Chapter 4613 — Are You Out of Your Mind?
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
But when he saw the一号 residence ablaze with light, and above all heard the peals of laughter and cheerful voices spilling out from within, Ma Dangfeng's already wretched face turned an even more ghastly white. To think that bastard had even seized his own dwelling—damn that Wei Zhao to hell, the arrogant swine had gone too far!
"Bro Qiang, what are we going to do now?" The two lackeys turned to Ma Dangfeng with faces full of dismay. Listening to the voices of Wei Zhao and his lot inside, they would not have dared to step through that gate for anything—they did not even dare come within a hundred zhang of the place. A man of Ma Dangfeng's strength had nearly died a senseless death; for two lowly lackeys like them, walking in would be plain suicide...
The two lackeys were afraid, but in truth Ma Dangfeng was even more afraid. Now, even at the mere thought of Wei Zhao's name, he could not stop his whole body from trembling. Losing was not what terrified him; what truly terrified him was not even knowing how he had lost. Just how vast was the gulf in strength between them?
Ma Dangfeng did not dare dwell on it, and still less did he dare face Wei Zhao again. Though the一号 residence was nominally still his, even if he were given ten thousand times the courage, he would never dare go demand it from Wei Zhao to his face. He was arrogant, but he was not stupid.
"Take me to the Chongtian Pavilion—I want to see Bro Chong, hurry!" Ma Dangfeng ground out through clenched teeth, on the verge of hysteria. Under the lash of his fury, the unhealed wounds on both legs burst open and bled without cease, and the pain nearly knocked him unconscious—yet he forced himself to hold on. This humiliation was one he would sooner die than swallow. He would not accept it!
The two lackeys did not dare delay. They hoisted Ma Dangfeng up at once and hurried off toward the Chongtian Pavilion, heedless of the gathering dusk. They pounded on the gate that very night and, all in a fluster, carried him into Xu Lingchong's residence.
This place, like the一号 residence of the Qingyun Pavilion, was brightly lit at that moment. Xu Lingchong himself was there, and so too were Meng Zhou, Kang Jingming, Zhong Yongliang, and the rest of his trusted inner circle—for tonight was their customary meeting day.
When they saw the pitiful state Ma Dangfeng was in, Xu Lingchong and the others were struck dumb. That very morning Ma Dangfeng had told them he was setting off for the Southern Island—how had he suddenly wound up like this?
"Bro Chong, I saw Wei Zhao." Ma Dangfeng's opening words sent a shock through everyone. News of Wei Zhao's return was already spreading like wildfire out in the world, but these men had been shut up in here holding their meeting and had known nothing of it until now.
At the sound of that name—one that made their teeth itch with hatred yet left them utterly helpless—the expressions of Xu Lingchong and the others all turned exceedingly subtle. Zhong Yongliang in particular was secretly elated; like Lu Bianren and the others, he had been worrying about Wei Zhao all along, and now at last his heart could rest easy.
"Wei Zhao? When did that thing get back?" Xu Lingchong's expression shifted.
"Just today. I ran into him when I went to the Northern Island Cultivators' Guild to take on a mission, and then... and then..." Ma Dangfeng looked down at the bandages on his legs, soaked through with blood, and said with grief and indignation written across his face, "I've been reduced to this state all because of that bastard Wei Zhao. Bro Chong, you've got to stand up for me!"
"You traded blows with him?" Xu Lingchong frowned and glanced at his knees.