Chapter 2444 — A Miscalculation

"What... what do you mean? What do you mean, the experts of our hidden Right family?" Right Panhu stared at Wei Zhao's half-smiling gaze as though his tail had been trodden on, and shot back.

"Nothing. You know exactly what I mean." Wei Zhao said this flatly, then walked toward the last row.

"Brother Right, what riddles are you and Wei Zhao trading? What's this about?" Kang Zhaolong was no cultivator, so naturally he had no way of knowing the true strength of the two robbers Wei Zhao had fought, much less guess at their connection to the hidden Right family. So at this moment he asked, thoroughly baffled.

"Brother Kang, we got it all wrong!" Right Panhu said with a bitter face. "Those two just now—they were the ones our hidden Right family sent. Those robbers from before... they were real robbers..."

"Ga!" Hearing Right Panhu's words, Kang Zhaolong's eyes went wide. What? The earlier robbers had been genuine robbers, and the ones they had just encountered were the hidden Right family's men? Kang Zhaolong felt the world spin around him and nearly fainted dead away; wave after wave of belated terror set him trembling all over.

In other words, he had just taken a spin through the gates of hell? Those men were not from the hidden Right family at all—why would they play along with him? Thank heavens he had not kept pressing the matter with force at the end; otherwise he might well have been beaten to death by now!

"Brother Kang, I'm truly sorry. Who could have known things would line up so unluckily?" Right Panhu looked at the still-shaken Kang Zhaolong and said with a bitter smile.

"It's not your fault..." Hearing Right Panhu's explanation, Kang Zhaolong's resentment toward him dissolved like mist. This really was not Right Panhu's fault—who could have foreseen such rotten luck as running into a band of genuine robbers?

Yet amid his lingering fright, Kang Zhaolong suddenly thought of something even more terrifying. He asked hastily: "Brother Right, didn't you say the men your hidden Right family sent were Heavenly Rank experts? How did Wei Zhao take care of them just like that..."

"They were Heavenly Rank experts, all right!" Right Panhu sighed. Somewhat helplessly, he said: "One early-stage Heavenly Rank expert, and one at the peak of late-stage Earthly Rank!"

These two were not direct-line members of the Right family, only retained retainers and disciples—much like Yu Dake, who had attended the hidden-family summit—but they were still part of the Right family's strength. For Wei Zhao to have battered them into a state of unknown injury or death left Right Panhu deeply displeased.

In the future, even if he did not become the head of the hidden Right family, he would be one of its elders. When the hidden Right family was strong, he was naturally glad; when the hidden Right family had its vitality gravely sapped by Wei Zhao, he could hardly be glad.

"What? An early-stage Heavenly Rank and a peak late-stage Earthly Rank expert, and neither was a match for Wei Zhao?" Kang Zhaolong's eyes went wide. Heavens—what realm of expert must this Wei Zhao be?

"By my own estimate, Wei Zhao's strength is only at the peak of mid-stage Earthly Rank. That he could win was nothing more than taking advantage of surprise and the refinement of his martial techniques..." Right Panhu had evidently observed carefully. "Still, there's no need to worry. In Instructor White's class, Wei Zhao would never dare strike us a killing blow. His cultivation strength is nothing to fear."

Kang Zhaolong nodded and set his heart at ease. Right Panhu had a point—judging by the way Wei Zhao had killed without batting an eye earlier, those two hidden Right family experts were dead or crippled, and Wei Zhao had shown them not a shred of mercy.

Yet turning to look at himself and Right Panhu, although Wei Zhao had worn a sour expression, he had not resorted to force or used a cultivator's strength to crush them outright. That, at least, let Kang Zhaolong breathe easy.

"This Wei Zhao really is powerful..." Kang Zhaolong sighed in admiration.

"Indeed..." Right Panhu felt he had miscalculated somewhat. What was this about Wei Zhao having reservations in the face of Heavenly Rank experts? Reservations, his foot—he had simply struck! This time, the family's losses were enormous; they had gone out to steal a chicken and ended up losing the rice they used to lure it.

The short robber cultivated and regulated his breath at the roadside for a long while before he finally caught it again. Though Wei Zhao's palm strike had not been enough to take his life, his injuries were far from light. He hurried to the ditch by the road to check on the tall robber—and what he saw chilled his heart.

The tall robber's breastbone was shattered, the whole chest caved inward, his eyes bulging, blood froth around his mouth—plainly, he was already dead. The sight made the short robber's alarm at Wei Zhao's strength spike once more.

Was Wei Zhao truly only an expert at the peak of mid-stage Earthly Rank? That palm strike of his had not looked like it. To wound him and to kill the tall robber—a peak late-stage Earthly Rank expert—with a single palm, what sort of peak mid-stage Earthly Rank expert could do that?

True, there had been an element of surprise and cunning about it, but without the strength to back it up, no amount of surprise or stealth could have accomplished anything.

At this thought, the short robber, his face dark, carried the tall robber's corpse into the back seat of the heavy truck they had come in and said to the driver up front: "Drive. Back to the hidden Right family, and fast!"

"Yes..." The driver was merely an ordinary disciple of the Right family, Right Fifteen, with only mid-stage Earthly Rank strength. He had witnessed the whole scene just now and was badly frightened—had he gotten out of the truck too, he would by now be a corpse as well...

"Phew..." The short robber let out a long breath. Looking at the tall robber's corpse beside him, he felt a chill of dread creep into his bones. Had Wei Zhao struck once more, he likely would have been finished; another strike after that, and he would certainly have been dead.

Originally, he had been full of confidence in this mission, because it was so simple: snatch a tablet, play along while Kang Zhaolong put on his airs, then reveal a bit of early-stage Heavenly Rank strength, and it was done. Return and collect the reward!

But now it looked like anything but simple—it was practically a death sentence!

The vehicle carrying Wei Zhao had long since driven far away. After returning to his seat, Wei Zhao sat with eyes closed, cultivating, swiftly restoring his stamina and true qi from within the jade pendant's space. Han Jingyi seemed to realize he was cultivating and did not disturb him, fiddling with the tablet on her own.

Wang Xinyan, seeing Wei Zhao's condition, hesitated a moment, then took off her coat and shifted a little closer to him. She did not know why Wei Zhao would need to cultivate after merely fighting two robbers, but on reflection she roughly guessed: those two robbers were no good sort—experts, perhaps—and they had drained a great deal of Wei Zhao's stamina.

Although Kang Zhaolong sat not far ahead, Wang Xinyan, after a period of inner struggle, still decided to help Wei Zhao, quickening the circulation of his cultivation method so that he could recover his stamina faster. RQ

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