Chapter 4616 — The Mysterious Man Summons
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"Zhong Yongliang too?" Xu Lingchong stared at the note, momentarily dumbfounded. He had assumed the mysterious man was finally moving against Wei Zhao—so why this bizarre command out of nowhere? Could it be a slip of the brush? If it had been himself and Meng Zhou together, that would have made far more sense!
Such were his private speculations, yet however bold Xu Lingchong might be, he dared not presume to alter the mysterious man's written order. Who knew whether some deeper design lay hidden in those words?
"Pinliang, you're coming with me—the higher-ups have named you specifically." Suppressing his bewilderment, Xu Lingchong made the announcement before everyone. The others had not yet dispersed, and at these words Meng Zhou and Kang Jingming were struck with disbelief; all eyes turned, as if drawn by a single thread, to Zhong Yongliang.
On the surface Zhong Yongliang looked blankly bewildered, but in that instant his heart was seized with unspeakable terror, and a cold sweat broke out all over him in a flash. His first thought upon hearing those words was: damn it all, has my spying been found out?
In terms of standing, among them all he ranked only slightly above trash like Ma Dangfeng. He was far beneath Xu Lingchong—even Meng Zhou—and at best roughly on par with Kang Jingming, perhaps not even that, for the man had the backing of Ancestor Xuanchen over on Middle Island, whereas Zhong Yongliang had nothing at all.
From the day he joined the organization until now, neither Zhong Yongliang nor any of the others—Meng Zhou, Kang Jingming, and the rest included—had ever been formally received by the mysterious man. That had always been Xu Lingchong's privilege alone. If not for the exposure of some scandal, how could such an opportunity have fallen inexplicably into his own lap?
Facing the gazes of the others, tinged with a certain envy, Zhong Yongliang's heart pounded wildly against his ribs. This felt like the prelude to some colossal catastrophe! There could be no explanation but discovery—summoned along with Xu Lingchong to meet the mysterious man. Was that not plainly walking into the net of his own accord?!
Zhong Yongliang's expression turned utterly rigid, chill after chill rising within him, and when his thoughts reached the most frightful possibilities his hair stood on end. His legs grew leaden, and for a long moment he did not move.
"Well, get moving—what are you dawdling there for? Anyone would think you'd never seen the world!" Xu Lingchong shot him a puzzled glance, assuming the man was simply overcome with joy.
"Ah—yes." Seeing everyone watching him with complicated expressions, Zhong Yongliang hastily crushed his terror down into the depths of his heart. Even now he could not let his panic show; he would have to take one step at a time and see how things unfolded.
Under cover of night, Xu Lingchong led Zhong Yongliang along a path deliberately chosen to evade the watchful eyes of the Sandie Pavilion guards, and they came soundlessly to a desolate slope. At its crest stood a small, dense, gloom-shrouded grove of pines, and beneath it lay the secret chamber the mysterious man had designated.
Following behind Xu Lingchong, Zhong Yongliang was trembling in every limb, his heart hammering so violently it seemed ready to leap into his throat. Gazing upon a scene fit for a moonless night of murder, he was seized more than once by the urge to turn and flee. In the end he forced himself to hold back—Xu Lingchong's strength far outstripped his own, and even had he run he could never escape. To have his guilt exposed now would only mean a faster death.
The two of them entered the secret chamber one after the other to wait. Zhong Yongliang held his breath and concentrated his mind, all the while covertly surveying the chamber's layout and calculating escape routes in his head. If it truly came to the worst, he would have no choice but to fight to the death.