Chapter 1618 — Something Is Wrong with the Snake Venom

Chen Xi looked rather flustered: "Brother Wei Zhao, it hurt a little just now, so I let out a cry... I didn't mean to..." "Hmm? It's nothing..." Wei Zhao blinked in mild surprise, not quite sure what Chen Xi was talking about, and waved a hand. "The venom in your body should be gone now. I'll apply some wound medicine, and your injury will heal up fine!"

Fortunately, losing levels and dropping in power was nothing new to Wei Zhao — he had been through it more than once or twice. So though his complexion looked grim, he did not fly off the handle; after Chen Xi's question, Wei Zhao had already recovered his composure. He himself was a cultivator, which meant he could lose power — but Zhong Yongliang, Gao Xiaofu, and Chen Xi were obviously not cultivators, so naturally they would not suffer such a problem. Wei Zhao was not worried about that.

Once the wound medicine was applied, the swelling on Chen Xi's injury subsided — but Wei Zhao's own power was draining away at a frightening rate!

"Thank you, Brother Wei Zhao!" Feeling the cool relief spreading over her wound, Chen Xi knew she would be fine. She was aware of Wei Zhao's medical skill — he had even cured her mother of a terminal illness, so a bit of snake venom was surely nothing more than a trivial matter!

But how could she have possibly known that, in order to suck the snake venom out for her, Wei Zhao had lost every ounce of his power?

On Zhong Yongliang's side, he too had finished sucking the venom out for Gao Xiaofu. Seeing that Wei Zhao had wound medicine, he wanted to ask for some but was too embarrassed to speak up, afraid Wei Zhao would refuse. After all, Wei Zhao certainly understood full well the matter of the drug slipped into his drink the night before.

Wei Zhao caught Zhong Yongliang's pleading glance, smiled faintly, and tossed the wound medicine over to him. Although Wei Zhao was displeased with Zhong Yongliang deep down, the man's public toast of apology had been performed before everyone's eyes, so their classmates knew nothing of the animosity between them.

If Wei Zhao appeared stingy at this moment, it would not matter to him personally — but he was traveling alongside Gu Mengyao, Shen Yushu, and Kang Xiaobo, and he did not want to embarrass them. So over something so trivial, Wei Zhao could not be bothered to hold a grudge.

Zhong Yongliang was somewhat surprised by Wei Zhao's gesture, but after a moment's thought he grasped the crux of the matter, gave a silent nod, and went off to apply medicine to Gao Xiaofu.

Only after everything here was settled did Foreman Zhu come hustling up, panting for breath, a doctor in a white coat trailing behind him — God knew where he had dug him up. Wei Zhao curled his lip. At that pace, by the time he returned, Chen Xi would have long since fainted dead away.

An Earth Rank expert who ran slower than an ordinary person — who would believe that?

But Wei Zhao did not expose him. Right now, Wei Zhao's only thought was to find a quiet place as quickly as possible to restore his power. In his present state, let alone Foreman Zhu — even a common cultivator would be beyond his reach!

For Wei Zhao's power had already fallen below the Profound Rank and dropped all the way down to the Yellow Rank!

Wei Zhao gave Foreman Zhu a searching glance — the man was putting on a show of being completely unruffled — then turned to Chen Xi and said: "Little Xi, go home and rest up well. I'll be going now!"

"All right. Goodbye, Brother Wei Zhao!" Though reluctant to part, Chen Xi had no good reason to keep Wei Zhao.

"Goodbye." Wei Zhao had no intention of coming face to face with Foreman Zhu; before the man could arrive, he took his leave of Chen Xi.

Foreman Zhu, hmm? Just you wait. You got me good this time — we'll settle our accounts slowly. Once the Clan Assembly is over, I'll have all the time in the world to play with you!

Wei Zhao turned and walked over to Gu Mengyao, Shen Yushu, and Kang Xiaobo. Over there, Gao Xiaofu had been bitten by a snake and Zhong Yongliang's lips had swollen into the shape of sausages. Naturally, no one had any desire to continue climbing the mountain, and they were busy discussing the prospect of heading back.

Though Zhong Yongliang and Gao Xiaofu appeared fine for the time being, both still intended to go to the hospital for a checkup first, wary of any residual venom left in their bodies that might cause trouble down the road.

So the whole group made their way down the mountain. After exchanging a few words with Kang Xiaobo, Wei Zhao took Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu, got into his car, and drove back to Songshan City!

"Arrow Bro, aren't we going to play somewhere else first?" Shen Yushu was somewhat reluctant to let it end. It was rare enough that they got to come out and have fun, and now, because of the snake venom incident, their class gathering was being cut short in such a hurry.

"Little Shu, Wei Zhao seems a bit unwell — stop fussing for now." The young lady was more perceptive and had noticed the displeasure on Wei Zhao's face. She asked with concern: "Wei Zhao, what's wrong? Did you run into some trouble?"

"There's something wrong with that snake venom. My power is draining away rapidly — right now I'm only at the early stages of the Yellow Rank, and it's still dropping." Wei Zhao did not hide anything, telling Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu the plain truth about his condition.

With these two by his side, Wei Zhao saw no need for concealment. There was no way they would betray him.

"What!" Gu Mengyao gasped in alarm. "Your power is gone again? What do we do? Can it be recovered? You're not going to have to leave again this time, are you?"

"It should be recoverable. No need to leave..." Hearing Gu Mengyao's words, Wei Zhao was amused despite himself, and a trace of a smile broke through his dark expression. "But this poison is truly sinister. And who the other party is, or which faction they belong to — that's still not entirely clear."

"Well, that's a relief!" Gu Mengyao let out a breath. "That Chen Xi... you know her? Was she the one trying to harm you?"

It was hardly surprising that Gu Mengyao would suspect Chen Xi — the day's events had been far too coincidental. From every angle, it looked as though Chen Xi had been in cahoots to harm Wei Zhao!

"Yes, I know her, but it wasn't her." Wei Zhao was fairly certain Chen Xi was innocent. The one with the problem was Foreman Zhu, and Chen Xi was nothing more than a pitiful victim herself. So Wei Zhao told Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu the full story of how he had come to know Chen Xi...

"Oh, so that's how you met. She really is a pitiful girl!" Upon hearing Chen Xi's background, even Gu Mengyao could not help but feel sympathy. "And who is that Ying Ziyu?"

In the course of telling Chen Xi's story, Wei Zhao had mentioned a few things about Ying Ziyu, so Gu Mengyao asked about her as well.

"Ying Ziyu..." Wei Zhao could not help but sigh at the mention of that girl. "You probably know roughly what I used to do. My line of work was something close to that of a mercenary — otherwise Uncle Chu would never have hired me to protect you..."

"Right, I know — you're an assassin moonlighting as a bodyguard!" Shen Yushu nodded in confirmation.

"Heh, close enough!" Wei Zhao nodded. "Ying Ziyu's older brother was one of my subordinates when I was working as a mercenary. He was a comrade of mine — we fought side by side..."

Wei Zhao told Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu the story about the pangolin. In the past, these matters had been Wei Zhao's secrets — he would not have mentioned them to anyone lightly!

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