Chapter 4157 — Hold On a Moment

The reason he had suddenly dropped to his knees before Wei Zhao was that he had just realized, in that instant, that killing Situ Qian to avenge his hatred was impossible by any route he could see. With the strength of a cripple like himself, to personally carve Situ Qian into a thousand pieces was nothing but a fool's dream. If there was anyone in this world still willing to move against Situ Qian, it could only be the Wei Zhao standing before him.

And yet, this man had Di Xingdao, that great deity, at his back, and was the master of the Tiandan Pavilion besides—his status lofty beyond compare. Wei Shenjin, by contrast, was now a good-for-nothing cripple who could not even match an ordinary man of some strength. On what grounds could he ask such a person to help him?

What was more, though it was that wretched woman Situ Qian who had stirred up trouble between them, strictly speaking there had still been bad blood between the two of them. Even if he had transferred all his hatred onto Situ Qian, that did not mean Wei Zhao would transfer his likewise.

"I was... completely set up and provoked by Situ Qian before. That was the only reason I misunderstood you and Xueli, the only reason I lost my temper and offended the two of you..." Wei Shenjin sat slumped on the ground in utter despair, muttering to himself, "But now I have seen that wretched woman's true face. She is nothing but a whore ridden by a thousand men, a viper-hearted poison of a woman!"

Wei Zhao glanced at him and did not interrupt. Truthfully, he had assumed Wei Shenjin and Situ Qian were a pair of colluding scoundrels, but judging by what he saw now, there seemed to be more to the story.

"After I was reduced to a cripple, she sank so low as to run off to bed that ugly brute Ma Shangfeng day after day, never once treating me, her lawful husband, as worth a glance. She even wanted to kill me, so that a useless wretch like me would stop being an eyesore to her. Tell me, is there a more shameless bitch in this world than her?" Wei Shenjin said with a bitter smile, airing his family's shame and laying out the whole of Situ Qian's affairs, even the matter of the male concubines and the artificial hymen—he concealed nothing at all.

Wei Zhao was dumbstruck when he finished listening. He had known before that Situ Qian was no good, but hearing Wei Shenjin tell it still shocked him. That there could be a woman in this world even more despicable than Murong Zhen—Situ Qian really was a piece of work.

"I know exactly what that slut is like. Now that she has set her eyes on you, she will never let go so easily. Once she is back, she will certainly find some way to stir up wind and waves! She is a bitch born and bred, and to get you she will stop at nothing. I also believe you are a man of honor who would scorn to collude with a slut like that. So if you do not kill her, trouble will inevitably dog your steps from then on—you will not be able to shake it off." Wei Shenjin advised him with bitter earnestness.

"But if I do kill her, the entire Snow Sword Sect will surely be furious. Would that not make the trouble even greater?" Wei Zhao said flatly.

"That is the one thing you need not worry about. I can work with you and help you eliminate this hidden danger for good!" Seeing that Wei Zhao's tone seemed to have softened somewhat, Wei Shenjin was overjoyed and hurriedly offered his scheme: "After I return to the Snow Sword Sect this time, I will insist stubbornly that you are not the martial artist Ling Yi. That way, even if Situ Qian tells the truth, they will only half believe it. Besides, I am sure that slut, in order to get you, will never expose your identity. So you can rest easy."

"And then?" Wei Zhao said, betraying no emotion. By Wei Shenjin's account, it could indeed serve as a smokescreen. Even if it could not dispel suspicion entirely, at least it could confuse his opponents for a time.

"And then, you can find a way to drop that slut a hint—play hard to get, pretend to agree to lure her out. I am sure that with your strength, killing her would be as easy as turning your palm! When the time comes, we will stage the scene, and I will shoulder the blame, saying that I killed Situ Qian. I am a useless cripple anyway, and I do not want to drag on in disgrace like this any longer!" Wei Shenjin said, his emotions running high.

Hearing this, Wei Zhao pondered for a moment. If he followed Wei Shenjin's plan, he could indeed easily snuff out the hidden threat that was Situ Qian, and so long as Wei Shenjin was willing to air his family's shame, his motive for murder would be ample. No one would suspect Wei Zhao himself. It was a decent proposal—but not quite foolproof.

"On what grounds should I trust you?" Wei Zhao asked, fixing Wei Shenjin with a heavy stare.

"I am willing to enter into a spirit-beast contract with you. You can use a high-grade spirit-pet talisman to control me. So long as I consent of my own will, even a human can become a spirit pet!" Wei Shenjin said excitedly.

"You want to become my spirit pet?" Wei Zhao was startled. It was not that it was impossible—high-grade spirit-pet talismans could indeed control a person—but since ancient times very few had ever done so. After all, who would be willing to be controlled by another for a lifetime?

One had to understand that the spiritual intelligence of humans was innately far above that of the many spirit beasts, and the complexity of their primordial spirits was unique besides. Even with a high-grade spirit-pet talisman, even when the disparity in strength was absolute, unless the target willingly cooperated, subjugating them was simply impossible.

"That is right. I am willing to be your spirit pet!" Wei Shenjin said, his eyes burning. To kill that slut Situ Qian, he was prepared to stake everything—his life and his dignity included.

"Then wait here for now. Let me think it over." Wei Zhao did not agree at once. Instead he turned and left the room, returning to his own quarters, where he refined a Heart-Devouring Gu Pill.

He had learned this in his early years in the mortal realm, in his spare time while training under his master. It came from his master's wife, Lan Ling. Once one swallowed the Heart-Devouring Gu Pill, one had to obey the one who had administered the gu in all sincerity—otherwise one would die with ten thousand insects devouring one's heart.

Unless one encountered a fellow expert who also understood gu arts, this thing could not necessarily be undone even by the most formidable alchemist alive—not even by a medical sage like Zhang Lifeng. After all, every trade has its specialty, and the two were not even of the same system; conventional thinking and experience simply did not apply.

As for the high-grade spirit-pet talisman Wei Shenjin had just proposed, with Wei Zhao's current wealth and connections it would not be difficult to obtain, and its hold was far stronger than the Heart-Devouring Gu—strict enough to reduce Wei Shenjin to a puppet on strings. But this thing had its drawbacks.

Should a spirit pet come to harm, the master would suffer a powerful backlash as well. Back then, Meng Zhou had been backlashed by the black-backed staff ape until he coughed up blood without cease.

And Wei Shenjin had just made it plain that he intended to perish together with Situ Qian. If Wei Zhao took him as a spirit pet now, would he not be sitting around waiting for the backlash? So the Heart-Devouring Gu was the safer choice.

It was similar to the poison he had once fed Brother Dafeng back in the mortal realm—enough control, and no need to worry about side effects. Only, a few days before setting out, Wei Zhao had already given the antidote to Wu Chengtian, to be delivered to Brother Dafeng. R1152