Chapter 5142 — Preparing to Strike
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
As for the rest of the Jing Taiyang crew, scattered as they were on separate errands, Wei Zhao made no particular effort to keep watch on their every move. For one thing, it was impossible to watch them all; for another, so long as he kept his eyes on Dr. Glasses and Brother Dafeng, everything else would naturally fall into place—there was no need to go to such trouble.
Like Dr. Glasses, Brother Dafeng had no inkling that Wei Zhao was hovering right above his head. He was still fretting in secret over how to get in touch with Wei Zhao, and after rolling his eyes a few times, he turned to Dr. Glasses and grumbled, "It's been most of the day already. Jing Taiyang and the others haven't shown the slightest sign of movement—what if something's gone wrong? Should I slip out and take a quick look?"
"You? You're not even one of the Taigu Alliance. What if you go wandering out there and someone spots you? These are all Foundation Establishment experts—some of them may even be Golden Core. Don't you value your life, boy?" Dr. Glasses shot him a glance.
"I don't think that'll happen. These islands aren't exactly big, but they're not small either, and there aren't that many people gathered here. As long as I'm careful, no one will notice me," Brother Dafeng said confidently. What he really wanted was to go out and try his luck. By his reckoning, so many days had passed that Wei Zhao ought to have arrived by now; with a bit of luck, he might just run into him—and avoid falling prey, blindly and inexplicably, to whatever dirty tricks Dr. Glasses and his lot were plotting.
Dr. Glasses laughed to himself at this. He had long known what Brother Dafeng was really about, so he could easily guess what was going through the fellow's mind. Had they been out in the open, he might well have turned the situation to his own advantage; but this archipelago was the transit point between the Taigu minor Jianghu and the mundane world, and in theory only members of the Taigu Alliance ever appeared here. If Brother Dafeng were spotted, it could easily ruin everything—so the idea had to be abandoned.
"Patience. Barely a day has passed. I'm sure word will come soon enough," Dr. Glasses said, and before Brother Dafeng could start nagging again, he added flatly, "That's settled, then. I'm going to rest a while—you keep watch."
Brother Dafeng had no choice but to let it drop. Less than half a day later, the Foundation Establishment experts sent out to investigate—Jing Taiyang and the rest—began coming back one after another to report. They were, after all, disciples of their respective sects, and they had not set out together; each had simply gone to the small island belonging to his own sect. So their comings and goings aroused little suspicion, and they soon learned the latest news of their respective sects.
After piecing together all their reports, Dr. Glasses mused, "So the other Taigu sects are all quiet. The ones making the biggest splash lately are Cangwu Sect of North Island—and the Snow Sword Sect, which came off badly?"
"That's right. Everyone's been talking about it—it's caused a huge uproar. The Snow Sword Sect has really lost face; their prestige is in tatters," Jing Taiyang cut in eagerly, anxious to prove his worth.
Though no Snow Sword Sect disciples were present, the affair had blown up so enormously that they could hardly have failed to hear of it—and besides, the archipelago was only so big, and a bit of fresh excitement was rare. When people gathered together, apart from discussing this, there really was nothing else to talk about.
"Bing Wushuang, an early Golden Core cultivator, and Xue Jianming, one at the peak of Foundation Establishment—the last two holders of the title of the Taigu Alliance's foremost Foundation Establishment expert, and now both are crippled. That's rather interesting," Dr. Glasses said, stroking his chin in thought.