Chapter 4707 — The Million-Year Canyon
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
He had sent Scarface, a peak early-stage Profound Ascension expert, flying with a single slap—and even Kang Jingming, who looked every bit as savage and terrifying, had not dared to challenge Wei Zhao, slinking away in disgrace instead. That scene had snuffed out any thought of resistance in the crowd. They had no idea Xu Lingchong had simply lost his patience; they took it for pure fear.
Even if these hangers-on were desperate men with nothing to lose, none of them was willing to be cannon fodder—least of all when not a shred of hope was in sight. If even their leader Scarface could only play the meek grandson, then his underlings naturally had to play the meek grandson too. Otherwise they would die for nothing at all.
After taking Qi Wenmo and Xia Qianqian along, Wei Zhao swept the crowd one last time with his gaze, then under all those awed eyes took the lead and entered the Million-Year Canyon.
No sooner had Wei Zhao and the others gone than people at once wanted to follow them in. Scarface had taken a heavy loss this time and could only play the meek grandson; to the crowd, he no longer held any real terror.
But before that man was even halfway there, Scarface suddenly blasted him with a Dragon-Tiger Killing Fist, striking him dead on the spot and leaving not even a speck of remains. In an instant he was back to his former ferocious, hideous self. The brutality and ruthlessness of the method made everyone else fall back a step in unison, shocked beyond measure.
"I'll leave you all with one word: either pay up enough heavenly treasures before you go in, or hand over half of everything you bring back out! Two choices—take your pick. Don't say I didn't warn you fair and square. Anyone thinking of using the confusion to slip through and muddle past me—dies!" Scarface roared, his face twisted with menace.
In his original plan, he had intended to set his rates by the market and extort them coming and going—shake them down once when letting them in, and shake them down again when letting them out. Or, if the pickings looked good, simply kill them outright and swallow their treasures whole. That was the true business with no capital outlay.
But now he had taken loss after loss. Wei Zhao's slap in particular had smacked away every last bit of his intimidation. With so many people here eyeing him like tigers, if he did not lay down the rules quickly, he would land himself in serious trouble before he knew it. So he had no choice but to give ground a step, rather than drive these people to desperation.
That was how people were: once they had no other choice, they might well close ranks and fight to the death; but the moment you gave them hope, that little spark of defiance would dissolve into nothing. Even if the occasional hothead remained, the great majority would never risk it.
Sure enough, one hand killing to establish his authority and the other offering a sweet date, Scarface's performance immediately brought the half-out-of-control scene back under his thumb. Hearing his words, some in the crowd did a quick calculation and nodded on the spot. The first option was plainly a trap, but the second was not necessarily unacceptable—losing half was far better than searching for a needle in a haystack out in that desert.
Once there was a first, a second and a third followed in short order. Quite a few accepted Scarface's proposal on the spot. Some, of course, weighed it over and decided it was unreliable, and turned away nursing their resentment. The Million-Year Canyon was fine enough, but who knew whether Scarface would go back on his word when the time came…
After passing through the little oasis, a vast, majestic canyon opened up ahead, and an ancient, desolate, killing air rushed at them head-on, making them shudder from the very depths of their souls.