Chapter 3704 — Don't Tell Anyone

After circling the little grove once along the gravel path, Wei Zhao finally came upon Shangguan Lan'er and her pet, the little curly-furred bear, at a pavilion.

"Woo woo!" The moment the little curly-furred bear caught sight of Wei Zhao, it lunged over without a moment's hesitation. Shangguan Lan'er, its mistress, could not hold it back no matter how she tugged, and could only stand to one side stewing in silence.

Only after watching Wei Zhao and the little creature romp about for a while did Shangguan Lan'er pout and ask, "Hey, what kind of spell did you cast on Little White, to make it dote on you like this!"

She had wanted to ask this question back at the rear mountain hall last time, but Wei Zhao and Meng Zhou's contest for first place had interrupted her.

"Heh, that's a question you should be putting to this little fellow, not to me, young lady," Wei Zhao said with a faint smile.

"You think I haven't asked it? This thing only knows how to bite the hand that feeds it—pour a little sweet talk into its ears and it loses all sense of direction. All these years I've doted on it, and in the end it's fonder of an outsider like you than of me!" Shangguan Lan'er glared at the little curly-furred bear, puffing with indignation.

Since the Three-Tiered Pavilion had few female disciples, the little curly-furred bear was not merely her pet but her closest playmate from childhood on. And now, all of a sudden, here was a Wei Zhao whom the creature favored even more—it felt exactly like a third party barging in, and she could not have been more vexed.

"Woo woo woo woo!" Perched on Wei Zhao's shoulder, the little curly-furred bear called out to Shangguan Lan'er again and again.

"You're saying Wei Zhao smells nice, so that's why you like climbing all over him?" Shangguan Lan'er rolled her eyes in exasperation. "And you still claim you don't bite the hand that feeds you? He's a grown man—could his smell possibly be any nicer than your mistress's?"

"Woo woo woo woo!" The little curly-furred bear seemed to be arguing something back.

"Really?" Half-believing, Shangguan Lan'er looked Wei Zhao up and down, and just as he was beginning to feel thoroughly baffled, her eyes suddenly blinked and she leaned in to sniff him carefully, muttering under her breath, "This scent really is rather pleasant, actually—I've never noticed it before..."

Wei Zhao was struck speechless. At this moment the girl's face was less than a centimeter from his neck; the slightest movement would likely make her kiss him right there.

Were the women of Cloud Terrace Island all this uninhibited? To press so close to a strange man she had met only twice—did that truly not matter to her?

Feeling Shangguan Lan'er's breath against his neck, even Wei Zhao could not keep his heart from fluttering. He barely managed to hold his posture—but just then the little curly-furred bear on his shoulder suddenly wobbled, and Wei Zhao instinctively moved to catch it. And then the tragedy occurred.

*Mwah!*

Both of them froze at once. After a good long moment of stunned silence, Shangguan Lan'er suddenly gave a startled cry, her pretty face flushing crimson as she sprang back two zhang, and pointed at Wei Zhao, stammering, "Y-you—why did you go and move for no reason!"

Wei Zhao spread his hands with an innocent look. "I wasn't the one moving just now—it was this little thing that moved!"

"Huh?" Shangguan Lan'er then saw the little curly-furred bear pulling a face at her, and her exasperation turned to helplessness—so it was all this little wretch's mischief!

"Y-you're not allowed to breathe a word of this to anyone, or I'll have my grandfather lock you up, pull out your tendons, flay your skin, and throw you into the cauldron to be refined into pills! Understand!" After a moment's daze, Shangguan Lan'er immediately put on a different face and glared at Wei Zhao ferociously.

This was the first time in all her life she had ever had intimate contact with a boy—and she had been the one to kiss Wei Zhao, no less! If anyone were to learn of it, she would simply die of shame!

"Yes, yes—I'll pretend nothing ever happened," Wei Zhao said, nodding again and again in full cooperation.

His thoughts, however... had drifted to Gu Mengyao. Seeing Shangguan Lan'er made him involuntarily think of that young lady; back when he had first gone to Songshan City, an indirect kiss had likewise come out of nowhere!

Only, the reactions of the two young ladies had been utterly different. Gu Mengyao had retched herself half to death, while Shangguan Lan'er had instead threatened him to keep his mouth shut!

This sent Wei Zhao into a momentary daze...

"Right, right—nothing ever happened!" Shangguan Lan'er hurriedly agreed, then turned and glared at the little curly-furred bear, baring a row of pearly teeth. "I'll deal with you when we get back!"

But the little curly-furred bear just sat atop Wei Zhao's head amusing itself, paying her no mind at all, which only made Shangguan Lan'er angrier still.

This young lady might be a touch haughty, but her nature was decent enough—endearingly naive and charming, even. Watching mistress and pet bicker, Wei Zhao could not help but smile.

Had Shangguan Lan'er truly been the sort of pampered young lady who could not bear the least slight, this little incident would have been a great deal of trouble. Once she branded it as indecent assault, the consequences would have been unthinkable—and it would have played right into the hands of Xu Lingchong, Meng Jueming, and their lot!

To avoid the awkwardness, Wei Zhao could only pick up the earlier thread. "Young lady, the truth is, this little thing is so close to me because of what happened the first time I saw it—I healed its wounds."

"You healed Little White's wounds?" Shangguan Lan'er was startled, but her concern was not why Wei Zhao could heal a spirit pet—instead she asked urgently, "Little White was injured before?"

"Indeed. The first time I saw it, it was quite badly hurt. I treated it without thinking much of it, and that's why it's so attached to me." Wei Zhao nodded.

The little curly-furred bear obligingly let out a string of woo-woos at his neck, confirming his account.

Shangguan Lan'er hastily gathered the little curly-furred bear into her arms and examined it up and down. Only after finding no lingering aftereffects did she breathe a sigh of relief. "Then why didn't you say so earlier? Quick, tell me—which bastard hurt Little White?"

Back at the rear mountain hall a few days ago, she had in fact recalled all the oddities surrounding the day she went looking for the little curly-furred bear. But the creature itself had only a hazy memory of what happened that day and could give no clear account, so she had let the matter drop and not looked into it further.

"That I'm afraid I don't know," Wei Zhao said, shaking his head.

He could guess that it was Meng Jueming and Meng Zhou who had injured the little curly-furred bear, but a guess was all it was, with no evidence whatsoever. Even if he pointed the finger at those two, it would only turn into an endless, tangled case with no head or tail to it. RS