CHAPTER 893: Buying Time

***Witherbone City, the City Lord's Mansion.

Hill, the City Lord, Sha-t'o, the patriarch of the House of Kiaran, and the patriarchs of all the major family clans in the city gathered in the mansion.

Hill sat on his white bone throne, higher than any other seat in the chamber. His eyebrows knitted in annoyance as he asked, "Haven't you made any progress?"

As the City Lord of Witherbone City, Hill cultivated in the energy of death and possessed Late-stage Highgod strength. A few hundred years earlier, the Overgod of Death had given him a Divine Brand. With the brand remaining in his soul, Hill was likely to break through and reach the Overgod realm in a short time.

Although he would never possess the quintessence of the Death Overgod, reaching the Overgod Realm was still an incredible feat. There were no more than a few dozen Overgods in all of Elysium. Hill had cultivated assiduously and worked very hard to manage the Witherbone City for the Death Overgod, just for the chance to earn the Divine Brand that would increase his chances of advancing to the Overgod Realm.

Hill was ambitious and greedy. When he heard from Sha-t'o about the wonders of the House of Han's medicines and the amazing team coordination of their Divine Guardians, he was tempted. Like Hill, Sha-t'o was not a benevolent character. The two quickly came to an agreement, and their plan was set in motion the moment the House of Han entered the Death Dominion.

Sha-t'o and Hill's divine guards were incredibly polite and cordial as they escorted the House of Han to Witherbone City. But as soon as they set foot in the Kiaran Residence, Sha-t'o began trying to extract the secrets from the House of Han. And when he discovered that the Han family wouldn't say a word, he immediately ordered divine guards to be stationed around the Kiaran Residence to prevent them from leaving the city.

Sha-t'o shook his head as if he had run out of moves. He replied, "It doesn't matter what I offer. They are not willing to sell this information. No matter what the medicine formulas are or how they train, they won't give anything away.

"The House of Han no longer has a foothold in the City of Shadows. Although their Celestial Pearl Pharmacy has branches in many cities, they do not have the power to protect their assets. And as for Bryan, no one knows if he is still alive. Why are they so stubborn? Do they think they have a way out of this?" said Banfather contemptuously. He was the patriarch of one of the largest family clans in Witherbone City.

"I have no idea what the hell they are clinging to!" Sha-t'o put on a sad face and said, "We have not been subtle in our actions and it should be obvious to them what we are after. They should also know that we won't let them go if we don't get what we want. Why shouldn't they just give in?

"Those family clans who have business dealings with the House of Han keep sending representatives, claiming they want to talk business with the House of Han. But their real reason for being here should be the same as ours." Hill knitted his brows and instructed Sha-t'o, "Speed up the process. We won't be able to hide this for much longer. These family clans won't be easy to deal with. They may come to visit Witherbone City in person. It will be troublesome if they find out what we are doing."

"Give me another month. If the House of Han is still so stubborn after a month, I'll stop being so polite to them." Sha-t'o also knew that he could not drag this out for too long. He had to get the information he wanted as soon as possible, or all the thought and effort they had put into this would be wasted.

"Yes, get it out of them as soon as possible." Hill smiled coldly as he said, "If they still haven't met our demands by then, we'll kill them all! We are cultivators of the energy of death. We have a greater understanding of the soul than the average person. If we can't get it out of their mouths, we'll get it out of their souls!

"This should only be done as a last resort. If we do that and it gets out, those family clans might form an alliance to crusade against us. Needless to say, our reputation and interests will be severely damaged. If it is still possible, we should get the House of Han to voluntarily share these secrets with us," Banfather said.

Sha-t'o nodded and replied, "I will try all the softer measures first. But if those don't work, I will use the hard ones!" Sha-t'o looked cold as he said, "These two great secrets of the House of Han are worth the risk!"

"All right, then it is decided. You have one more month. After that, if you don't kill them, I will send my men to finish them off. By hook or by crook, these two secrets will belong to our Witherbone City!" Hill then gestured and said, "That's all for today. You are all dismissed. Sha-t'o, pump up the pressure."

Sha-t'o rose from his seat, bowed to the City Lord and returned to his Kiaran residence.

*** Dagassi walked to the building next to the stinking bone refinery. The Ancient Lizard King wore a helpless, miserable face and sighed as he walked. When he reached the structure, he had no idea how to begin a conversation with those inside.

