Chapter 4733 — He Is Not Going to Make It?

"What? Yudie would stay behind for a man?" Liu Ziqi could not help knitting his brows. His gaze swept across the crowd, and finally came to rest on the three of them—Ren Zhongyuan, Yi Xiaotian, and Yao Jiali.

Liu Ziqi knew his precious disciple well. Though the girl was powerful and no longer young in years, she had spent the vast majority of these years in secluded cultivation; in temperament she was even more innocent than some ordinary girls.

At Chenjiao Academy, ordinary disciples would not dare strike up a conversation with someone of Huo Yudie's standing. Among all the academy disciples sent on this mission to West Island, the only ones who could truly hold a conversation with her were those three—Ren Zhongyuan above all, who had spent these years doing all he could to court Huo Yudie.

Had the two of them grown closer during this trial, and had Huo Yudie chosen to remain for Ren Zhongyuan's sake, Liu Ziqi might have found it somewhat understandable. But Ren Zhongyuan had long since returned—so for whose sake was she keeping watch?

Liu Ziqi could not help but begin to doubt: could the woman the two West Island guards spoke of not be his disciple Huo Yudie at all, but someone else entirely?

"You mean Sister Huo Yudie stayed behind of her own accord to look after Brother Wei Zhao?" Han Jingyi suddenly pressed forward and hurried to confirm with the West Island guards.

"Uh…" The two guards who had just emerged exchanged a glance. They were quite familiar with Han Jingyi, who had lived here for several years, and said with some uncertainty, "We don't know whether that man and woman were the Wei Zhao and Huo Yudie you speak of. We only know the man was badly wounded—a great hole punched clean through his belly. By the look of it, he is not going to make it."

"That's him, no mistake—that's Brother Wei Zhao!" Han Jingyi confirmed, then shot a glance at Ning Xuefei and Shangguan Lan'er, who stood nearby looking anxious, signaling that they could set their minds a little at ease.

If Huo Yudie was willing to stake herself as well and insisted on staying inside to keep Wei Zhao company, then it proved Wei Zhao was not yet dead—otherwise, what meaning would there be in her keeping vigil there?

In Han Jingyi's view, so long as her Brother Wei Zhao was not dead, there had to be a way for him to get out. This sort of thing could never stump Brother Wei Zhao!

Hearing Han Jingyi's words, Liu Ziqi could not help frowning again. She did not know why the other could be so certain, but from the look of things, it seemed the woman was indeed her precious disciple beyond any doubt.

That Huo Yudie was safe and sound did relieve her somewhat. But that her precious disciple should stay behind for a man—and a stranger she had never met before at that—now that was truly strange!

"What? Brother Ling is gravely wounded and won't survive? How can that be?" Not far away, Qi Wenmo was struck with shock at the words. He and Xia Qianqian had no greed for rare treasures; this trial had been more like an outing for the two of them, so they had come out early once they had gained something, and had been waiting all these days to reunite with Wei Zhao. Instead, this calamitous news was what they got!

Qi Wenmo's vision went black and he nearly fainted. Had Xia Qianqian not been there to steady him, he would hardly have kept his feet.

"Wenhan, don't panic yet. With Brother Ling's abilities, it's not certain he'll die. Let's get the facts straight first." Xia Qianqian comforted him softly. Her impression of Wei Zhao was excellent as well—especially since he was a great patron of Qi Wenmo's. If something had truly happened this time, then matters between her and Qi Wenmo would only gain another measure of uncertainty.

In the crowd at this moment, Ren Zhongyuan and the others were also watching the goings-on at the teleportation formation—Ren Zhongyuan most of all. Like Liu Ziqi, he had been waiting all along for Huo Yudie's figure to appear, but his beloved had yet to show herself.

Now, hearing these words, Ren Zhongyuan was filled with a mixture of feelings. Wei Zhao was about to die—that counted as good news to him. In his eyes, practically any man who drew close to Huo Yudie deserved death.

But that his pure and untouchable goddess Huo Yudie should be willing to risk her life keeping company with this dying creature inside—how was a suitor like Ren Zhongyuan supposed to bear it?!

Meanwhile, two others in the crowd wore rather more complicated expressions. These two were the very ones who had dealt Wei Zhao that fatal wound—Xu Lingchong and Kang Jingming.

After these days of recuperation, Kang Jingming had by now fully recovered. After all, Wei Zhao had only just grasped his power of thunder and lightning, and its might was truly limited; Kang Jingming had merely looked wretched at the moment he was struck. Thanks to the tenacious vitality of a high-level cultivator, he had been moving about freely within a few days, otherwise he could never have teleported back.

Now, hearing publicly that Wei Zhao was near death, Xu Lingchong and Kang Jingming could not help exchanging glances. In truth, in their eyes Wei Zhao was simply certain to die. No one could survive having such a great hole bored through his belly; that Wei Zhao could still cling to life even now only showed that the boy's vitality was frightfully tenacious!

Even so, Wei Zhao was already a dead man in their eyes. Doing away with such an archenemy was of course a great boon to the two of them—but the problem was, how were they to explain this to their superiors?

Before this, Xu Lingchong had feared blame from above, so when writing his action report he had not dared describe it so severely. He had merely mentioned in passing that Wei Zhao had been wounded and would not recover any time soon, that for the moment he likely could not come out and would probably be trapped in the trial grounds for years to come.

When the mysterious man received his report and saw that Wei Zhao was merely temporarily trapped, he had said nothing more. But now this business had been dragged out into the open before everyone, and now everyone knew—it looked as though the whole thing was about to be exposed…

A headache! Xu Lingchong and Kang Jingming were both suffering such a headache now that they did not know what to say. Killing Wei Zhao had already been a grave offense against the strict orders from above; now they would have to add the serious crime of deceiving their superiors. Once the mysterious man learned of it, he would surely fly into a rage, and there might well be some cruel and inhuman punishment in store. What were they to do?!

Elsewhere, after hearing this exchange between the two West Island guards and Han Jingyi, two formidable experts with an icy, piercing aura likewise wore expressions of shock. Both were rising stars among the younger generation of North Island—one was Gongyang Jun, the other Lan Tieshan.

They too bore the task of protecting Shangguan Lan'er; Wei Zhao had worked in the open while the two of them worked in the shadows. That they should now suddenly hear that Wei Zhao was on the verge of death—it was hardly surprising that the two of them were shocked at this moment. (The 3D The Blossom Guardian mobile game launches on the Apple version on the 20th. For more news, follow the official WeChat account yuren22.) (To be continued…)