Chapter 4729 — Winning Hearts

A moment ago the braided man had still been cackling coldly, but then a laser beam flashed, and in the next instant his entire head evaporated into thin air. The scene was so grotesque and bloody that even Scarface, a mountain bandit chief to whom murder and arson were everyday business, was struck dumb. Every last person drew a sharp breath and for a long while could not utter a single word.

Scarface had been wary of the brat before this, but never in his wildest dreams had he imagined the young man could be this terrifying. By the looks of it, he was not a hair inferior to the armored man!

How could he know that this had nothing to do with real strength? Even an ordinary child, so long as he could operate a laser cannon, could cut men down like grass.

"Who's next?!" Xu Lingchong leveled the laser cannon at the crowd, his face murderous, and instantly sent the whole pack scrambling with their hands over their heads, the scene descending into utter chaos.

Seeing that Xu Lingchong's eye seemed to have fallen on him, Scarface broke out in a cold sweat. In his panic he leapt forward and bellowed, "You blind fools! You'd dare provoke even a master of this caliber? If you're dead, you deserved it! Didn't I tell you to treat these two gentlemen properly? Is your skull stuffed with shit, that you can't remember something this important?!"

With that, Scarface turned and, his face wreathed in fawning smiles, said cautiously to Xu Lingchong, "Young hero, a great man does not hold a petty man's faults against him. It is all my failure to discipline them, letting these good-for-nothing idiots cause you trouble. How about I find you a place to rest your feet? I have some top-grade spirit tea—consider it my apology."

Scarface's skill at changing faces rather stunned Xu Lingchong. Since the man had voluntarily backed down, he naturally would not press the kill to the bitter end; after all, the fellow was a genuine peak early-stage Xuan Sheng expert. Even with the laser cannon, that instrument of mass slaughter, in his hands, without intelligent armor to shield him, his heart still quailed at the thought of facing an opponent of that caliber.

Otherwise, Xu Lingchong would not earlier have been frightened off by Huo Yudie, a mere Yuanying consummation cultivator. Being able to bluff Scarface now was already the best outcome he could have hoped for.

"No need. I'm in a hurry to be on my way," Xu Lingchong declined at once. He was terrified the man might see through him—how would he dare linger in a place like this? With that, he dragged Kang Jingming off without another word.

"Of course, of course, this way, please!" Scarface hastily stepped aside, and the rest of his underlings and lackeys likewise scrambled to clear a path, respectfully watching Xu Lingchong and his companion out of sight.

Xu Lingchong hauled Kang Jingming straight for the teleportation array without a moment's pause. On the other side, by contrast, Huo Yudie, likewise carrying the barely breathing Wei Zhao on her back, proceeded with the utmost caution, glancing behind her at every step, choosing wherever possible the paths they had taken on the way in, so as to minimize the risk.

That, however, slowed her considerably. After all, she did not have a top-tier weapon of mass destruction like the laser cannon; on the road, whatever she ran into, one blast would have settled it.

The whole way, at the slightest rustle of wind or stir of grass, Huo Yudie was trembling with fear, treading as if on thin ice. It was not that she was timid—the crux was that Wei Zhao's condition was far too precarious. He truly could not withstand the slightest mishap now.

It had taken Xu Lingchong only five days to drag Kang Jingming to the canyon exit, whereas Huo Yudie took a full fifteen. Trial participants and spirit beasts alike were targets she had to avoid at all costs, so she had detoured a great deal along the way, and time and again a single hiding spell would last her half a day. At that pace, she simply could not go fast.

Ten days had already passed before this, and now the return journey had consumed another fifteen. So by the time Huo Yudie carried Wei Zhao out of the Myriad-Year Canyon, the one-month deadline was already alarmingly close.

By this point, the vast majority of trial participants should have returned to the Western Island. Those who remained were either Yuanying consummation experts who could afford to linger a few more days, or those who had missed their window and, like Scarface and his crew, were trapped here with no way out. There was no third category.

Dust-stained and weathered, Huo Yudie appeared at the canyon exit with Wei Zhao on her back. Ahead lay the oasis, and Scarface's group had still not dispersed—indeed, the ranks of his underlings had actually swelled!

It turned out that at this moment, besides Scarface's original band, quite a few trial participants who could not get out had, for want of any better option, chosen to throw in their lot with him and become members of his crew.

Amid the crowd, Scarface addressed one of his Yuanying consummation experts, his tone full of feeling: "Han Chen, you've now reached the final bottleneck of Yuanying consummation. If you stay here any longer, you'll follow in my footsteps and be trapped in this godforsaken place forever! So take this chance and leave while you can. You've followed me this long and done no small amount of work for me—if not for merit, then at least for hard labor. Take the goods with you as well; consider it a parting gift from your big brother!"

"Thank you, Chief!" That Yuanying consummation expert, Han Chen, was moved to tears on the spot.

"Mm, hear me well, all of you: so long as you're a brother who follows me, I will never let you come to harm. Han Chen is your example!" Scarface seized the moment to win over the crowd.

Sure enough, the crowd's spirits surged at once, especially among the newly joined underlings, who had been downcast and utterly despondent; seeing this, they rallied one and all.

It had to be said, this Scarface truly knew how to win hearts. With Han Chen held up before them as an example, the people would only become more devoted to him. After all, so long as they followed him with peace of mind, even if they could not leave for the time being, once they reached the bottleneck of Yuanying consummation they could leave just like Han Chen.

Hope alone gives drive, and for these people this was, without question, the best refuge available at present.

So everyone was willing to throw in with him, and Scarface's method never failed. Every trial, it replenished his ranks with fresh blood, swelling his crew ever larger and making him the veritable local tyrant of this place.

Watching this from afar, Huo Yudie saw through Scarface's intent at a glance. The reason he sent away the brothers who had reached the Yuanying consummation bottleneck was, beyond using them to win hearts, most likely another consideration altogether: Scarface did not want to see a second Xuan Sheng expert.

In this place he alone was a Xuan Sheng expert, and by virtue of his strength he was the undisputed local emperor. But if a second Xuan Sheng expert appeared, his seat would no longer be secure. As the saying goes, one mountain cannot harbor two tigers—the two of them might well end up in a fight to the death.

Sending the man away not only removed a threat but also earned him a reputation for righteousness. It had to be said, this Scarface was a rare clever man indeed. (To be continued.)