Chapter 2124 — An Unexpected Encounter in the Jungle
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Wei Zhao, Han Tianba, and Han Xiaohu made their way back toward their temporary lodgings. Along the road, Han Xiaohu fumed, "Boss, that rule is downright infuriating—it's as if they cooked it up specifically to target you. A third-grade elixir, no less! Who on earth could refine one? The rules we'd heard before said the higher the grade of elixir and the shorter the time, the winner—so how did it suddenly turn into a third-grade elixir requirement?"
"Oh? The old rules really were as you described?" Wei Zhao was taken aback for a moment.
"They were! And every alchemy contest at the hidden summits in past years followed those same rules—nothing had changed in ages. A sudden change like this makes it hard not to think it was deliberately aimed at you, Boss!" Han Xiaohu nodded.
"Heh... Old Man You and You Panhu!" A trace of a smile flickered at the corner of Wei Zhao's mouth. He had already planned to give up on this alchemy contest; otherwise, he could never have struck that wager with the hidden Pi family.
Plainly, though, the hidden You family had been too cautious. Seeing him win match after match, they hadn't wanted him to keep winning, so they had deliberately cooked up this sham of a rule—yet instead of trapping Wei Zhao, they had trapped themselves.
Wei Zhao's original thinking had been simple: lose one, gain one. Trade some useless precious ingredient for a body-tempering potion and call it an even exchange, no loss at all. What he hadn't counted on was that he wouldn't lose a thing—he'd walk away with a body-tempering potion for free.
"Exactly, they really are despicable!" Han Xiaohu said. "Still, the good thing is they didn't win either. We haven't come out of this match at a loss."
"Heh, not just no loss—we've made a killing!" Wei Zhao laughed. "My injuries may have healed, but my true qi is badly depleted. If I had to refine an elixir right now, I really couldn't manage even a first-grade one. I wasn't lying to Old Man You before."
"What? You're kidding!" Han Xiaohu was overjoyed at Wei Zhao's words. "Hahahaha! So the old man lifted a rock only to smash his own foot? Serves him right! If they knew the truth, they'd probably die of regret!"
"True and false, false and true—sometimes even when I tell the truth, they don't believe me. Just like before: I told them I couldn't refine the elixir, and they didn't believe it," Wei Zhao said.
"Fair enough. But this quiet little windfall is something we can keep to ourselves—who cares what they think!" Han Xiaohu's mood lifted at once. They might not have taken the championship, but Wei Zhao was still the biggest winner.
"Hm? Isn't that a disciple of the hidden You family from before?" Han Tianba suddenly frowned, looking toward a patch of jungle not far from their lodgings. There was a man there, kneeling beside a poplar tree with a dazed, vacant expression, muttering to himself about something unintelligible. And this man was none other than the hidden You family disciple who had competed in the earlier endurance contest!
Wei Zhao frowned too and followed Han Tianba's gaze. Sure enough, it was the You family disciple who had been injured earlier!
"You two go on ahead. I'll go take a look," Wei Zhao said with a sigh. He didn't know when it had begun, but his heart was no longer as hard and cold as it had been when he first returned to the city...
Was it because of Feng Xiaoxiao? Feng Xiaoxiao's help to Chen Xi had moved Wei Zhao deeply.
Was it because of Yu Xiaoke? Yu Xiaoke's dedication and sacrifice for the orphanage children had touched Wei Zhao even more.
Or was it the eldest young lady's outwardly cold but inwardly warm nature that had, over time, softened him as well?