Chapter 4894 — Who's Talking

"Of course we're gathering them. Otherwise, what was the point of coming all this way?" Wei Zhao said with a faint smile. These spirit herbs might not be rare marvels on the order of the Thunder Mystic Vine, but every last one was of superior quality; carried out of this place, any of them would fetch a handsome price.

After a brief survey of the surroundings to make sure there was no danger, the group finally set to picking with eager hands. Wang Xinyan and Huang Xiaotao both knew their stuff, singling out the rare, high-grade specimens, while Wei Zhao showed almost no inclination to lift a finger.

Fine as the spirit herbs carpeting the ground might be, the storehouse within his jade pendant had already grown to considerable scale; there was no need for wholesale plunder. At most, when his eye caught some especially uncommon specimen, Wei Zhao would reach out and take a few stalks.

Lu Xiaozhong, trailing behind the three of them, eyed the field of spirit herbs with open greed, but he knew nothing whatsoever about such things—half the time he could not even tell a weed from a spirit herb. Asking him to do this work was like driving a duck onto a perch; in the end he was not really gathering at all, but had simply become the porter hauling sacks for Wang Xinyan and the others.

They picked as they went, pressing forward, all of them busily delighted—when suddenly Wei Zhao halted and shot the three a meaningful look.

Wang Xinyan and the others instantly tensed as if facing a great enemy, hurrying to fall in behind Wei Zhao and assume defensive stances, certain they had run into some dangerous spirit beast.

A moment later, understanding dawned on them all: it was no spirit beast they had encountered, but people.

"Fairy Ni Caiyue, save your eyes the trouble and just hand it over! This is a place where heaven gives no answer and earth no reply—don't imagine your little band of followers will come rescue you here. I advise you not to entertain such notions!" A man's voice, soft and insinuating, drifted from somewhere not far ahead.

"Chang Laiting, it's you!" The speaker was a young woman; judging by voice alone, she sounded innocent and sweet.

"Of course it's me. That little trick of yours might shake off your followers, Fairy Ni, but to me it's a child's game—not even worth calling a scheme, nothing but play. Hahahaha!" The soft-voiced man laughed heartily.

"You're shameless! You'd actually rob me?" the woman said, seething.

"And what of it? Go on, shout! Cry out! See if anyone comes to save you. Haha. And really, it's laughable—honestly, if you hadn't been so full of yourself as to shake off those followers, I'd have had a hard time laying a hand on you. To you they were flies, shadows dogging your heels; in truth they were your saviors. Only you went and threw your saviors away yourself. Isn't that funny?" the soft-voiced man sneered with contempt, and the relish in his tone suggested he had been given the slip by this woman before.

"You—you despicable wretch, you'd rob even me! Aren't you afraid the truth will come out?" the woman said in alarm.

"The truth come out? Hmph. I am the Dao companion your own master designated for you. Even if you ran off and told everyone I robbed you, would anyone believe you? Hahahaha!" The soft-voiced man laughed again, long and loud.

"They would not—someone would believe me, my master would surely believe me!" The alarm in the woman's voice plainly carried a note of uncertainty, betraying that even she did not have full confidence in that master of hers.

"Then by all means, try! See whether the old fool helps you or me! Little girl, that's for refusing me back then, for never once giving me a kind look, eh? Scared half to tears now, aren't you? If you'd listened to the old fool and followed me properly, none of today's business would be happening. Regretting it now, aren't you? Wahahaha!" the soft-voiced man gloated.

Wei Zhao and the others exchanged a look of peculiar expression. By this point the situation was perfectly clear—killing for treasure was common enough. But robbing one's own Dao companion? That was a first!

Truly, strange things happen every day—but today's was especially strange!

Wei Zhao was speechless. Only one thought occupied his mind now. Was this man insane? If not, what man would rob his own Dao companion? To show such utter lack of tenderness toward the fair sex—could such a creature even be called a man?

After all, even a specimen like Ren Zhongyuan, whom Wei Zhao held in contempt, knew enough to cherish and pamper a woman; even though he could never win over Huo Yudie, all he could do was try every means to please her—never in a thousand years would he go rob Huo Yudie!

Still, come to think of it, just what precious thing was this woman carrying, to make even her own Dao companion covet it and stoop to robbing her, decorum be damned?

"Chang Laiting?" Wang Xinyan's brows knitted at this, a thoughtful look on her face.

"What is it?" Wei Zhao glanced at her, somewhat surprised.

"I think I've heard of this person..." Wang Xinyan frowned in thought. She had spent a few years here in the Eastern Continent; though she knew little of the wider world's affairs, she had at least caught scraps of rumor and hearsay, and at last a spark of recollection struck: "Could this man be the one from the legends—one of the strongest Nascent Soul cultivators in the Eastern Continent's Yellow Rank Sea Region?"

"That's right, it's coming back to me now—this Chang Laiting is one of the Four Nascent Soul Young Masters, isn't he? Always so high and mighty!" Lu Xiaozhong cut in.

"Another strongest Nascent Soul cultivator? First there was Wang Dianxing, and now a Chang Laiting—just how many strongest Nascent Soul cultivators are there?" Wei Zhao could not help laughing, then asked, "And what, pray tell, is this 'Four Nascent Soul Young Masters' business?"

"Master Lin, you don't know? The Four Nascent Soul Young Masters are household names in the Eastern Continent's Yellow Rank Sea Region. Headed by Wang Dianxing of the Leidong Academy, they're hailed as the strongest Nascent Soul cultivators of the Yellow Rank Sea Region, and every one of them has deep backing—that's why the common folk lump them together as the Four Nascent Soul Young Masters. Chang Laiting is said to be one of them," Lu Xiaozhong explained, a note of mockery and scorn in his face as he spoke, plainly unimpressed by these Four Young Masters.

"From today on, there'll be no more Four Nascent Soul Young Masters—because there's no strongest, only stronger!" Huang Xiaotao said, looking at Wei Zhao with a giggle.

"Absolutely. Wang Dianxing isn't even fit to be a dog beside our Master Lin—Four Nascent Soul Young Masters, my eye! Four Nascent Soul dogs, more like!" Lu Xiaozhong chuckled. Remembering the scene of Wei Zhao slapping Wang Dianxing flying with one palm, he felt a secret satisfaction; it had been a roundabout revenge for him.

"I don't count, though—I'm from the North Island..." Wei Zhao said, somewhat awkwardly rubbing his nose.

Just then, the voice from over there suddenly turned shrill: "Who's there? Who's talking over there?!"

A powerful surge of true qi followed on its heels; the grove of small trees screening the two sides was blasted flat in an instant, leaving both parties in plain view of each other.

Wei Zhao and the others were somewhat startled. Though there was a distance between them and they had deliberately kept their voices low, anyone bold enough to appear in such a desolate place was surely a Xuan Ascension cultivator of some skill—it was no wonder he had caught on. (To be continued.)