Chapter 4045 — Shangguan Tianxia's Visit

But Wei Zhao soon discovered that he had underestimated all of this. After being dragged in, he was thrown straight into the dungeon, and Gongyang Jun never showed his face from beginning to end—nor gave him any chance to speak.

Locked in the cold, dark dungeon, he could call on heaven and earth alike and get no answer. Wei Zhao was now utterly helpless. Back when Shangguan Lan'er was still around, he could be thrown in and still be fished out; but now Shangguan Lan'er herself had vanished and could barely save her own skin—who would come to help him?

As for his miserable senior brothers and the rest, their weight was nowhere near enough. They could not even get into the dungeon, much less be of any help.

Just as Wei Zhao was at his wits' end, the dungeon door suddenly swung open, and a dense patter of footsteps approached from far to near, stopping only when they reached the door of his cell.

Wei Zhao could not help secretly speculating: judging by this display, could it be that Gongyang Jun was finally ready to bring him in for interrogation?

At that moment, from not far outside the door, an aged voice that had lost none of its authority rang out: "Open the door. All of you, out. This old man will see him alone."

Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback. Only when he made out the newcomer's face did he receive a great shock!

The man wore only an exceedingly ordinary yellow robe, and at first glance seemed no more than a common old fellow; yet the aura revealed in his every gesture and movement made one's heart quake for no clear reason, until one could not help but feel a stir of the urge to submit.

The newcomer was, astonishingly, Shangguan Lan'er's grandfather—the Pavilion Master of the Skysurge Pavilion, Shangguan Tianxia.

Shangguan Tianxia swept a glance around the cell. It was filthy and reeking everywhere, and venomous snakes and insects enough to make anyone shudder coiled about in it. He smiled slightly and said, "After all these years, the boy Gongyang Jun still loves this sort of trick. Where he gets so many venomous creatures, I have no idea."

With that, Shangguan Tianxia used his foot to clear aside a heap of moldy straw along with the several venomous snakes coiled atop it, then sat down on the ground without the slightest concern and beckoned to Wei Zhao: "Don't just stand there. Sit down and let's talk."

This was not Wei Zhao's first time seeing Shangguan Tianxia, but compared with the lofty image of a great man from the birthday banquet last time, the one before him now had clearly taken on another quality entirely—a genial quality, as though he were the old man next door—and the earlier oppressive might had vanished in an instant.

Wei Zhao stood stunned for a good while before shuffling over and greeting him with great respect: "Disciple Wei Zhao pays his respects to Pavilion Master Shangguan."

Shangguan Tianxia nodded, gesturing for Wei Zhao to sit, and then said, "At the birthday banquet last time, this old man still remembers that you gave little Lan'er two top-grade Foundation Establishment Gold Pills. To give such a precious gift as a newcomer—you had the thought, and this old man thanks you on little Lan'er's behalf."

"Pavilion Master Shangguan is too kind. Little Senior Sister has shown this disciple much care, so giving her a small gift to express my feelings is only what I ought to do." Wei Zhao had already composed himself and recovered his usual calm composure.

Shangguan Tianxia could not help but regard Wei Zhao a little more highly in secret. Given his status and strength, to say nothing of a mere newcomer, even the high-ranking figures of the Sandie Pavilion trembled with fear before him—yet this Wei Zhao could recover himself in such a short time. Truly a hero among the young.

Shangguan Tianxia's eye for people had always been singular. A single word or deed, falling into his gaze, was enough for him to see a person's depth and talent.

"From what this old man knows, you are a newcomer of the Qingyun Pavilion, and little Lan'er has never much cared for the Welcome Pavilion. There should be no point of contact between you two—how did you come to know her?" Shangguan Tianxia did not directly ask about Shangguan Lan'er's disappearance, but instead opened with the tone of idle chat and small talk, entirely without the airs of a lofty Pavilion Master.

Is he testing what my intentions are? Wei Zhao did not relax in the slightest, and answered truthfully on the spot: "The first time this disciple met Little Senior Sister was actually because of Little Curly Bear. It slipped out and happened to run into me—it had been injured at the time for some reason—and as a result Little Senior Sister mistook me for having lured it away. I suppose you could call it a case of fighting before becoming friends."

"Haha, little Lan'er has a pure heart, and whatever she does she takes for granted. Little Bai is the flesh of her heart, so it's only natural that you were misunderstood. Over matters concerning Little Bai, this old man has been misunderstood and grumbled at by her no small number of times in the past." Shangguan Tianxia laughed heartily. Even in this sunless, chill dungeon, sitting beside him still gave one the feeling of a spring breeze on the face, making one unconsciously feel trust and closeness.

Could this be the legendary charisma? Wei Zhao was secretly startled. As his strength and breadth of vision grew, the way he now judged people had gradually come to differ from before—once he looked at outward appearance and strength, but now he paid more heed to what lay within.

The truly powerful are inevitably so from the inside out, subduing all living things without conscious effort. This can be confirmed in many great figures, and this Pavilion Master of the Skysurge Pavilion before him was clear proof of it.

"At the birthday banquet last time, little Lan'er said that Xu Lingchong had designs on her, and in the end his manhood was cut off by Little Bai after its transformation into the Wine Madman. There should be some credit in that belonging to you, no?" Shangguan Tianxia asked with a meaningful look.

As her grandfather, he had never once questioned Shangguan Lan'er in detail about this matter from beginning to end; the information he knew was limited to what she had said in her testimony before the Law Enforcement Hall.

Yet even if he did not ask openly, he could easily infer these things—after all, Wei Zhao had gone upstairs with Shangguan Lan'er at the time, and that was something quite a few people had seen.

Wei Zhao did not deny it. He nodded and said, "That's right. The situation was urgent at the time, and this disciple could not afford to worry about much else—I could only choose to strike at Xu Lingchong. Fortunately, he did not get his way."

"With your strength, to be able to restrain Xu Lingchong in the full perfection of Foundation Establishment—you truly were put out." Shangguan Tianxia smiled, then suddenly asked: "So then, do you like little Lan'er?"

"Huh?" Wei Zhao was at once dumbstruck. To suddenly ask him such an abrupt question—and from the dignified Pavilion Master of the Skysurge Pavilion, no less—made the whole situation feel a little strange no matter how one looked at it.

After a moment, under Shangguan Tianxia's gaze, Wei Zhao answered truthfully: "This... I do have some fondness for her. But before this disciple came to Yunjie Island, I already had a girlfriend—and... more than one..."

Faced with this answer, Wei Zhao had expected the man to fly into a rage. After all, Shangguan Lan'er was the apple of his eye; by status alone the two were already wholly ill-matched, and on top of that he had so many close female friends. Any parent, he thought, would surely tell him to keep away from his granddaughter!