Chapter 2268 — A Ten-Million Ransom
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"Nothing much, really—only that Wu Chengtian gave chase, except he was no match for the other side. He didn't even last a single move..." Gu Mengyao said with a bitter smile. She said nothing about the Wind-Thunder Purple-Lightning Beast. For one thing, the beast was not something to be spoken of openly; for another, she did not want to reveal that it had already located the kidnappers' hideout. If she did, and Qiu Lingshan charged in recklessly, she could well land in danger. The caliber of these kidnappers had surpassed all expectation—they were certainly cultivators.
"What!" At Gu Mengyao's words, Qiu Lingshan stared at her in shock. She knew exactly what Wu Chengtian was capable of—a peak late Mystic-Rank like herself, and one who cultivated both inner and outer arts. If even Wu Chengtian was no match, if he could not survive a single move, then what terrifying strength did these kidnappers possess? They had to be at least Earth-Rank experts!
"And Wu Chengtian is already an early Earth-Rank expert now..." Gu Mengyao added.
"What, early Earth-Rank?" Qiu Lingshan drew another sharp breath. So she had underestimated the kidnappers after all. To think that even an early Earth-Rank expert had been settled in a single move. It seemed this kidnapping was not nearly as simple as it had first appeared...
"Yes. At first we assumed the kidnappers were after Wei Zhao, which was why they took Wang Xinyan. But now it looks as though the first people they notified were Wang Xinyan's parents. The kidnappers probably have little to do with Wei Zhao..." Gu Mengyao said.
"After Wei Zhao?" Qiu Lingshan was slightly taken aback.
"Wang Xinyan... is Wei Zhao's girlfriend at school." Gu Mengyao decided to put it that way. Explaining all those ambiguous entanglements would only invite trouble, so she might as well say it plainly. Besides, compared with Qiu Lingshan, Gu Mengyao was more inclined toward Wei Zhao choosing Wang Xinyan. After all, she and Xiaoshu had never quite hit it off with Qiu Lingshan. True, Qiu Lingshan had fought desperately to protect them earlier, but that too had been predicated on Wei Zhao.
"Ah?" Xiao Qinlin and Wang Xuben were stunned by Gu Mengyao's words. Their daughter had found a boyfriend at school? Was she not involved with Kang Jinglong of the Kang family...
The two of them felt as though everything had been thrown into chaos. Earlier they had speculated that Wei Zhao might have kidnapped their daughter, but now it turned out that their daughter and Wei Zhao were actually a couple. Could it be that the Kang family, displeased, had hired someone to do this?
"Then... could it be someone from the Kang family..." Wang Xuben, seeing his wife's meaning, ventured to ask.
"The Kang family couldn't possibly have an expert of that caliber," Qiu Lingshan said with a shake of her head. "And from the looks of it, it's not them either. If the Kang family were behind this, they would still be targeting Wei Zhao and wouldn't have called you. So this kidnapping, I suspect, is closer to an ordinary one—only the kidnappers are rather unusual. Let's wait for their call and see what demands they make."
"That's all we can do!" Wang Xuben nodded. He found it strange that his daughter had fallen in love at school, but he had no heart to ask about such things now. Their daughter's safety came first. Once she was out of danger, it would not be too late to inquire in detail.
Gu Mengyao glanced at Qiu Lingshan, hesitated, and said nothing. She wanted to mention the matter of the hidden Pi family, but such matters were, after all, at a level Qiu Lingshan could handle—her only worry was that Wang Xuben and Xiao Qinlin might spread it. The Pi family was on friendly terms with Wei Zhao at present; if the other hidden families learned of it, it could prove disadvantageous to the Pi family. Better to wait until Wei Zhao returned.
"Then we'll be going now. What we know isn't much—only this." Gu Mengyao said.