Chapter 2045 — The Lion's Tribute
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"If I get out, you'll give up harassing Wang Xinyan? And you'll give up He Meiyue too?" Wei Zhao swept a glance over Fan Ganhe and Zhang Duopan, then asked.
"That... if you get out and we don't dare to, then we admit defeat!" Zhang Duopan was playing it sly, refusing to commit himself. What he meant was: if Wei Zhao got out and nothing happened, then naturally they would dare to get out too; but if Wei Zhao got out and the lion chased him back, then the earlier wager would be void, and Wei Zhao would have been scared back into the car by the lion—so where was the courage in that?
"Oh, Xiaoshu, then let's get out and take another look at this lion!" Wei Zhao said.
"Yes, yes!" Shen Yushu nodded. "This lion seems to be living pretty well for itself, still a king. I wonder if it has any fine treasures it wants to present to me?"
And so, as they spoke, the two of them got out of the vehicle, while Zhang Duopan and Fan Ganhe waited eagerly for the lion to fly into a rage again and bite Wei Zhao and Shen Yushu to death!
But the gap between wish and reality was vast: the moment Wei Zhao and Shen Yushu stepped out, the lion that had been so furious suddenly turned docile again, wearing an ingratiating smile, utterly harmless, as though it had not been the one raging moments before.
"Bite him! Bite them!" Zhang Duopan screamed inwardly, but the lion did not listen to him at all.
"Hey, lion, you're living pretty well for yourself here, aren't you? Do you have any fine treasures to present to me?" Shen Yushu asked.
"Whine, whine..." The lion knew that nothing good ever came of Shen Yushu's visits—here she was, starting to demand things from it! But the lion did not dare refuse. If it refused and angered Shen Yushu, that was no joking matter—especially with Wei Zhao beside her. If this girl told him to give it a beating, it might well be finished, never able to be lion king again!
At that thought, the lion scurried back to its old den behind its territory, carefully rummaged something out, took it in its mouth, and ran back, lifting its head as if presenting a treasure...
Shen Yushu reached out her hand, and the lion spat out what was in its mouth: a large, round bead, milky white throughout, somewhat like a pearl but not a pearl, like a gemstone but not quite that either—altogether a very peculiar thing. Shen Yushu held it and examined it for a while without understanding what it was.
"What is this? You mangy lion, you're not trying to fob some junk off on me, are you?" Shen Yushu had not expected the lion to actually produce some treasure, but whether this thing was a treasure, and what use it had, she could not tell.
"Whine, whine..." Hearing Shen Yushu say this, the lion put on a mournful, aggrieved face. It could not speak human tongue—otherwise it would certainly have explained: this was a fine treasure that the previous tiger king had found in the primeval forest and presented to me when I became king. It really is a good thing!
"Let me see it!" Wei Zhao frowned, took the round white bead from Shen Yushu's hand, and examined it closely.
This thing had to be a treasure—there was no doubt about it. Not because Wei Zhao trusted the lion, but because the instant the white bead appeared, Wei Zhao had sensed the powerful energy contained within it. But what exactly that energy was, and what it was for, Wei Zhao did not yet know.
"Arrowbrand, can you tell what this is?" Shen Yushu asked curiously.
"Not for now, but let's take it anyway!" Wei Zhao tucked the bead into his clothes.
Zhang Duopan and Fan Ganhe, still in the vehicle, saw the lion give Wei Zhao and Shen Yushu a bead, but by their judgment it was no pearl or jewel—it looked more like a useless stone—so they did not pay it much mind. What concerned them was: why did the lion seem to have turned docile again?
Could this lion be deranged, with a split personality, fine one moment and vicious the next?