Chapter 2966 — Return to the Western Star Mountain Village
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Ancestor Xuanchen glanced at Kang Jingming. With his wisdom, how could he fail to see through the man's hypocrisy? Yet Ancestor Xuanchen said nothing. He simply liked that sort of temperament in Kang Jingming; in the arts of the sly, the petty, and the downright unscrupulous, this disciple, he was certain, would surpass all his others.
This too was why Ancestor Xuanchen so often kept Kang Jingming at his side. To have a disciple whose wickedness fairly smoked off him—truly one of life's great pleasures.
……………………
What happened today had been close, but not quite close enough to cost him—still, it had left Wei Zhao drenched in cold sweat.
Had the Sky Silkworm Metamorphosis not appeared in the nick of time, Wei Zhao would have had no choice but to hand over the Great Return Pill. Yet even had he surrendered it, Zhao Qibing's venomous nature meant there was no guarantee he would spare Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu; the man would surely have done something to make Wei Zhao sick to his stomach.
Granted, with Zhao Qibing's third leg broken, he was hardly in any condition to do anything truly filthy. Wei Zhao was confident that Medicine King Zhao could not heal him that quickly. But precisely because of that, Zhao Qibing's mind would only grow more unhinged, more warped by the day.
Today, with the Sky Silkworm Metamorphosis present, they had slipped past disaster. Wei Zhao could offer no assurance about what might happen next time.
This time, Wei Zhao's injuries had not come with any crisis pressing at his brows or fire singeing his eyelashes, yet the anxiety gnawing at his heart was all the sharper for it. He could not predict what might happen from one moment to the next. If Kang Jingming caught wind of things and quietly brought men to stir up trouble again, Wei Zhao would be utterly defenseless.
So after dinner that evening, looking at the people gathered before him, Wei Zhao made a difficult decision.
"I'm going to pack up and take Little Shu and Yaoyao back to the Western Star Mountain Village with me. We'll lie low there for a while. Once I'm gone, our enemies won't come after you. Go back to your own homes." His tone was perfectly ordinary, giving nothing away—yet anyone could see the helplessness and desolation flitting across his face.
His words plunged the company, who had only just finished eating, into silence. The first time Wei Zhao had been wounded and reduced to a cripple, he had spoken of returning to the Western Star Mountain Village. Many of his underlings had not been at his side then, but afterward they had heard the news from others.
Now he meant to go back again. Clearly he had been driven to the end of his rope, with no move left to make—and that was the last thing any of them wished to see.
"Boss, wherever you go, I go with you. You may not need me as a bodyguard, but I can still carry bags and put in a good day's work!" Wu Chengtian was the first to speak up, declaring he would follow Wei Zhao to the Western Star Mountain Village.
"I've nothing much on my plate either. I'll take Zhishan and Zhihai and go have a look around Mr. Lin's old hometown—call it a vacation." Old Master Pi smiled and spoke as though it were nothing at all.
"Ha! Old Pi, it seems our minds run along the same track! The Han family has nothing pressing either—we'll make a trip of it as well!" Old Master Han Tianba said much the same.
"You're all going, and leaving us behind? We wouldn't be happy about that. We're all the boss's underlings—why should you get to go and not us?" Zhuang Niaoqiang chimed in at once.
Hearing these words from his followers, Wei Zhao was deeply moved—especially since the Zhuang brothers, who had joined him only later, were just as eager. His people were loyal, he reflected; these were the core of the force he could confidently raise to the Heaven Rank and lead into the ancient strata.