Chapter 176 — Caught Just Like That
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
No wonder Qiu Lingshan thought so. Beyond the cliff there was no path at all, and if Wei Zhao kept walking, his next step would send him over the edge. How was that any different from suicide?
After seeing how fierce and furious she had been earlier, was this fellow Wei Zhao afraid that if he failed to find the men, she would settle accounts with him, and so decided to end it all here?
Though Qiu Lingshan did not think Wei Zhao was that kind of person—seeing how he feared neither heaven nor earth, how could he possibly be afraid of her?—the facts were right before her eyes, and she had to take precautions.
Wei Zhao did not answer. He walked to the edge of the cliff, and it looked as though one more step would send him over. Yet all at once he stopped short and stood there.
"Phew..." Qiu Lingshan let out a breath of relief and hurried to Wei Zhao's side. "What are you doing? Trying to scare people?"
Wei Zhao did not answer. He simply closed his eyes and stood there quietly.
"Hey..." Qiu Lingshan raised an eyebrow. "Are you angry? You are a grown man—you are not going to be that petty, are you?"
"It is right below us." Wei Zhao opened his eyes and tapped the ground at the cliff's edge with his foot. Qiu Lingshan felt dizzy just watching. Easy there—don't fall off and get yourself killed!
"What do you mean, right below us?" Qiu Lingshan was startled, not quite understanding what Wei Zhao was saying.
"The robbers. They are right down there," Wei Zhao said.
"Uh..." Qiu Lingshan's face darkened. "You are not about to tell me the robbers are under the cliff, are you? That they have already fallen to their deaths?"
"They are not dead."
Wei Zhao shook his head. The dead—the jade pendant would not react to them at all.
"Not dead?" Qiu Lingshan was taken aback. She had assumed that Wei Zhao, unable to find anyone, had simply cooked up some excuse to fob her off, telling her those robbers had jumped off the cliff and died. But to her surprise, Wei Zhao said they were not dead!
"Under my feet, not under the cliff," Wei Zhao stomped his foot again and explained. "There is a difference. Beneath this cliff wall, there should be a cave."
"A cave?" Qiu Lingshan was utterly bewildered. Why did it all sound so fantastical? A cave, in this cliff face?
"I suspect there is one," Wei Zhao said. "You can bring someone to take a look."
Wei Zhao could easily have climbed down the cliff barehanded, but he did not. That was not something he ought to be doing. His task was already complete—he had merely helped Qiu Lingshan find the men. Wei Zhao did not want to reveal too much about himself.
Free climbing was generally something only special forces soldiers could do, and climbing an unsurveyed cliff face like this would not be easy even for someone with professional training.
If Wei Zhao managed it with ease, Qiu Lingshan, who had come out of the special forces, would naturally grow suspicious of him.
"Are you sure?" Qiu Lingshan found it somewhat unbelievable. What had happened today seemed like something out of A Thousand and One Nights. Wei Zhao had wandered about the mountain at random, and then finally told her there was a cave in the cliff face, and the robbers were inside it!
No one would believe that, whoever they were, because it was simply too incredible.
"Fairly sure..." Wei Zhao nodded. At least the jade pendant had never been wrong before. Standing here, he could feel the message it sent him, strong and unmistakable!
It seemed these men had once done him harm—and the jade pendant could record that, no matter how strong or weak their malice had been.
"Then wait for me. I will go down and take a look." Qiu Lingshan glanced down at the side of the cliff wall, then clapped her hands, wanting to go down and see for herself. At bottom, she still did not quite believe the robbers were down there.