Chapter 1336 — A Great Opportunity — Of Course, Wei Zhao Had Left One Thing Unsaid: That Apart From Poisoning and Assassination... Yet Whoever Had Attacked Mr. Qiu Had Used Wholly Bloody, Brutal Means, Killing Him Outright Rather Than by Poison or Ambush!
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For to kill Mr. Qiu without the man ahead of him — the one holding his hand — noticing anything at all, neither assassination nor poison would serve. Assassination, like poison, could not keep Mr. Qiu's body from halting for even a moment, and the man in front would have sensed something amiss and surely turned to look; his aim of killing in perfect silence would then have failed.
So if he wanted the man in front to notice nothing, he first had to sever Mr. Qiu's hand, and then, in almost the very same instant, strike Mr. Qiu down! To finish him off utterly before he could even register the pain! Of course, that was no assassination — that was killing in the open!
To accomplish that, Wei Zhao privately admitted, he had not the confidence. Yet this unknown enemy had done it.
What was more, Wei Zhao had not even sensed this person's aura — and naturally the jade pendant had given no warning either. Which meant that when the man killed Mr. Qiu, his target had been Mr. Qiu, and Mr. Qiu alone; toward Wei Zhao himself, toward Qiu Lingshan, Chen Yuxuan, even Yu Xiaoke, he harbored no hostility whatsoever.
The jade pendant's warning function was a curious thing; at times even Wei Zhao himself could not make sense of it. It seemed able to peer into his own heart, working only upon companions within a certain range whom it judged friends rather than foes, while upon others Wei Zhao had marked as strangers — or upon friends beyond a certain distance — it had no effect at all.
It was rather like the party system in an online game, effective only for members of the same team on the same map.
"An Earth Rank expert!" Qiu Lingshan and Chen Yuxuan were badly shaken by Wei Zhao's words. They exchanged a glance, their mouths falling open at the same time: "Isn't that the sort of expert only the hidden families and those sects are supposed to have?"
Both came of great families, so they knew well what an Earth Rank expert represented. Even an expert at the peak of the late Mystic Rank was seldom seen.
"That I don't know," Wei Zhao said. "The world is vast, and nothing is too strange for it. To you, perhaps, Earth Rank experts exist only within the hidden families and the sects — that much is on the surface. But perhaps, out in the secular world, certain dark forces hold such experts in their grip as well. These tomb-raiding crews, for instance..."
"True enough!" Qiu Lingshan said, light dawning. "My thinking was too narrow before — I confined myself to what lies in the open, and overlooked these criminal gangs!"
"If this Earth Rank expert truly exists, then I would advise against making an enemy of him. I am not certain I could do anything to him, and for your people to try to capture him would be all the harder! If he wishes to shield someone and flee, no one will be able to bar his way!" Wei Zhao reminded them mildly. "So your plan ought to be revised as well. When you know a thing cannot be done, do not attempt it..."
In truth, if Wei Zhao truly staked his life on a fight with this Earth Rank expert, he might not lose. But Wei Zhao had come to this ancient tomb for a matter of great consequence; so long as the Earth Rank expert did not hinder his search for clues to the Fire Spirit Sacred Fruit, the man might do as he pleased — Wei Zhao would not trouble himself over him.
Whether Qiu Lingshan and Chen Yuxuan could complete their mission was not something Wei Zhao paid much heed to either. Not that he lacked feeling for them; the situation simply was unusual now. Wei Zhao had to place Feng Xiaoxiao first, and all else came second.
Qiu Lingshan and Chen Yuxuan smiled bitterly and fell rather silent. Of course they knew how formidable an Earth Rank expert was! A Mystic Rank expert was already formidable enough in the secular world, to say nothing of an Earth Rank one! If even Wei Zhao said he lacked confidence, then he truly lacked it.