Chapter 4170 — Everyone's Hidden Cards
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
At the sight, Zhong Yongliang could not help but twitch an eyelid, muttering inwardly. Xu Lingchong had mentioned long ago that this fellow had taken a Midnight Heartbreak Pill. Could the pill truly be so terrifying as to twist a shallow, artless buffoon into something so warped and unnerving?
He was not the only one. Beside him, Kang Jingming and Murong Zhen exchanged looks as well. By now they could no longer gauge Meng Zhou's strength at all; they simply felt that the thing before them was unfathomable, and exceedingly dangerous.
"It's nothing much, really. You must have heard by now that Wei Zhao is going to challenge Su Zhaohe, haven't you?" Kang Jingming said, steadying himself.
"And what of it?" Meng Zhou's expression did not change in the slightest.
"The man is Su Zhaohe, don't you think Wei Zhao is good as dead this time?" Kang Jingming said eagerly. "We just got an inside tip—Su Zhaohe's strength is not the great perfection of Foundation Establishment everyone assumes, but early Golden Core. Wei Zhao would need ten lives this time and still not have enough. Wahaha!"
"Early Golden Core?" A faint shift passed through Meng Zhou's eyes, but it quickly returned to normal, leaving no clue as to what he was thinking.
"So you see, Wei Zhao is certain to die this time, and once that happens, the whole rabble under him will scatter the moment the tree falls. We need to prepare early and take over those weathervanes of his. Once we have people under us, we'll have a firmer footing in the future," Kang Jingming proposed, his eyes gleaming.
"Exactly, this is a perfect chance to win people over. Sure, they still have Kubi, Xiao Che, Qiao Hongcai and the rest, but Wei Zhao is their backbone. With him dead, morale will inevitably waver—a rare opportunity. If we wait until Kubi and the others steady them, it will be much harder to poach anyone," Murong Zhen agreed.
"If you want to poach, go yourselves. I'm not interested," Meng Zhou said, still expressionless. After all the setbacks and hardships he had endured—especially the torments of the Midnight Heartbreak Pill twice a day—he had already risen to a level Kang Jingming could no longer compare with.
Those weathervane newcomers—only someone like Kang Jingming would still fixate on them and treat them as tools for his own ambitions. The Meng Zhou of today did not so much as glance at them.
"Uh..." Kang Jingming was instantly stuck for words. The very reason he had gone out of his way to fetch Meng Zhou was precisely his influence among the Qingyun Pavilion newcomers. Even if he had been trampled under Wei Zhao's feet time and again, to ordinary Qingyun Pavilion newcomers he should still carry some intimidation—and yet this damn thing had said he wasn't interested?
In the old days, Kang Jingming would have already torn into him with a torrent of abuse. But the present Meng Zhou was someone he could not see through at all; even with his dissatisfaction, he had no choice but to swallow it for now.
"How about letting me give it a try?" At that moment, Zhong Yongliang instead volunteered. "I can try to win over Li Zhengming. If I can turn him, I imagine it would sway the other Qingyun Pavilion newcomers quite a bit!"
"That's true enough, but Li Zhengming is different from the ordinary newcomers. His resolve is firm, and he is not so easily swayed. My fair lady has approached him several times before with no effect," Murong Zhen said sulkily.
She had always been confident in her charms with the fair sex—yet they had failed on Wei Zhao, and failed on Li Zhengming too, a blow that left her badly shaken. If she had not lately attached herself to Si Haitao, she would have begun to suspect she had turned into a haggard old wife.