Chapter 2609 — So This Is What It Feels Like to Have Someone at Your Back

Only then did Wei Zhao finally breathe a sigh of relief. No wonder Elder Wei had always told him to take his people and run for home to hide—the old man had been sitting on a sure thing all along!

"I understand." Wei Zhao drew a deep breath and hung up quickly, then turned over in his mind a plan that was more or less flawless. As he saw it: first go to the hotel, then find a chance to rescue Han Jingyi, trap the two enemies under the Heaven-and-Earth Nets—since the two of them would be close together, he would only have to expend one net.

After that, he would flee with her, with Sun Jingyan, Wang Xinyan, the young lady, and Little Shu; he would phone everyone connected to him and have them gather at West Star Mountain Village. Once they were all assembled, he would let slip a rumor and draw the two enemies to West Star Mountain Village—and then they would go and never return...

So this was how good it felt to have someone at your back! Wei Zhao had never felt it before. How devious, he had to admit...

"I'm off to see a patient." Elder Wei hung up unhurriedly, then muttered under his breath, so low it was barely audible: "Back then, it seems my brother and I overlooked something. What sect is this? Where did they crawl out from?"

Just as Wei Zhao, full of confidence, was about to set out to rescue Han Jingyi, he discovered that he had underestimated Xiao Yi.

What Wei Zhao had not expected was that he had barely reached the school gate and met up with Sun Jingyan when the jade pendant sent out a violent warning signal. As a rule, the pendant only gave warning when a danger Wei Zhao could not see appeared—and only when the danger was real.

Wei Zhao's heart went cold. He snatched Sun Jingyan up in his arms and lunged backward! Sure enough, a ferocious palm wind swept past, and Wei Zhao barely dodged it in time. Cursing his luck, he lifted his head and looked at the black-clad man who had appeared out of nowhere before him, and his heart sank a little.

This man before him was most likely Wei Zhao's enemy—a member of Tagan Long's sect! He must have followed Sun Jingyan here. It seemed the other side had let Sun Jingyan go precisely so that they could wipe him out along with her.

Wei Zhao frowned slightly. Was he really destined to waste two Heaven-and-Earth Nets? They were his last life-saving treasures. If he wasted them, and then ran into more trouble on the way out, there would be no easy way to deal with it!

At that thought, Wei Zhao decided to gamble on his own luck. Unseen, he began rapidly compressing true-qi bombs. He resolved to use the Heaven-and-Earth Nets only if things truly went badly; if possible, he would hold them back.

"Who are you? Why attack us for no reason?" Wei Zhao put on a look of blank astonishment, staring at Xiao Yi in shock and fury. He had to stall for time to finish compressing the true-qi bomb! Had he known Xiao Yi would be waiting for him at the school gate, he would have started compressing long ago—but he had assumed he would go to the hotel with Sun Jingyan to rescue someone, never guessing Xiao Yi would follow.

"Wei Zhao, is it? I don't believe you don't know who I am. Doing this—aren't you just stalling for time, waiting for someone to come save you?" Xiao Yi said mockingly. But he let his strength—peak great-perfection of the late Heaven Rank—show in full, to kill any hope in Wei Zhao: "I don't believe anyone can save you. So there's no need to stall. If your reinforcements come, they'll only be coming to die!"

Wei Zhao had long since seen through Xiao Yi's strength, but when the man's true-qi pressure was released, Wei Zhao still felt a suffocating sense that he could not catch his breath! Too powerful—far too powerful. He was vastly stronger than that Heaven Rank freak of a man who was also at peak late Heaven Rank. They were not even on the same level!

It seemed that everyone who walked out of Tagan Long's sect was a monster! Truly too powerful—powerful to an unimaginable degree!

"Hmph!" Wei Zhao snorted coldly. "Say what you like. I only just got here—how could I possibly know who you are? Jingyi never said. She only said you people had kidnapped Han Jingyi!"

"You know Han Jingyi?" Xiao Yi's brows knitted at once, and he thought, This is bad! He had overlooked the fact that Sun Jingyan actually knew Han Jingyi and had told Wei Zhao about it. If Wei Zhao had a loose tongue and told the white-collar leader, things could get troublesome!

So this had to be settled quickly! With that thought, Xiao Yi gave Wei Zhao no further chance to speak. Suddenly he crossed his arms before his chest and made a most bizarre motion; at last he brought his palms together and thrust them forward. A vast true-qi vortex like a tornado burst forth from between his hands and swept savagely toward Wei Zhao!

"Heaven Rank martial art—Tornado Heaven and Earth, Eleventh Form!" Xiao Yi bellowed alongside the whirling tornado. In his view, Wei Zhao was a mere Earth Rank expert; even the most ordinary Heaven Rank martial art could kill him. "Die, Earth Rank whelp!"

An unprecedented pressure rushed at him. Wei Zhao frowned slightly and instinctively shoved Sun Jingyan away, but it was too late for him to dodge—the whole man was swept up by the tornado, hurled into the sky, and then slammed heavily to the ground with a thunderous crash, smashing a pit more than a meter deep.

Merely the eleventh form of a Heaven Rank art—the most rudimentary Heaven Rank martial art—and it carried such might. The people who came out of that place were lunatics, sure enough! Fortunately it was only the eleventh form. Wei Zhao had protected his body with true qi and barely withstood it; he had taken some internal injuries, but they were not severe.

Wei Zhao could not spare the time to heal his internal injuries. Instead he compressed the true-qi bomb with all speed—this was his last resort. If it truly came to it, he would use the Heaven-and-Earth Nets; if possible, blowing this man to death would be best of all.

"Jingyi, take Xinyan and get out of here!" Wei Zhao feared, first, that Xiao Yi would harm them, and second, that when the true-qi bomb went off it might injure them. With only himself to worry about, he would have far fewer misgivings.

"Oh—right!" Sun Jingyan decided on the spot. The two of them had already built up an excellent rapport back in the Ulanhot Mountains, and Sun Jingyan knew Wei Zhao was probably gritting his teeth to unleash some great move. She and Wang Xinyan could only distract him by staying, so she grabbed Wang Xinyan's hand and made to leave.

"You've come—so don't go." Xiao Yi was somewhat surprised that Wei Zhao was not dead and could still speak, but for the moment he paid him no more mind. Instead he turned his head toward Sun Jingyan and Wang Xinyan. (To be continued.)