Chapter 4729 — Winning Hearts
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
It had taken Xu Lingchong only five days to drag Kang Jingming to the canyon exit, whereas Huo Yudie took a full fifteen. Trial participants and spirit beasts alike were targets she had to avoid at all costs, so she had detoured a great deal along the way, and time and again a single hiding spell would last her half a day. At that pace, she simply could not go fast.
Ten days had already passed before this, and now the return journey had consumed another fifteen. So by the time Huo Yudie carried Wei Zhao out of the Myriad-Year Canyon, the one-month deadline was already alarmingly close.
By this point, the vast majority of trial participants should have returned to the Western Island. Those who remained were either Yuanying consummation experts who could afford to linger a few more days, or those who had missed their window and, like Scarface and his crew, were trapped here with no way out. There was no third category.
Dust-stained and weathered, Huo Yudie appeared at the canyon exit with Wei Zhao on her back. Ahead lay the oasis, and Scarface's group had still not dispersed—indeed, the ranks of his underlings had actually swelled!
It turned out that at this moment, besides Scarface's original band, quite a few trial participants who could not get out had, for want of any better option, chosen to throw in their lot with him and become members of his crew.
Amid the crowd, Scarface addressed one of his Yuanying consummation experts, his tone full of feeling: "Han Chen, you've now reached the final bottleneck of Yuanying consummation. If you stay here any longer, you'll follow in my footsteps and be trapped in this godforsaken place forever! So take this chance and leave while you can. You've followed me this long and done no small amount of work for me—if not for merit, then at least for hard labor. Take the goods with you as well; consider it a parting gift from your big brother!"
"Thank you, Chief!" That Yuanying consummation expert, Han Chen, was moved to tears on the spot.
"Mm, hear me well, all of you: so long as you're a brother who follows me, I will never let you come to harm. Han Chen is your example!" Scarface seized the moment to win over the crowd.
Sure enough, the crowd's spirits surged at once, especially among the newly joined underlings, who had been downcast and utterly despondent; seeing this, they rallied one and all.
It had to be said, this Scarface truly knew how to win hearts. With Han Chen held up before them as an example, the people would only become more devoted to him. After all, so long as they followed him with peace of mind, even if they could not leave for the time being, once they reached the bottleneck of Yuanying consummation they could leave just like Han Chen.
Hope alone gives drive, and for these people this was, without question, the best refuge available at present.
So everyone was willing to throw in with him, and Scarface's method never failed. Every trial, it replenished his ranks with fresh blood, swelling his crew ever larger and making him the veritable local tyrant of this place.
Watching this from afar, Huo Yudie saw through Scarface's intent at a glance. The reason he sent away the brothers who had reached the Yuanying consummation bottleneck was, beyond using them to win hearts, most likely another consideration altogether: Scarface did not want to see a second Xuan Sheng expert.
In this place he alone was a Xuan Sheng expert, and by virtue of his strength he was the undisputed local emperor. But if a second Xuan Sheng expert appeared, his seat would no longer be secure. As the saying goes, one mountain cannot harbor two tigers—the two of them might well end up in a fight to the death.
Sending the man away not only removed a threat but also earned him a reputation for righteousness. It had to be said, this Scarface was a rare clever man indeed. (To be continued.)