Chapter 4961 — Zhuang Yifan's Little Scheme
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
A future second-grade Mystic-rank alchemist was someone Zhuang Yifan, given his present strength, simply had to bind tightly to himself no matter what. To draw their relationship closer, it clearly would not do for him alone to beg favors of Wei Zhao; conversely, Wei Zhao too must have need of him. Only when each had value to exploit for the other could such a relationship of interest remain firm and secure.
That was why he had deliberately left Wei Zhao with Chang Minghui as a threat—a form of nurturing the bandit to enhance his own importance. Every time Chang Minghui appeared, Zhuang Yifan's standing in Wei Zhao's eyes would grow a little weightier. The baseline was simply to keep Wei Zhao alive; this was a sure-win, no-loss bargain.
"Zhuang Yifan is a man of deep calculations. You would do well to keep your guard up when dealing with him in the future. Though you are already a first-grade Mystic-rank alchemist, the gap in strength between you is far too vast—trouble comes easily." Liu Ziqi offered the warning, then shook her head with a sigh: "What a pity, letting Chang Minghui slip away this time. True, he took no light wounds and should lie low for a while, but when he comes back again, he will not be so easy to deal with."
Wei Zhao nodded in deep agreement. This time both Heaven's timing and Earth's advantage had been on their side, and Chang Minghui had stepped blindly into the trap. Next time it would not be so easy; then the enemy would be in the dark and they in the light, and Wei Zhao would not even have the chance to prepare in advance, let alone scheme to trap and kill the man.
"I myself am actually fine. I have no intention of lingering in the Eastern Continent anyway—once I return to the Northern Isle, all will be well." Wei Zhao shook his head dismissively, then said with concern: "What worries me more is you, Aunt Liu. You have offended Chang Minghui this time, and he will certainly not let it go."
Wei Zhao could simply walk away, but Liu Ziqi, as vice-headmaster of the Morning Pride Academy, plainly could not do the same. And though she was a fine hand of the mid Mountain-Opening stage, she still fell short against Chang Minghui—and with a nature as vengeful as his, he would not let her off.
"There is no need for you to fret over that. Given my strength, even if I cannot beat him, protecting myself is always no problem. If he dares come and run wild on the Morning Pride Academy's territory, he will be lucky to escape with his skin intact—does he truly think the Morning Pride Academy is easy to bully?" Liu Ziqi said dismissively.
Hearing this, Wei Zhao breathed a sigh of relief. He had just been wondering whether to invite Liu Ziqi along to the Northern Isle to lie low for a while—she was an old acquaintance of Shangguan Tianxia's, after all, and could simply be paying a visit to an old friend's home. But since Liu Ziqi had made her position so clear, there was no need for such superfluous measures.
She was a titan of her region, after all. Even if her strength fell somewhat short, a character like Liu Ziqi's would truly not fear the man; it might even spur her on to climb another level.
"All right, this healing true qi of yours is quite useful—my wounds are nearly healed already." Clicking her tongue in wonder, Liu Ziqi gestured for Wei Zhao to withdraw his true qi and rose to her feet: "You are not lightly hurt yourself. Hurry and heal your own injuries; no need to mind me."
With that, not waiting for Wei Zhao to speak, Liu Ziqi went out of the room on her own, leaving Wei Zhao alone to continue healing.
Wei Zhao shook his head with a helpless laugh. This Aunt Liu's style really was straightforward, with not a trace of dawdling; in handling matters she was far more crisp and decisive than many men. Yet it was fortunate she was such a person—otherwise she would never have so readily left herself in Wei Zhao's hands earlier.