Chapter 4575 — The Severed Finger
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
"Bullshit! Only two people have ever been praised to their face by Pavilion Master Shangguan—one is Gongyang Jun, and the other leads my Wei Zhao's faction. A piece of trash like you doesn't even qualify, and you dare say Pavilion Master Shangguan misjudged? Hmph, you're only fooling yourself!" Qiao Hongcai might be trapped fast and unable to move, but if anyone thought he would back down so easily, they could wait till the sun rose in the west.
"What did you say?!" Ma Dangfeng, who had been gloating and swaggering a moment before, immediately turned grim at these words. He considered himself superior to Wei Zhao in every respect, yet to this day there were still voices in the streets defending Wei Zhao—and the reason was none other than Shangguan Tianxia!
Because Wei Zhao had once won Shangguan Tianxia's approval, he was naturally regarded as a second Gongyang Jun. As for Ma Dangfeng, though he surpassed Wei Zhao in every way, though he had swept all before him in the inner-sect tournament, he had still failed to win Shangguan Tianxia's recognition. This was his undeniable sore spot, the one respect in which he fell short of Wei Zhao, and the topic he most resented others bringing up.
Now Qiao Hongcai had thrown it in his face—no different from publicly tearing open his scar. A man trampled beneath his feet still dared to be so arrogant? Did he really think Ma Dangfeng did not dare to kill?
"I say you're just sour grapes. What? Did I hit a nerve? Hahahaha!" Qiao Hongcai laughed and laughed, as though he did not regard this Ma Dangfeng as worth a glance at all. Even now, held at the other's mercy, he laughed when he wanted to laugh and cursed when he wanted to curse.
Watching from the side, Lu Bianren, the Bitter Senior Brother, and the others silently cheered Qiao Hongcai's stubborn courage, yet at the same time could not help breaking out in cold sweat for him. Qiao Hongcai's life now rested in Ma Dangfeng's hands; if Ma Dangfeng flew into a rage, the rest of them would not even have time to save him, and the consequences would be unthinkable.
To be sure, the Three-Tier Pavilion had strict rules governing disputes among disciples. Unless it was a publicly declared challenge, killing one another was absolutely forbidden, and violators would be severely punished. If Ma Dangfeng truly did kill Qiao Hongcai in a fit of rage, he would inevitably pay a heavy price himself. But he was now a genius whom the upper echelons of the Azure Cloud Pavilion unanimously valued; even if the price he paid was considerable, it would never be so devastating as to be unacceptable.
"You really think I don't dare to kill you?" A savage look flashed across Ma Dangfeng's face. His eyes went cold, and suddenly he stamped his foot down on Qiao Hongcai's hand—the hand that had been pointing at him ever since he walked through the door. Anyone who dared to challenge his bottom line would not end well.
Crack! A bone-splitting sound that made the scalp tingle. Qiao Hongcai's face went abruptly white, and he gasped sharply, cold sweat pouring like rain—yet from first to last he did not utter a single sound.
Lu Bianren and the others turned pale on the spot, and could not help but move to strike at Ma Dangfeng! (To be continued...) R527