Like the members of the House of Han, Dagassi was from the Profound Continent. Needless to say, he was disturbed and saddened by the way the Han family were being treated by the House of Kiaran. However, as Dagassi was just a tiny little divine guard, he had no influence over anything. Sha-t'o made Daggasi the mediator because he knew many members of the Han family.

Stratholme and Ayermike knew Dagassi from their time on the Profound Continent. During their time in the Kiaran residence, they had heard countless tales of bad news from Dagassi. Although they were angry with the House of Kiaran, they held no grudge against Dagassi.

Stratholme forced a smile when he saw the despondent Dagassi. He feigned a laugh and asked snidely, "I presume you have more news for us today?" Stratholme understood that Dagassi must have more bad news. He acted that way so that Dagassi wouldn't be so unhappy.

"Sigh... I really don't want to see you here... at least not like this..." Dagassi lamented, "Back in the City of Shadows, you and Bryan had treated me very well at the Han residence. But now that you guys are in the Kiaran Residence, not only have I been unable to give you the same treatment, but I have to let you suffer such humiliation... Sigh... If I were stronger, maybe they would listen to me..."

"It has nothing to do with you. Li Wei can be considered a little princess in the House of Kiaran. And yet her words are ignored. Sha-t'o has been blinded by greed and will not listen to anyone's advice. You have nothing to blame yourself for. After a short pause, Ayermike asked, "So, what is it you want to tell us?"

"Certain people are deliberately allowing me to overhear their conversations... Hill and my patriarch had a meeting today and he is giving my patriarch a deadline. If he still does not get the information from you after a month, Hill will kill you and extract the information from your soul," Dagassi revealed.

"We will fight them!" Gilbert shouted angrily, "What a bunch of despicable fools! I have never met anyone more shameless than them! When we cooperated with them before to build a Celestial Pearl branch in Witherbone City, they treated us so kindly. And now, after making a ton of crystal coins from our Celestial Pearl, they treat us like this! They are even more disgusting than Wallace!"

"If they won't let us live, we'll attack them!" said Sanguis, his eyes glowing red. During his months in the Kiaran residence, Sanguis had bottled up his anger and hatred. He was getting the urge to destroy everything ruthlessly.

Sanguis also knew that once they struck, the House of Han would be dead. Although the House of Han guards were powerful, they were greatly outnumbered by the divine guards of Witherbone City.

Here in Witherbone City, the House of Han faced an even greater threat than before. In the City of Shadows, Wallace would only hire someone else to do his dirty work, but would not openly attack the House of Han himself because he was a little afraid of Han Shuo, or more specifically, his connection to the Goddess of Destiny.

But here in Witherbone City, Hill and Sha-t'o did not see young Han Shuo as a threat. In their minds, Han Shuo was nothing more than a brilliant pharmacist. They were unaware of Han Shuo's relationship with the daughter of the Goddess of Destiny. Therefore, they had no qualms about wiping out the House of Han.

"If we sneak up on them, we can kill at least a few hundred of the divine guards of the House of Kiaran. But of course we will end up dead. We should start discussing how to kill as many of the Kiaran family as possible. Even if we are, we will make our deaths worthwhile," Bollands said calmly.

Bollands knew the situation they were in and that there was no hope of escaping from the Kiaran residence. The way he saw it, the only thing they could do was to inflict maximum damage on the House of Kiaran.

"No!" cried Emily. She explained, "Bryan will not want anything to happen to us. We can't be so rash!"

"Then what are we going to do?" Gilbert grumbled, "We have no way out and we are dead no matter what we do. The least we can do is cause them some casualties!"

"Bollands, Sanguis, Gilbert, you three know Bryan's demonic battle formation best. Create a set of instructions for one of the formations," Emily instructed reluctantly.

"Why? What's the point?!" Sanguis shouted, "They'll never let us go! Even if we give them everything, they will still lock us up here!"

"Dagassi, did you help us with the information?" Emily asked Dagassi without answering Sanguis's complaint.

"I used up all the million black crystal coins you gave me. If he is still alive, he will get the information sooner or later." Dagassi forced a smile and said, "Hill and Sha-t'o did not consider Bryan a threat. They did not restrict my activities at all."

Emily nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. She suggested to the group, "Let's try to buy as much time as we can. I just hope Bryan finds us before it's too late.