Chapter 4401 — Nothing Must Go Wrong

"And another thing—if I remember right, after the dungeon was blown open, that fellow seemed to drag the one surnamed Lu off with him when he ran. There's definitely something fishy between those two, heh heh!" Sun Hengbiao grew more animated the more he said.

"Hold on. That one surnamed Lu—what's his full name?" the mysterious man suddenly spoke up.

"Uh... let me think..." Sun Hengbiao screwed up his brow and thought for a long while, then finally smacked his own head. "Seems like his name was Lu Bianren!"

"Lu Bianren?!" The mysterious man's gaze flickered at once, and the corner of his mouth curled into a faint, knowing arc.

"Could it be that you know this person?" the woman asked, seeing this.

The mysterious man gave an imperceptible nod. He glanced at Wang Dayuan and the others present, but said no more—by now he had already guessed the truth of the matter, yet with so many ears about, he naturally would not speak of it before them.

"The rest of you, withdraw for now." The woman caught his meaning at once and immediately ordered everyone out.

Sun Hengbiao was indifferent enough, but Wang Dayuan and Ma Tianlang were overjoyed. They had thought that with the enormous mess they had made this time, they would be lucky to escape with only a layer of skin peeled off—yet from the look of things, this Miss Luan seemed to have no intention of pursuing the matter in earnest?

The two of them thanked her profusely on the spot and hurriedly dragged Sun Hengbiao out. In the room, only Miss Luan and the mysterious man remained.

"This Lu Bianren, barring any surprises, is a disciple of the Qingyun Pavilion on North Island. Back when he served as the third pavilion master of the Yingxin Pavilion, he was said to be on extremely close terms with Wei Zhao," the mysterious man said slowly.

"Oh? Lu Bianren and Wei Zhao were close—then that would mean the martial artist is very likely Wei Zhao himself?" Miss Luan nodded. In truth, she had harbored suspicions along these lines well before now; after all, she had been keeping an eye on Wei Zhao for more than a day or two.

"Precisely. At least a ninety percent chance. According to what this man just said, the technique used to destroy the dungeon closely resembled a pill-fire bomb. And among all the people I have seen, only two are skilled in that exceedingly rare trick. One is Kang Jingming, who is now a member of our center and is presently on North Island, so he can naturally be ruled out. The other remaining one is Wei Zhao!" The mysterious man's tone was certain.

"Close to Lu Bianren, and also capable of using pill-fire bombs—judging by that, this martial artist must undoubtedly be Wei Zhao," Miss Luan concluded.

"Mm. There is one more point that corroborates it. This man may look like a martial artist, but the impression he gives does not match that air of his—which shows he was very likely wearing a disguise mask, meaning he was Wei Zhao in another guise." The mysterious man nodded, then went on: "Moreover, when I previously went to the Lufeng Forest in search of the infant ginseng, I had in fact already discovered traces of it, only for someone to beat me to it. Traces of a pill-fire bomb were left at the scene as well. If I am not mistaken, that too was Wei Zhao's doing."

Taken one by one, these scattered incidents might only arouse suspicion, but gathered all together, when every arrow pointed at the same person, there was no longer any room for doubt. This man was Wei Zhao, beyond question!

"Heh heh, this youngster is rather interesting. I truly cannot tell whether he is doing this deliberately or by sheer chance, to come spoiling our affairs time and again..." Miss Luan could not help but laugh. From her expression at this moment, however, no one could tell whether she was pleased or angry.

"Miss Luan, shall I go myself?" the mysterious man proposed. Whether deliberate or not, letting Wei Zhao run rampant like this was ultimately no good for them. If they truly left him unchecked, who knew what trouble he might stir up in the days to come.

"You must not! Wei Zhao must be kept alive; he still has an important use in the future. This is something Dr. Li instructed me about personally, and it cannot be defied. Besides, it is no great matter. A little trouble is just a little trouble—let him run wild for now," Miss Luan said with a slight shake of her head.

"But this Wei Zhao—he has time and again done astonishing things. Do not be fooled by his current low strength; I have a premonition that before long he may well become a mortal threat to us, and by then dealing with him will not be so easy," the mysterious man said with some concern.

He seemed to understand Wei Zhao very well. Given his level of strength, under normal circumstances he would never pay the slightest attention to a mere Golden Core expert like Wei Zhao—he would regard him only as a lowly ant to be crushed at will. Even if that ant kicked up a little trouble, it could never change the larger course of things.

Yet for some unknown reason, the mysterious man's regard for Wei Zhao had already far exceeded the level he would give any ordinary ant—one might even call it facing a formidable enemy.

"What? With your gifts and strength, could it be that you are actually afraid of a junior like this? Now that is truly a rarity!" Miss Luan could not help but laugh.

On Cloud Terrace Island these days, it was she who coordinated the overall situation, but as one of the chief confidants, this mysterious man in fact held a very high position within the organization. That he had reached his current level was entirely due to his extraordinary talent and strength, earned bit by bit through his own efforts. Before him, no magnate dared show the slightest contempt.

Being extraordinary himself, the mysterious man was inevitably one to hold his head high above all others. To say nothing of ordinary figures, even Xuan Ascension experts—

Yet now, he alone made an exception for Wei Zhao, a mere Golden Core expert, and had even spoken aloud the misgivings in his heart. Such a thing left even Miss Luan astonished.

"It is not fear. It is only that my intuition tells me this Wei Zhao is not to be underestimated. To avoid trouble later, it would be best to strangle the hidden danger in the cradle," the mysterious man said gravely.

As Miss Luan had said, with his gifts and strength, he had never needed to fear anyone. Any expert—including those legendary figures—was only ever fated to be surpassed by him; no one had ever been able to surpass him.

But for all his arrogance, the mysterious man was at the same time absolutely rational. He never let arrogance ruin his affairs, nor ever let it make him underestimate an enemy. Otherwise, had he truly been the sort to look down on all others the moment he gained a little strength, he could never have attained his present status and level within an organization teeming with experts.

"That is true enough, but this Wei Zhao still cannot die for the time being. If he dies, things will lose all their interest. This is not only Dr. Li's instruction but also a consideration of the situation." Seeing how gravely the mysterious man spoke, Miss Luan explained in earnest: "If something happens to Wei Zhao—especially if it happens at our hands—it could very well force those people to turn desperate and fight to the death with us, and then we would be in serious trouble!"