Chapter 3828 — So Confident
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 3
The guest retainers held a position of great detachment within the Hong Merchant Guild. Under normal circumstances, apart from guarding the guild, they accepted no assigned tasks whatsoever. But Hong Zhong, branch steward though he was, was far more than his position suggested; with his strength and his connections, even those proud guest retainers were willing to do him a favor.
Having a first-rate guest retainer escort Wei Zhao home went altogether beyond the bounds of business—it was a genuine favor, plain and simple.
But Wei Zhao was quick to decline. "I thank you for your kindness, Steward Hong, but there's no need for such trouble. I have my own way of dealing with it."
"Eh?" Hong Zhong was taken aback. Even with all his wealth of experience, those words left him at something of a loss to read this Lin Er.
To handle Yu Jiang, a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator, with nothing but the peak of early Foundation Establishment, and even to have beaten Yu Jiang half to death instead—that outcome had been rather beyond Hong Zhong's expectations, though it was not wholly beyond comprehension.
Challenges across cultivation tiers were uncommon, to be sure, but in Hong Zhong's eyes Lin Er was no ordinary sort to begin with, and there was nothing especially strange in his having managed such a feat.
Yet Lin Er being able to handle Yu Jiang did not mean he could handle Nan Tianyong. After all, the two were on entirely different planes.
Yu Jiang was merely a mid-Foundation Establishment expert. But his master Nan Tianyong stood at the very peak of late Foundation Establishment, a single step from the great consummation of Foundation Establishment!
For Lin Er, at the very peak of early Foundation Establishment, Yu Jiang of the mid stage still fell within the realm of the challengeable. But Nan Tianyong, at the peak of late Foundation Establishment—by any reckoning whatsoever—was absolutely not someone Lin Er could cope with. Absolutely not!
One at the peak of early Foundation Establishment, the other at the peak of late Foundation Establishment—four whole tiers between them. Nan Tianyong would not even need to use any martial technique; a casual punch or kick would utterly crush Lin Er. There was no suspense in it at all.
This was common sense. No matter how deep Lin Er's foundations or how powerful his backing, there was no chance of a reversal. And it was precisely on this consideration that Hong Zhong had taken the initiative to offer him a favor, sending a first-rate guest retainer to escort him home.
What Hong Zhong had not expected was that Lin Er would refuse without a second thought—and refuse outright.
Hong Zhong could not help but begin to wonder: could it be that this young man, whose strength reached only the very peak of early Foundation Establishment, truly had it in him to deal with a first-rate expert like Nan Tianyong at the peak of late Foundation Establishment? That was simply impossible!
What Hong Zhong did not know was that Wei Zhao's outright refusal of his offer stemmed chiefly from a reluctance to expose his identity. If a first-rate guest retainer of the Hong Merchant Guild were to escort him home, his true identity would be very hard to keep concealed.
And once it became known that this Lin Er was none other than Wei Zhao, a newcomer of the Azure Cloud Pavilion wearing a face-changing mask, the affair would truly be impossible to contain. So by comparison, Wei Zhao would sooner face a dangerous figure like Nan Tianyong alone than let his true identity come to light.
Still, for all that, when Wei Zhao said he had a way to deal with Nan Tianyong and his disciple Yu Jiang, it was not entirely an empty boast. In fact, within those few brief moments, he had already thought of a strategy. Defeating the two of them was hardly realistic, but if all he wanted was to slip away safely, he had no small confidence of it—provided he made thorough preparations in advance.