Chapter 4281 — Set Up by Someone
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
"Listening to Brother Chang was right after all—we finally made it in!" Cao Shishi cried excitedly, as though she had cast even her injuries to the back of her mind. The others too were overcome with delight—to have entered the ruins meant the Star Ink Milk they had dreamed of was within reach!
Watching this, Wei Zhao could not help but curl his lip in secret disdain. These people had been kept in the dark by Chang Daoping from first to last without ever realizing it, and here they were still giddy with joy—it was enough to make one laugh and cry at once.
Wei Zhao had seen the scene just now perfectly clearly. Chang Daoping truly had no intention of harming anyone, but he had also certainly not told them the truth. The great sphere they had all attacked with such force was no formation eye at all; the stone lock that surfaced afterward was the true formation eye.
All the effort the crowd had expended had in fact been labor on Chang Daoping's behalf—every one of them worn out like a dog and wounded besides, while Chang Daoping alone remained full of vigor, having squandered not a shred of his own strength and suffered not a scratch.
The only thing he had done was draw out the crowd's energy and, while they were in disarray, divert it onto the stone-lock formation eye. For a fine hand of his Nascent Soul stage, such a trifle was nothing short of effortless.
From beginning to end, the crowd had been mere drudges for Chang Daoping—and drudges who did not even understand what they were doing. Never mind that they had followed him in this time; were they to come on their own next time, they would not even know what the formation eye was, let alone get inside.
And recalling the journey before, Chang Daoping had merely led the way swiftly on his own, never giving them time to memorize the route, never letting them see a route map—and now, in breaking the formation, he had deliberately held something back. Plainly, he did not want them to know the way into the ruins.
On reflection, though, Chang Daoping's conduct was not altogether incomprehensible. Star Ink Milk, after all, was a heaven-sent treasure that would keep condensing anew; even if it were all taken this year, it would return next year and the year after. If the crowd learned the way into the ruins, would that not mean a whole flock of competitors for Chang Daoping out of thin air?
The tale of the apprentice taught all he knows starving his master to death is common enough in the mortal world, and no less so throughout the world of cultivation. Before a peerless treasure like Star Ink Milk, every bond of intimacy must give way—even dual-cultivation partners must keep a measure of guard.
"Actually, this place should be the very wasteland we saw a moment ago—only concealed by the Moon Shadow Formation, which is why we could not see it before," Chang Daoping explained to the crowd.
"So that is how it is." Understanding dawned on every face, and they nodded, all eager to try their luck, unable to contain their excitement—so much so that they gave no thought even to their injuries.
At this moment, their gazes followed the empty street before them stretching straight ahead, so far that the eye could scarcely find its end. Facing the city gate as it did, it appeared to be a main thoroughfare.
On either side of the road stood shops and pavilions of exceedingly ancient vintage, along with crumbling walls and broken ruins. Some writing remained upon the walls, though what characters they were could no longer be made out.
Compared with the excitement of the others, Wei Zhao's response was far more subdued. Holding Huang Xiaotao's hand and healing them both, he studied the scene before him.