護花近衛 - 第3925章 窩裡橫 - 清風書屋

Just then, Li Zhengming's voice came from above: "Miss Murong, over here!"

Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai were both startled. From the dense forest to the north came a rustling that drew closer by the moment—proof that someone really was approaching fast. Li Zhengming had not been bluffing.

"What do we do?" Qiao Hongcai turned to look at Xiao Che, leaving the decision to him.

Meng Zhou had indeed been badly wounded by his palm strike, but he was not yet so spent that he could put up no resistance at all—and no one could say what strength a man might unleash once he was driven to the brink.

If the two of them stayed, they could certainly kill Meng Zhou. But even a moment's delay might bring death down upon them, for Murong Zhen had long since proven herself far stronger than either of them.

"We go!" Xiao Che decided on the spot. He too would have liked to seize this golden chance to finish Meng Zhou, but it was plainly not worth putting Qiao Hongcai and himself in mortal danger for it.

Even with Meng Zhou to cushion the blow, losing either one of them would still be a loss in the end.

Their strength was what it was; so long as another chance came along, killing Meng Zhou would be no hard task. There was no need to gamble on it now.

Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai withdrew swiftly, and moments later Murong Zhen emerged from the dense forest, wreathed in a thick aura of murderous intent.

Xiao Che's decision had been a wise and correct one. Murong Zhen had just suffered a crushing defeat at Wei Zhao's hands, nearly losing her life, and she was now seething with fury.

If she had run into them at such a moment, Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai would surely have faced near-certain death, for the woman would have vented every ounce of her rage upon them, sparing no cost and reckoning no consequence until she had wiped them both out.

Watching the two withdraw so swiftly, Li Zhengming, still up in the tree, remarked with no small admiration, "Decisive in advance and retreat—this Xiao Che is truly no ordinary man."

His warning a moment ago had seemed at first hearing to be pointing Murong Zhen in the right direction, but in truth she had no need of his voice at all—her own senses had already caught the disturbance on this side. His real purpose had been to tip off Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai.

From where Li Zhengming stood, he did not much care whether the two of them lived or died, but he did care what Wei Zhao thought of him.

If he did nothing today and simply let Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai run into Murong Zhen, then no matter the outcome, Wei Zhao would surely hold him to blame afterward.

But if he had already called out a warning in advance, and the two of them still insisted on staying to kill Meng Zhou, then it would no longer be his responsibility.

And afterward, even if he stood by and watched the two be cut down by Murong Zhen right under his nose, Wei Zhao would have nothing to say against him—because he would have already done what he ought to do.

Beneath the tree, Murong Zhen was looking at Meng Zhou with plain disgust. "You can't even deal with two worthless underlings. You really are a thoroughgoing piece of trash. I truly cannot fathom why Meng Jueming values a specimen like you!"

"What did you say!" Meng Zhou's face, already pale, flushed crimson from that single sentence.

Ever since Murong Zhen arrived at the Newcomer Pavilion, Meng Zhou had been smitten with her, and though he had never gained any real advantage over her, her constant teasing and flirtation had left him hopelessly infatuated.

And now, to have the goddess of his heart spurn him to his face so unreservedly!

At any other time, even if she thought little of Meng Zhou in this sorry state, Murong Zhen would never have said such a thing. But the business at Half-Moon Lake had left her grinding her teeth in hatred, and in her present foul mood she had no patience left for playacting with trash like Meng Zhou.