Chapter 4276 — Reaching the Destination

"I am Chang Daoping. If you two think well enough of me, you may call me Brother Chang." Chang Daoping gave a faint nod, then said to the other five, "The rest of you, introduce yourselves as well."

"My name is Cao Shishi." The seductive woman beside him glanced at Wei Zhao and his companion, her contempt written plainly on her face. But since Chang Daoping had spoken, they could only comply; she grudgingly gave her name and could not be bothered to say another word.

"Luo Tuoxiang." Next came the lackey at the very peak of the late Golden Core stage, wearing the haughty air of one who holds himself far above all, as though Wei Zhao and his companion were no more than two ants beneath his notice. By comparison, Chang Daoping, a fine expert of the Nascent Soul stage, carried himself with far greater magnanimity.

The remaining three likewise said little, each giving only a name: two men and one woman, Hu Youli, Fan Dongji, and Fang Miaojin.

These people had greeted Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao with mockery and scorn from the very start. Now, cowed by Chang Daoping's authority, they dared not speak out of turn and needle them further—but to expect them to be all smiles was asking far too much.

Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao merely nodded faintly, taking no offense and showing no wish to say more. They had no habit of pressing warm faces to cold buttocks, and in any case this party was decided by Chang Daoping's word alone; whether their relations with these people were good or bad mattered little.

Seeing this, Chang Daoping said nothing further. He had deliberately drawn Wei Zhao and his companion into the group, and he had his reasons; so long as his aim could be achieved, everything else was of no consequence.

As for how the group got along with one another, that was even less his concern. Let the atmosphere be as tense as it liked; all that mattered was that no one drove Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao away in anger.

"Enough. Let us set out." Chang Daoping gave the order and took the lead, and Cao Shishi and the others followed without a word. Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao, left at the rear, exchanged a glance and then fell in behind the rest.

Chang Daoping led the way at extraordinary speed. Though they were plainly weaving through dense forest, and though his steps seemed in no hurry, his pace was inexplicably fast—one moment he was here, the next five zhang away.

If the people behind him had been Foundation Establishment experts rather than Golden Core experts—even those at the great perfection of Foundation Establishment—they would likely have struggled just to keep up with Chang Daoping's steps, let alone anything more.

Even these Golden Core experts had to drain their true qi without pause to stay close behind Chang Daoping at the front. As they went, Cao Shishi, Luo Tuoxiang, and a few others turned to look back at Wei Zhao and his companion, as though hoping to enjoy their embarrassment.

After all, the two were only at the early Golden Core stage. Even these people found Chang Daoping's pace somewhat taxing to follow—how much more so for these two stragglers, who surely had to strain with all the strength of a suckling babe just to keep from falling behind.

Yet when they saw the calm, unruffled expressions on Wei Zhao's and Huang Xiaotao's faces, their own turned as strange as if they had eaten filth. The two looked even more relaxed than they themselves did—but even if one put on a stout and serene front, one still needed the strength to back it up!

These two bumpkins of the early Golden Core stage—could they be hiding some powerful trump card? At the very least, they could not be as simple as they appeared!

In truth, the current pace was well within what the two could bear. To say nothing of Wei Zhao—even Huang Xiaotao, who had spent years running trial missions through dense forests, could adapt with ease. After all, her martial skills and abilities had been honed there; the primeval forest was her finest home ground.

Of course, traveling at such speed over a long stretch would be no small drain on one's store of true qi. But Wei Zhao kept hold of her hand and could replenish her true qi at any moment, so naturally they felt no pressure at all.

They raced on in this manner for a full two or three hours before Chang Daoping at last came to a halt and signaled that everyone might rest a little.

The others nodded in silence and sat down cross-legged to recover their true qi. Chang Daoping himself said nothing either, a complete reversal from the easy affability he had shown before, and the atmosphere grew rather oppressive.

Though Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao's true qi was plentiful, they too sat cross-legged to recover, so as not to draw attention.

"Brother Chang, I have a question," Wei Zhao could not help asking. "You have led the way the whole journey, and it seems there has been no place where we were needed. So why did you still invite us to join, letting us share the spoils for nothing?"

Only by showing sufficient value would others seek to draw one in, and only then could one command sufficient standing and a voice in matters. But as things stood, Wei Zhao could not help feeling that the two of them were superfluous—as though they had simply been called along to freeload on the Star Ink Milk.

When something is abnormal, there must be a demon behind it. The more he thought about it, the stranger the whole affair seemed!

"You will know when the time comes," Chang Daoping replied flatly. But having said only that one sentence, he closed his eyes to rest his spirit and paid Wei Zhao and his companion no further attention.

Wei Zhao had wanted to press him with another question, but seeing this attitude—a complete one-hundred-eighty-degree turn from the way Chang Daoping had courted him earlier—it was clear the man did not wish to be bothered, and saying more now would be pointless.

Still, judging by how fast this man could turn hostile, flipping as swiftly as the pages of a book, the small unease in Wei Zhao's heart was instantly magnified. This man was plainly not very reliable; if he were to go back on his word later, the two of them would likely be the ones to suffer.

Yet doubts were doubts. Wei Zhao let nothing show on his face, remaining as calm and unruffled as before. In any case, with the fighting strength he and Huang Xiaotao could muster together, if it truly came to a falling-out and a fight, who would have the last laugh was not yet certain.

Moreover, from that one sentence of Chang Daoping's, he could tell that the man had deliberately drawn the two of them in for some particular purpose, and until that purpose was served, he probably would not turn on them lightly.

The only thing to watch for was whether that purpose would turn out like Chu Bubai's before—using the lives of Golden Core experts as a sacrifice. On that point, they must be careful indeed.

After resting for about the time of two incense sticks, Chang Daoping once again led the party onward. Another stretch of rapid travel followed, and after they had gone a full two hours more, Chang Daoping, leading at the front, stopped in his tracks. The others suddenly felt the world before them open out without the slightest warning, as though they had emerged from a primeval forest.

A moment ago it had still been dense woods and tangled brush, where every step forward was difficult; now all before them was empty and open, a barren expanse as far as the eye could see—no towering trees dozens of zhang tall, no thickly growing weeds and shrubs. The only thing any of them could see was a stretch of solid wasteland. (To be continued...)