li family was informed about the fact that the Five Element Sect would choose one talented youth from within the selection of disciples and make them an inner disciple, so you people came to eliminate me, a possible competitor."

Li Tian Xi glared at William, but she did not speak out, allowing him to continue.

"Judging from your actions yesterday, it seems that you're quite confident that Tai Shan will be accepted as the inner disciple, am I right?" William asked inquisitively.

"Of course, I won't ask you where you got the confidence that Li Tai Shan could definitely be selected." William paused. "None of us are fools, otherwise our clans wouldn't have flourished to this extent in the Zhi Hui district."

At this point, Li Hou Jun piped up. "This is all well and good, but you still haven't explained why our two clans should ally with each other." The others looked at William as well. In fact, no one in the room was sure why Zhang Chun Wu seemed so confident that the two clans would agree to the alliance that he proposed.

"I believe you all know by now that I've reawakened my Prime Artifact. It means that I'll very likely be accepted into the Five Elements Sect if I go to the capital. This also means that I'll likely be a target for the other families in the Zhihui district. If I choose to go now, the Zhang family will certainly be attacked on the way."

"However-" William curled his lips upward.

"If I choose not to go to the capital, who do you think the other families will target next?"

As he spoke his last words, the temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees.

The head elder of the Li family narrowed her eyes in response.

"Are you threatening us?"

Seeing her glare, the two elders of the Zhang family became tense. Unlike the others in the room however, William seemed completely relaxed.

"I merely spoke the truth. I will not go to the capital if I feel like my presence will jeopardize the other members of the Zhang family." He spoke flatly. "After all, I can always just tell my older brother about my recovery, and I'm sure the Shaking Mountain sect wouldn't mind another talented disciple."

"But you," William suddenly turned to Li Tai Shan. "You don't have that option, do you?"

Hearing his words, Li Tian Xi balled up her fists behind her back. Indeed, as soon as the letter from their patriarch arrived, her first instinct was to remove all the other possible competitors for the inner disciple position.

"In fact," William continued, "I'm pretty sure that none of your allied families have agreed to travel to the capital together with you, am I right?"

At his words, Li Tian Xi's left hand subconsciously shook. It was true that none of their allies had responded to them when they had sent out their messengers the previous day. In fact, all seven messengers were already in a nearby room. They had brought the bad news a few hours before Zhang Chun Wu arrived.

"So you're proposing an alliance for the journey to the capital?" she asked weakly.

William's smile faded.

"If we go to the capital separately, I will die immediately. Then, they will come for you." He spoke.

"But," he added,"no one will expect that the two greatest competitors for the Inner disciple slot in the Zhi Hui County will go to the capital together."

"We can use this fact to surprise the enemy."

The three elders of the Li family glanced at each other, before Li Hou Jun steeled his resolve.

"So then, what do you suggest, Zhang Chun Wu?"