Chapter 4285 — Hardly Reasonable

Star Ink Milk was black, which made the bottom of the basin nearly impossible to see. Wei Zhao had thought at first that plenty of it remained, but once he lowered the spirit jade bottle into the basin, he discovered there was only a shallow bottom left.

That bottom was as shallow as shallow could be—barely a thin film, impossible to scoop up with the spirit jade bottle. No matter how they tried, the most they could manage was a few scant drops.

"What's going on? What are you two dawdling about for, stirring up some mischief? Surely you don't think you can pull a trick right under our noses!" Luo Tuoxiang, seeing the two of them acting strangely, immediately voiced his suspicions.

"Hmph, just a pair of clueless bumpkins who've never seen anything of the world. They think they can play tricks in front of us? They're a long way off—I saw through them at a glance!" Cao Shishi, likewise watching their every move, gave a cold snort.

"Play tricks? Fine, then—go ahead and play one for me to see!" Wei Zhao could not have cared less about these two at first, but in that moment he realized he had been played for a fool, and his mood was foul beyond words. He answered at once, his voice icy.

Chang Daoping and his five companions had each filled a whole bottle of Star Ink Milk. Yet only he and Huang Xiaotao had not managed to scrape up even the bottom dregs. This was plainly a scheme to trick the two of them into doing the hard labor for nothing, and no one in their shoes would have been in good spirits at that moment.

Wei Zhao had a vague sense that he might have been set up by Chang Daoping, yet from beginning to end he had spotted nothing out of the ordinary. Everything had gone exactly as previously agreed, and unless he could find clear evidence, he had no grounds to speak. For now, he could only swallow the bitter pill in silence.

And besides, with the other side's Nascent Soul cultivation and Luo Tuoxiang's many companions, even if Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao wanted to turn hostile, they would have to think long and hard before acting.

"Actually... they really couldn't have pulled any trick, because when I was filling mine just now, the Star Ink Milk was already running low at the bottom. I couldn't even fill my own bottle, so..." At this, Fang Miaojin spoke up. She was ahead of Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao in line, and the last of the six led by Chang Daoping.

"Running low?" Cao Shishi and the others were briefly taken aback. They hurried over and checked with their own hands, and only then did they finally stop doubting.

And after that, the way they looked at Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao turned all at once into gloating Schadenfreude.

In their eyes, Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao were nothing but a pair of weak bumpkins who had caught Brother Chang's eye purely through dumb luck, and only so had they gotten the chance to enter the ruins and explore. Did the two of them really think they could stand on equal footing with the rest, or lay claim to the Star Ink Milk?

Hmph—a toad dreaming of swan meat. Now even Heaven could not stand the sight of it. The Star Ink Milk that had been all but in their grasp had been snatched away, leaving them with nothing. They had it coming!

"Heh heh. So it's the will of Heaven—it seems you two were never fated to have the Star Ink Milk! Wahaha!" The crowd made no effort to hide their mockery, each one sneering in smug satisfaction. At this point it was not only Wei Zhao—even the gentle-natured Huang Xiaotao could hardly hold back any longer.

Wei Zhao could not help clenching his fists in secret. The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. If he had never seen the Star Ink Milk before, he might not have taken it so hard. But now, watching it slip through his fingers before his very eyes, his mood was already at rock bottom—he had even begun to suspect that Chang Daoping and the others had pulled some trick.

And now, facing the crowd's petty, gloating mockery, he was already having trouble restraining himself from turning hostile.

The crowd took in Wei Zhao's dark expression and did not so much as bat an eye. They were nothing but a pair of early Foundation Establishment bumpkins; even if they lent the two of them ten times the courage, they would never dare to turn hostile!

And if they did dare? So much the better. There would be no future troubles to worry about—just a single palm strike to crush them dead on the spot, and that would be the end of it!

"I really am sorry. I never imagined that it would run out just when it came to your turn." At last Chang Daoping spoke. Unlike the others, there was no gloating in his tone—only a look of great regret, as though he sincerely grieved on behalf of Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao.

Cao Shishi and the others had wanted to keep up the mockery a while longer—Luo Tuoxiang in particular had even intended to provoke the two into a desperate, reckless outburst, so that he would have good cause to strike them dead with a single palm. But now that Chang Daoping had spoken in person, naturally there was no place for any of them to speak.

After all, they had no idea what Chang Daoping was truly thinking. If they spoke out of turn and accidentally went against Brother Chang's wishes, they would only be making trouble for themselves.

Wei Zhao gave Chang Daoping a long, searching look. The man's expression was calm, with not the slightest sign of deliberate pretense, and Wei Zhao could not help but wonder—could his own instincts really have been wrong? Could this man truly have done nothing underhanded, and this was simply an unlucky coincidence?

Given Wei Zhao's vigilance, it was very hard for an ordinary person to conceal from him any ill intent or designs against him without being noticed.

Wei Zhao had always assumed that once the two of them had safely passed through the Moon Shadow Formation and entered the ruins, they would no longer be of any use to Chang Daoping. He ought to have made his move by then, rather than letting the two of them share in the Star Ink Milk.

Yet in fact, all along the way Wei Zhao had never sensed any killing intent from Chang Daoping, and even his jade pendant had given no warning at all—which all but completely overturned Wei Zhao's conjecture.

What he did not know was that Chang Daoping truly had harbored thoughts of killing them along the way, but the impulse had been fleeting, swiftly concealed again.

Of course, Chang Daoping could not simply let Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao walk away with the Star Ink Milk, either. Even a tiny bit would be no small loss to him—but that did not mean he had to resort to killing. A slight manipulation in the process was enough to solve the problem perfectly, just like this present "coincidence."

"Still, there's no need to fret. Judging by the speed at which the Star Ink Milk drips, it isn't very slow. I trust that if you wait here a few days, even if you cannot fill a whole bottle, you will at least get half of one—far better than going away with nothing." Chang Daoping went on in his calm, mild tone, and it really did sound as though he had their interests at heart.

This only left Wei Zhao more unable to fathom the man's intentions. But there was nothing wrong with what Chang Daoping had said—from earlier until now, Wei Zhao had watched a total of three drops of Star Ink Milk fall from the tip of the statue's horn, and at that rate, waiting a few days would indeed net them at least half a small bottle.

"Brother Chang, I have a question. Since the Star Ink Milk doesn't drip slowly, why is there so little of it in this basin? The six of you filled only six small bottles and it was drained dry just like that—that hardly seems reasonable, does it?" Wei Zhao hesitated a moment, then looked at Chang Daoping and asked. (To be continued...) R527