Chapter 4290 — Greed Outed
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
As his words fell, Chang Daoping's face burned with shame. Such a trick would have been no matter had it never come to light—but now, before so many of his underlings, to be exposed so mercilessly in public left him with no face to save.
Sure enough, the way the others now looked at Chang Daoping was no longer marked by the reverence and trust of before.
Until this moment, what had won Chang Daoping the crowd's trust so completely was not only his strength and standing, nor merely his long-standing domineering manner, but also one crucial thing: he shared his blessings and his hardships with them alike.
Take this expedition to the ruins. By rights, Chang Daoping alone deserved the lion's share of the credit—the others had merely lent some effort in breaking the Moon Shadow Formation. When it came to dividing the Star Ink Milk, even had Chang Daoping demanded half, no one would have objected. Yet he had taken the initiative to do as everyone else and draw only a single small vial for himself—a gesture rare indeed.
Hearts are made of flesh. Because Chang Daoping dealt with people so openly and fairly, the crowd felt they could rely on him, and so they served him with wholehearted devotion.
Yet none of them could ever have guessed that the upright, honorable front Chang Daoping presented was in truth nothing but a pious sham—that right under their very noses, he was carrying on such a petty, underhanded scheme.
In an instant, the image Chang Daoping had built in their minds over so long crumbled the moment the azure-robed man tipped out that spirit-jade vial.
And compared with the rest, the looks Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao bent on Chang Daoping at this moment were those of true, cold-burning fury!
Cao Shishi, Luo Tuoxiang, and the others had merely been duped by Chang Daoping; at least each of them had received a small vial of Star Ink Milk, so their material losses were not great. Only Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao were the true victims.
No wonder, then, that when Chang Daoping had been the first to draw his Star Ink Milk, Wei Zhao had thought the man was taking far too long. By rights, filling a single small vial should never have required so much time.
Wei Zhao had assumed Chang Daoping was simply overcome with emotion—this was, after all, the rarest Star Ink Milk in the world, and one could hardly decant it the way one poured water; care was surely needed. So at the time, he had not taken it to heart.
Now, looking back, why was it that just when it came to his and Huang Xiaotao's turn, the Star Ink Milk had run out precisely then? This was plainly Chang Daoping's calculation from the very start!
In all that time, Chang Daoping must have already worked out how much Star Ink Milk there was. After leaving one small vial for each of his own underlings, every last drop of the rest had gone into his vial with a world inside it—so when it came to Wei Zhao's and Huang Xiaotao's turn, naturally there was nothing left at all.
This was no coincidence after all. From beginning to end, Chang Daoping had dug a pit and let Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao jump in of their own accord—and in the end, though they had been duped, they could not even find fault with him, and would have had to call him a man of generosity besides!
Had the two azure-robed men not been present, Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao would have wanted nothing more than to strike at Chang Daoping on the spot! (To be continued..) R640