Chapter 2455 — The Heaven-Rank Soft-Shelled Turtle
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
One could argue that the giant turtle had simply been frantic to save its child and so had not finished Kang Jinglong off directly—but judging by the look of him, Kang Jinglong did not seem to have suffered any grave injury. Clearly it was because the giant turtle's strength was not great!
That, at least, let Wei Zhao breathe a little easier. What he had feared was the giant turtle saying nothing at all and simply charging into the cave to kill the three of them.
"The trouble you've caused!" Wei Zhao glared at Kang Jinglong in exasperation.
"Wei Zhao, don't blame me either—if you don't think of something, we're all going to die!" Kang Jinglong had no choice but to pin all his hopes on Wei Zhao.
"..." Wei Zhao was speechless. In the end, he could only say helplessly to the giant turtle, "Stop for a moment! I can save your child!"
"You? Save my child?" The giant turtle's movements faltered slightly, but it immediately snorted coldly. "How could that be? My child is gravely injured—it has not yet advanced to Yellow Rank, and even I have no way to heal a wound this severe. Do not try to deceive me!"
"If you want your child to die, then keep blathering!" Wei Zhao said.
"You... you can really save my child?" the giant turtle asked after a moment's hesitation.
"Whether I can or not, won't we find out if we try?" Wei Zhao shrugged. "I can come out now and treat your child. If I heal it, then you let us go. If I fail, then kill me. How about that?"
"...Agreed!" The giant turtle hesitated. Though Wei Zhao's terms were somewhat unfair—the little turtle had been crippled by their people, so treating it was only their duty, and it still had every right to punish Wei Zhao and the others afterward—matters had come to this point. Since the giant turtle could not heal the little one itself, it had no choice but to place its hopes on Wei Zhao.
Wei Zhao had no wish to stand up for Kang Jinglong, but the giant turtle had lumped them all together as one gang. Saving Kang Jinglong now meant saving himself, so he could not afford to worry about such things any longer. He lifted his foot and strode toward the cave entrance...
Wang Xinyan's heart lurched. Fearing the giant turtle might not keep its word, she instinctively wanted to call Wei Zhao back—but then she reflected: once Wei Zhao had made up his mind, how could she ever stop him? And besides, if Wei Zhao did not go out now, what else was there to do? Did anyone really believe the giant turtle would simply let them go?
Wang Xinyan glanced at Kang Jinglong with a touch of scorn. Coward—he stirred up trouble and then had not the spine to face it.
Wei Zhao walked slowly out of the cave. The giant turtle did not strike at him; instead it set the little turtle down and asked coldly, "Well? Will you not hurry up and treat it?"
Wei Zhao nodded, sat cross-legged on the ground, and gathered the little turtle into his arms. Circulating the second layer of the Xuan yuan Dragon-Taming Art, he began to heal the little turtle! The reason Wei Zhao had dared come out was not recklessness—he had more or less gauged the giant turtle's strength, and even if it wanted to kill him, it would not find that easy.
"A cultivator at the peak of the mid-Earth Rank?" The giant turtle discerned Wei Zhao's strength the moment he began circulating his art, and could not help being somewhat surprised. Spirit beasts were rare, to be sure, but human cultivators were hardly plentiful either!
The giant turtle had lived more than a thousand years and was broad in experience. It was normal enough, it knew, for some wealthy men to keep a few Yellow-Rank guards about them, and some underworld bosses or bandit chieftains might likewise be Yellow-Rank experts—but even those were few and far between. Those above Mystic Rank were rarely seen, existing only at the level of the hidden great clans, and Earth Rank was rarer still! RQ