Chapter 4103 — Longing to See Tianchan

"Good. Thank you for your trouble, Elder Cai," Wei Zhao said with a delighted nod.

Over the past three days, the matter that had weighed on him most was how he ought to settle Xueli in the days to come. There was certainly no going back to the Snow Sword Sect, yet having Xueli simply follow him back to the North Island was hardly realistic either.

Even with Wei Zhao's connection to Shangguan Tianxia, getting Xueli placed in the Triplex Pavilion would be exceedingly difficult—especially since Shangguan Tianxia had already mistaken there to be something between him and Shangguan Lan'er. If Wei Zhao were to suddenly bring back a peerless beauty, the man, as Shangguan Lan'er's grandfather, no matter how broad-minded, would probably feel compelled to have a serious talk with Wei Zhao about life's ideals...

If all else failed, he could only entrust her to Ning Xuefei and have her try to take Xueli to the West Island first. That was a gathering place for female cultivators, and with the care of a little princess like Ning Xuefei, Xueli ought to get along quite well there.

But that was an arrangement of last resort. After all, to carry it out, Wei Zhao would first still have to take Xueli back to the North Island—which would not only become known to Shangguan Tianxia regardless, but the dangers they would face along the way were already a major problem beyond solution. Xueli's current strength was simply too weak.

Moreover, by the time he returned with Xueli, whether Ning Xuefei would still be on the North Island was already an unknown. After all, so many days had passed; Ning Xuefei had only come out to have some fun with Shangguan Lan'er, and it was unlikely she would remain on the North Island all this time.

Turning it over and over in his mind, a sudden flash of inspiration lit Wei Zhao's thoughts, and another familiar, breathtakingly beautiful face appeared before him—Tianchan!

Since that hurried parting on the Far North Island, he had no idea how she was faring now. This unexpected trip to the Middle Island was outside his plans, but since he was here already, he must find some way to see Tianchan.

"Elder Cai, as deputy steward of the Five Elements Merchant Guild and a nominal disciple of Master Zhang, you are part of the Middle Island Elixir Hall. Then do you know Tianchan? She is a disciple of the Elixir Hall as well," Wei Zhao asked.

"Tianchan? Of course I know of her. If you were asking about any other ordinary Elixir Hall disciple, this old man might not know them—the hall has so many disciples, and I spend most of my years here at the Five Elements Merchant Guild, with little time over there. But this Tianchan is the exception," Cai Zhongxuan replied.

"Oh? And why is that?" Wei Zhao was immediately curious.

"Ha, I know of her because something concerning her recently kicked up a great stir. Everyone from top to bottom in the Middle Island Elixir Hall, the Five Elements Merchant Guild included, knows of it, so I merely caught wind of it as well," said Cai Zhongxuan.

"What exactly happened? Elder Cai, please tell me quickly," Wei Zhao said, his heart tightening as he pressed the question.

Here on the Middle Island, Tianchan might not suffer as bitterly as Xueli, but her situation was no better—alone and unsupported. Whatever great upheaval arose, she would hardly be the one to benefit.

"This is a long story; it begins on the Far North Island..." Cai Zhongxuan then recounted everything he knew about Tianchan to Wei Zhao in full, and finally sighed with feeling: "This Tianchan is a girl of bitter fate as well. Forced at such a young age into a ghost marriage with someone—truly, heaven envies beauty..."

Before he could finish, Cai Zhongxuan's eyelid suddenly twitched, and in the next moment he saw a violently fierce aura erupt from Wei Zhao. Astonished and bewildered, he could not help but feel a secret alarm.

If he was not mistaken, Wei Zhao's strength should still be only at the peak of the late Foundation Establishment stage—yet an aura like this felt comparable to an early Golden Core expert!

"Zheng Dongjue, you old bastard! If I, Wei Zhao, do not hack you to pieces in this life, may I never be human again!" After hearing it all, Wei Zhao was so furious that the veins bulged on his forehead, his fists clenched tight, boiling with rage.

By his nature, even if someone foolishly provoked him, he would at most strike them down and be done with it; normally he would never truly lose his temper, much less lose control of his emotions as he had now.

But today, having heard of Tianchan's ordeal, Wei Zhao had completely lost his self-control.

This unexpected trip to the Middle Island had first brought Xueli's troubles, and now he had learned of Tianchan's miserable fate—how could Wei Zhao not go berserk!

"Wei Zhao, calm down first..." Seeing this, Xueli hurriedly tugged at him, afraid that if he lost control he would charge straight out. This was the Middle Island, where experts gathered like clouds—Golden Core cultivators walked everywhere and Foundation Establishment was worth less than a dog. If Wei Zhao lost control and went berserk, he would be the one to suffer.

"Why is Young Hero Lin so agitated?" Cai Zhongxuan asked, puzzled by Wei Zhao's reaction.

"Tianchan is like me—back in the mortal realm, she and Wei Zhao already..." Xueli could only explain, blushing.

Though she did not finish, Cai Zhongxuan understood well enough, and could not help sighing inwardly: this Wei Zhao was truly a man of romantic exploits. Even in the mortal realm he had so many confidantes of heavenly beauty—this Xueli before him was already a top-tier beauty of the first order, and that Tianchan, from what he heard, was the same.

The phrase "beauty is a source of trouble" was truly not wrong at all, especially on this Cloud Terrace Island where the strong preyed on the weak. The reason both Xueli and Tianchan attracted so much trouble was simply that they were too beautiful.

Still, Cai Zhongxuan suddenly thought of his own master, who was in fact much the same—bringing Masters Bing and Xue up from the mortal realm, and at the beginning it seemed to have kicked up quite a stir as well.

Cai Zhongxuan mused for a moment, then said to Wei Zhao: "Young Hero Lin, seeing Tianchan is not impossible. Several of my fellow disciples are in the Elixir Hall; we are all nominal disciples of the same master and look after one another. I can ask them for help and arrange for you to meet Tianchan."

"Truly?" Wei Zhao's violent aura paused, and his mind gradually recovered from its fury.

Cai Zhongxuan nodded firmly. "But first you must promise me one thing: you absolutely must not act rashly. My master is not in the Elixir Hall at present, and that Zheng Dongjue, as the most powerful deputy hall master, is now the greatest authority in the Elixir Hall. With your current strength, challenging him would be seeking your own death—even I could not help you then."

Wei Zhao drew a long, deep breath and lowered his head to compose himself for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Good. I will do as Elder Cai says."

He had regained his clarity from the rage. Though Tianchan had suffered no small grievance, this so-called ghost marriage, seen from her perspective, was not such a bad thing after all. Zheng Tianjie was thoroughly dead and could not possibly do anything to her; on the contrary, this status could serve as her protective umbrella, sparing her much trouble. R1152