Chapter 4598 — Escape from Death
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
Every eye in the place swung, as one, onto Ma Dangfeng, and his face turned blue and purple in turns, almost the equal of Lu Bianren's at that moment.
Facing Shangguan Lan'er's deathly, murderous glare, Ma Dangfeng knew there was no dodging it, and could only screw up his courage and put on a placating smile: "Miss Shangguan, you must have misheard. Pavilion Master Shangguan is wise and martial, with a eye that sees all things clear—that is what everyone up and down North Island is singing his praises for. And the Lord Gongyang of the Enforcement Hall stands as a ready example, a pearl already before us. Who would ever say Pavilion Master Shangguan is blind? That would be staring wide-eyed and spouting nonsense—only someone whose brains had been kicked in by a donkey!"
"Is that so?" Shangguan Lan'er glanced at him, then turned to the crowd: "Did he say the same thing just now? It doesn't sound that way to me."
At this the Azure Cloud disciples looked at Ma Dangfeng with hesitation, and seeing the creature glaring ferociously at them all the while, drawing a finger across his throat in threat, they shrank back one by one and shook their heads weakly: "We... we didn't hear clearly..."
They feared Shangguan Lan'er, to be sure, but they feared Ma Dangfeng more. After all, however exalted Shangguan Lan'er's station, she was of the Soaring Heaven Pavilion and would never have dealings with the likes of them—whereas Ma Dangfeng was the second senior brother and steward of the Azure Cloud Pavilion's inner court. If they dared speak the truth now, then even if Ma Dangfeng later fell on hard times, he would first take a savage revenge on them before that fall came. They could not risk such a thing.
"Didn't hear clearly? So many of you, and not one heard clearly?" At the sight of these Azure Cloud disciples cowering, Shangguan Lan'er was at once furious; then her eyes darted and she suddenly pointed at Lu Bianren: "You were closest to this creature—you tell me!"
Lu Bianren was still gripped in Ma Dangfeng's hand, on the verge of fainting and wholly unable to move. Hearing Shangguan Lan'er's words, Ma Dangfeng clamped down even harder, terrified that Lu Bianren would say something to his harm, and at once meant to kill the man to seal his mouth—and, at the same time, to serve those present as a bloody warning.
"Are you not going to put him down? Let me make it plain in advance: if there is anything at all wrong with him, you will answer for silencing him with murder!" Shangguan Lan'er said coldly, and even as she spoke, Little Juanjuan the bear had already darted forward ahead of her, scrambling up Ma Dangfeng's body, pulling and dragging itself up, and then sank its teeth with a chomp into the hand that held Lu Bianren.
Ah! Ma Dangfeng gave a howl of pain; in his agony his grip loosened and he flung Lu Bianren aside.
Little Juanjuan the bear—do not be fooled by its low cultivation, looking like nothing more than a pet that trades on its cuteness; that is only a disguise. The destructive power of the Juanjuan bear clan ranks among the very first of all spirit beasts, and though Little Juanjuan was far from full grown, it was born with a fine set of teeth that could grind even spirit jade to bits. Ma Dangfeng might be a skilled hand of the Nascent Soul stage, but he was still flesh and blood, and of course he could not withstand such a bite.
And so Lu Bianren, suffocating for so long, was at last set free, snatched back from the jaws of death, and lay sprawled to one side in a sorry state, gasping great gulps of air. (To be continued) R466