護花近衛 - 第3868章 發現破綻 - 翰墨軒

After a moment of stunned silence, the two men came back to themselves at the same time. Wei Zhao immediately went on guard. "What business do you have with me?"

Wei Zhao deliberately kept the question vague. He wanted to test whether the other man had seen through his identity, and, more importantly, what scheme lay behind his reckless appearance here today.

Yu Jiang studied Wei Zhao intently. In that fleeting instant just now, through the haze of his own startled perception, Wei Zhao had indeed borne some resemblance to the Lin Er he was searching for, and the discovery had filled him with delight. But now, staring at this wholly different face, the longer he looked, the less the resemblance seemed to exist, leaving him deeply perplexed.

Could it be that his expectations had been so intense that what he saw had been nothing more than an illusion? Yu Jiang felt a trace of disappointment. But illusion or not, judging by appearance alone was clearly insufficient. He would have to see what the next test revealed.

"Come with me. If you do not wish to, you can always try your luck." Yu Jiang spoke in a low voice, then turned and walked away.

Wei Zhao could not help frowning. Just as his earlier impression had suggested, this fellow was every bit as crafty and troublesome. Wei Zhao had tried to sound him out, only to have a vague, empty reply tossed back at him, one that yielded no useful information whatsoever.

And yet, why did this feel so much like the way senior students at a school in the mortal world would summon a junior student out to teach him a lesson?

Watching Yu Jiang's retreating back, Wei Zhao let out a quiet laugh. Without the slightest hesitation, he followed. Whether or not the other man had recognized him, there was no reason for him to cower before a mere Yu Jiang.

For the sake of the Xingmo Stone, Yu Jiang had racked his brains trying to drag him out into the open. But Wei Zhao, for his part, had hardly been any less eager to find an opportunity to silence him.

It looked somewhat risky, true. But when an opportunity came knocking of its own accord, Wei Zhao had no reason to let it pass him by. He still held a fatal weakness of his opponent in his hands. And quite apart from the fact that Yu Jiang was alone at the moment, even if he called Nan Tianguan over, Wei Zhao could throw that weakness into the open at the critical moment and still protect himself without fail.

Quietly following Yu Jiang, the two of them walked nearly two li before reaching the foot of a mountain that the other newcomers were unlikely to notice for some time. Only then did they stop.

"You can tell me now, can't you? What exactly did you want with me?" Wei Zhao made his expression appear slightly tense.

Of course, it was all an act. On the surface, he was merely a newcomer to the Welcome Pavilion, a nobody at the early Foundation Establishment stage. If Yu Jiang had summoned him out of nowhere and he showed not the slightest nervousness, that would have been far more suspicious.

"What did I want? You do not know what you have done?" Yu Jiang gave a cold laugh. He knew Nan Tianguan was watching from somewhere nearby, so he did not dare mention the Xingmo Stone. Instead, he decided to use a verbal feint to rattle Wei Zhao.

"Huh? What have I done?" Wei Zhao looked utterly bewildered. Then, as though suddenly realizing something, he said, "Could it be that Meng Jueming sent you to deal with me?"

The last time Yu Jiang had appeared alongside Xu Lingchong and the others, everyone had witnessed it. So from the perspective of an ordinary newcomer to the Qingyun Pavilion, Wei Zhao's question was perfectly natural.

"Meng Jueming? What nonsense are you talking about?" Yu Jiang was momentarily stunned.