Chapter 4524 — Retreat Is the Best Policy
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"Something is off, truly. It looks as though some great matter has come to pass. We had best go and take a look." Ghost Thing hesitated a moment before speaking.
"Very well!" Wei Zhao did not object. Reason told him that to press on this way courted danger, but since Ghost Thing insisted on going to see, he would of course keep him company to the end—they were, after all, one and the same, bound to each other.
Besides, Wei Zhao could see that even in his present state, hard put to safeguard himself, Ghost Thing still cared deeply about the affairs of the spirit-beast clan. He said aloud that he did not wish to return to the clan, yet at the least stir of wind or grass he would catch himself fretting over it, consciously or not. In a sense, this elder of the spirit beasts was in truth a touch tsundere.
Wei Zhao at once pressed on toward the core heartland, though every step he took was far more wary and careful than before. This ought to have been a place where mighty spirit beasts gathered in throngs, yet now it had grown so strange and uncanny—any fool could tell there was some trick afoot, and one careless step might well mean utter ruin.
Cautious the whole way, another full day thus passed. The wonder in Wei Zhao's heart only deepened: could some great calamity truly have befallen the spirit-beast clan?
Just as Wei Zhao could scarcely contain his curiosity any longer, Ghost Thing's voice suddenly rang out in his mind: "Hold. Go no further."
Wei Zhao hastily checked his steps and slipped into a hidden corner to conceal himself. He scanned the surroundings and found nothing especially out of the ordinary, and could not help asking in surprise, "Senior, what have you found?"
"A great many spirit beasts are gathered ahead, and their auras are by no means weak. If you go on, you will surely be discovered." Ghost Thing spoke in a low voice.
"A great many spirit beasts gathered?" Wei Zhao was startled on the spot—he had sensed not the slightest thing, which showed that the gathering place must still lie some considerable distance off. And for these spirit beasts to earn a verdict of "not weak" from Ghost Thing, they must all be formidable beings indeed.
"The innate auras of many spirit beasts are very distinctive. Even if they consciously conceal them, they cannot be wholly masked. You human cultivators cannot sense it, but it cannot escape my perception." Ghost Thing offered a word of explanation.
"Then... what do we do now?" Wei Zhao asked. Since what lay ahead were all spirit beasts of surpassing power, for a human cultivator to blunder in would plainly be to seek death; yet to beat a retreat at this moment would go against their original purpose—after all, they knew only that many spirit beasts had gathered, not what had happened.
"Mm. To be safe, we can go no further." Ghost Thing pondered a moment, then spoke. He did wish to know what mischance had befallen the spirit-beast clan, but only on the premise of ensuring Wei Zhao's safety; he could not let Wei Zhao take too great a risk.
In such circumstances, then, Ghost Thing would rather choose to withdraw. In any case, if something truly had happened to the spirit-beast clan, in his present state he could do nothing about it, and could only stand by as a cold-eyed onlooker.
"Very well." Since Ghost Thing had said so, Wei Zhao naturally would not force the matter. Even had he the heart to help, he must first have the strength to do so—at least with his present cultivation, peak of the mid Golden Core stage, he was still far from the level needed to meddle in the affairs of the spirit-beast clan.
Drawing a deep breath, Wei Zhao at once carefully reined in his aura and made ready to slip away. But at that very moment, Ghost Thing suddenly gave a low cry: "Don't move!"