Chapter 3780 — Truly a Tragedy

Zha Wu could have slapped himself twice across the face right then—damn it, why the hell had he gone and challenged Wei Zhao to show off for nothing? Now he had dug his own grave!

Unfortunately, things had already come to this point; never mind slapping himself, even a full three-hundred-sixty-degree flamboyant thrashing would be useless now. Only two choices remained to Zha Wu: admit defeat on his own, or be beaten to death.

He was already gravely wounded beyond belief. If he insisted on fighting on, then when he got beaten to death, Qiao Hongcai really could not be blamed. When a cripple who would die at a single touch insisted on coming up to scam a foul, there was nothing to be done for him—surely no one expected him to display the noble virtue of voluntarily yielding? All he could do was beat the bastard soundly!

Seeing Qiao Hongcai's fierce, sharp momentum and that murderous look of a man ready to strike for the kill, Zha Wu's heart instantly quailed, and he hurriedly cried, "I yield! I yield!"

Compared with losing his life outright, losing a few points by simply conceding was still the better bargain. Even if he might very well be docked into negative points afterward, at least he would still have a thread of a fighting chance—better than just dying on the spot.

Qiao Hongcai burst out laughing, gave him a thumbs-up, and mocked, "You really do understand the spirit of retreating in order to advance—my admiration, my admiration!"

Zha Wu was so furious his face turned the color of pig liver, but circumstances overpowered the man; strain as he might, he could not squeeze out a single fart, and could only limp off the stage in disgrace. A chorus of unrestrained jeers from the other newcomers greeted him, and his heart turned to dead ashes.

After today's affair, he had not only offended Wei Zhao's crowd, but also Meng Jueming—because the loophole he had tried to exploit was plainly throwing a wrench into Meng Jueming's calculations. The other newcomers under Meng Jueming no longer had any reason to hold back; if they caught the chance to trample him into the ground, they were welcome to it.

He had already been a weakling at the very bottom in both strength and ranking, and now he had fallen out of favor on both sides at once. Zha Wu could now fully foresee what was coming for him.

Never mind whether he could enter Azure Cloud Pavilion in the future—the question he had to think about now was whether he could even survive the rest of the challenge tournament!

Zha Wu's guts were now green with regret. Damn it, this kind of opportunism really was the death of a man!

Unfortunately, there had never been a medicine for regret in this world. Leaving aside how Zha Wu's remorse could not undo the past, over on Qiao Hongcai's side, his mood after stepping down from the arena was rather cheerful.

"Not bad. I really didn't expect it—you look like a hotheaded blockhead, Hongcai, but you're Zhang Fei doing embroidery: coarse on the outside, fine within!" Wei Zhao nodded at him with a faint smile and spoke approvingly.

The long-suffering senior brother and Xiao Che only grasped the trick of it after hearing Wei Zhao's words, and both raised their thumbs.

Frankly, neither of them had thought of such a move, yet Qiao Hongcai, a blockhead of a fellow, had spotted the opportunity first. Truly, you cannot judge a man by his looks, nor measure the ocean with a bucket.

Qiao Hongcai chuckled and said, "Even a weakling like that understands the principle of retreating in order to advance—how could I not? Leader Wei Zhao, the rest of you shouldn't underestimate me too much!"

As the master of Mountain-Low No. 13 cave dwelling, stepping forward to challenge Zha Wu of Mountain-Low No. 12 was no mere case of kicking a man when he was down—it was an absolute stroke of genius!

First, the fellow Zha Wu had already been gravely wounded by Wei Zhao, and for Qiao Hongcai to follow right on his heels and finish him off cost not a single shred of true qi; moreover, he was guaranteed four points, and he got to pinch this clown and vent a good breath of pent-up anger.

But more critically, secondly, he would replace Zha Wu as master of Mountain-Low No. 12 cave dwelling—that was the truly brilliant, eye-catching finishing touch that made one want to slap the table in admiration!

Do not forget: Meng Zhou had just publicly blustered and named Qiao Hongcai as his target for the next round.

Originally, Qiao Hongcai had been at Mountain-Low No. 13 cave dwelling, standing squarely in Meng Zhou's path, so Meng Zhou's bluster had been perfectly natural. But now, after this maneuver, Zha Wu stood between him and Qiao Hongcai, and things had become a little awkward for Meng Zhou.

If he challenged Qiao Hongcai as agreed, then he would inevitably have to skip over Zha Wu in between—which amounted to naturally forfeiting the three points that Zha Wu carried.

Three points might not seem like much, but this was the crucial moment for him to catch up to and overtake Wei Zhao. If things went wrong, he might lose out over those three points, and then he would truly weep without tears.

But if he did not forfeit those three points, then he would have to break his word and wait another round before challenging Qiao Hongcai. However, in front of everyone present, he had already let his words out—if he failed to deliver, would that not be plainly making a laughingstock of himself?

If the opponent had been a domineering powerhouse like Wei Zhao, that would have been one thing, but the other party was merely Qiao the Trash, a mere underling of Wei Zhao's. Could Meng Zhou really be expected to admit cowardice before him?

Where would he put his face after that? What kind of leader of the Azure Cloud Pavilion newcomers would he be then?

Watching Wei Zhao and Qiao Hongcai and the others chatting and laughing with such ease, even a fellow with as poor a brain as Meng Zhou quickly sensed the danger in it, and he ground his teeth: "Damn it, how come I never noticed before that this Qiao the Trash is so sneaky—even a dirty trick like this he can pull off. What a bastard! Ninth Cousin, you've got to help me come up with a plan!"

Hearing this, Meng Jueming turned around, nodded and bowed, and first asked Xu Lingchong for instructions: "Young Master Xu, what do you think?"

"A trifling matter like this—handle it among yourselves," Xu Lingchong said, utterly unconcerned. He cared only about how to deal with Wei Zhao; anything else was beneath the notice of a young master like him.

"Very well," Meng Jueming nodded.

He knew this well enough, but diligently reporting on matters great and small was the unerring rule for serving one's master. Some minor matters, even if one knew perfectly well the master would not care, at least allowed one to express an attitude—this subtle, imperceptible influence was the truly masterful art of flattery.

Only then did Meng Jueming turn to look at Meng Zhou and sneer with the cunning of an old schemer: "This move of theirs is indeed sneaky, but it's no great matter. Respond to all changes by remaining unchanged. You need not pay him any mind—just stick to the original plan and crush your way up one cave dwelling at a time."

"B-but... but that way, won't I lose face in a huge way?" Meng Zhou's face flushed red with pent-up frustration.

He had set his heart on becoming the leader of the Azure Cloud Pavilion newcomers. He had just publicly blustered and challenged Qiao the Trash, and now in the blink of an eye he would be challenging a weakling instead—in the eyes of the other newcomers, how would that be any different from admitting cowardice outright? He could not bear such humiliation!