Chapter 3751 — Fooling You Once
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
If the man had already died outright, so much the better. If not, then he must finish him off while he lay grievously wounded and unable to move—for if he were allowed to find a chance to slip away, endless trouble would follow.
He drew closer slowly, all the while watching and guarding against the slightest movement from the other's body. Yet even when Wei Zhao had come within less than two zhang, Yu Jiang still lay face-down on the earth without the slightest stir, not a trace of living sound about him—he gave the impression of being thoroughly dead.
Something was wrong! Wei Zhao's heart was instantly on guard. Against a peak early-Foundation Establishment expert, his single Frenzied Fire Eight-Trigram Palm, Twenty-Second Stance, might indeed kill in one blow—but against a mid-Foundation Establishment expert like Yu Jiang, that was pushing it.
Even with the Essence Necklace amplifying that strike, it could at most leave him grievously wounded and near death—it was hardly likely to kill him outright, much less leave him as he was now, not emitting the faintest whisper of sound.
Given the cunning this creature had displayed before, playing dead at such a moment—lulling him into carelessness and then striking back at the first opportunity—was not merely possible. It was highly likely!
Anyone else might have thought to step a little closer to confirm whether the man was dead or alive. But Wei Zhao halted his steps directly at two zhang's distance, using the jade pendant's space to replenish the true qi within his body while secretly gathering qi to prepare the Frenzied Fire Eight-Trigram Palm, Twenty-First Stance.
Though the might of the Twenty-First Stance could not compare with the Twenty-Second, in a situation like this it was more than enough to finish the job.
Wei Zhao had made up his mind: whether or not this creature was feigning death, he would first land one palm here and settle the matter. Once that palm landed, it would not matter if the thing wanted to play dead any longer—for it would surely be dead beyond doubt, with not the slightest chance of surviving.
Sure enough, upon sensing Wei Zhao's intent, the "corpse" on the ground that had seemed so thoroughly dead could hold still no longer. It abruptly rolled over and to the side to escape Wei Zhao's palm and, in the same motion, flung out a handful of silver-gray powder from its grasp.
Lime? That was Wei Zhao's first thought, and he was immediately caught between laughter and tears. A full-fledged mid-Foundation Establishment expert, and when he could not win a fight he resorted to flinging lime to escape—the resemblance to a street-corner thug was a bit too strong and a bit too ridiculous, wasn't it?
But Wei Zhao grasped at once that this handful of "lime" was no ordinary thing—not only could it obscure sight, but more importantly, it could explode.
Boom! The earth shook and the mountains trembled. That tiny handful of "lime" somehow produced a small mushroom cloud, giving Wei Zhao quite a start.
Had he not gathered qi in advance and readied the Frenzied Fire Eight-Trigram Palm, Twenty-First Stance—and promptly used it to cancel out most of the head-on impact—and had he not fortunately been standing somewhat far off, that single explosion alone would certainly have wounded him further while he was caught off guard. In that case, the opponent might truly have found a chance to turn the tables and kill him.
This was nothing short of a man-made high-powered dust explosion!
Wei Zhao, his face smeared with grime, patted the dust from his clothes and looked at the empty, bare patch of ground before him. The man's figure was long gone.
(.)