Chapter 4809 — A Conspiracy in the Private Box

"This…" The several men exchanged glances, and none spoke. In the end it was Yi Xiaotian who broke the silence. "Brother Ren, I understand how you feel, but with our combined strength we can barely handle a single Wei Zhao, let alone now that there's a Leng fellow in the mix as well. I'm afraid there's no good way."

Dealing with Wei Zhao alone had already left them at their wits' end, and back then they had been just as helpless against a single Leng Rufeng. Now that these two monsters had joined forces and come together as a formidable pair, how were they supposed to manage?

The others looked at one another in silence. Compared to Wei Zhao, they actually feared Leng Rufeng more. After all, this creature's strength was simply too great—within the academy's disciples he was virtually an invincible existence, and everyone stood in awe of him.

The title of Cold-Faced Blade God had been carved out one slash at a time. Apart from a clueless hothead like Wei Zhao who knew nothing of the world, there was not a single opponent across all of Xiangyun Academy who could match him. Ordinary people would drop to their knees in terror the moment they heard his name—otherwise, back when the few of them had conceived the idea of killing with a borrowed blade, they would never have thought of this creature so instantly!

Ren Zhongyuan furrowed his brows and brooded for a long while. A moment later he suddenly spoke. "What if we wait until the Leng fellow has left?"

"Wait until he's gone?" Yi Xiaotian was startled, then clapped his hands. "Right! That brat Wei Zhao is clever only to be undone by his own cleverness. He meant to use the Beauty Pill and the Thunder Profound Pill to win Leng Rufeng over, but in truth he's only spinning a cocoon around himself. Leng Rufeng would have stayed honestly at the academy as their bodyguard, but once Yang Qianshuang has restored her looks and her strength—heh heh!"

"Exactly! Brother Ren and Brother Yi are truly brilliant. When that time comes, Leng Rufeng will surely return to the Profound-Tier Sea Region!" Li Yuzhou hastened to flatter them.

"Yes, yes. The Profound-Tier Sea Region holds an unparalleled allure for experts of their caliber. A self-regarding genius like Leng Rufeng would never be content to stay behind as a mere bodyguard—he'll absolutely try every means to get back to the Profound-Tier Sea Region!" Sun Baolu chimed in.

"Quite so. A gentleman's revenge is never too late, even ten years hence. We need only endure through this period, and it will not be too late to move against Wei Zhao then!" A venomous light flickered in Ren Zhongyuan's eyes. If there were any possibility, of course he did not want to endure—but there was no help for it now. Reality forced him to endure, unless his own father, Ren Tiansuo, was willing to take action, and that possibility was pitifully slim.

If the delay dragged on too long, they might not be able to wait it out, but two or three months was no great problem.

"Uh… Brother Ren, Brother Yi, this plan is good and all, but there's a flaw in it. What if that brat Wei Zhao can't wait two months and leaves first?" Li Yuzhou said cautiously.

"Fool! That's simple enough. The monk may run, but the temple can't. So long as Ning Xuefei is still here, what does it matter if that brat Wei Zhao leaves? We need only apply a little scheme and arrange for Ning Xuefei to suffer some 'accident' that leaves her gravely injured—do you think he won't come rushing over then? Hmph hmph!" Ren Zhongyuan sneered without end.

The group immediately exchanged looks and burst into laughter. The title of Western Island's consort was enviable enough to make one's mouth water, but at certain times it was also nothing short of a burden. So long as they had Ning Xuefei in their grasp, it was the same as having Wei Zhao in their grasp.

"There won't be any risk in this, will there?" Li Yuzhou reminded him cautiously.

A girl unversed in the ways of the world like Ning Xuefei was naturally there for the taking, but the crux of the matter was that she was the princess of the Western Island. Once an accident occurred, all of Xiangyun Academy would surely be thrown into upheaval, and to give the Western Island a satisfactory account, the matter would absolutely be investigated to the very bottom. Even the combined backing of Ren Zhongyuan and Yi Xiaotian might not be able to withstand it.

"Idiot! I already said it's an accident—what the hell kind of risk is there? It's only leaving her gravely injured anyway, not killing her!" Ren Zhongyuan curled his lip in disdain. So long as it was not irremediable, even if the Western Island got wind of it they would not cling to the matter forever. After all, Xiangyun Academy was no pushover either, with his old man and Yi Xiaotian's old man backing them up.

"That's right. So long as we handle it with the proper measure, this matter is no great problem," Yi Xiaotian nodded approvingly.

While the several men conspired and deliberated in the private box, they were utterly unaware that the very targets of their discussion were at that moment dining together in the box directly below them.

Of course, given the establishment's high-class design, the soundproofing could not possibly be so poor. Normally, no matter how keen one's hearing, it would be impossible to hear the conversation in the box upstairs. Moreover, the walls here had the effect of blocking spiritual sense—the proprietor had spent a fortune and gone to great expense for this, all to guarantee the guests' privacy, for only thus could they attract the elite clientele.

At that moment there were five people dining together: Wei Zhao, Ning Xuefei, Leng Rufeng, Yang Qianshuang, and even Chen Xinglan had been dragged along.

There was no need to speak of the four of Wei Zhao's group, but even with Chen Xinglan's strength, under normal circumstances she too could not hear the sounds from upstairs—unless she deliberately employed some technique of spiritual sense, and with her breeding she would never do such a thing for no reason.

Yet the fact that Wei Zhao and the others could not hear did not mean no one had perceived Ren Zhongyuan's conspiracy. At the very least, the ghost thing was perfectly clear on the matter, and their scheming fell into Wei Zhao's ears without a single word missing.

After hearing it all, Wei Zhao could not help but change expression. He truly had not expected Ren Zhongyuan to hate him so deeply, to the bone—that to deal with him he could even conceive of such a vicious, underhanded notion. Thank goodness the ghost thing had overheard it; otherwise the other side might well have succeeded!

"What's wrong?" Beside him, Ning Xuefei had been eating with great relish—a whole table of Eastern Continent specialties was enough to whet anyone's appetite—but she was still the first to notice something off about Wei Zhao. At her words, Chen Xinglan, Leng Rufeng, and the others all looked over as well.

"Oh, nothing." Wei Zhao smiled without betraying a thing, and with a flick of his hand produced an exquisite wooden box, which he pushed before Leng Rufeng and Yang Qianshuang. "This is the Beauty Pill. As for the Thunder Profound Pill, I still need to refine it on the spot, so you'll have to wait another two days."

Leng Rufeng was instantly overjoyed, and Yang Qianshuang's eyes lit up as though she had seen a lifeline. Yet she did not reach out to take it at once, but instead glanced somewhat sheepishly at Wei Zhao and Ning Xuefei.

After this period of recuperation, and having kept her veil on tightly all this while, her state of mind was already much improved from before—at least she was no longer as blindly impulsive as she once had been. As for that mad, possessed lunge to snatch the Beauty Pill back then, it now struck her as quite embarrassing. When all was said and done, these troubles had all arisen on her account, and fortunately the outcome had been cause for general rejoicing.