Chapter 3810 — I Surrender!
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
After that uninvited guest Yu Jiang had taken his leave, he found himself somewhat puzzled. Lin Yi, Lin Er—the names were nearly the same. By any reasonable reckoning they ought to be one and the same person. Could those people have misheard?
Few knew the name Lin Er, but when he had sold his spirit beasts, someone with an attentive ear had still caught it. Now that it had passed through who knew how many mouths and finally reached Yu Jiang's inquiries, there was little wonder that some error had crept in. Quite understandable.
The fifth round of Qingyun Pavilion's newcomers' challenge had now formally begun.
This time was unlike any before it. With two such great personages as the eldest young lady of the Shangguan family and the eldest young master of the Xu family seated in attendance, any normal person would be thinking of putting on a show, of making a good impression on the pair. After all, if either of them took a liking and accepted you as a follower, wealth and glory would follow in the days to come.
Nursing such designs, and fired further by all the grudges and hot tempers built up over four previous rounds of clashes, this day's round of the newcomers' challenge was, from first to last, fairly reeking of gunpowder and brimming with spectacle.
And as custom dictated, the curtain was again raised by a heavyweight bout between two of the top five: Xiao Che of Cave Dwelling No. 14 at the foot of the mountain stepped forward first to challenge Meng Zhou of Cave Dwelling No. 13.
The moment Xiao Che took the stage and called out his name, Meng Zhou's face collapsed on the spot. He exchanged a glance with Meng Jueming, whose expression was equally helpless, and in the end had no choice but to screw up his courage and mount the platform with heavy steps.
This was not like the previous round. Last time, to set a trap for Qiao Hongcai, Meng Zhou had clearly already recovered after taking a fourth-grade Great Returning Pill, yet had stubbornly put on the feeble air of one whose injuries were still unhealed.
This round, however, Meng Zhou had no such luck as to wangle a third fourth-grade Great Returning Pill out of Meng Jueming. So now he truly was gravely wounded and far from recovered—yet to bluff Xiao Che, he had no choice but to force himself, before the eyes of the crowd, to feign the appearance of one already whole again.
Unfortunately, heaven did not grant his wish. Xiao Che paid him no heed at all, and from the very start named him as his challenger without the slightest hesitation. The man who calls out first holds the advantage, after all.
"What's Meng Zhou dawdling for? Isn't this Xiao Che fellow one of Wei Zhao's underlings? Wouldn't it be just perfect to use this chance to finish him off?" Xu Lingchong frowned at Meng Zhou's cowering, shuffling manner.
True, the likes of Meng Zhou had never been worthy of young master Xu's notice, but he was Meng Jueming's follower after all, and thus counted among his own men. And now, facing even a mere underling of an underling like this Xiao Che, he had to be so shrinking and timid—it was simply beneath all decency!
Since he had not visited Yingxin Pavilion in some time of late, and since a lowly pawn like Xiao Che had never been worth young master Xu's notice, Xu Lingchong had never taken any careful measure of Xiao Che's strength. He had no idea that Xiao Che was now already an expert of the early Foundation Establishment stage.
What young master Xu knew even less was that Meng Zhou, an early Foundation Establishment expert in his own right, had already fallen so low as to have twice traded mutual ruin with opponents in succession. He was now taking the field bearing a whole body of grave injuries. In his present condition, never mind facing an expert of his own level like Xiao Che—even sending up the universally acknowledged weakling Zha Wu would have been enough to make him kneel with ease.