Chapter 4186 — Gongyang Jun's Decision

"Gotten together" did not mean merely that Wei Zhao and Shangguan Lan'er were idly keeping each other company—it meant finding out whether the two had already joined forces in some villainous collusion. This would affect how he dealt with Wei Zhao; after all, if they truly had gotten together, he would have no choice but to be wary of Shangguan Tianxia.

"This..." Kang Jingming and Zhong Yongliang exchanged glances, their faces plainly reluctant. Following the young master Xu back today was a long-awaited chance to throw their weight around—who would not want to be at Xu Lingchong's side, showing off? If they were assigned to keep watch, what would be the point of putting on airs then?

Kang Jingming especially had been counting on this chance to rally his forces today and restore the prestige of a new senior deacon—how could he just be sent off like this?

Under Xu Lingchong's gaze, Kang Jingming grew anxious and hurriedly looked at Zhong Yongliang beside him, giving a fake cough.

"Young Master Xu, how about I go instead?" Zhong Yongliang said at once, catching the hint. The reluctance on his face was of course deliberately feigned—he was counting on this chance to slip ahead and tip off Wei Zhao—but he could not appear too eager.

"Fine, you go," Xu Lingchong said with an indifferent nod.

Kang Jingming was secretly delighted. He gave Zhong Yongliang a covert thumbs-up, thoroughly pleased with his initiative. True, when Xu Lingchong had gone missing earlier, his own position had come under a bit of threat, but now that the young master Xu was back, his standing had naturally risen with the tide again.

When it came to closeness with Xu Lingchong, he was far more intimate with him than Zhong Yongliang was. Still, it was rare for Zhong Yongliang to be so perceptive—it seemed he could be promoted a bit more in the future, and could be counted on to take the blame when it mattered.

Zhong Yongliang turned and left at once, chuckling to himself. That fool Kang Jingming was being sold out and was still helping count the money—if not for him, where would he have gotten such a fine chance to slip ahead and tip off Wei Zhao?

Though Wei Zhao was not in his cave dwelling, he knew Wei Zhao well. Since Shangguan Lan'er had called him out, he had most likely gone to the little grove—the place they often played.

Having packed Zhong Yongliang off to keep watch, Kang Jingming continued to follow Xu Lingchong, borrowing the tiger's might, and arrived at the entrance of Meng Zhou's cave dwelling, where he triggered the dwelling's seal.

"Young... Young Master Xu, you're back?" Meng Zhou opened the cave dwelling's door and, seeing the whole crowd before him—especially Xu Lingchong at their head—jumped in fright.

He had been in seclusion cultivating this whole time, rarely coming out, and had not even heard the rumors that were on every woman's and child's lips outside. He did not much regard Kang Jingming and the others, but to suddenly see his long-lost patron—of course he was startled.

Xu Lingchong looked at the utterly transformed Meng Zhou before him, and his eyes could not help but light up; he was somewhat astonished at heart. The old Meng Zhou had been an out-and-out worthless fool and cannon fodder, but the Meng Zhou of today had not only been reborn in strength compared to before—more crucially, his entire bearing and aura had become unfathomable. With that flowing white hair, he had a singular, otherworldly charm.

Xu Lingchong's heart stirred slightly. He waved a hand at the people behind him and instructed, "Zhaoming, you keep watch outside. This young master will go in and have a good talk with Meng Zhou."

With that, Xu Lingchong took the initiative to pull Meng Zhou along, and the two entered the cave dwelling, shutting the door and the seal behind them. No one knew what they went in to do, leaving only Kang Jingming, Hu Yunfeng, and the others staring at one another at the entrance.

At that moment in the little grove, Wei Zhao sat chatting idly with Shangguan Lan'er, while Huang Xiaotao was off to the side, being pestered into play by Little Curly Bear.

"Heh, Little White seems to really like playing with Xiaotao lately!" Wei Zhao raised an eyebrow in surprise. The little creature was not especially shy of strangers, but apart from Shangguan Lan'er and himself, it rarely took the initiative to get close to anyone. He had not expected it to hit it off so well with Huang Xiaotao.

"Oh, it's working so hard to curry favor with Sister Xiaotao, but its real intentions lie elsewhere," Shangguan Lan'er said with a giggle.

"What do you mean by that?" Wei Zhao asked curiously.

"Last time Little White played all afternoon with Sister Xiaotao's spirit bird, and then it fell in love with the feeling of riding a bird through the sky—it simply couldn't stop. I had to coax it for ages before I tricked it into going to sleep," Shangguan Lan'er said with a pout.

"Oh? So Little White is planning to become a flying knight—lofty ambitions!" Wei Zhao laughed heartily. "It's not a bad thing, though. It's far better than when it used to drag those big scissors around scaring people all day, isn't it?"

Ever since that last birthday banquet, when it had muddle-headedly snipped Xu Lingchong, Little Curly Bear had inexplicably taken a liking to those big scissors—it simply could not bear to let them go, refusing to put them down even for meals or sleep, which had given everyone quite a headache for a while. But now the little creature's interests had finally shifted.

"Hehe, I suppose so." Shangguan Lan'er stuck out her tongue, then suddenly changed expression. "Speaking of which, little junior brother, have you heard? Xu Lingchong is back."

"Mm, I've already heard people mention it. They say this young master Xu has changed a great deal—he's now an expert at the middle Golden Core stage. Quite formidable," Wei Zhao said with a nod, his expression unchanged.

"I wonder what that close-mouthed Gongyang Jun was thinking, actually lifting his wanted status. After offending this young lady, he's still allowed to come back and swagger about—it's simply infuriating!" Shangguan Lan'er said angrily.

"Lifting the wanted status—was that Gongyang Jun's own decision? Could it not have been Xu Yuanzheng or some other higher-up applying pressure?" Wei Zhao's heart stirred. The rumors in the streets all said it was Xu Yuanzheng's doing, but if Gongyang Jun had taken the initiative himself, then the implications behind it were rather intriguing.

"Uh, that I'm not clear on, but the close-mouthed one is the hall master of the Law Enforcement Hall. Without his nod, no matter what anyone else did, the wanted status could never have been lifted—that much is certain," Shangguan Lan'er said. Though she never concerned herself with such matters, she had picked up enough by exposure to understand the ins and outs clearly.

"Could it really have been Gongyang Jun's own nod?" Wei Zhao stroked his chin thoughtfully. He had dealt with Gongyang Jun before, and from what he knew of the man, he was extremely proud and self-confident. If he did not wish it, then even the King of Heaven himself would probably be unable to make him bow his head.

"Who knows. The most important thing right now is that Xu Lingchong has come back breathing fire this time—he's certainly up to no good where you're concerned, little junior brother..." Shangguan Lan'er said worriedly.

"That's no problem—when soldiers come, a general will stop them; when water comes, earth will dam it. We already made a high-profile appearance when we dealt with Su Zhaohe, so one more Xu Lingchong makes no difference. At worst, we'll just have another fight." Wei Zhao laughed. R1152