Chapter 4132 — The Strength of Di Xingdao
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
What Wei Zhao had to do now was make certain of one thing: whether Wei Shenjin was dead or not, today's affair had to be pinned on the martial artist Ling Yi, with no connection to his true self whatsoever.
He deliberately lingered a moment, letting the passersby and experts drawn by the commotion get a clear look at his face, and only then did Wei Zhao turn and go, vanishing from everyone's sight.
"That fellow looks a bit familiar—seems I've seen him somewhere before?" Sure enough, one expert among the passersby voiced his puzzlement.
"Huh, isn't this Wei Shenjin of the Snow Sword Sect? Now I remember—a while back the Snow Sword Sect was hunting a man and a woman all over the city, and that fellow just now looked like the man, called Ling Yi or Ling Er or something like that!" Someone caught on quickly.
"Never mind all that—just report this to the Snow Sword Sect and be done with it. Heh, I hear this fellow's quite the peacock, always popular with the women; didn't expect him to end up in such a state today, might even lose his little life. Truly a pitiful sight." One of the experts promptly sent word to the Snow Sword Sect.
Wei Shenjin had been attacked by the martial artist Ling Yi, his life or death unknown—this explosive piece of news instantly shook the entire Snow Sword Sect. This was unlike the earlier elopement with Xue Li: it concerned not only the sect's reputation, but could well mean the loss of a core disciple with boundless prospects. For any power, this was a grave matter!
Looking at Wei Shenjin's body, blown to a bloody pulp, Situ Qian nearly fainted on the spot from weeping. Had it not been for several experts among the passersby insisting that Ling Yi was the culprit, she would have gone straight to the sect's higher-ups and had them pressure Cai Zhongxuan of the Five Elements Merchants' Guild into handing over the true killer.
Once again, the Snow Sword Sect threw every resource into a citywide manhunt for the martial artist Ling Yi—and this time they posted a sky-high bounty of ten thousand spirit jade!
Several days later, under the Snow Sword Sect's all-out efforts to save him, Wei Shenjin finally slipped back from the gates of hell with a faint moan. Yet the news did not lift the spirits of the sect, high or low; even Wei Shenjin himself, upon learning of his condition, was plunged into utter despair and lapsed straight back into unconsciousness.
Beyond the internal and external injuries to his eyes, every meridian in his body had been shattered. Wei Shenjin, the much-watched core disciple of the Snow Sword Sect, was now a cripple—a genius struck down into the dust, unable even to match an ordinary man.
And none of this had anything to do with Wei Zhao. The Snow Sword Sect had stirred up a storm across the city over Wei Shenjin's affair, yet from first to last the blame rested on the shoulders of the nonexistent martial artist Ling Yi, and could not touch him in the slightest.
What Wei Zhao did now was, apart from his daily cultivation, refine a few grade four and grade five pills, then make a round of the Heavenly Pill Pavilion—steadier and more comfortable than ever before.
Since the auction had made its name, customers drawn by word of mouth had come in an unending stream. These past few days the Heavenly Pill Pavilion's business had been unprecedentedly brisk, with average daily sales already approaching the figures of opening day; at this rate business would only improve, and it had now fully settled onto the right track—a sight to gladden the heart.
Yet while Wei Zhao and the others were overjoyed, Di Xingdao had worn a troubled frown these past few days, so helpless that he could only come seek out Wei Zhao to drown his sorrows in drink.