Chapter 2776 — The Yellow Springs Ancestor

"So you take it—it might just save your life when the time comes!" Mother Tang said. "Besides, if we Snow Valley keep it, it will only bring us trouble we do not need. When the time comes, everyone will know it was the Grand Elder who did the killing, am I right, Grand Elder?"

"R-right... absolutely right..." The Grand Elder drew a deep breath and silently told herself not to lose her temper. Only then did she say to Wei Zhao, "Quite right, you take it. In truth, even if we kept it, we would only hide it away or destroy it—we would not dare use it either..."

As she spoke, the Grand Elder's heart was bleeding. She wanted nothing more than to hurry Wei Zhao and his prize out the door, and fearing Mother Tang would keep haggling, she had no choice but to agree. In truth, the Gale Lightning Boots were a heavy treasure of the ancient age, coveted and envied by many ancient sects, all of them scheming to get their hands on it. But the Blood-Robed Yellow Springs Sect was no weakling either; only their disciples could use it when out on missions, and once they returned, it went straight back into the vault. Even the other ancient sects, however much they wished to borrow it for a look, never got the chance.

"Then I thank you!" Wei Zhao accepted the Gale Lightning Boots and expressed his thanks to the Grand Elder. He also gave Mother Tang a slight smile. "And thank you as well, Senior!"

"Very well, Mr. Lin, you should be on your way. This whole affair started because of you, and Snow Valley does not wish to be dragged into it." The Grand Elder spoke flatly, her tone already carrying the clear hint that it was time for him to leave.

"Then I shall take my leave!" Wei Zhao nodded and turned to go...

Tang Zhi was, after all, an expert of the Heaven Rank. Earlier she had paid no attention to the clamor outside, but now that her mother had gone out, a little focus was all it took for her to hear the conversation not far away.

When she heard Wei Zhao's voice, her heart gave an inexplicable tremor. Wei Zhao had come back—Wei Zhao had come back again!

Standing at the gate of the side courtyard, she wanted to rush out, but reason held her back. That one glance on the mountaintop had already planted suspicion in Wei Zhao's mind; if she appeared before him now, it would surely deepen that suspicion, and then all her painstaking effort would have been for nothing.

So she stood at the gate of the side courtyard and forced herself to stay inside. Yet when she heard that Wei Zhao had been caught up by the Blood-Robed Yellow Springs Sect, her heart tightened—had he provoked a formidable enemy again?

But she could only blame her own weakness for being unable to help him...

When her mother decided to give the Gale Lightning Boots to Wei Zhao, Tang Zhi was instantly delighted. Her mother really had come through—she had actually given Wei Zhao such a useful life-saving divine artifact.

Wei Zhao returned to where he had parked the car. The two corpses were still there. He found a spot and casually buried them, then drove away.

Nothing in the car had been touched. Wei Zhao had never expected that a trip back to Snow Valley would turn disaster into fortune and net him a pair of Gale Lightning Boots—a benefit he had not anticipated at all.

That night, the black-robed man who was supposed to report the assassination's progress to the Blood-Robed Yellow Springs Sect as a matter of routine failed to send word on time. The Yellow Springs Ancestor's brows knitted tightly.

"Have you made contact?" the Yellow Springs Ancestor asked, looking at the subordinate who had just walked in.

"Reporting to the Ancestor, none of the three can be reached..." the subordinate said cautiously.

"What? None of them can be reached? How is that possible?" The Yellow Springs Ancestor could hardly believe it. All three sent on this mission were Heaven Rank experts. Even if the mission had failed, surely not one of them could have failed to make it back? And now there was still no contact—unless...

A foreboding thought surged into the Yellow Springs Ancestor's mind, filling him with unease...

"I have already sent men to keep trying..." Though this subordinate was an expert at the very peak of the late Heaven Rank, he still trembled before the Yellow Springs Ancestor, not daring the slightest disrespect, for the Yellow Springs Ancestor had already reached the great perfection of the late Heaven Rank peak—one of the most formidable beings in the world. Experts who had attained the great perfection of the late Heaven Rank peak were rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns even among the ancient powers!

"Fine. You may withdraw for now. If there is any news, tell me at once!" The Yellow Springs Ancestor waved a hand, somewhat listless. The bad premonition in his heart had already risen; he had more or less guessed the fate of his three subordinates, he simply could not quite bring himself to believe it.

But what came next left him utterly furious!

The same subordinate came again. This man was a first-rate expert within the Blood-Robed Yellow Springs Sect, second only to one and above a hundred—his name was the Sinister Ancestor. Yet before the Yellow Springs Ancestor he dared not put on airs. The Blood-Robed Yellow Springs Sect was a rigidly hierarchical assassins' organization. Apart from the Blood-Robed Ancestor, the Yellow Springs Ancestor's senior fellow disciple who was currently in seclusion, no one in the Blood-Robed Yellow Springs Sect could stand on equal footing with the Yellow Springs Ancestor. The Sinister Ancestor was little more than a steward.

"Yellow Springs Ancestor, the bodies of Gold Medal Number Five and Gold Medal Number Six have been found..." The Sinister Ancestor's voice was hoarse as well, yet it carried within it an incredulous shock.

"So they really are dead..." The Yellow Springs Ancestor's voice was unspeakably bitter. Gold Medal assassins—Gold Medal assassins, no less! The Blood-Robed Yellow Springs Sect had only a handful of them in all, and now two had died at once, while the third's fate was unknown. "What of Gold Medal Number Three?"

"Still unclear. But as things stand, he is most likely dead. There were signs of a chase at the scene, but it was too chaotic to tell where they finally fled. One thing is certain, though—Wei Zhao is completely unharmed!" The Sinister Ancestor smiled bitterly. "Our people spotted Wei Zhao's car heading back near the expressway..."

The Yellow Springs Ancestor slammed his palm onto the table, and the exquisite redwood desk before him instantly shattered into a pile of splinters! Prepared as he was, the Yellow Springs Ancestor still could not bear the blow. "Do not tell me all three of them were killed by Wei Zhao? Was it not said that he was merely an Earth Rank expert? How could he kill three Heaven Rank experts? How is that possible?"

"That... according to the intelligence team's investigation, Wei Zhao possesses the strength to instantly kill Heaven Rank experts..." the Sinister Ancestor said weakly.

"Instantly kill Heaven Rank experts? What kind of ancient joke is this? Have you ever seen an Earth Rank expert instantly kill a Heaven Rank one—and three of them at once?" The Yellow Springs Ancestor glared, furious.

"Yellow Springs Ancestor, this matter... I fear it is true..." The Sinister Ancestor smiled bitterly. "After a thorough investigation by the intelligence team, Wei Zhao did indeed kill an early-stage Heaven Rank expert from the Red Conch previously... and it was an instant kill!"