Chapter 3680 — Wei Zhao Arrives

Xiao Che gave a bitter laugh. "I had no choice but to come back. My true qi is completely spent—even if I wanted to run, I couldn't."

Qiao Hongcai shook his head, speechless, yet a warmth was welling up in his heart. Until now, though he had time and again received Wei Zhao's kindness and felt grateful for it, he had never truly felt that he belonged at Xiao Che's side. But in the moment Xiao Che had resolutely turned back, he finally found that sense of belonging!

Neither he nor Xiao Che was a hanger-on or a burden to Wei Zhao. They were their own men—and they were part of Wei Zhao's crew!

"Hmph! Since you're back, hand over the spirit medicine—now! Or does this lord have to come take it himself?" Meng Zhou sneered, baring his teeth.

Things had come to such a pass that Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai had no chance left to resist or break out. Whether they cooperated or not, the spirit medicine would end up in the hands of Meng Zhou and his lot—the only difference was whether the scene looked graceful or ugly.

The moment Meng Zhou spoke, Li Zhengming and the other newcomers' eyes burned with greed. Qiao Hongcai's spirit medicine had already been swallowed whole by Meng Zhou alone, which had essentially secured him first place. So surely he had no need to hog the five hundred–plus points on Xiao Che as well?

And if it were to be divided among the others, then who got more and who got less would be the crux. Whoever got the larger share might vault into the top three and win a Foundation Establishment Pill; whoever got the smaller share could only pray to scrape into the top ten and make do with the three spirit jade consolation prize.

Of them all, the most impatient was Li Zhengming. Meng Zhou had promised him half, right to his face. He already had five hundred points of his own—add half of Xiao Che's, and he could lock in the top three and obtain the Foundation Establishment Pill he had dreamed of!

The Foundation Establishment Pill—for newcomers like them, it was a treasure that came only by chance and could never be sought!

"Hmph. Dawdling like this—seems you won't hand it over yourselves. Spurn a kindness and I'll be forced to do you a favor!" Meng Zhou bared his teeth in a savage grin and lunged at Xiao Che without the slightest restraint.

Just moments ago, in full view of everyone, Xiao Che had slipped right past him in a single exchange—a humiliation that had cost Meng Zhou every shred of face before his underlings. Now that Xiao Che was being so obstinate, it was the perfect chance to win his dignity back.

Surrounded by this many people, he refused to believe Xiao Che would dare resist!

And if Xiao Che did dare resist—well, that would give him the perfect excuse, an excuse to cripple both Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai together. All he would have to say afterward was that they were accidentally hurt in the scuffle, that fists and feet have no eyes—and even the others would have little to say against it.

Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai exchanged a glance, and both their hearts sank. Just as Meng Zhou expected, in a situation like this they truly did not dare resist lightly—otherwise, mobbed by so many, they might not merely have their cultivation crippled; even if they were beaten to death, the law would not punish the crowd.

More to the point, they were both utterly exhausted, their true qi spent to the dregs—even with the will, they had no strength left!

Seeing no sign of the two making a move, Meng Zhou curled his lip in disappointment. But he had no intention of letting them off so easily. Even if he could not use the occasion to cripple them both, he would at least land one vicious blow to teach them a lesson—to let them feel what it really meant to cross him!

"Thousand Legs, Twentieth Form!" Meng Zhou pulled the same trick again. Heavy shadows of legs shot straight at Xiao Che as he bellowed, grinning savagely in his triumph, "Aren't you a capable little brat? Go on, try dodging again if you've got the guts!"

Xiao Che gritted his teeth. That single instant of Mirage Step had already drained the last drop of his true qi. To try to dodge a Thousand Legs now was the pipe dream of a fool! Yet if he did not dodge, the outcome would be anything but death—and certainly grave injury. Meng Zhou, that bastard, would never pull his blow!

Just as despair closed in, a light breeze swept past him, and a familiar figure silently stepped in front of him. With a soft laugh the newcomer said, "Is a martial art this shabby even worth dodging?"

"What!" Meng Zhou was startled at the voice, and when he made out the newcomer's face, he went pale with shock. "Wei Zhao?!"

Wei Zhao extended a single palm, just about to give this creature a lesson he would not forget, when Meng Zhou—risking backlash and internal injury—abruptly cut off his own Thousand Legs Twentieth Form at the very peak of its power, then hastily retreated several steps and withdrew straight into the midst of Li Zhengming and the others.

The whole scene left everyone present dumbstruck—even Wei Zhao was staring in disbelief. My god! How had he never noticed before what a coward this creature was!

To retreat without a fight in full view of so many people—or rather, to be scared off by a single casual sentence from Wei Zhao—was simply too spineless for words!

The way Li Zhengming and the other newcomers now looked at Meng Zhou turned exceedingly strange. A coward this spineless—and he still had the nerve to go around calling himself the leader of Azure Cloud Pavilion's newcomers?

"What are you staring at! This lord is employing tactics—don't you understand! When I can clearly win by numbers, why would I insist on dueling this idiot one-on-one? You think this lord's brain is broken?" Meng Zhou glared guiltily at the newcomers and snarled viciously.

Given the creature's habit of always hogging the spotlight, would he have so shrewdly given up the chance to wipe out his earlier shame if he weren't afraid of Wei Zhao?

Though the newcomers had their doubts, they did not call out Meng Zhou's bluster for what it was. They merely added silently in their hearts: Looks like that first day, being defeated by Wei Zhao in a single move, really did leave the creature with no small psychological scar!

Wei Zhao smiled noncommittally and turned to Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai. "Are you two all right?"

"I'm fine, Leader Wei Zhao!" Qiao Hongcai shook his head, his face alight with excitement. But in Xiao Che's eyes there was not only unexpected joy but also a thick undertone of worry. "You shouldn't have shown up at a time like this. Really, you shouldn't!"

Wei Zhao knew perfectly well what troubled him and said with a faint smile, "It's fine. You've both done very well. Leave what comes next to me."

"All right!" Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai nodded firmly in unison. Matters had come to this; apart from trusting Wei Zhao, they had no other choice.

Facing the twelve heaven-grade grand completion experts led by Meng Zhou, they had no idea where Wei Zhao's confidence came from—but at this moment, they found themselves unconsciously beginning to believe that Wei Zhao might truly have a way to resolve this crisis!

"So the poseur newcomer shows himself. Heaven has a road and you won't take it; hell has no gate, yet you insist on barging in. This lord has lived many a year, but a fool like you—that I truly have never seen!" Having withdrawn into the midst of the newcomers and finally regained his sense of safety, Meng Zhou was once more swaggering about. RS