Chapter 1809 — Bingtang's Sister

"Elder Zhang, might I trouble you to make an introduction, so that we may go and put our request to the Valley Master in person?" Though Tang Yun knew the request was somewhat excessive, she had no other choice.

"Girl, I'd advise you both to leave..." Elder Zhang smiled bitterly. Xueli was still smarting from the rebuff she had received from Bingtang, and her temper was foul. That was precisely why, earlier, he had not even finished speaking before Xueli cut him off with a flat "No." So in his view, Tang Yun could talk until the heavens fell and Xueli would never agree to their proposal. After all, there was no precedent for such a thing in the history of Snow Valley—whoever heard of buying on credit?

"Elder Zhang, I beg you. We truly can gather the money, but my friend cannot wait that long..." Tang Yun bowed deeply to Elder Zhang once more. "Please, I beg your help!"

"Girl, nothing can be done without rules. I believe your words, but the Valley Master may not. If Snow Valley were to conduct business this way from now on, would we not descend into chaos?" Elder Zhang said. "Girl, perhaps you do not know—the Valley Master is not someone who can be seen simply because one wishes it. Even the sect's own disciples may not gain an audience with her, even if they beg for one..."

Elder Zhang had not put it too bluntly, but his meaning was plain enough: for people of Tang Yun's standing even to request an audience with the Valley Master was simply impossible.

Tang Yun hesitated, then gritted her teeth and said, "Elder Zhang, please tell the Valley Master that I am the sister of Bingtang, Master of the Ice Palace. Ask her to set her mind at ease—we will not short her a single coin. This time my friend has consumed the Ice Spirit Sacred Fruit, and I will go to the Ice Palace to fetch the money..."

"What?" At Tang Yun's words, Elder Zhang's face at once filled with utter astonishment. He had assumed that Tang Yun was merely connected to some minor family or petty sect, and had come to Snow Valley on their recommendation—after all, Snow Valley differed from other ancient sects in that its location was widely known and was no secret at all.

"We can even leave my friend here as security, and once we have fetched the money, we will take him away..." Fearing Elder Zhang would refuse, Tang Yun added another sentence.

Yet an odd expression came over Elder Zhang's face. "You say... you are the sister of the Ice Palace Master?"

"Yes!" Tang Yun nodded.

Elder Zhang could scarcely make sense of it. Was Bingtang not said to be an orphan? How had a sister suddenly appeared? What on earth was going on?

"So far as I know, the Ice Palace Master is an orphan. How could she have a sister?" Elder Zhang asked.

"We only became kin just recently..." Tang Yun said. "If you do not believe me, Elder Zhang, then if you can reach the Ice Palace, by all means send word and verify it..."

Tang Yun had not wished to invoke this connection, but now she truly had no alternative. If she did not speak of it, they would be driven out on the spot, and so she had chosen to say it.

"Wait here a moment. I shall report to the Valley Master once more..." Elder Zhang was deeply shaken and uncertain, yet Tang Yun's earnest and solemn manner did not seem feigned. After all, such a thing could be checked with ease; there was no need for her to lie.

If Snow Valley were to learn that she had lied, she could forget about ever obtaining the Ice Spirit Sacred Fruit.

"Thank you, Elder Zhang!" At his words, Tang Yun's heart eased, and at last there seemed to be a glimmer of hope.

"Might I ask your name?" Elder Zhang inquired.

"Tang Yun!" she replied.

"Very well. Wait here." With that, Elder Zhang left the guest chamber once more.

Though Elder Zhang's face had returned to its usual calm, a mighty storm was raging within him. These unremarkable-looking commoners were actually connected to Bingtang, Master of the Ice Palace? But where Bingtang was concerned, he could not possibly decide on his own; he could only go and consult the Valley Master Xueli once again.

"Valley Master Xue!" After the disciple announced him, Elder Zhang entered Xueli's chamber once more.

"Elder Zhang, why have you come back again? Have those people left?" Xueli was rather puzzled. Elder Zhang had just come to seek her instructions about those people buying on credit, and yet in less than a quarter of an hour he had returned; it struck her as rather baffling.

"They have not... Those people wish to see the Valley Master in person..." Elder Zhang said. "Valley Master Xue..."

But before Elder Zhang could finish, Xueli's already gloomy expression turned gloomier still, and that delicate, lovely face of hers grew somewhat sinister. "See me? Elder Zhang, you come to report such a matter to me? Why did you not simply refuse them?"

Though Xueli was not a peerless expert at the peak of the late Heaven rank, her prestige within Snow Valley was still very high, owing to the fact that she was the closed-door disciple of the Grand Elder and the former Valley Master.

"Valley Master Xue, that is precisely what I told them. But one among them claims to be the sister of the Ice Palace Master... so I could not make the decision myself, and came to ask your will, Valley Master," Elder Zhang said with a bitter smile.

"The Ice Palace? Its Master? Which Master?" Xueli was slightly taken aback.

"Bingtang, Master of the Ice Palace..." Elder Zhang was unsurprised by Xueli's reaction; after all, he too had been struck dumb with shock when he first heard the news.

"What? She is Bingtang's sister?" Xueli's expression shifted slightly, but then a flash of injured pride crossed her face. At the thought of Bingtang having politely declined her proposal, she felt thoroughly displeased. You turn me down one moment, and the very next you send your sister to buy the Ice Spirit Sacred Fruit—is that not to hold Snow Valley in contempt?

"Yes. So, Valley Master, it would be best if you saw her in person..." Elder Zhang smiled bitterly. "After all, we and the Ice Palace share a common lineage..."

"A common lineage... If Bingtang truly cared about our common lineage, why would she have refused our proposal?" Though Xueli was a Valley Master, she was young after all, and lacked the steady prudence of the elders. "Send them away. Do not let them stay here and anger me!"

"Yes... I shall go and send them off at once..." Elder Zhang smiled bitterly. Xueli was venting upon the sister the anger she held toward Bingtang. It would have been better had he never mentioned that connection at all; now that he had, Xueli was all the more incensed.

"Wait!" A voice rang out. The sound arrived before the person, and then a figure drifted down, appearing before Xueli and Elder Zhang.

Yet once they saw clearly who had come, both Xueli and Elder Zhang straightened solemnly and clasped their fists in salute. "Greetings, Grand Elder!"

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