Chapter 1757 — Someone Was Following
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
"A tourist," Wei Zhao answered mildly. "And you? Highway robbers? The robbers around here really are formidable—Yellow-Rank adepts!"
Generally speaking, Yellow-Rank adepts went to serve as bodyguards for the wealthy. Highway robbery like this had no skill to it and was dangerous besides—how could it compare to the comfort of guarding a mansion? So Wei Zhao was quite puzzled about their identities.
"We are members of the Mad Horse Gang. Is the honored sir also a **practitioner**?" The leader's tone toward Wei Zhao had clearly changed.
Wei Zhao subtly circulated the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art, letting his early Earth-Rank strength flicker forth for an instant—this was to intimidate these men and keep them from acting rashly! Otherwise, from their tone, they seemed to belong to a local gang of the bandit sort, and one that apparently counted quite a few **practitioners** among its ranks!
Then again, it made sense. There was a spirit mountain nearby, rich in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and it was hardly surprising that some **practitioners** would gather in the area to **cultivate** off that energy, robbing traveling merchants on the side. So long as they did not disturb the local residents, the townsfolk would bear the Mad Horse Gang no particular grudge.
But Wei Zhao did not want to stir up trouble on his journey. He himself was not afraid, but with three girls of no cultivation in tow, if these bandits were to launch a coordinated ambush, things would stop being amusing.
That was why Wei Zhao revealed his strength. With the intimidation of early Earth-Rank power, these men would not dare act up again, no matter how bold! Unless their heads were full of water and they had no idea of the gulf between Yellow-Rank and Earth-Rank.
"An early Earth-Rank adept..." Sure enough, just as Linyi had expected, a flash of shock crossed the leader's eyes, and his manner grew markedly more respectful: "Could the senior be a guest of the Night Palace?"
"You know of the Night Palace too?" Wei Zhao countered without betraying any emotion. He had heard the name more than once now, but had no idea what the Night Palace actually was, so he could only fish for information from this bandit's mouth.
"My Mad Horse Gang scrapes out a living in these parts, so naturally we know something of the Night Palace, the local strongmen," the man said. "We only **cultivate** on the outer edges of Night Spirit Mountain and never cross the Night Palace's warning line. I beg the senior not to breathe a word of today's business to the Night Palace—if it brings trouble down on the Mad Horse Gang, I'd be the guilty one! But rest assured, senior, I will prepare a generous gift for you. I only hope the senior will not make things hard for my gang..."
After seeing Wei Zhao's strength, this man had not the slightest thought of opposing him. The Mad Horse Gang's grand chief was only an early Mystic-Rank adept—before Wei Zhao, that was nothing but suicide. As for their **cultivating** in this area, the Night Palace had tacitly permitted it before; so long as they did not cross the warning line of Night Spirit Mountain, the Night Palace would not trouble them.