Chapter 2276 — Asking for Help
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Wei Zhao's reply was a pure evasion of the question, yet it also made clear that he had fought the Fire Lion clan, and that it was only natural for traces of their aura to cling to him.
"You rounded up the little Fire Lions? And they still gave you their most precious Fireflow Divine Bomb?" The Heaven-Rank Spider watched Wei Zhao with contempt. "Human cultivator, you are a very dishonest creature. In that case, I have no choice but to lock you all up first."
"Fireflow Divine Bomb!" Wei Zhao had never expected that the Heaven-Rank Spider would discover the Fireflow Divine Bomb on his person, and he was thoroughly alarmed. This Heaven-Rank Spider was a little too formidable, was it not?
"That is the weapon the Fire Lion clan uses to fight against us, capable of breaking our Heaven-and-Earth Net. You carry such a thing on you, so how could I not be familiar with it?" The Heaven-Rank Spider's voice was somewhat cold. "Tell me the truth, or be locked away. The choice is yours. Though I should warn you, once we lock you up, we may not remember you again for ten years or more. Whether you can hold out that long depends on your own fortune."
"Very well, then. Since it has come to this, I will speak plainly." Wei Zhao sighed. Originally, he had guessed that the spider spirit beast clan must be sworn enemies of the Fire Lion clan, and so he had intended to keep his ties with the Great Fire Lion secret, lest he stir up unnecessary trouble.
But now it seemed that the Heaven-Rank Spider was not so easily fooled, and that telling the truth was absolutely unavoidable. Wei Zhao could only come clean: "The reason I did not say so earlier is that I truly did blunder into your territory by mistake. I had no wish to disturb you, only to pass through and descend the mountain. And if my guess is right, you are exactly the enemies of the Fire Lion clan here in the middle range of the Wulonghaote Mountains, are you not?"
"Correct." The Heaven-Rank Spider admitted it readily.
"I do have a connection with the Fire Lion clan, but it happened like this..." So saying, Wei Zhao recounted everything to the Heaven-Rank Spider from beginning to end: the purpose of his journey, his joining the Adventurers' Guild of the Tagan family to take on a mission, his feud with Tagan Long, his secret aid to the little Fire Lion, his subsequent bonding with the Fire Lion clan, his climb up the mountain to retrieve treasure, the attack by the Tagan family's skilled fighters, and his rescue by the Heaven-Rank old man.
Naturally, he left out the part about healing the little Fire Lion and boosting its strength. That was something Wei Zhao could not well speak of for the moment, especially with the Heaven-Rank Spider and the Fire Lion clan being enemies. If Wei Zhao told it, there was no telling what the Heaven-Rank Spider might do in a fit of rage.
"That Heaven-Rank old man is your master?" the Heaven-Rank Spider asked, rather strangely. "You... have dealings with that sect on the mountain as well?"
"Master, I suppose I was mistakenly taken as his disciple, but yes, I do have some connection with that sect," Wei Zhao said.
"You do not seem to be lying, but even so, I cannot let you leave now!" the Heaven-Rank Spider said. "Although your master and I are somewhat acquainted, my son has gone missing, and I suspect the Fire Lion clan is behind it. So I will hold you as a bargaining chip to use against the Fire Lion clan in exchange for my son's safe return!"
"Your son? Taken by the Fire Lion clan? Since when?" Wei Zhao was stunned.
"About ten days ago now." The Heaven-Rank Spider saw no reason to conceal it.
"Then it absolutely could not have been them," Wei Zhao said. "From the time I left the Fire Lion clan's den until now, it has not been ten days, and I never saw your son at all..."
"Perhaps they have him imprisoned somewhere," the Heaven-Rank Spider said after a slight hesitation.