Chapter 4046 — Scared Out of Their Wits
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
There was only one thing Shangguan Tianxia cared about: how to find his precious granddaughter. That, and nothing else, was the reason he had stooped to come see Wei Zhao in person; otherwise, as the august Pavilion Master of the Skyward Pavilion, he would never have set foot in a place like this.
"As it happens, this disciple already knows where the young junior sister is," Wei Zhao said slowly.
"Oh?" Shangguan Tianxia was taken aback. It would have been unsurprising had Wei Zhao produced any means whatsoever to prove his innocence—but that he actually knew Shangguan Lan'er's whereabouts, that was quite beyond expectation.
"If you don't mind, Pavilion Master, this disciple can lead the way—though first you'll have to get me out of here," Wei Zhao said, his eyes burning bright.
Shangguan Tianxia looked at him long and hard, then nodded. "Very well. I shall grant your wish."
Anyone else—even a heavyweight of Elder Xu Yuanzheng's stature on the Council of Elders—would never have dared claim he could simply walk Wei Zhao out of here. This was, after all, Gongyang Jun's domain; without Gongyang Jun's nod, no one could take a single soul from this place.
Shangguan Tianxia, however, was not among that number. He was not only the Pavilion Master of the Skyward Pavilion but also the man who had recognized Gongyang Jun's promise and raised him up. If anyone in the Triple Stack Pavilion could still cow Gongyang Jun, Shangguan Tianxia's name stood at the very top of the list.
Sure enough, at a single simple word from Shangguan Tianxia, Gongyang Jun raised no objection at all and nodded his assent on the spot.
From the moment he was thrown into the dungeon to the moment he saw daylight again, scarcely an hour had passed—yet Wei Zhao felt as though a lifetime had gone by.
Had Shangguan Tianxia not come, and had Gongyang Jun simply ignored him from first to last, it was far from impossible that he would have been left to rot away his whole life in that lightless dungeon, cut off from the world.
At least he was out now. Wei Zhao stretched luxuriously. Not too much time had passed yet; with any luck, Shangguan Lan'er was still alive and well.
"Which way?" Shangguan Tianxia asked from behind him. Even with the composure befitting one of the Triple Stack Pavilion's top figures, where his precious granddaughter's safety was concerned, he could not help but betray some anxiety.
Wei Zhao glanced about, then his gaze settled on a flying spirit beast belonging to the Law Enforcement Hall in the distance. He jerked his chin at it. "It's a fair distance from here. We'll need it to carry us part of the way."
"Fine." Shangguan Tianxia promptly took Wei Zhao with him, and the two of them climbed onto the flying spirit beast. Without another word they shot into the sky, leaving a crowd of Law Enforcement Hall experts staring at one another.
Wei Zhao was a prime suspect. To have him carried off just like that by Shangguan Tianxia, without any escort from the Law Enforcement Hall, was plainly improper—but the man was the Pavilion Master of the Skyward Pavilion, and when he wished to do a thing, even Hall Master Gongyang Jun had no choice but to comply. For underlings like them to point fingers, or even think of intervening, would have been nothing short of courting death.
And besides, the one in danger now was Shangguan Lan'er. This was, when you came down to it, Shangguan Tianxia's own family affair; questionable as his overstepping might be, there was no fault to be found with it.
And as the Law Enforcement Hall experts watched the two recede into the distance, that same scene fell within Murong Zhen's line of sight as well. As the all-important informant and eyewitness, she was still at the Law Enforcement Hall assisting the investigation—though she had not been strictly confined.