Chapter 4690 — The Other Party Is Also an Acquaintance

The trope of a hero saving a beauty had long been worn threadbare in the mortal world. Those spoiled young masters, desperate to win a fair lady's heart, would create opportunities even where none existed, hiring people to play the villain so as to set off their own shining image. Such tricks were a dime a dozen, nothing fresh at all.

Had he not known Qi Wenmo's character, Wei Zhao might well have suspected that these three had been deliberately hired with spirit jade to play actors. After all, the timing of their appearance was simply impeccable.

"Are you an idiot, kid? If not for the fact that you're the young master of the Qingtian Escort Agency of South Continent, Young Master Yin would have finished you off long ago. And you still dare to talk tough in front of us? With pitiful strength like that, what kind of hero are you playing at?" The man on the other side, whose furtive, rat-like features made him look thoroughly shifty, sneered without end.

"Exactly. Playing the hero in front of us—how many heads do you have? Or do you have no brains at all? Can't you see the gap in strength? A mere peak early-Nascent Soul and an early-Nascent Soul, and you think you can stand against our Young Master Yin? I'm really curious—just who gave you the courage, who gave you the nerve?" the same man rattled on, mocking them wantonly.

"I say, have you two still not figured out the situation? Our Young Master Yin is a core disciple of the Snow Sword Sect of Middle Island, a genuine consummate Nascent Soul expert. Do you even understand what that means? It means that in this West Island Trial, our Young Master Yin is the strongest. So I shouldn't have to waste my breath telling you what you ought to do now, should I?" The rat-faced man wore a smug look, like a fox borrowing the tiger's might.

The Snow Sword Sect? Wei Zhao, who was slowly walking over, was taken aback again at the words. He thought to himself that indeed nothing in this world was so coincidental that it did not make a good story—and thank goodness this one was not Wei Shenjin. Otherwise, today's affair would have been truly interesting.

"Well? Have you thought it over?" said the man in the center of the three, the one called Young Master Yin. At first glance he had a certain air of an expert about him, and his looks were passable, handsome enough—except that his eyes always carried a trace of something sinister, giving one the sense that he was not entirely upright.

"Hmph. Does something like this need thinking over? I'll say it again: if you dare touch a single hair on Luoluo, then today it ends only with one of us dead!" Qi Wenmo narrowed his eyes at this Young Master Yin. This man was the greatest threat—a consummate Nascent Soul expert after all, and one such as him was already more than he and Xia Qianqian could handle.

"Tsk, tsk. That sounds rather spirited. A pity the brains don't work." Young Master Yin did not even glance at Qi Wenmo; his eyes were fixed brazenly and unblinkingly on Xia Qianqian.

He was an old hand who had known countless women, and he could naturally tell that Xia Qianqian's plain appearance was a disguise. From her bearing alone he could judge that this woman was surely a rare beauty.

Xia Qianqian felt her skin crawl under his gaze and hurried to hide behind Qi Wenmo. Though her strength surpassed his, at moments like this a woman was always at a natural disadvantage—though fortunately, Qi Wenmo's conduct had given her some comfort.

Thanks to these three, that hazy, formless feeling in her heart had now begun, at last, to truly take root.

Young Master Yin craned his neck to follow her, eyeing the hidden Xia Qianqian with a face full of greed, smacking his lips as though savoring some rare plaything. To the unyielding Qi Wenmo he said, "Kid, give this girl to me. At most I'll just play with her—I won't kill her. That's good for you, good for me, good for her. Otherwise she can only be buried alongside that bit of pointless masculine pride of yours. Weigh what matters and what doesn't, then speak."

Qi Wenmo had been utterly resolute, but hearing these words, a waver rose unbidden in his heart. He knew full well that with his strength he could not protect Xia Qianqian. It did not matter if he died here, but if his death dragged Xia Qianqian down with him, that would be beyond excuse.

Yet Qi Wenmo turned his head and met Xia Qianqian's eyes, and once he read the meaning in her gaze, that waver scattered like smoke. Xia Qianqian's message was clear: she would sooner die than submit to such a bastard. If that was so, what was there left to hesitate over?

"Hmph. I've thought it through very clearly. If you want to touch a single hair on Luoluo, you'll have to step over my corpse!" Qi Wenmo paused, then suddenly let out a thunderous roar boiling with bloody fervor: "Come on!"

The shout was like a thunderclap bursting from empty air; even the clouds in the sky were shaken apart a fraction. As for the three men mere feet away, they were badly startled, their faces changing drastically as they retreated several steps.

Xia Qianqian stared straight at Qi Wenmo's back, a strange light flickering in her eyes. She too had been startled, but hers was sheer delight, and a fierce warmth surged up in her heart. The look she now turned on Qi Wenmo held a good measure more tenderness and affection.

Before, there had been no such opportunity, so even if she felt favorably toward Qi Wenmo, it had remained only that—favor. She had not been certain that this was the man to whom she could entrust the rest of her life.

But now she was certain. Though their situation was dire, to have a lover of such soaring spirit who would risk death for her sake—what more could one ask of this life?

Qi Wenmo did not notice the tender gaze behind him. He simply fixed his eyes on the three men before him.

Especially on this Young Master Yin. From his expression alone he could tell that these men had been driven to fury and humiliation, and that a bloody fight to the death would inevitably follow.

He probably would not live past today, but no matter what, he had to at least win Xia Qianqian a chance to escape. Under no circumstances could he let her fall into the hands of these villains.

"Oh ho, I didn't expect a real tough one. I'm actually starting to admire you a little!" After being startled, Young Master Yin did not fly into a rage and attack as Qi Wenmo had expected. He kept the look of a cat toying with a mouse—except that he no longer seemed to want Qi Wenmo to back down of his own accord. The way he looked at him now was plainly the way one looks at a dead man.

He admired tough men. But a tough man who set himself against him was better off dead, or there would be no end of trouble later.

"Haha, a tough one indeed. A pity tough men never come to a good end—especially tough men who oppose our Young Master Yin!" the rat-faced creature chimed in with a great laugh.

"Exactly. Our Young Master Yin, in his great mercy, wanted to spare your life, and you don't even appreciate it. There really are so many brainless fools in this world—especially this kind. They're enough to make a person weep at the stupidity!" the other man mocked along.

"A little stupidity isn't so bad. At least when we kill him, no one will have anything to say." Young Master Yin smiled coldly, though he was in no hurry to make his move. (To be continued) R466