Chapter 2797 — Utter Admiration
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
He had suffered at the hands of Zhang Naipao and his crew before, and he knew all too well how formidable they were. Though he himself was a mid Earth Rank expert, he had gained no advantage whatsoever against two of Zhang Naipao's subordinates; had he not fled quickly, he might well have been crippled too. But never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that Wei Zhao could cripple Zhang Naipao's underling and then sit here eating with such ease, utterly unharmed. It was simply inconceivable.
"Li Ciba pays his respects to Young Hero Lin, Brother Lin! You are truly my idol! Brother Lin, you may already know that our Divine Fist Hall's disciples suffered greatly at Zhang Naipao's hands before. We thought revenge was hopeless, but never expected that Brother Lin would vent our grievance for us. I am truly grateful beyond words!" Li Ciba gazed at Wei Zhao with admiration so profound it bordered on worship.
"Zhang Naipao and I were enemies to begin with. During the last trial at the Ice Palace, I crippled him once already. It is only natural that he would come looking for trouble the moment he saw me. That has nothing to do with you," Wei Zhao said with a casual wave of his hand.
"My heavens, Brother Lin, you are that fierce? So it was you who crippled Zhang Naipao last time? Then was Feng Nitian also crippled by you... uh?" Li Ciba trailed off, suddenly turning to stare at Feng Shihua in astonishment. He could not fathom why Feng Shihua would be sitting with Wei Zhao. Had Wei Zhao not crippled a member of the Feng family?
"Brother Li, there is no need to look at me like that. I know my cousin well. He is domineering in his dealings, and during the Ice Palace trial he tried to seize Brother Lin's heavenly treasures by force. His being crippled was his own doing, and no one else is to blame," Feng Shihua said with a shake of his head. "This matter does not affect my relationship with Brother Lin."
In truth, Feng Shihua was no fool at all. Though he had come, and had come to seek medicine for Feng Nitian, he showed not the slightest hostility toward the man who had injured his cousin. Instead, he went out of his way to be friendly—enough to show that Feng Shihua was the type whose great wisdom was concealed beneath a plain exterior.
"So that is how it is." Li Ciba nodded. "Brother Lin is so formidable—I say, for this trial, let us all jointly nominate Brother Lin as our captain! We will form a squad and enter the trial under Brother Lin's leadership!"
"I am all for it!" Ge Xian admired Wei Zhao greatly as well and nodded in agreement.
"Naturally I have no objection either. With Brother Lin leading us, our squad will be like a tiger with wings!" Feng Shihua laughed.
"Wei Zhao has always been my leader. I certainly have no problem with it," Zhao Qilei said.
And so, to his own bewilderment, Wei Zhao became the captain of the group, much to his helpless resignation.
"By the way, Ciba, those two who came with you—whose disciples are they? They seemed rather wary of you?" Wei Zhao asked. Since everyone had nominated him as captain, he did not decline, and he now addressed Li Ciba simply as Ciba.
"Those two are disciples of the Dark Night Palace. Their strength is ordinary—only mid Earth Rank... Of course, I do not mean to look down on Earth Rank. An expert like Brother Lin is even more formidable than us Earth Rank experts!" Fearing Wei Zhao might take offense, Li Ciba added, "Originally, on the road here, those two Dark Night Palace disciples were fawning over us, hoping to attach themselves to me and my junior brother. Later, when we ran into Zhang Naipao and my junior brother was crippled, those two began to keep their distance..."