Chapter : 45 : Engagement Promise Cancellation : ( Part : 4 ) :
Location : The Flower City : Zhau Clan Estate : Main Meeting Hall :
" As such our Xiao clan has came to the decision to cancel the engagement promise . "
As soon as those words fell , a pin drop silence covered the entire room .
Everyone present in the room especially the people from the Zhau clan felt as if the ground beneath there feet had been taken away .
But it was Zhau Bo who was hit the hardest by this news .
At this moment he felt that as if his heart was hit by hundreds of lightning bolts all at once .
The words of the first elder Xiao Lin rang in his ears like a old broken radio unwilling to stop .
" Crash ! " - the shock from the news was so hard that the tea cup in Zhau Bo's hand slipped away falling into the ground and broke into a thousand pieces .
However the expressions and the reactions of the other elders of the Zhau clan were a lot different .
Yes ! they too looked worried and felt as if they had lost a portion of their life span at once .
But there reasons were different from Zhau Bo whose primary concern was regarding his son's future .
To the elders especially the one's like Zhau Haoran this meant a break in any kind of future ties with the Xiao clan.
Right now they were facing pressure from almost every other forces in the feather city .
The situation had turned to the point that even the mayor who was supposed to be a neutral party had indirectly turned against them .
While they were not as confident and delusional as Zhau Bo about the continuation of the engagement promise before .
But still they couldn't believe that the other side would put away all pretext of negotiations and break the engagement promise like this .
Obviously they understood that the other side was non other than the Xiao clan the strongest clan in the Yu Shan Kingdom .
And they were nothing but a small clan from the outskirts of the kingdom .
The fact that the other side was even here talking with them instead of just sending a letter to end the matter was already beyond anything they can expect from such a powerful force to do .
But they still felt bad because now they know longer had the umbrella of protection from the Xiao clan .
It meant only one thing for them now .
The life was about to get even rougher than before .
" Elder Xiao Lin do you have any idea what you are saying . " - after coming out of his initial shock Zhau Bo looked at Xiao Lin in front of him in anger .
" Elder Xiao Lin this engagement promise was made by my father and the father of your current clan head Xiao Fang. "
" How could the Xiao clan dismiss the engagement promise so easily without even consulting us . "
" Do not forget that it's a matter of our ancestral promise and breaking it would be an insult to them . "
" Or elder Xiao Lin are you saying that the Xiao clan does not respect the wishes and the promises made by it's own elders . "
As he spoke Zhau Bo's voice became louder and louder almost becoming openly accusatory towards the Xiao clan .
To him the truth was that they had done a great favour to the Xiao clan and it was because of that that the engagement promise was made .
As such it is the duty of the Xiao clan to respect that promise .
" How dare you bring out our deceased elder's name like that !!! "
" Who do you think you are ! You are nothing but a small clan head of a small clan !!! "
" You got quite the big mouth for being just a Dou Disciple stage cultivator . "
" You are delusional if you think you can talk to us like that . "
Hearing Zhau Bo's loud words of accusation especially using their deceased elder's name in the matter made many members of the Xiao clan furious.
Some of them quickly walked closer to the stage .
All of them were now waiting for was an order from the first elder Xiao Lin so that they can teach this fool a lesson that he will soon not forget .
Seeing that the situation was getting out of hand Zhau Haoran quickly straight forward to ease the tention .
" Please do not get angry respected guests from Xiao clan as I am sure that had been a misunderstanding just now . "
" I apologize for what our clan leader said and I assure you we didn't mean to offend or disrespect the deceased elder of your clan . " - Zhau Haoran said with a gentle smile .
" Elder Zhau Haoran what are you... " - Zhau Bo his head back looking at the old elder with frustration .
' What do you mean by - ' I apologize for what our clan leader said ' '
' Are you trying to prove that I was the one at wrong here ? Whose side are you on . ' - Zhau Bo clenched his teeth furiously .
To him Zhau Haoran's attempt at trying to ease the tension was coming at a price of his pride and dignity .
( Off Topic Discussion ( Started ) :
Author's Thoughts : Pride ? Dignity ? Bro ! do you really think that you have any of those left at this point .
Sigh 😔! I will leave you to your imaginations for now because you still have a major role to play in the future chapter's of the story .
Oh !!!! My readers are here as well .
So if you want to know about the role that Zhau Bo will play in the future you will have to do something .
And that is .... To keep reading the story and preferably add the story to your library so that you don't miss the updates 😊 .
Alright let's get back to the story .
Off Topic Discussion ( Ended ) : )
" Please clan leader look at the situation and try to understand it carefully . " - Zhau Haoran whispered to Zhau Bo asking him to understand the situation from a rational perspective .
" If you want to blame me then do it after all this is over but for now please try to stay calm . "
The old elder at this point was truly at a bind trying to appease the Xiao clan and at the same time stopping this foolish clan leader of his from degrading the situation anymore .
