Chapter 4612 — Seeing Lan'er Again
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
Fortunately, the gap in strength between Wei Zhao and Ma Dangfeng had been so vast that the outcome was decided without a single visible move. Had two Nascent Soul cultivators of real skill truly come to blows, this place of his would long since have been flattened. That he had escaped disaster today was entirely thanks to Wei Zhao.
A ceaseless stream of well-wishers crowded in to make nice with him, and many of them were Azure Cloud Pavilion disciples besides, people he rubbed shoulders with every day. Senior Brother Miserable and the rest of that bunch were honest, good-natured folk who could not bring themselves to turn anyone away cold, so they could only grit their teeth and deal with each one in turn.
Only Wei Zhao was left to enjoy his leisure, sipping his spirit tea at a comfortable pace. The guild steward, quick to read the situation, had even swapped his pot for a superior grade of spirit tea—a stash he had treasured for years without ever bearing to drink it himself, and now he had laid out real capital to curry favor with Wei Zhao…
In the midst of the hubbub, the packed crowd suddenly parted of its own accord, opening a narrow lane down the middle as clean as a dividing line. The people in front grumbled at first, but the moment they glimpsed who was coming from behind, they promptly bowed their heads in respectful silence and scrambled nimbly out of the way.
Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback, but then his face broke into a smile. Through the crowd came Little Curly Bear, abandoning its usual plump and amiable demeanor, vaulting from one person's head to the next and clambering up onto Wei Zhao with hands and feet alike. Perched on Wei Zhao's neck, it quivered with excitement—and at that same moment, a woman of clear, ethereal beauty appeared before Wei Zhao. It was none other than Shangguan Lan'er.
Looking at this little senior sister, who could no more hide her delight than Little Curly Bear could, Wei Zhao could not help but stare blankly for a moment. After a year and a half apart, Shangguan Lan'er was as innocent and unspoiled as ever, yet in both figure and bearing she had plainly matured. To her fresh, pure loveliness there now clung a faint, elusive charm that set a person's cheeks burning without their knowing why.
Wei Zhao had long since seen every manner of beauty; his fair confidantes were each a peerless flower of the world. Yet seeing Shangguan Lan'er this time, he could not help but marvel that the girl was truly born to be a beauty. Even now she was enough to make a man lose his grip—and when she came into her full bloom in the years to come, would not every glance and every smile steal a man's soul away?
"Little junior brother, you're not hurt, are you?" Shangguan Lan'er, for her part, had not the slightest awareness that she was a walking disaster of a beauty. Perhaps because she had prayed for Wei Zhao every single day, a year and a half apart had left not the least trace of unfamiliarity between them. Ignoring the crowd's strange looks, she hopped and skipped over to Wei Zhao's side, nudged Little Curly Bear aside, and the master and her pet each took practiced possession of one of Wei Zhao's arms.
"No, I'm not," Wei Zhao said with a smiling shake of his head. Then he could not help asking, "How did you know I was here?"
"Hehe, Grandfather told me! He said that wretch Ma Dangfeng had latched onto you, so I came over to see you!" Shangguan Lan'er stuck out her tongue with a giggle, secretly proud of her own success. If she had not insisted last time that Grandfather tell her the moment there was any news of Wei Zhao, she could never have gotten here so quickly.
"Pavilion Master Shangguan?" Wei Zhao was startled. It was no wonder he drew attention now that he had returned, but for word to reach Shangguan Tianxia's ears so quickly was a most intriguing thing. To command such attentive concern from one of North Island's foremost figures—his treatment was truly remarkable.