Chapter 3640 — A Patron for the Bitter Senior Brother
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
"Junior Brother Lin, you... ah..." Lu Bianren, the Bitter Senior Brother, Xiao Che, and Qiao Hongcai gathered around Wei Zhao, every face clouded with worry, words hovering on their lips.
However much they might burn with indignation on Wei Zhao's behalf, matters had come to this pass, and even if they wished to help him they were utterly without means. After all, the other party was a towering figure on the Elders' Council; they were mere bottom-rung underlings who could be crushed with a single casual word, with no strength to resist at all.
Seeing that the others had mostly dispersed, Wei Zhao finally dropped the helpless expression he had been deliberately feigning and said with a faint smile, "You truly need not worry about me. Even if they target me, the worst they can do is dock my cultivation resources. Surely someone like Pavilion Master Hu Yunfeng can't simply challenge me to a duel outright. And as for those few resources, I have my own ways of making them up through other channels. So there's nothing to worry about."
The others exchanged glances. Seeing that Wei Zhao, the man at the center of it all, looked so unconcerned, they would seem rather more anxious than the emperor himself if they, his companions, remained so grim.
"Heh, Junior Brother Lin is truly a man of broad mind—admirable indeed! By comparison, though I flatter myself that my own state of mind is decent, set against you, Junior Brother Lin, it still falls short. How ashamed I am!" Lu Bianren said with a laugh.
Only then did the others realize that Wei Zhao was not the only one in an awkward spot. In a sense, Lu Bianren's position was now even more precarious than Wei Zhao's! After all, however difficult Wei Zhao's situation, he at least still had a chance to meet each move as it came. Lu Bianren, though, might not even have that chance!
"Senior Brother Lu, you surely won't come to any harm, will you? After all, Elder Zhao didn't say anything just now," the Bitter Senior Brother could not help saying, clinging to a faint hope.
Though Lu Bianren had long since been stripped of real power by Hu Yunfeng and the others acting together, he was still, after all, a third pavilion master, a pillar of support for them. Even if he held little authority and often could not help much, he could at least offer some experience and insight to point the way for them.
Lu Bianren shook his head helplessly. "With any other elder, there might be a sliver of hope. But this is Elder Zhao we're talking about. Given his relationship with our patron, do you think he will let me off? If our patron were still at Azure Cloud Pavilion, there might be a chance he could protect me. Unfortunately, he left long ago on a mission to the outer islands, and there has been no word of him since!"
Their patron? Wei Zhao's heart stirred at the words. It was hardly strange for Lu Bianren and the Bitter Senior Brother to have a patron at Azure Cloud Pavilion, but from the way Lu Bianren spoke, could their patron actually stand against Zhao Hongbo, the Fourth Elder of Azure Cloud Pavilion?
If so, even if that person was not an elder, he must at least be someone of formidable strength. And birds of a feather flock together—if he had earned the recognition of Lu Bianren and the Bitter Senior Brother, his character was likely good as well. If the chance came later, he ought to get to know this person.