Chapter 3924 — A Beating

"A pack of useless trash!" Meng Zhou ground his teeth in fury. With no other choice, he had to take the field himself. Fortunately, the spirit-beast talisman had already been pressed onto the Blackback Staff Ape's forehead; all he had to do now was find a way to hold Qiao Hongcai back and keep him from interfering with the ape.

Thousand-Legs and Iron Cold Palm clashed head-on, and for a time neither could gain the upper hand. Though he had lost to Qiao Hongcai in the final match of the newcomer challenge tournament, strictly speaking Meng Zhou's strength was not much inferior to Qiao Hongcai's. If all he needed was to entangle Qiao Hongcai for a brief moment, that would be effortless for him.

"You worthless piece of crap! There's a road to heaven and you won't take it, but when hell has no gate you insist on barging in—today is the day you die!" Meng Zhou snarled, his face hideous.

But Qiao Hongcai only curled his lip in a wicked grin. "So, Senior Newcomer Meng, are you sure this is really such a good idea? Not even going to keep an eye on that spirit beast of yours? A friendly reminder—I'm not alone this time!"

Meng Zhou was startled. Qiao Hongcai's taunting charge had made him see red, and he had nearly forgotten that the other side still had a Xiao Che. He hurriedly shouted at the top of his voice, "Stop Xiao Che right now! Anyone who dares to slack off is a traitor colluding with the enemy—when we get back, I'll hand you over to Cousin Ninth to deal with personally!"

Traitor colluding with the enemy—that threat was far more effective than the generous rewards and inducements he had offered before. The newcomers might not believe in the rewards Meng Zhou had dangled, but this threat was real and concrete.

If Meng Zhou branded them traitors colluding with the enemy, Meng Jueming's side would certainly not let them off. And now that Meng Jueming's promotion to Third Pavilion Master was all but settled—word had long since spread—he was at the very zenith of his power, and they dared not offend him at a time like this.

After all, they were all Heaven-Rank Grand Perfection experts, and they had the advantage of numbers. Once the newcomers got serious, their combined strength was not to be underestimated; against someone like Qiao Hongcai, who only knew how to meet force head-on, they might well have had the upper hand.

Unfortunately, the one they faced now was not Qiao Hongcai, but Xiao Che.

The Phantom Step—when it came to twisting and turning within a single square inch, no one in the world could surpass it. Given Xiao Che's fighting style, so long as his own strength was not inferior to his opponents', he would never come off worse even against overwhelming numbers—and all the more so now that his strength surpassed everyone present.

The Phantom Step drifted like a phantom; in less than a single breath, Xiao Che had already slipped clean through the newcomers' encirclement, strolling at his ease, not a speck of dust on him.

By the time the crowd came back to their senses, Xiao Che was already standing beside the Blackback Staff Ape, utterly relaxed and pleased with himself.

Hearing the exclamations rising and falling around him, Meng Zhou immediately realized what had happened, and his eyes split with rage as he roared, "Xiao Che! If you dare touch a single hair on it, I'll hack you into ten thousand pieces!"

"Ten thousand pieces? Then come and try to kill me!" Xiao Che smiled faintly and raised an eyebrow, then reached out and with a flick of his hand tore the spirit-beast talisman from the Blackback Staff Ape's forehead.

With that, the Blackback Staff Ape quickly woke from its dazed, hypnotized trance, and everything Meng Zhou had schemed and schemed for was undone in an instant.

Watching this unfold before his eyes, Meng Zhou nearly spat out a mouthful of old blood.

This Blackback Staff Ape before them—he had borrowed Meng Jueming's name to force so many people to spend so many days before finally tracking it down. Now, just as success was within sight, Xiao Che had ruined it all with hardly any effort.

Killing was not even enough; at this moment Meng Zhou felt like biting someone to death!

"I'll kill you!" Meng Zhou's eyes were bloodshot, and he lunged madly after Xiao Che—but he had forgotten that a powerful opponent still stood behind him.

Bang! An Iron Cold Palm struck Meng Zhou square in the back, sending him flying more than ten zhang and leaving a bloody arc in the air, accompanied by Qiao Hongcai's cold laugh: "To ignore my existence and turn your back to me—I really don't know where you get such courage and nerve!"

Qiao Hongcai had held nothing back in that Iron Cold Palm. Caught completely off guard, Meng Zhou had virtually no defense and took the full damage—not merely coughing up blood; at this point his strength was likely down to two or three tenths at best.

Well done! Li Zhengming, mingling among the newcomers, took it all in and could not help but praise them inwardly.

Even by his own exacting standards, he had to admit that Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai each had something uniquely their own, far beyond the likes of a mediocrity like Meng Zhou.

The potential the two of them were gradually revealing was not the least bit inferior to his own. For Wei Zhao to have recruited two such remarkable subordinates the moment he arrived on Cloud-Tier Island—one could truly say his fortune was deep.

Thus Meng Zhou not only failed when success was within his grasp—if Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai were ruthless enough, even his miserable life might end here. To Li Zhengming, that would be a most welcome turn of events!

And indeed things went just as Li Zhengming had expected. After gravely wounding Meng Zhou, Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai showed no intention of stopping; instead they joined forces and advanced on Meng Zhou step by step.

Sensing the killing intent faintly emanating from the two of them, the other newcomers scattered like birds and beasts. At bottom they were merely adherents under Meng Jueming's banner—whether Meng Zhou lived or died had not the slightest thing to do with them, not even half a spirit jade's worth.

On the contrary, if Meng Zhou—that great favorite in Meng Jueming's eyes—were to die, it would be a good thing for them.

What was more, Meng Zhou had never ceased bullying them in ordinary times, so at a moment like this no one was foolish enough to step forward for his sake and stand against Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai.

For them, the most pressing matter was to flee far away and avoid being caught in the crossfire.

Watching the newcomers scatter and flee without the slightest loyalty, Meng Zhou, already gravely wounded, was so enraged that he vomited another great mouthful of blood and clenched his fists in unwilling fury: "Damn it! Those cursed bastards!"

Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai exchanged a glance, killing intent sharp and cold in both their eyes. Though neither was a killer by nature, at a time like this neither would show mercy.

Between them and Meng Zhou, the accumulated conflicts of the past had long since made them mortal enemies who would fight to the death. Just as at the start of the newcomer challenge tournament, when Meng Zhou had schemed to seize the chance to eliminate the two of them, the pair naturally harbored the same intent.

To remove Meng Zhou was to cut off one of Meng Jueming's arms, and that would have an extremely important bearing on curbing Meng Jueming, who stood on the verge of promotion to Third Pavilion Master.

What was more, this was the outer region of the back mountain, where life and death were not accounted for. Even if they killed Meng Zhou, the higher-ups of the Three-Tier Pavilion would not hold them responsible; if Meng Zhou died at their hands, he had only his own lack of strength to blame—no one else.