Chapter 2452 — Reaping What He Sowed

"Get lost!" Wei Zhao drove a kick into Kang Jinglong's back and sent him flying dozens of meters away.

"What the hell! Wei Zhao, you again?" When Kang Jinglong got a clear look at Wei Zhao, he flew into a rage. He was about to explode with fury. He had thought that falling into the valley together with Wang Xinyan would turn into a romantic love story—who could have guessed Wei Zhao would follow him down too!

And not merely follow—he had ruined Kang Jinglong's chance at physical intimacy with Wang Xinyan. Kang Jinglong was beside himself: "Wei Zhao, you're a real piece of work, aren't you? Sneaking up and kicking me from behind?"

"No more rotten than you having Purple Hair knock the cable car down." Wei Zhao shot him a cold glare, thinking to himself that this kid did have a scheme or two in him—not a complete fool after all. He knew to bring down the cable car, and he had come equipped with a parachute and a jet booster, all so he could enjoy a romantic descent to the valley floor with Wang Xinyan.

"I..." Kang Jinglong had not expected Wei Zhao to know so much, to grasp in an instant exactly what he had done. His face went stiff, and he could not think of a single retort.

Wang Xinyan, hearing Kang Jinglong's words, wore an expression of fury as well. She had assumed the cable car's fall was an accident—but who would have thought it was no accident at all, but Kang Jinglong's scheme!

The realization that Kang Jinglong had toyed with her very life deepened her loathing for him. She had once felt a little sorry for him, watching him meet misfortune time and again, but now she thought he had simply brought it on himself.

So when Wei Zhao came over and took her in his arms, she struggled only briefly before accepting it—out of anger at Kang Jinglong as much as anything.

Exposed by Wei Zhao, Kang Jinglong's expression turned sour. He felt Wei Zhao was like the great villain in *A Prelude to Faint Light of Old Dreams*—only here in reality, it seemed the villain had become the protagonist, and he himself had become the villain.

But Kang Jinglong was helpless too. Wei Zhao had Wang Xinyan in his arms now, and all he could do was watch. The most important thing at this moment was staying alive, not anything else. Kang Jinglong reached for the parachute button on his backpack—but the instant his hand touched it, his face went white!

The parachute button, as ill luck would have it, had just been smashed to pieces by Wei Zhao's kick!

"Wei Zhao, you've wrecked my parachute!" Kang Jinglong glared at Wei Zhao and demanded.

"Oh." Wei Zhao did not even glance at him, only gave a snort through his nose.

"What the hell, you want to kill me!" Seeing that Wei Zhao would not respond, Kang Jinglong began to scream himself hoarse: "Somebody save me! If I fall, I'm dead!"

"Oh." Wei Zhao ignored him.

"I..." Kang Jinglong panicked. He had never expected anything like this—a broken parachute, and if he fell from this height, how could he possibly survive? In his desperation he had no card left to play but to beg: "Wei Zhao, I'm begging you, save me, I don't want to die..."

"Oh." Wei Zhao went on ignoring him.

"You... if you save me, I'll turn a blind eye to whatever goes on between you and Wang Xinyan, I swear..." By now Kang Jinglong had cast dignity aside—staying alive mattered more! Yet even as he said it, he was thinking nothing of the kind.

Survive first, that was all. Later he would deny everything, and Wei Zhao would have no way to prove a thing.

"Work the jet booster yourself. Isn't there a lake down there? Jump into the lake and you won't die." Wei Zhao offered this much advice, though he did not believe a word Kang Jinglong said—a creature capable of such a foul scheme was plainly a petty villain.

"I..." Seeing that Wei Zhao would not help him after all, Kang Jinglong had no choice but to manipulate the jet booster, adjusting the direction of his fall until he was aimed at the lake at the bottom of the valley...

Watching Kang Jinglong scurry about like a stray dog, Wang Xinyan found it faintly amusing. At this moment she felt not the slightest pity for him—this was all his own doing. The cable car had been running perfectly well, yet he had insisted on having Right Panhu's men sabotage it, and in the end he had reaped what he sowed.

Wei Zhao held Wang Xinyan in his arms, and because his true qi shielded her, she could not even feel the cold wind around her. Kang Jinglong, by contrast, was in a sorry state—not only did he have to face the cold wind and watch the ground below, but he had to work the jet booster while drenched in cold sweat, terrified that one slip would send him plummeting half to death.

After a while, Wei Zhao descended slowly to the ground with Wang Xinyan in his arms. She did not even feel the great jolt and jarring stop of the landing—it had been entirely canceled out by Wei Zhao's protective true qi.

Kang Jinglong, however, landed square on the ice of the lake and punched a hole clean through it, plunging into the water below. It was a long while before he crawled out of the hole in the ice, sneezing, a picture of utter misery.

"Achoo!" Kang Jinglong shakily climbed out of the lake. Luckily he could swim, and the spot where he had fallen in was shallow—even standing upright, the water did not go over his head. Otherwise, in cold like this, he would have frozen to death even if the fall had not killed him.

Wei Zhao was now surveying the surroundings, in no hurry to head back. This had been a chance for Kang Jinglong to get close to Wang Xinyan—but was it not also a chance for Wei Zhao?

To be alone with Wang Xinyan was something that, in ordinary times, could not be wished for. So Wei Zhao was naturally in no rush to leave.

"Xinyan, let's find somewhere to shelter first." Wei Zhao spotted a cave nearby and said to Wang Xinyan.

"...All right." Wang Xinyan glanced at Kang Jinglong, hesitated, then nodded. Miserable as Kang Jinglong looked now, the memory of all he had done before—above all bringing down the cable car—made her grind her teeth in fury. How could anyone treat other people's lives so lightly? Did he mean to commit murder?

Wei Zhao and Wang Xinyan entered the cave, and Kang Jinglong shamelessly tagged along. He had no choice but to follow—this cave was one he had discovered that day while riding in the helicopter with Right Panhu. It was the nearest shelter around, and he had even stashed some ready-cut branches inside it for building a fire!