Chapter 4055 — Someone Else Has Come

"Football?" Kang Jingming and the others all felt their eyelids twitch in unison.

Before they could react, Wei Zhao swung his leg and, without the slightest mercy, sent Meng Zhou flying backward several zhang once more—and the utterly dazed Meng Zhou could not even manage a decent attempt at resistance.

This time, not only did Meng Zhou, who stood at the very front, meet with misfortune; Murong Zhen and the others who had failed to react were dragged down with him as well.

One kick followed hard upon another, and Wei Zhao used Meng Zhou like a football, kicking him straight out of the cave.

Murong Zhen and Kang Jingming and the rest had it even worse. Crushed beneath Meng Zhou as he tumbled, they were sent sprawling in utter disgrace, and every one of them ended up as a human cushion. None had been struck directly by Wei Zhao, yet all came away with bloody noses and swollen faces, a thoroughly wretched sight.

Good grief—this was what he called playing football?!

Toyed with and humiliated like this by Wei Zhao, Kang Jingming and the others were now desperate enough to wish for death. Several times they tried to fight back with all they had, but each time Wei Zhao timed it perfectly, never giving them a chance to steady themselves. In a passage this narrow, once a man is sent head over heels, even dreaming of a desperate counterattack is sheer folly.

Among them all, only Zhong Yongliang, bringing up the rear, escaped disaster. Not only did he come to no harm, thanks to Wei Zhao's deliberate forbearance, but because he had purposefully used his own body to block the escape routes of those in front, he had, without ever letting it show, done them a great disservice—otherwise Wei Zhao would never have had the chance to kick with such relish.

By the time they had been kicked all the way out of the cave, not just Meng Zhou but Kang Jingming and the others as well could no longer even stand. To speak of risking their lives against Wei Zhao was out of the question; by now, even had they wanted to run, Wei Zhao would not give them the chance.

Wei Zhao raised his head and glanced around, then said blandly, "A desolate wilderness, not a soul for miles—truly a fine place to kill a man and hide the corpse. What do you say?"

Kang Jingming and the others trembled all over with fright. They had come here with only one thought: to kill Wei Zhao. Never had it crossed their minds that so many of them together would instead end up at the mercy of Wei Zhao alone, to be slaughtered as he pleased!

"You... you wouldn't dare! Disciples of the new intake killing one another—do you know what kind of crime that is?" Kang Jingming and the others hastily blustered, their words fierce but their courage spent.

Wei Zhao shook his head indifferently and said with a smile, "I don't know. But no one will find out anyway. Since you could come to kill me, it should be only fair that I turn the tables and kill you—I don't suppose you'd have much to complain about, would you? We're all adults here. We ought to look on the bright side and be reasonable. Isn't that right?"

With that, Wei Zhao was about to act at once. They had come to hinder him time and again, and he had truly been moved to murderous intent toward these people—especially given Meng Zhou's astonishingly rapid growth in strength. To leave them alive would surely breed endless trouble, so he might as well be thorough: kill them all and have done with it.

There was no one else here, after all. Kill them and bury the bodies, and heaven and earth would know nothing of it. Even if the Law Enforcement Hall investigated afterward, suspicion would never point directly at Wei Zhao. The risk was not great.

"One at a time. We'll start with you, Steward Kang." His killing intent laid bare, Wei Zhao walked slowly to Kang Jingming's side, frightening him so badly that his heart pounded in his chest and he nearly wet himself.

Dongfang Badao was scared stiff as well. He should never have come! Not only had he been a mere bystander from first to last, but now, at the very end, he was to be buried alongside them. What rotten luck.

Watching helplessly as Wei Zhao's hand reached for his throat, Kang Jingming scrambled backward for dear life across the ground. After rolling and crawling several zhang away, a sudden inspiration struck him, and he shrieked at the top of his lungs, "Wei Zhao, don't get cocky! Word that we came here looking for you has reached others too, and they're on their way right now! If you dare kill us, you won't escape punishment either—you'll be buried right along with us!"

At those words, Wei Zhao could not help but frown, and out of the corner of his eye he noticed that Zhong Yongliang, over on the other side, was also quietly nodding to him.

Had no one known, then killing them here would have been the end of it. But as things stood now, if he killed these people, he would have to follow them into the grave himself. That would not do.

Seeing the dreadful killing intent about Wei Zhao finally begin to subside, Kang Jingming gritted his teeth and scrambled to his feet. He dared not say any more nonsense to provoke Wei Zhao, and, before the man could change his mind, hurried to mount the flying spirit beast nearby and prepare to leave.

With Kang Jingming leading the way, Murong Zhen and the others all followed suit. Taking the dazed Meng Zhou along, they scrambled in frantic haste onto the flying spirit beasts to flee for their lives.

Watching them flee in such wretched disarray, Wei Zhao, though unwilling to let it go, could only hold back. If he did kill them, it would certainly be satisfying, but his own life would be forfeit as well—and even if Shangguan Tianxia stepped in then, he might not be able to save him.

"These people learning where I do my forging for no apparent reason—that's a bit of a nuisance, no small matter." Wei Zhao was somewhat vexed.

Because he had used so many exceedingly rare materials, there were few precedents to draw on, and even the Scrap King himself could not be certain just how long this forging would take.

Judging by past forging experience, it would surely not be a short stretch. If Kang Jingming and the others came back to make trouble, he truly could not afford to be careless.

The only good news was that the backers behind these people were either dead or missing. Relying on their own strength to face Wei Zhao, their fate could only be the same as today's—pure self-abuse. There was no need to take them too seriously.

Just then, several whistling sounds suddenly rang out overhead, and three figures descended from the sky, appearing before Wei Zhao with unfriendly expressions—none other than Nantian Ba, Nantian Guan, and Yu Jiang.

"Lin Er, this time we've caught you red-handed at last! My senior uncle and second senior uncle are here—now let's see how you escape! Wahahaha!" Yu Jiang laughed wildly and smugly.

Having suddenly received Kang Jingming's report earlier, the three of them had been somewhat skeptical. After what had happened on the Far North Island last time, though they still harbored resentment toward Wei Zhao, they had grown rather doubtful that Wei Zhao could be Lin Er. By comparison, Kang Jingming himself seemed the more likely suspect.

But now Lin Er stood right before them in the flesh. Whoever his other identity might be no longer mattered to anyone; all they needed to know was that Lin Er was the murderer of their third brother, Nantian Yong, and that Lin Er carried the Star Ink Stone—that was enough!

At the sight of the three descending from the sky, Wei Zhao's heart gave a sudden start. Kang Jingming had said only that others knew they had come here, but he had never imagined those others would be these three sworn enemies. This time the matter had truly turned serious!