Chapter 3870 — So It Was Her?

"There is something you may not know, sir. Kang Jingming is an alchemist, and the pill-fire bomb has always been his signature move," Wei Zhao said, his expression unreadable.

"Is everything you have said true?" Yu Jiang's face turned cold at once. Kang Jingming and this Wei Zhao had a private grudge, and Kang Jingming himself could make pill-fire bombs, yet he had spun a fine tale to trick Yu Jiang and Nan Tianguan into coming here to probe Wei Zhao. His motives were now plain as day.

"Whether it is true or not, surely a man of your abilities can judge for himself?" Wei Zhao countered calmly.

"I hope you are not lying. Otherwise you know better than I do what will become of you." Yu Jiang gave Wei Zhao a cold glance, then, as though he had received some instruction, turned and left.

Before going, Yu Jiang halted and looked back at Wei Zhao. "Do you know why I wanted to kill you? Because you resemble the man I am looking for—in some respects, at least. That is your misfortune."

With that, Yu Jiang swiftly vanished from Wei Zhao's sight, and in the next moment Wei Zhao spotted Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai coming toward him.

Only then did Wei Zhao understand. No wonder that wretch Yu Jiang had suddenly stopped—Nan Tianguan must have sensed Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai's approach, and, fearing that more newcomers would turn up and blow the matter out of proportion, he had sent Yu Jiang a message by thousand-li transmission to withdraw.

"Boss, how are you?" Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai were shocked at the sight of Wei Zhao covered in wounds, and they rushed over in alarm.

"It's nothing, just a few superficial cuts. No need to make a fuss." Wei Zhao shook his head with a smile, though inwardly he breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness these two brothers of his had found him in time and gotten him out of that fix; otherwise, this day's crisis would have been hard to survive.

"Who did this? Boss, should we go after them right now?" Qiao Hongcai could not contain his righteous fury. A creature of his temperament could never stand idly by and watch his boss Wei Zhao beaten and wounded—even if they could not win, they would have to try.

Besides, this was the Welcome Pavilion; the other side would surely have some reservations. Even if they were no match one-on-one, if several of them attacked together, they might yet stand a chance.

"No need. Compared with the possible return, these few scratches are well worth it." Wei Zhao smiled mysteriously. Danger had indeed hung over that scene—one slip and his identity would have been exposed, and that would have meant death—but those last few exchanges with Yu Jiang had already yielded ample reward.

Unless he was mistaken, Nan Tianguan and Yu Jiang would very likely turn their attention to Kang Jingming next. And the beauty of it was that this time Kang Jingming had used the pill-fire bomb as a pretext to draw their eyes onto himself—little realizing that in the end he had only dug his own grave.

Nan Tianguan and Yu Jiang were both clever men, and clever men are always deeply suspicious. Ordinarily Yu Jiang would not have fixed his suspicions on Kang Jingming—strictly speaking, Kang Jingming did not resemble Lin Er all that much. But after this business, those two clever men had no choice but to suspect him, especially since the fellow really could make pill-fire bombs.

Wei Zhao sincerely wished he could send Kang Jingming two phrases: one was "losing the rice and the chicken too," and the other was "spinning a cocoon around oneself."

"By the way, how did you two find your way here?" Wei Zhao asked, turning his head toward Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai as he tended his wounds.

This place was not far from the newcomers' caves of the Azure Cloud Pavilion, but under normal circumstances no one came this way. And from the look on Xiao Che's and Qiao Hongcai's faces, they had clearly come out searching for him.

Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai exchanged a glance before saying, "Well, actually, that woman told us. She said we should come and collect your corpse..."

"Murong Zhen?" Wei Zhao was taken aback, then recalled: when Yu Jiang had come for him earlier, the other newcomers had been inside their sealed caves and could not sense anything outside—but that woman Murong Zhen lived in a little wooden hut out in the open. Not the slightest stir could escape her eyes.

Still, after last night's affair, the woman ought by now to have set herself squarely against him. If she simply let Nan Tianguan and Yu Jiang finish him off, would that not suit her wishes perfectly?

Her words had been ugly enough, but her intent was plainly to send Xiao Che and the other out to rescue him. What was she scheming now? Was she still unwilling to give up on him?

Wei Zhao was utterly baffled, and could only sigh that creatures called women were truly impossible to understand—for no reason at all they made an enemy of you, and then in the blink of an eye, equally for no reason, they helped you out of a tight spot. It was impossible to make sense of it! Still, she surely meant no good by it.

"Boss, do you think that woman has really taken a fancy to you?" Qiao Hongcai chuckled on the way back to the caves, his face full of curious gossip.

In the eyes of the Azure Cloud Pavilion newcomers, the most captivating focus was beyond all doubt Murong Zhen. Her every move tugged at the nerves of all the newcomers; even a creature like Qiao Hongcai could not help but pay attention to her.

And ever since Murong Zhen had appeared yesterday, though every glance and smile of hers was alluring, she had shown no great warmth toward the other newcomers. Only when facing Wei Zhao was she different, and rather forward.

If they knew that last night the fair Murong had even offered to go bathe in Wei Zhao's cave, these people would probably go mad!

Wei Zhao shot him a disdainful look and curled his lip. "Taken a fancy to what? My strength or my background?"

"Uh..." Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai were at once at a loss for words. Their boss Wei Zhao might well be unfathomable, but when it came to actual strength and background—at least on the surface—he was not even the equal of that fair Murong herself.

Just then Murong Zhen suddenly appeared before the three of them and said to Wei Zhao with a cold smile, "This fair lady thought you did not know how to appreciate a favor, but now it seems you know your own measure well enough! Quite right—in this lady's eyes, whether in strength or background, you are no better than scum. So I advise you to be wiser and make a wise choice at once. This lady's patience is not particularly good."

"A choice?" Wei Zhao raised an eyebrow. "Miss Murong, I have already made myself perfectly clear: we go our separate ways and do not cross into each other's waters. That is my choice."

At those words, Murong Zhen gave Wei Zhao a long, deep look, then flung back one sentence as she swept away: "A fool like you has done remarkably well to live this long. Next time your luck will not be so good—no one will save you from disaster again." RS