Chapter 4674 — Running into Danger
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
The look Huo Yudie now cast at Yao Jiali's back was far from friendly either. Both of them had vice deans of Chenjiao Academy standing behind them, and their rivalry was fierce, so the two had never been on good terms. Especially after that business with the secular-world woman, they had nearly come to blows, and signs of an open break had already appeared—otherwise, as fellow disciples of Chenjiao Academy, their relationship would not have soured to such a degree.
"Junior Sister Yudie, when did you and he get acquainted? How come I never knew?" At that moment Ren Zhongyuan, who had been walking at the front, suddenly fell back a few steps and sidled over—clearly jealous at seeing Wei Zhao and Huo Yudie talking.
"My master and his master are old friends. Is it so strange that we know each other?" Huo Yudie answered coldly.
"Er—but you never mentioned him before. How is it he's suddenly popped up now?" Ren Zhongyuan pressed on, still unwilling to give up.
"There's a great deal about my affairs that you don't know, Senior Brother Ren." Huo Yudie's tone was stiff; she was plainly fed up with the fellow, and was a hair's breadth from falling out with him to his face.
"Heh heh, true enough. That's precisely why I'd like to learn more about your affairs, Junior Sister Yudie." Ren Zhongyuan, however, seemed utterly oblivious, and went on with a shameless, ingratiating grin, while secretly shooting Wei Zhao a glance. So long as he kept the two of them from whispering together, his goal was achieved.
Huo Yudie glanced at him and made no reply—but Ren Zhongyuan was not one to give up so easily!
She answered him coldly, a word here and a word there, yet he remained as cheerful as ever. In this dogged, plaster-like persistence, he was a match for Kang Jingming.
As for Wei Zhao, ever since Ren Zhongyuan had come sidling over, he had simply clammed up. He seemed to have genuinely become a hanger-on; in truth, but for the Lei Xuan Vine, he could not be bothered to travel with these people at all.
The five pressed on. Once they emerged from the mouth of the gorge, the way ahead suddenly opened out. Wei Zhao had assumed this place was at most a small island, but the sight before him gave him a shock—it was a wasteland!
Not pure desert; here and there one could still see patches of vegetation, but at least eight parts in ten of what met the eye was barren ground. One could not quite call it devoid of a single blade of grass, yet it left one with a feeling of dead stillness.
Ever since coming to Cloud Tier Island, every one of Wei Zhao's adventures or trials had been spent in lush, dense primeval forest. He had not expected this time to be the exception!
What surprised him even more was that this rolling, undulating wasteland stretched beyond sight, with not the slightest feel of the lonely island at sea he had anticipated.
Wei Zhao was somewhat astonished, yet his companions showed not the least surprise, as though they had known all along.
On reflection it was no wonder. Chenjiao Academy was a purely women's academy, so closely bound to the West Island that the two almost depended on each other for survival. In the past, even when the West Island trials were closed to outsiders, they had not necessarily been barred to the academy. That they should have some prior knowledge was only natural.
Once they were out of the gorge, the other trial participants who had come with them were nowhere in sight.
These people had all come in pursuit of rare treasures, and splitting up was the most basic of principles. Otherwise, with everyone gathered together, the slightest discovery of a treasure would mean mutual slaughter—a situation clearly not what anyone wished to see. It was not only inefficient but foolish.
"Hold on a moment. Let's confirm the route." Ren Zhongyuan spoke up suddenly, then drew a map from his robes.