Chapter 4034 — Ambush on the Return Journey

Just as they had guessed, Wei Zhao and Hong Zhong were indeed preparing to head home. Wei Zhao was still a newcomer to the Welcome Pavilion, and even with his long-suffering senior brother's backing, he could not stay away too long; Hong Zhong, meanwhile, was due shortly to report for duty on the Central Island. Each had his own affairs to see to.

After a word with Steward Song, the two of them boarded the flying spirit beast they had come on and set out for the North Island.

"Young Hero Lin, it seems this return trip won't be quite so peaceful either." Hong Zhong suddenly glanced back over his shoulder and shook his head slightly.

"Indeed. We've barely left the patrol range of Zhenbei Garrison, and these people can hardly wait." Wei Zhao nodded. His recent breakthrough to the peak of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage had widened his range of perception considerably, and he had long since sensed the men trailing behind them.

Before the words had left his mouth, the flying spirit beasts behind them abruptly surged forward, drawing level with the two of them in the blink of an eye—and there was more than one of them.

"You there, old man—hand over your spirit jade and your treasures right now, or I'll throw you both down to feed the sea monsters!" A masked man with hedgehog-spiked hair laughed hideously as he spoke.

Right on his heels, from the back of another raptor spirit beast, a masked man with a gentle, almost womanish face and long wavy hair sneered, "Don't even think about running. It's useless. The beasts under your feet are the most worthless ordinary flying spirit beasts there are—dreaming of shaking off the raptors beneath us is pure fantasy. So I'd advise you both to be sensible. Cooperate, and I give you my word: we take your wealth, not your lives."

Wei Zhao and Hong Zhong exchanged a glance and could not help laughing inwardly. Four or five men stood on the back of each of the two raptors, and though none of them was weak—every one at least late Foundation Establishment—the hedgehog-haired man and the long-haired man leading them were at the great perfection of Foundation Establishment. Still, to dare rob the two of them on such strength alone left a man speechless.

If they had set their sights on Wei Zhao alone, that would have been one thing. But with a top-tier expert as unfathomable as Hong Zhong standing right there beside him, the fact that this lot still had the nerve to charge in was courage worthy of praise.

What they did not know was that their boldness came purely from ignorance. Hong Zhong had always kept his true depths hidden, presenting himself as a genial merchant who believed in harmony bringing wealth; precious few knew his real strength.

To outsiders, Hong Zhong was nothing but a merchant. If he himself were already so powerful, then why would the Hong Merchant Guild spend such vast sums hiring so many skilled retainers—unless it had more spirit jade than it knew what to do with?

Seeing the two of them wearing strange expressions and saying nothing, the hedgehog-haired man flew into a rage: "Damn you both—are you tired of living or what? Hand over your things, now! I'll count to three. If you don't obediently hand over your spirit jade and treasures by then, don't blame me for leaving you no way out! One! Two! ..."

Just as the hedgehog-haired man was about to reach three and strike, Wei Zhao suddenly spoke—not the pleas for mercy everyone had expected, but with a face full of mockery: "A word, if I may, gentlemen of the greenwood. I take the liberty of asking: you're all amateurs at this, aren't you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" The masked men all stared blankly.

Wei Zhao shrugged and said with a faint smile, "Nothing much. I was only thinking—since you've gone to the trouble of covering your faces, why not tuck away your waist tokens while you're at it? Isn't this all rather unprofessional?"

"Gah!" The masked men were thrown into a panic and hurriedly looked down, each fumbling at his own waist—and then every gaze came to rest on the hedgehog-haired leader. At his waist still hung a yellow token inscribed with the words "Wantong"—plainly the emblem of the Wantong Grand Gathering.

Under all those eyes, mask or no mask, the hedgehog-haired man's mortification was plain to see; his face burned red to the very ears.

"Clowns who can't even put on a proper show." Hong Zhong shook his head in speechless disgust. The men before him were beneath his notice; his remark was aimed, of course, at the Wantong Grand Gathering.

Of that long-laid poisonous scheme, Hong Zhong—though he had been one of its joint targets—had as a merchant privately allowed that it was a masterful piece of work. But now, having clearly already lost, to stoop to something as shabby as sending men to waylay them was beneath contempt.

And if you were going to send men to rob someone, you might at least send someone capable. Sending a pack of fools with neither strength nor brains—was this meant as an insult to one's intelligence?

Watched by his own subordinates behind him, and especially sneered at by the long-haired man on the other side, the hedgehog-haired man flew into a shameful fury: "What are you all staring at! So what if I've given myself away—the brat and the old man die either way! Once they've been fed to the sea monsters, no one will be the wiser!"

Wei Zhao could not help laughing. "Feeding the sea monsters is such a charming pastime—I really do think it suits a greenwood hero of your refinement better. Why don't you give us a demonstration first?"

"Demonstration? Demonstrate this!" The hedgehog-haired man cursed and snatched up the great cleaver at his side, bellowing, "Close in—today I'm going to split him open alive!"

The men behind him bared their blades and divine weapons with savage grins, and at the same time the long-haired man's group began to close in on Wei Zhao and Hong Zhong from the other side.

Hong Zhong was about to make his move when he saw that Wei Zhao had already acted before him. Freshly advanced to the peak of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, Wei Zhao was eager to test his strength—especially that one move he had lately devised.

True qi gathered in one hand, elixir fire in the other. Before the hedgehog-haired man's gang could close in fully, Wei Zhao abruptly pressed his palms together, then blasted the top-grade bomb he had fused between them straight into their faces!

Boom! With a thunderous blast, a great wave erupted from the calm sea, and above it a small mushroom cloud rose stark against the sky, hanging there and refusing to disperse.

The sheer scale of it stunned the long-haired man's group outright—and then, beneath that pall of thick smoke, they saw the hedgehog-haired man and his companions, scorched black along with their raptor spirit beasts, plunge into the vast ocean, torn apart and devoured in an instant by several ferocious sea beasts. The savagery of the sight nearly frightened the wits out of every one of them.

To them, Wei Zhao—peak of the mid-Foundation Establishment—had been a soft persimmon not worth counting. Yet in a single exchange, the hedgehog-haired man's whole gang had been wiped out! (To be continued) R861