Chapter 3264 — The Aftermath

Wei Zhao fled with Xu Shilan and Cheng Yiyi, running desperately all the way, with no idea how far they had gone or how many small towns they had passed through. At last, the little strength left in his body was spent, and he had no choice but to stop, setting Xu Shilan and Cheng Yiyi down by the roadside.

Wei Zhao knew that after running so far—and not in a straight line, either—the odds of their pursuers finding him were very small. Even so, he did not dare let down his guard. After setting Xu Shilan and Cheng Yiyi down, he hid behind a haystack near an open-air farm by the roadside.

"I'm sorry... Wei Zhao, I've caused you trouble..." Xu Shilan looked at him full of apology.

Wei Zhao waved a hand. "This isn't your fault. He Tianzu taking an interest in you is a small problem. The real conflict is that I killed their Elder Chen back then. But it's fine—didn't we get away?"

"Will Yang Qiqi be all right?" Xu Shilan was somewhat worried about her safety.

"I'll call and ask." Even if Xu Shilan had not said it, Wei Zhao had already intended to phone Yang Qiqi and ask about her situation.

The call connected quickly, and Yang Qiqi's anxious voice came through from the other end: "Brother Wei Zhao, how are you all doing?"

"We got away safely. It's fine, don't worry about us. But what about you—will you make enemies with the Overseas Cultivators Association over this?" Wei Zhao asked with some concern.

"It's fine, they wouldn't dare do anything to me." Yang Qiqi shook her head. "Besides, I'm not foolish enough to admit to the relationship between us. I only said that you helped me during the trials in the past, which is why I hosted you."

"That's good." Wei Zhao nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed Yang Qiqi was quite shrewd after all—not as slow-witted as he had remembered her! Still, it made sense: this was Yang Qiqi's home ground, while in those trials she had only been a guest, and a relatively weak one at that. Who else would people bully, if not her?

Still, the fact that Yang Qiqi belonged to the Overseas Cultivators Association also explained how she had leveled up so quickly. The association surely supplied her at regular intervals with body-tempering spirit medicines meant for their top external experts.

"Brother Wei Zhao, are they still chasing you? How about I probe for information on your behalf?" Yang Qiqi offered.

"Absolutely not!" Wei Zhao refused outright and hastily warned her: "Qiqi, don't be careless. They may not dare do anything to you, but you are connected to me after all, and it would be bad if they grew suspicious. What you need to do is go to the association on your own initiative and admit a fault, then cut all ties with me—understand?"

"Ah? That..." Yang Qiqi was a little reluctant. Pretending to have no relation to Wei Zhao was one thing, but cutting ties completely was a bit much...

"Qiqi, be good! I'll be relying on you to gather information in the future. You can't afford to get into trouble." Wei Zhao said with a stern expression.

"All right..." Yang Qiqi knew Wei Zhao probably still had matters to entrust to her in the future, so she could only nod.

"Also, that blue crystal—if the Overseas Cultivators Association asks, don't say you bought it for me. Say you bought it for yourself." Wei Zhao instructed. "And if they ask what you want it for, tell them you heard blue crystals can be used to forge divine weapons, so you bought it to collect, and later you'll see whether you can find someone to forge a divine weapon for you."

"Got it." Yang Qiqi nodded without asking more.

"Also, if they ask why Xu Shilan and the rest of us attended the auction, say it was you who wanted to go, and that we were merely accompanying you to have a look around—but that you didn't see anything good enough, so you didn't bid." Wei Zhao said.

"Understood." Yang Qiqi was a clever person, and she knew that Wei Zhao was saying this so she could keep helping him collect other materials. If she admitted this time that it was Wei Zhao who needed them, she would never be able to attend an auction again.

"That's all for now. Once I've settled in and the heat dies down, I'll head to X Island. We'll meet there." Wei Zhao said.

X Island was one of the places where Wei Zhao had lived as a child. His master and his master's wife were there—only, after his master left all those years ago, he had never been back to X Island again.

Wei Zhao, Xu Shilan, and Cheng Yiyi took advantage of the dark to reach a nearby small town. Because the three of them dared not reveal their real identities, they did not check into an inn. Instead, they chose a bathhouse. Bathhouses allowed guests to rest inside overnight without identity registration, which was very convenient.

And Wei Zhao's guess had been right. Before Yang Qiqi could even go to the Overseas Cultivators Association to admit a fault, its people came to her first! They wanted to ask her some questions!

However, when Yang Qiqi arrived at the Cultivators Association, President He Dantou was very courteous to her and did not mistreat her at all: "Yang Qiqi, please sit down. I called you here because there are some things I'd like to clarify!"

"President He, I'm sorry... it was my poor judgment in people. I never knew that Ling Yi was an enemy of our Overseas Cultivators Association..." Yang Qiqi said with great apology and self-reproach. "Please punish me, President He!"

"Qiqi, what are you doing!" He Dantou waved a hand. "I'm not here to condemn you. I know you didn't know—not knowing is no fault. I just want to understand the situation a little better!"

"Yes, President, please go ahead!" Yang Qiqi nodded.

"It's like this—how did you and Wei Zhao meet?" He Dantou asked.

"Ling Yi... that is, Wei Zhao—during the trials, he used the alias Ling Yi. In the Ice Palace trial, I was bullied by others. Wei Zhao probably thought I was a lone, helpless girl, so he stepped in and helped resolve my trouble." Yang Qiqi said. "Later, in the Xuandan Sect trial, he helped me as well... and so we became friends!"

He Dantou nodded after hearing this. It was much as he had guessed: Yang Qiqi and Wei Zhao could only be considered chance acquaintances and slightly better-than-average friends—no other connection. So he asked: "Then what did he come here to do this time?"

"He came here mainly to help Xu Shilan and Cheng Yiyi connect with an entertainment company for a collaboration. As the host, I naturally gave them some hospitality." Yang Qiqi said.

"And they went to the auction?" He Dantou continued to ask. (These few days I'm going back to my parents' home to spend time with family, so I'll only be able to write updates at night—just one chapter, sorry. I'll return to normal after I get home on Saturday. Tonight I'll release another mobile game character of the The Blossom Guardian as well; please follow Yuren's official WeChat at yuren22.) RS