Chapter 4045 — Shangguan Tianxia's Visit
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 3
"From what this old man knows, you are a newcomer of the Qingyun Pavilion, and little Lan'er has never much cared for the Welcome Pavilion. There should be no point of contact between you two—how did you come to know her?" Shangguan Tianxia did not directly ask about Shangguan Lan'er's disappearance, but instead opened with the tone of idle chat and small talk, entirely without the airs of a lofty Pavilion Master.
Is he testing what my intentions are? Wei Zhao did not relax in the slightest, and answered truthfully on the spot: "The first time this disciple met Little Senior Sister was actually because of Little Curly Bear. It slipped out and happened to run into me—it had been injured at the time for some reason—and as a result Little Senior Sister mistook me for having lured it away. I suppose you could call it a case of fighting before becoming friends."
"Haha, little Lan'er has a pure heart, and whatever she does she takes for granted. Little Bai is the flesh of her heart, so it's only natural that you were misunderstood. Over matters concerning Little Bai, this old man has been misunderstood and grumbled at by her no small number of times in the past." Shangguan Tianxia laughed heartily. Even in this sunless, chill dungeon, sitting beside him still gave one the feeling of a spring breeze on the face, making one unconsciously feel trust and closeness.
Could this be the legendary charisma? Wei Zhao was secretly startled. As his strength and breadth of vision grew, the way he now judged people had gradually come to differ from before—once he looked at outward appearance and strength, but now he paid more heed to what lay within.
The truly powerful are inevitably so from the inside out, subduing all living things without conscious effort. This can be confirmed in many great figures, and this Pavilion Master of the Skysurge Pavilion before him was clear proof of it.
"At the birthday banquet last time, little Lan'er said that Xu Lingchong had designs on her, and in the end his manhood was cut off by Little Bai after its transformation into the Wine Madman. There should be some credit in that belonging to you, no?" Shangguan Tianxia asked with a meaningful look.
As her grandfather, he had never once questioned Shangguan Lan'er in detail about this matter from beginning to end; the information he knew was limited to what she had said in her testimony before the Law Enforcement Hall.
Yet even if he did not ask openly, he could easily infer these things—after all, Wei Zhao had gone upstairs with Shangguan Lan'er at the time, and that was something quite a few people had seen.
Wei Zhao did not deny it. He nodded and said, "That's right. The situation was urgent at the time, and this disciple could not afford to worry about much else—I could only choose to strike at Xu Lingchong. Fortunately, he did not get his way."
"With your strength, to be able to restrain Xu Lingchong in the full perfection of Foundation Establishment—you truly were put out." Shangguan Tianxia smiled, then suddenly asked: "So then, do you like little Lan'er?"
"Huh?" Wei Zhao was at once dumbstruck. To suddenly ask him such an abrupt question—and from the dignified Pavilion Master of the Skysurge Pavilion, no less—made the whole situation feel a little strange no matter how one looked at it.
After a moment, under Shangguan Tianxia's gaze, Wei Zhao answered truthfully: "This... I do have some fondness for her. But before this disciple came to Yunjie Island, I already had a girlfriend—and... more than one..."
Faced with this answer, Wei Zhao had expected the man to fly into a rage. After all, Shangguan Lan'er was the apple of his eye; by status alone the two were already wholly ill-matched, and on top of that he had so many close female friends. Any parent, he thought, would surely tell him to keep away from his granddaughter!