Chapter 4689 — Running Into an Acquaintance

Huo Yudie's thoughts drifted off, and she could not help musing: if not for the fact that he had seen her injured, this fellow would probably have gone on hiding in the back all along, slacking off and picking up the fruits of her labor. When there was nothing to do, he was content to be a mere bystander; only when trouble came did he step forward without the slightest hesitation. This fellow, she had to admit, really did have a certain manliness about him!

But on second thought, perhaps Wei Zhao was only so eager and diligent out of fear that something might happen to her and he would never get his hands on the Thunder Profound Vine!

At once Huo Yudie shook her head, beset by a sense of gain and loss. Apart from pure considerations of profit, she did not believe Wei Zhao actually liked her—after all, his behavior from the very first time they met had already said everything.

Even behind a veil, other men would always light up at the sight of her. But Wei Zhao had not.

From beginning to end he had behaved with perfect normalcy. Not only that, when it came time to divide the spoils, he had opened his mouth as wide as a lion and gouged her without mercy. Especially just now, when he had used the opportunity of treating her poison, he had shown not the slightest interest in coveting her beauty; instead, the first thing out of his mouth had been a demand for a bigger share!

Huo Yudie's thoughts wandered freely. Hmph, if it had been any other, more normal man, one who had shared such an intimate entanglement with her, then even if he did not hand over the entire Thunder Profound Vine, he would at the very least have reversed the split and let her take eighty percent. Who else would be as stingy as this fellow Wei Zhao, neglecting to chase a beauty in her prime and instead clinging to the Thunder Profound Vine as if his life depended on it...

Of course, this was all pure imagination on her part. If Wei Zhao really were that sort of man, he would never have gouged her so brazenly in the first place—so what reversal would there even be to speak of?

Of these little fancies of Huo Yudie's, Wei Zhao was entirely unaware. The reason he was so eager to step forward and deal with trouble, though it did include a wish to keep Huo Yudie from running into danger again, was not chiefly for that. The main problem was really that time was limited, and he truly did not want to waste too much of it on the road.

Huo Yudie was an expert at the great consummation of the Nascent Soul stage. In theory, she could remain in this place for a full month, so for her time was still fairly ample.

Wei Zhao, however, was different. Though he had already grown strong enough to annihilate experts of the Profound Ascension stage in a single blow, when it came to his actual cultivation realm, he had still only reached the peak of the early Nascent Soul stage.

Who knew how that teleportation formation had been configured? If it happened to operate purely on the basis of cultivation realm, then things would be greatly to Wei Zhao's disadvantage. Should the journey be delayed a little too long and he found himself trapped here with no way out, that would be a truly damned and miserable end!

Since the limit for an expert at the great consummation of the Nascent Soul stage was only a month, then the limit for an expert at the peak of the early Nascent Soul stage could be at most half a month—ten days was highly possible even. That little time was extremely tight; a small delay on the road for any reason would see it slip away. This time it concerned Ning Xuefei's lifelong happiness, and Wei Zhao did not want it to end in tragedy.

So he had no other choice. The whole way he had to cut through knots with a sharp knife. For roadblocks like the puppet vine, if he could wipe them out in a single move, he absolutely would not use a second; there was no room for the slightest restraint.

And so it happened that Huo Yudie, an expert at the great consummation of the Nascent Soul stage, ended up playing second fiddle behind him. To be precise, she was a mere bystander, not even able to get in a single strike. Ordinarily, by the time she sensed a threat, Wei Zhao had long since settled it with one move.

Sheltered beneath the arm of a mere expert at the peak of the early Nascent Soul stage—any other expert at the great consummation of the Nascent Soul stage would have felt somewhat awkward about it, and at the very least would have lost face. Yet Huo Yudie harbored no such thoughts. Quite the contrary, she found the feeling truly wondrous, and it made her feel steady and assured from the bottom of her heart.

Wei Zhao swept all before him up ahead, while Huo Yudie followed behind him lost in her own fancies, now and then pausing to confirm their direction and route. In this fashion the two traveled for the better part of a day, and just as the sky was beginning to dim once more, Wei Zhao suddenly came to a halt up ahead and stopped dead in his tracks.

Bang! Huo Yudie, who had no idea what she was thinking about just then, ran headlong into Wei Zhao's back, sending him stumbling forward. Only then did she come to her senses, her face instantly flushing crimson. Seeing Wei Zhao turn his head, she rolled her eyes and, quick to shift the blame, demanded first: "What did you stop so suddenly for?"

Wei Zhao was momentarily speechless. He glanced at the girl, then pointed helplessly ahead, saying nothing more. For one thing, given this girl's figure and bounce, being bumped into from behind like that had actually been quite pleasant.

"What is it now? More danger?" Huo Yudie muttered. In any case, whenever she looked at Wei Zhao's back she could not help letting her mind wander; she had long since grown used to it.

Before Wei Zhao, the dignity befitting an expert at the great consummation of the Nascent Soul stage had long since been flung to the far ends of the earth; she had not a shred of self-awareness left.

"Danger, not exactly. But you will have to wait here for me a moment—a friend of mine seems to have run into some trouble." Wei Zhao's brows knitted slightly.

"Your friend?" Huo Yudie was taken aback. She hastily extended her divine sense in all directions, and only then discovered that off to the front left, some distance away, a few people appeared to be in conflict. Could one of them truly be Wei Zhao's friend?

The place was not far from where the two of them stood—less than two hundred zhang or so. At that moment, within a bend of the canyon, three men had surrounded a man and a woman, every one of their faces wearing a lewd, savage grin.

"Haha, I'll say it one more time: leave the heavenly treasures and this little wench behind, and we may yet spare your lives. If you refuse to see reason, heh heh..." One of the three, standing off to the side, laughed with unspeakable lewdness, while the other two laughed in triumph as well.

The three of them had the man and woman pinned dead to rights from left, center, and right, with a canyon cliff at their backs. Unless the pair could sprout wings and fly, dreaming of escape was sheer idiocy.

"Never!" It was a resolute male voice. He spread his arms and shielded the woman tightly behind him, facing the three without a trace of fear: "Even if I, Qi Wenmo, must die, I will never let you touch a single hair on Luoluo's head!"

Hearing that voice from afar, Wei Zhao could not help but smile. This was indeed just like Qi Wenmo—young master of the Qingtian Escort Agency though he was, he had little of the spoiled rich youth about him. Instead he was staunch and bold like a wandering knight of the jianghu, carrying a fine air of chivalry about him!

Since it was Qi Wenmo and Xia Qianqian who had run into trouble, Wei Zhao had at first meant to hurry over and extricate them. But after hearing what those men said, his steps were no longer so hurried.