Chapter 3335 — Of Course It Is So

"Go back and tell Xuanchen he'd best keep his nose out of my affairs," Wei Zhao warned coldly. "The people of the Ice Palace are under my protection. But if he wants every last one of his disciples dead, that's fine too—he's welcome to try again!"

"Yes... yes..." How could Xiao Jiu dare say otherwise at a moment like this? He could only nod and agree.

"Get lost." Wei Zhao waved a hand, signaling that Xiao Jiu could leave.

"Going, going right now—thank you, Master Lin, for sparing my life..." Xiao Jiu was thoroughly miserable. He had come strutting with his chest out and was slinking away in disgrace, badly wounded into the bargain—probably beyond healing. Once he got back, he would end up just like Old Four and Old Five.

Through all of it, Bingtang had not said a single word. She did not know what she should say, or what she could say. Wei Zhao's strength had truly surpassed the peak of the late Heaven Rank—otherwise, how could he have slain an expert of that very caliber?

And the business with the Dark Night Palace was actually true! With the gravely wounded Xiao Jiu standing right before her, and with Xiao Jiu himself admitting it outright, Bingtang—though she had refused to believe it before—had no choice but to accept it now.

"Wei Zhao..." Bingtang wanted to open her mouth and thank him, but the word "thanks" simply would not come out.

"Bingtang my tiny-tiny-tiny-tiny-tiny wife, we meet again." Wei Zhao smiled faintly.

"I... who's your tiny... wife!" Bingtang's face flushed red, yet she suddenly realized that she was no longer quite so averse to Wei Zhao. Was it because he had stepped in and resolved the trouble from before? Or was it... that she herself truly admired the strong? That outburst she had made in a fit of pique—had it really been her standard for choosing a mate?

"Heh heh..." Wei Zhao chuckled and teased her no further. He and Feng Xiaoxiao had been apart so long that his thoughts naturally all centered on her now. He took Feng Xiaoxiao's hand. "Xiaoxiao, how have you been these past six months or so? All right, I hope?"

"Mm-hm, not bad. Senior Sister Bingtang treats me very well, and life in the Ice Palace is good too... only, I've missed my Wei Zhao hubby and Tang... Sister Yaoyao and little Sister Shu so much." Feng Xiaoxiao nearly let something slip. She did not have the wealth of concealment experience that Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu possessed, and this was the first time she had seen Wei Zhao since Tang Zhi left, so a careless word had almost escaped her. Fortunately Wei Zhao did not take notice, for Feng Xiaoxiao had already steered the conversation toward Bingtang. "Wei Zhao hubby, when are you going to marry our senior sister? Then senior sister will become a little sister too!"

"Ahem... Xiaoxiao, what nonsense are you spouting?" Bingtang was startled. She had thought that while Feng Xiaoxiao and Wei Zhao were being affectionate, she had temporarily dodged the question—but now it seemed that was not the case at all. Feng Xiaoxiao remembered it even more clearly than Wei Zhao did! What puzzled Bingtang, though, was why Feng Xiaoxiao was not the least bit jealous. True, they all belonged to the ancient stratum and preserved the old customs, but jealousy had existed in ancient times too, had it not? Were the intrigues of a harem ever few?

"Heh heh, Bingtang, don't tell me you've forgotten your own promise? Back then, you didn't say it was nonsense, did you?" Wei Zhao looked at her with a half-smile, feeling rather like a liberated serf singing for joy. On his last visit to the Ice Palace, how proud Bingtang had been! But now the two of them stood as equals who could converse on even footing—and indeed, Wei Zhao held the stronger position.

"I..." Bingtang was at a loss for words. Yes, she had acknowledged it with her own lips back then. To go back on it now—she was, after all, the mistress of a palace, and she could not bring herself to say such a thing. Yet to just up and marry Wei Zhao like this—she was somewhat unwilling, too. Those had been words spoken in anger, after all, with no foundation of feeling behind them. In the past she had looked down on Wei Zhao from a lofty height, because in her eyes he had been a weakling. But now he had transformed into the Ice Palace's savior, stronger even than Bingtang herself—how could her heart possibly accept such a reversal all at once?

Yet unbeknownst to her, Bingtang's feelings toward Wei Zhao had already undergone an earth-shaking change. The Wei Zhao of now inspired no more contempt in her—only a certain timidity.

In the past, when faced with his questioning, she could have brushed him off with any excuse she pleased. But now she did not dare speak carelessly...

Fortunately, Wei Zhao had no intention of pressing her too hard. Instead he turned to matters of business. "Bingtang, let's talk business first. I will do my utmost to refine the Ice Heart Jade Bone Pill for you. But as for Xiaoxiao—I agree to let her accept the inheritance as well!"

Wei Zhao's words left Feng Xiaoxiao dumbfounded. She could not understand why he had suddenly agreed to let her accept the inheritance—had his attitude not been one of firm refusal before? Yet now, when Wei Zhao had the strength to speak with Bingtang on equal terms, the power to change this matter, he had compromised. What on earth was the reason?

Of course, Feng Xiaoxiao had not been in contact with Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu during this time, so she was still unaware of what had happened back home.

"Ah?" Bingtang was puzzled too. She could not understand why Wei Zhao, having agreed to refine the Ice Heart Jade Bone Pill for her, would also consent to Feng Xiaoxiao's matter. It made no sense to her at all.

"Bingtang, I'm going to say a few words to Xiaoxiao next. I hope you won't spread them around." Wei Zhao glanced at Bingtang in reminder—given her strength, even if he retreated to one side to talk, the content would not escape her ears.

"As if I care. Do you take me for such a gossip?" Bingtang curled her lip.

"Heh..." Wei Zhao turned to Feng Xiaoxiao. "Xiaoxiao, before this, I was actually dead set against this whole business of Inheritors, because the dangers you face are all unknown. But now... the truth is, everyone around me has become an Inheritor, and I must change my thinking from before. And I have the ability to protect you all. So as for this Inheritor business—you are all Inheritors, and you are all my girlfriends. Facing danger together and looking out for one another may not be such a bad thing after all."

"Ah?" Feng Xiaoxiao was startled. She had thought Wei Zhao already knew about Tang Zhi—after all, the people around Wei Zhao were Inheritors, and they were his girlfriends too. If not Tang Zhi, then who?

Naturally, she did not know that Gu Mengyao had already set out for the Dark Night Palace.

"You haven't been in contact with home during this time, so you may not be entirely clear on things. Yaoyao has now become the Metal-element Inheritor and currently holds sway over the Dark Night Palace." Wei Zhao paused there and smiled faintly. "In the Dark Night Palace her word is law. The grand elders there delegate authority far more readily than your senior sister here does..."