Chapter 1363 — Underestimating Strength
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"You want to shake me off? Not so easy. Either we join forces and kill this monster, or I stand by and watch you kill it." Elder Yu was no fool — he had thought of exactly what Wei Zhao was thinking. If he went out there now, and came back to find Wei Zhao gone, what then?
"How do you propose we join forces?" Wei Zhao asked.
"You lure the monster in front and let it chase you, and I strike from behind!" Elder Yu said bluntly.
"..." Wei Zhao felt embarrassed on his behalf. Elder Yu, could you be any more shameless? Let him be the cannon fodder while you sneak in a blow?
"Well? Not a bad plan, is it?" Elder Yu's hide had thickened to a certain degree; he felt not the slightest impropriety in his own words.
Even Lao Hei thought Elder Yu was going too far, yet Wei Zhao nodded and agreed: "Fine. I'll draw him off in front, and you strike from behind!"
Wei Zhao knew it was unrealistic to ask Elder Yu to lure the monster; given Elder Yu's character, he would never do something so dangerous. As for the sneak attack, the danger was much less.
Elder Yu was confident he could escape from the monster, and Wei Zhao was confident too, so he was not afraid of what the monster might do to him.
Having said so, Wei Zhao stepped toward the monster, while Elder Yu cautiously followed not far behind him, as though ready to turn and flee the instant things went wrong.
Qiu Lingshan and Chen Yuxuan exchanged a glance; neither of them moved. Wei Zhao had not told them to act, and staying put was the best course — otherwise they would only make trouble for him.
Wei Zhao and Elder Yu, one before the other, came to within a short distance of the monster. At that moment it was devouring James's corpse with single-minded relish, its mouth full of fresh blood — a truly frightful sight.
And this was also the first time Wei Zhao had observed the monster up close.
The monster had a coat of yellow mane and looked somewhat like a gorilla, yet not quite. It had furry limbs, walked on its hind legs, and fed itself with its forelegs; but it had no tail, and its face was utterly unlike an ape's or a monkey's — rather like a toad's, with bulging eyes, no nose, and a pointed mouth. A creature like this — it was hard to say just what it was.
The monster had clearly seen Wei Zhao approach. Perhaps it was curious: everyone else fled the moment they laid eyes on it, so why was this Wei Zhao walking up to it of his own accord?
Still, with human flesh to eat for the moment, the monster was in no hurry to attack Wei Zhao.
When Wei Zhao passed by its side, the monster merely glanced at him; but when he walked past it and continued down the corridor ahead, the monster abruptly flung down James and, roaring, lunged at Wei Zhao with bared claws and teeth.
This indirectly confirmed Wei Zhao's guess: it really was a tomb-guarding spirit beast. While Wei Zhao showed no intention of going deeper into the tomb, it ignored him for the time being; but the moment he pressed on, he met the monster's backlash — it even abandoned the food in its hands and came straight after him.
Wei Zhao's qinggong was no worse than Elder Yu's; how could the monster ever catch him? Though Wei Zhao was already certain that the creature's strength was unquestionably the peak of the late Yellow Rank, he had a strange feeling — as if even he were no match for it.
That feeling grew stronger still when the monster swung a paw at him. Wei Zhao had not the confidence to take that claw head-on.
Had he not still needed Wei Zhao to enter the tomb afterward, Elder Yu truly would not have minded stalling for time and letting the monster finish Wei Zhao off first — leaving Wei Zhao without the strength to contend with him for the Qi Gathering Pill and the physician's notes.
But Elder Yu also knew that with only Lao Hei and Yu Xiaoke at his side, getting smoothly into the underground palace would be difficult, so he had no choice but to keep Wei Zhao alive.