Chapter 4530 — Caught Leaving
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 3
"Uh, right." Wei Zhao shrank his neck a little in lingering fear. He had been so worried about his human identity being exposed that he had nearly forgotten this threat. Spirit beasts and spirit beasts had never truly lived in peace, and even if he was taken for one of them now, he was still in grave danger.
Taking advantage of the fact that the whole gathering of spirit beasts had been whipped up by the Azure Dragon beyond all self-restraint, each one cheering and shouting at the high platform, Wei Zhao at once began to retreat without a trace, quietly, quietly back. If some spirit beast at his side happened to glance his way, he would stop and put on a show of shouting along with them. And since he had been standing at the very outer edge to begin with, the whole withdrawal went off rather smoothly.
And yet, just as he could see himself slipping into the dense forest, just as in the next instant he would be able to duck away and be gone, a cold, sharp voice suddenly exploded out from the high platform: "Who is so bold as to leave without permission while this elder is announcing a great matter?"
As the words fell, the eyes of every spirit beast present fixed on the Vermilion Bird, who had spoken so abruptly, and then, following the Vermilion Bird's gaze, shifted to the top of Wei Zhao's head.
Suddenly the focus of the whole gathering, Wei Zhao felt his scalp prickle and a cold sweat break out instantly down his back. In a public gathering of humans, even one crowded with experts, the pressure would not be this great—but the problem was, this was the spirit beast assembly!
To be stared at by so many powerful spirit beasts felt like being a lamb that had wandered into a wolf's den. Wei Zhao could at least keep his face calm; anyone with an ordinary constitution of mind would have been scared witless on the spot.
Not only Wei Zhao—this time even the ghost-thing couldn't help sweating for him, and at the same time he could not help feeling some regret. The decision to slip away before the gathering dispersed could not be called wrong, but the one thing he had never reckoned on was that the Vermilion Bird would be using his divine sense to monitor the whole place at every moment!
After all, even for a being like the ghost-thing, who could be called a grandmaster of the primordial spirit, maintaining divine sense over the whole gathering at all times was an absolutely considerable burden. What he had never in ten thousand years expected was that the Vermilion Bird, in order to hold this spirit beast assembly completely in his grasp, would not hesitate to spend so much energy for nothing.
No wonder—even before Wei Zhao had arrived here, he had already been swept beforehand by the Vermilion Bird's divine sense. So the creature had been monitoring every corner all along.
The Vermilion Bird's cold gaze fell upon Wei Zhao. He had just been about to take up the Azure Dragon's thread and appoint a city lord of Magic Cold City before the whole assembly, when unexpectedly this whelp dared to turn and walk off at such a moment—was that not plainly a show of contempt for him, a top-ranking elder?
Under the gaze of the crowd, stared at by so many powerful spirit beasts with unfriendly faces, Wei Zhao felt a chill in his heart. Forcing down his nervousness, he turned carefully and said, "Reporting to Elder Vermilion Bird, this humble one only wished to relieve himself a little, and was not leaving without permission. I beg the elder's clear understanding..."
At this answer, improvised in the heat of the moment, the assembled spirit beasts all showed looks of understanding. It is said that a person has three urgencies, and spirit beasts were naturally no exception. And since he had to relieve himself, of course he had to find a secluded spot—the answer was entirely reasonable.