Chapter 4332 — No Need to Hold Back

At any other time, the man in blue's violent temper would have had him striking to kill long ago. But now he dared not act rashly. For one thing, the docks were under strict lockdown, and he could not risk making too much noise—this was, after all, a stolen ship, and exposure would mean trouble. For another, he had not yet taken Wei Zhao's measure, could not see through to the man's true strength.

Judging by this fellow's stance, he had not come with good intentions, and his aura was gathered tight, betraying nothing. If by chance he was a peak Golden Core cultivator—or even a Nascent Soul expert—then today would spell bitter suffering.

"Heh. How true it is that great men are ever forgetful. If you can't recall it yourself, then let it go. I make it a rule never to give my name to the dead." Wei Zhao smiled faintly, unbothered.

"What?!" The man in blue flew into a rage. He studied Wei Zhao's face for a moment, struck by a nagging sense of familiarity. Then, all at once, a jolt ran through him, and he stabbed a finger at Wei Zhao: "You're that escort!"

"Your memory's not half bad. Good—since you've worked it out yourself, at least you won't die with your eyes open. A fine thing, as far as you're concerned." Wei Zhao still leaned against the doorway, smiling with that same cool, indifferent ease.

"Hmph—die with my eyes open? Hahahaha!" Now that the man in blue had seen through Wei Zhao's true level, he was no longer tense as before. Brimming with brazen confidence, he doubled over with laughter. "Just an early-stage Golden Core ant, and your mouth is as big as ever! Heh heh, the four of you together didn't dare let out a single fart in front of me back then, and now that you're all alone, you've still got the nerve to swagger up and put on airs? You're the old man who hangs himself from the rafters—too tired of living to care!"

"Is that so funny?" A mocking curve lifted the corner of Wei Zhao's mouth.

"Of course it's funny. I've been out in this world for years, and I've never seen a fool like you. I spared your worthless life before, and now you've actually come crawling back onto this ship on your own. Someone in such a hurry to die—that's a rare sight!" The man in blue sneered. "Listen, boy—the Qingtian Escort Agency tosses you a few spirit jades and pays you a pittance. Is it worth selling your life for them like this? Or do you think snatching back the cargo we took makes you some kind of hero, all grand and glorious?"

"Heh. You're overthinking it. There's a ship sitting right here, ready to sail—I just hitched a ride, that's all. And while I was at it, I figured I'd honor a request and see the job done, seeing as someone asked me to. Who told you to be so unlucky as to run into me again?" Wei Zhao said lightly, betraying nothing.

"Heh heh, who are you calling unlucky? An early-stage Golden Core piece of trash, shooting off his mouth in front of me. Fine—I've got nothing better to do anyway. Today I'll teach you how the word 'death' is written!" With that, the man in blue exploded into motion, lunging straight for Wei Zhao.

"Oh? A stolen ship like this, and you're not afraid of kicking up a fuss and getting exposed?" Wei Zhao's lips curled in a light laugh. He kept his arms folded and did not strike.

"Hmph. So that's what you're counting on—thinking I'm afraid people will find out and won't dare touch you?" The man in blue kept charging forward, laughing all the while. "Hahahaha, a hopeless fool! What do you take this place for? This is the lawless Zhenduan sea lanes—murder and arson are everywhere, nobody gives a damn. Even if you told them I'm a pirate, you think anyone would help you? Utterly stupid!"

"So you're saying that even if someone dies here right now, no one will come to interfere?" Wei Zhao watched the man in blue, who in an instant had loomed over his head, and remained entirely unhurried.

"Naturally. I could carve you up in broad daylight and no one would stick their nose in—hahahaha!" Cackling viciously, the man in blue suddenly slashed downward from above. His scimitar was far shorter than an ordinary blade, normally kept hidden flat against his back where outsiders could scarcely spot it—and once he moved, it struck without warning.

Yet Wei Zhao showed not the slightest surprise. He simply tilted his head and pivoted slightly on the ball of one foot, and the utterly sudden first strike went wide. The blade whistled past, grazing his cheek—a hair's breadth from disaster.

"Much obliged for the reminder. It seems I needn't hold back against you either." Wei Zhao smiled, serene as a drifting cloud.

"Hmph—so you do have some skill!" His sure-kill blow so easily evaded, the man in blue was startled. And the aura Wei Zhao had flashed in that instant was no early-stage Golden Core at all—it was solid mid-stage Golden Core. That was a gap of two whole levels.

Before the words had even faded, Wei Zhao seized the opening left by the missed strike and drove a palm straight at him—the twenty-eighth form of the Raging Fire Eight Trigrams Palm!

"Haha, a fool's a fool! I only feigned an opening for you, and you fell for it hook, line, and sinker. So what if you're mid-stage Golden Core—you're still just an ant for me to butcher as I please!" In the man in blue's hand, the scimitar suddenly split from one into two, meeting Wei Zhao's Raging Fire Eight Trigrams Palm with a double slash. His scimitar was in fact twin blades joined as one—another unforeseen shift in technique, and any opponent caught off guard would pay dearly for it.

And with the gap in their cultivation right there before him, in the man in blue's eyes this head-on clash held no suspense whatsoever. There could be only one outcome: Wei Zhao's palm, and his body with it, would be cut clean in two at the waist.

But in the next instant, the man in blue's vicious grin froze solid. Before his twin blades could reach Wei Zhao, his whole body was already engulfed by the blazing true qi of the Raging Fire Eight Trigrams Palm's twenty-eighth form.

Bang! A great hole burst open in the man in blue's chest, and he was flung backward, crashing onto the deck not far off. His eyes went dull, and he sprawled limply on the boards—a corpse through and through.

He never could have imagined it—that a peak late-stage Golden Core expert like himself, trading blows face to face, would prove no match at all for a mere mid-stage Golden Core opponent. Truly, he died with his eyes wide open.

There had been only a single exchange, one clean, decisive killing blow. The people outside had not even noticed the disturbance—and even if someone had, then, just as the man in blue had said, no one would come to stick their nose in. In the Zhenduan sea lanes, the price of meddling was usually a life—your own dragged down along with it. So no one did such foolish things.

Wei Zhao glanced at the man in blue's mangled corpse, showing not the least intention of covering it up, and simply left it sprawled there. He himself, perfectly at ease, found a sheltered corner in the cabin and sat down out of the wind. He was an assassin by training, after all—a corpse brought him not the slightest discomfort; he had long since grown used to such things before he ever set foot in the world. (To be continued...)