Chapter 4974 — I'm Here...

"Ravished... ravished?!" Jiang Yuechuan nearly keeled over dead on the spot at the words.

Wei Zhao nodded and recounted the whole of Qin Chan's affair from beginning to end, exactly as it had happened, without injecting any judgment of his own—merely narrating it plainly, in the manner of a bystander. He was, after all, an outsider to this, and he did not wish his own impressions to color Jiang Yuechuan's judgment.

When he finished, the room fell into a deathly silence. Wei Zhao simply watched Jiang Yuechuan quietly, waiting to see how he would react.

For a long while Jiang Yuechuan said nothing. Then he jerked his head up, his eyes already a field of blood-red, his whole person reduced to a state of hysteria, breath rasping in and out of him—a savage beast crawled up out of hell.

Wei Zhao shook his head inwardly. The shock had been too great for the man; he was on the verge of madness.

Still, it was hardly surprising. Jiang Yuechuan's feelings for Qin Chan ran deep, and anyone who suddenly learned of such a wretched ordeal visited upon the one they loved would be hard put to bear it. A mental collapse was only natural.

Just as Wei Zhao was hesitating over whether to strike him unconscious, Jiang Yuechuan spoke—his voice no longer clear as before, but hoarse beyond description: "Thank you, Brother Lin, for all you have done for Qin Chan. I can never repay it in this life."

"You make too much of it." Wei Zhao glanced at him with some concern. Though he sounded calm enough now, calm of this kind was all the more unnatural. Better by far that he vent it; behind such unnatural stillness, no one could say what terrible thing was brewing.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Jiang Yuechuan knocked his head three times against the floor before Wei Zhao, then abruptly rose to his feet and strode for the door. Sensing trouble, Wei Zhao called out hastily: "What do you mean to do?"

Madness masked by calm—in Wei Zhao's view that could lead to only one end: murder. Whether the man meant to go kill Zheng Tianguang or Qin Chan herself, however, was impossible to say.

Killing Zheng Tianguang was easy enough to understand—he was the root of the tragedy. Killing Qin Chan was no harder to fathom, for in the end she had let herself go to ruin, and to most men that was an unforgivable thing.

"I will hack the men who defiled Qin Chan to pieces, one by one." Jiang Yuechuan ground the words out through his teeth, low and grim. Yet he had not entirely lost his reason; he turned to Wei Zhao and said: "Don't worry about me, Brother Lin. I'm not fool enough to go killing anyone now. At the very least I must wait until I've broken through to the Mystic Ascension stage—otherwise it wouldn't be revenge, it would be throwing my life away."

Wei Zhao looked at him long and hard. In strength and in aptitude alike, this man had never had anything extraordinary about him; yet in that moment Wei Zhao suddenly felt he was no ordinary sort. Under a great shock most men collapsed—but a very few emerged from it utterly remade, and astonished the world.

This Jiang Yuechuan might well be one of that very few.

"And what do you mean to do about Qin Chan?" Wei Zhao asked, curious despite himself. He had no wish to meddle in the private affairs of these two, but if it were to go further and become another human tragedy, he would in the end be uneasy in his conscience.

Jiang Yuechuan glanced at him, turned for the door, and left one sentence behind: "Whatever happened to her before, it was not her fault. It was my failure. So long as her heart does not change, I will never forsake her."

"A man truly deep in love, after all." Wei Zhao smacked his lips as he watched the other's back recede. He had imagined many possible reactions, and Jiang Yuechuan's was unquestionably the one he rated highest. It seemed that, should the chance arise, this man would be worth cultivating.

"What on earth happened to Jiang Yuechuan? He always seemed so honest and steady before—why is he giving off such murderous air today, like he's about to eat someone alive!" Ning Xuefei came running in, dragging Huo Yudie behind her.

"That's right—could something have happened on Qin Chan's side?" Huo Yudie added, puzzled. She did not know of Qin Chan's wretched ordeal, but she had seen Wei Zhao call Qin Chan aside that day, and if anything could unhinge Jiang Yuechuan so, it could only be his betrothed, Qin Chan.

"Mm, it is indeed about Qin Chan. But this is a private matter between the two of them, so let's not stick our noses in." Wei Zhao said, then went on: "By the way, I'm going to refine pills next, so I won't be keeping you two company."

"Refining pills?" Both women blinked. Ning Xuefei's mouth puckered of its own accord: "Why does it have to be now? You could refine pills any time! You're leaving first thing tomorrow morning..."

"It's precisely because I leave tomorrow morning that I must do it now—otherwise it will be too late." Wei Zhao smiled a meaningful smile.

"Too late for what?" Ning Xuefei was utterly baffled.

"You'll know when the time comes. Oh, and Feifei, come by my room tonight—there's something I need." Wei Zhao instructed.

"Tonight? Me, alone, in your room?" Ning Xuefei's pretty face flushed scarlet. She turned and tugged at Huo Yudie's sleeve, and said in a small voice: "Then... let Sister Huo come along too?"

"Seems there's something nice waiting for you, Feifei. I won't be coming with you—this road to the Giants has worn me out, and I mean to get a good sleep and restore my vitality." Huo Yudie exchanged a smile with Wei Zhao; she had already guessed what he intended.

Ning Xuefei looked blankly from Wei Zhao to Huo Yudie and back, and pouted: "What are you two even doing? So mysterious!"

"You'll find out when the time comes." With that, Huo Yudie pulled Ning Xuefei out and left the room to Wei Zhao.

Wei Zhao smiled, took out the Divine Farmer's Cauldron, and set to refining. This time it was not the Earth-Solidifying Pill, a first-grade Mystic-tier elixir, but one he had long since mastered: the seventh-grade Great Restoration Pill.

Darkness fell in the blink of an eye. To keep from disturbing Wei Zhao, Huo Yudie and Ning Xuefei had spent the daylight hours out in the courtyard, and even at night they crowded together in the room next door. Only after ages of hesitation, and at Huo Yudie's repeated urging, did Ning Xuefei finally half-reluctantly, half-willingly make her way to Wei Zhao's door.

"I... I'm here..." Ning Xuefei slipped in on tiptoe, cheeks flaming, the very picture of a thief with a guilty conscience.

Pfft! Wei Zhao was struck dumb at the sight of her. What the girl had been thinking, he could not imagine—she wore nothing but a thin inner garment, half-transparent and half-concealing, every curve hinting at what it hid, a temptress through and through.

"What are you dressed like that for?" Wei Zhao asked, looking at her with an odd expression.

"Huh? Isn't that why you called me over this late at night?" Ning Xuefei said weakly, her face red.