Chapter 4107 — Quite the Actor, Aren't You?

Zheng Tianshuo felt as though a basin of cold water had been dashed over his head, and a belated terror seized him. Over these past days, buoyed by his ever-rising standing, he had grown thoroughly smug—and forgotten that his grandfather Zheng Dongjue was merely a deputy hall master of the Elixir Hall, while the true master of the Hall was Zhang Lifeng, the teacher of the two men standing before him.

True, Zheng Dongjue now regarded him as his successor and he had taken over Zheng Tianjie's former place—but even Zheng Tianjie in his day had never dared show the slightest disrespect to Hou Guanqi and the other nominal disciples of Zhang Lifeng. After all, before the backers standing behind the other side, his own grandfather would not have dared utter a squeak.

Zheng Tianshuo knew he had let his triumph carry him too far, and inwardly he was already minded to beat a retreat—yet with Tianchan watching, he could not bear to lose face just like that.

Not daring to keep crossing swords with Hou Guanqi, he vented his spleen on Wei Zhao instead, jabbing a finger at him and threatening viciously, "Hmph. Do you know the price of coming to our Elixir Hall to swindle us, boy? If you fail to cure Lord Tian today, don't imagine you'll be walking out of here!"

Tianchan grew anxious at this and spoke up in Wei Zhao's defense. "Young Master Chu, that is hardly a fair thing to say. Even the Elixir God himself was at his wits' end over Lord Tian's illness. However skilled this physician may be, how could anyone cure him on the spot? If you truly do as you say, who will ever dare come treat Lord Tian again?"

"Oh-ho, sister-in-law, don't tell me you've taken a fancy to this pretty-faced fellow?" Zheng Tianshuo's gaze slid back and forth between Tianchan and Wei Zhao with ill intent, and he sneered, curling his lip. "Don't forget your place, sister-in-law. You are the lawfully wedded wife of my cousin Zheng Tianjie—in life a member of the Zheng family, in death a ghost of the Zheng family. And now you turn your elbow outward to help an outsider squeeze out your own brother-in-law? What is that supposed to mean?"

Hearing this, Wei Zhao quietly clenched his fist. Had this not been the Elixir Hall, he would have struck this Zheng Tianshuo dead on the spot for those words alone. Even if forced into a ghost marriage, Tianchan would forever be his, Wei Zhao's, woman—that would never change.

The Zheng family? What were they worth? They wanted Tianchan to be a ghost of the Zheng family even in death—then he would see the Zheng family turned to ghosts first!

Tianchan's heart lurched, though her face betrayed nothing as she replied, "I am merely stating the facts. I would advise Young Master Chu to run his words through his head before speaking, or once the ugly talk spreads, it will not be my reputation alone that suffers—the whole Zheng family will be shamed along with it."

"Is that so? Very well, then I shall stay right here and see whether he really has the skill. Don't forget, as a disciple of the Elixir Hall, I know medicine too. If he is truly a physician of the craft, fine—but if not, I will spot it at a glance. And then—heh heh!" Zheng Tianshuo threatened with a cold laugh.

Having long coveted Tianchan, he was quick to notice any odd reaction from her, and instinct told him that his sister-in-law seemed to harbor some indefinable feeling for this physician who had appeared out of nowhere. So today he absolutely had to keep his eye fixed hard on this man!

Seeing this, Hou Guanqi and Cai Zhongxuan grew anxious in secret. If they let this pest Zheng Tianshuo keep planted here, not only would it spoil Wei Zhao's meeting with Tianchan, but worse still, Wei Zhao's pose as a physician would be exposed on the spot.

And once the matter blew up, even as nominal disciples of Zhang Lifeng, they feared they could hardly shield Wei Zhao. After all, with their master Zhang Lifeng absent, the Elixir Hall was run by the deputy hall master Zheng Dongjue. They nominal disciples had lofty standing but no real power to contend with Zheng Dongjue—and besides, if the affair were truly examined, the fault would lie with them in the first place.

At this, Wei Zhao glanced lightly at Zheng Tianshuo and said, his manner unchanged, "Is this, then, how the Elixir Hall treats its guests? I was invited here to diagnose and treat Di Xingdao—I did not deliver myself to your door to swallow this unjust insult. This man, it seems, is not exactly glad to see me."

Hou Guanqi's eyes lit up, and he at once chimed in with a rebuke. "Zheng Tianshuo, did you hear that? Now get out!"

Zheng Tianshuo nearly burst with rage at this. As Zheng Dongjue's grandson, with his position in the Elixir Hall now at its zenith, when had he ever suffered such a scolding? He jabbed a finger at them all. "You—you dare—"

Before he could finish, Hou Guanqi cut him off. "I'll ask you once more: are you leaving or not? Treating Lord Tian's injuries was ordered by my master, the Elixir God himself. To obstruct it like this—are you trying to defy my master's command and turn traitor to the sect?"

At the word "traitor," Zheng Tianshuo gave a violent start. With a charge that grave hung over him, no matter how strong his backing, such things ended in death.

"You—you people—" Zheng Tianshuo ground his teeth in fury, yet under the glare of Hou Guanqi and Cai Zhongxuan, two nominal disciples of Zhang Lifeng, he dared not press his luck further. He could only give a furious snort. "Fine. Then I'll wait at the door and see just how you mean to end this!"

"Sister-in-law, you come out with me too!" Still uneasy about Tianchan, Zheng Tianshuo made to seize her hand.

But Tianchan deftly sidestepped him and said coolly, "No need. I'll stay here."

Not daring to use force before the others, Zheng Tianshuo had no choice but to slink out the door alone in sullen resentment.

Inside the room, Hou Guanqi and Cai Zhongxuan could only exchange a bitter smile. Zheng Tianshuo had been driven out, but the wretch would surely haunt the doorway like a persistent ghost. Paper can never wrap up fire—sooner or later the truth would out. For a time, neither of them knew what to do.

Just then, Wei Zhao calmly took a seat beside Di Xingdao, gestured for him to extend his hand, and began taking his pulse straight away—every inch the accomplished physician.

Tianchan was privately astonished. Since when had Wei Zhao become a physician, and one invited by Hou Guanqi and Cai Zhongxuan to treat Di Xingdao?

Yet astonishment aside, Tianchan still had considerable faith in Wei Zhao. Back in the mortal realm she had known his medical skill to be superb; even if he could not fully cure Di Xingdao, he ought at least to form some insight from the diagnosis.

Hou Guanqi and Cai Zhongxuan, however, knew none of this. They took Wei Zhao's performance for mere posturing, and their expressions stiffened at once.

Hou Guanqi shot Cai Zhongxuan an unobtrusive glare that said: this youngster you've brought is unreliable too—quite the actor, isn't he? Instead of promptly confessing the truth to Lord Tian and enlisting his help to fend off Zheng Tianshuo, he keeps up this act—is he courting death? R1152