" Hmph ! - however it seemed that his words had little to know effects on Zhau Bo who simply gave him a cold look before turning his attention back to Xiao Lin .
Seeing this Zhau Haoran could only let out a troubled sigh and lament at the misfortune for having a clan head like this .
" First elder Xiao Lin I do not accept your proposal and... " - however before he could finish his sentence properly a sudden wave of pressure crashed down on him like a tidal wave .
" Enough !!! "
" Boom !!! "
Suddenly at this point the first elder Xiao Lin spoke up while releasing her Dou Qi pressure in the room .
And result of her Dou Qi pressure was instantaneous and effective .
" Thud ! Thud ! Thud ! Thud ! "
Just as the pressure was released everyone in the room accept for the people from the Xiao clan fell on their knees .
For the members of the Xiao clan she made sure not to put the pressure on them .
However the members of the Zhau plan were not so lucky .
At this moment the situation in the room was in total chaos .
For the younger cultivator standing below the high platform this pressure was like a mountain falling down upon them .
All of them without exception fell down to the ground unable to stand up .
Infact many of them immediately fainted from the pressure and those who didn't felt as it their entire world was shaking .
At this moment all of them looked at Xiao Lin as if she was some kind of a demon looking at them from above .
At the same time the situation for the elders and the clan head Zhau Bo who were standing at the high platform was not very good either because they were the one who had to take the brunt of the pressure .
All of them except the first elder Zhau Haoran and the clan head Zhau Bo had falling back weakly to their seats .
Most of them had their hands and feet trembling in fear as they look for support .
Most of these elders did not even have cultivation level at Dou Disciple stage , hence their situation was no better than the young cultivators .
As for Zhau Bo and Zhau Haoran they only managed to keep their footing after using all their strength .
And this was certainly not because they were stronger or anything .
It was because Xiao Lin had not used the full power of Dou Qi pressure .
Because obviously if a Dou King like her were to use her true Dou Qi pressure then I am afraid the situation for the Zhau clan would be extremely tragic .
" Clan head Zhau Bo allow me to clarify myself once again . " - Xiao Lin for the first time since the conversation begin stood up from her seat and directly looked at Zhau Bo .
Feeling her gaze upon him all of Zhau Bo's earlier furiousness and intensity disappeared instantly as cold sweat of fear started to form in his forehead .
Zhau Bo never thought that the other side would actually use force like this against them .
" Let me be very clear ! the biggest condition for this engagement promise was that both Xiao Yun and Zhau Xuan must have great cultivation talents . " - she walked slowly towards Zhau Bo step by step .
" However recently your clan member Zhau Xuan had lost his cultivation talents breaking that most important condition . "
She came closer to Zhau Bo looking into his eyes .
" And allow me to clarify that this condition was accepted by both our deceased elder and your own father . "
" So let me ask you this . "
" Bye for getting and over looking this significant fact are you not the one disrespecting the promise made by your own father . " - her words left the room in a deep silence .
Hearing this a chill ran down Zhau Bo's spine .
' Curse this old women !!! She is using my own words against me . '
If he refuted her words then it would mean he was going against the same thing he had said before .
But if he agreed with her then it would mean that the engagement promise cancellation was also valid and totally correct .
So no matter the decision he makes he had already lost the debate .
And along with her show of dominance just now it was clear that the Xiao clan would not take any other answer then a ' yes ' .
" But you don't worry to much . " - suddenly Xiao Lin showed a cold smile .
" We as the proud members of the Xiao clan do not forget the favours that had been done towards us . " - after stopping her Dou Qi pressure Xiao Lin stepped back for some other clan members to come forward bringing some large boxes with them .
Once they reached the centre they kept the box in front of Zhau Bo and Zhau Haoran .
When they opened the boxes there eyes went wide in shock and then in greed .
The boxes were filled with gold coins , precious crystals and various other cultivation materials including alchemist pills , cultivation techniques , etc .
Even if they only counted the gold coins alone it was already enough to cover an entire year of their clan's spending comfortably .
And if they were to calculate the value of the other items and cultivation related materials then this treasure would be at least equal to 10 years of their entire annual income .
This amount of resources to a small clan like their Zhau clan was truly unprecedented .
Even Zhau Bo looked at the resources in front of him with wide eyes after seeing all this treasures .
And this was exactly the effect that Xiao Lin wanted to see .
And now was the time to take out her trump card to seal the deal finally .
She took out a ornate box from her storage ring and opened it revealing a brown coloured alchemist pill inside .
" This is a third tier alchemist pill - The Air Walking Pill " - she said looking at the ever show opening marks of the Zhau clan members .
" And all this treasures are compensations we have brought for the Zhau clan if they cancel the engagement promise willingly . " - she said with a smile .
" So what do you think everyone ? what would be your decision . "
To Be Continued .