Chapter 1991 — Thank You!

"What? Someone intercepted you?" Yang Huaijun was taken aback. "What happened? Whose people were they? One of the great families, or...? If a family is involved, we'd best have the Mystery Investigation Bureau step in..."

"I don't know yet, but they were at the peak of the late Mystic Rank..." Wei Zhao said.

"Then I'd better notify Captain Feng Tianlong. Where cultivators are concerned, it's their people who should handle it," Yang Huaijun said.

"That works too," Wei Zhao said with a nod.

Xu Shilan, however, was utterly bewildered. She had no idea what "peak of the late Mystic Rank" or "cultivators" actually meant; she had never come into contact with any of it before. She had only caught the terms now and then when Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu spoke of Feng Xiaoxiao — and of Tang Yun. Thinking of that girl, Xu Shilan let out a silent sigh.

He drove Xu Shilan to the Xueshang Hotel. No one intercepted them along the way; it seemed those four cars had been the whole of it. Even so, Wei Zhao did not let down his guard. He parked beneath the hotel and made ready to escort Xu Shilan up to her room himself.

Xu Shilan was his guest, and so Wei Zhao bore the responsibility for her safety. Whether or not those men had been after her, he had to keep her safe. If anything went wrong, he would never be able to live with himself.

"By the way, how are you so skilled?" Xu Shilan had been mired in lingering fear; now that her heart had gradually settled, she finally thought back on it — how had Wei Zhao managed it? He had silently finished off two of the thugs, and of the remaining two, one had been killed by his own accomplice and the other had taken his own life.

"I manage," Wei Zhao said flatly. "When we get up to the room, it would be best not to mention any of this."

"Mm, don't worry. With your classmate there, I won't say anything out of turn," Xu Shilan said with a nod.

Wei Zhao wanted to say that she had best not tell Cheng Yiyi either, but on second thought he said nothing more. She was Xu Shilan's junior apprentice-sister, after all — that was a matter between the two of them.

The two of them walked into the hotel lobby together, and Xu Shilan took out her phone and dialed Cheng Yiyi.

"Senior Sister? You've arrived?" Cheng Yiyi was a little surprised to hear Xu Shilan's voice. "The news just said there was a pileup on the expressway — you didn't get stuck in traffic?"

"We... didn't." Xu Shilan hesitated, and said nothing in detail — Zhang Duopan, Wei Zhao's classmate, was there, after all.

"That's good, then. It scared me to death — I was still shaken afterward. If only you had ridden in our car!" Xu Shilan said.

"Ha, it's nothing." Xu Shilan smiled. "Which room are you in? I'll come up now."

"I'm in room 1108. Just take the elevator up," Cheng Yiyi said.

Wei Zhao and Xu Shilan took the elevator up to the eleventh floor. To Wei Zhao's surprise, Zhang Duopan was not in room 1108 at all; he had taken a room across the hall, 1105. Clearly Cheng Yiyi did not care to have him inside her room — if there was business to discuss, they could go to his 1105. But Zhang Duopan had money and did not begrudge the expense.

"You go in. I'll wait out here," Wei Zhao said, seeing how matters stood, and did not follow her inside.

"All right..." Xu Shilan understood Cheng Yiyi's temper as well. Apart from a few of the closer sisters from the company and her agent, almost no one had ever set foot in her room.

Wei Zhao glanced at Zhang Duopan in the room across the way. The young man was on the phone and paid him no mind. Wei Zhao turned and walked to the emergency stairwell at the end of the corridor, and dialed Feng Sanhuang's number.

"Hello, may I ask whom you're looking for?" Feng Sanhuang asked politely and evenly, studying the unfamiliar number on his screen.

"Feng Sanhuang?" Wei Zhao asked.

"This is he. And you are...?" Feng Sanhuang quietly went on his guard. The other man knew his name, yet he himself still had no idea who the caller was — this had to be someone he did not know. Anyone he knew, he would have had their number saved, and he would not have failed to recognize their voice.

"Xu Shilan's close guard?" Wei Zhao went on.

"Just who are you?" Feng Sanhuang was more astonished still. That he was Xu Shilan's close guard was something no outsider knew — even Xu Shilan herself was unaware of it. So when Wei Zhao named his role outright, he was instantly alarmed.

"It seems my guess was right," Wei Zhao said. "I am Wei Zhao. Earlier, at the airport, a skilled man at the peak of the late Mystic Rank attacked us, and I crippled him. I had meant to bring him back for questioning, but he killed himself — and in a thoroughly revolting manner..."

With that, Wei Zhao recounted what had happened to Feng Sanhuang.

Hearing that it was Wei Zhao, Feng Sanhuang relaxed a little. Wei Zhao had seen through his strength before and knew he was Xu Shilan's close guard, so that was hardly strange. What shocked him was that someone had intercepted Xu Shilan at all — and that in the time since he had last seen him, Wei Zhao seemed to have grown even stronger. He could now casually cripple a man at the peak of the late Mystic Rank?

The last time he had seen him, Wei Zhao had been weaker than himself, not even at the peak of the late Mystic Rank. And now...

"I never would have thought it. Brother Lin, thank you for this!" Feng Sanhuang said with earnest gratitude. "My flight is tonight — I'm flying to Donghai City. Please look after Miss Xu's safety in the meantime. I'm counting on you!"

When Feng Sanhuang learned that Xu Shilan was coming to Donghai City herself, he had booked a ticket at once, but he still ended up one flight behind her: hers was at noon, and his would be in the evening. He had never imagined that trouble would find her in such a short window.

He had been sent by Feng Tianlin to protect Xu Shilan. If anything happened to her, Feng Sanhuang could atone with his life and still not escape the blame — which was why he had gone straight to calling him "Brother Lin." That too was because of Wei Zhao's rise in strength: a man who could cripple someone at the peak of the late Mystic Rank had to be at least at that level himself.

"You're coming too? That's even better — you can look into where these people came from," Wei Zhao said. "As for Xu Shilan's safety, don't worry. With me at her side, nothing will go wrong."

"Understood. Thank you for the trouble!" Feng Sanhuang said respectfully once more.