Chapter 1179 — Now I've Let It Slip "I saw it." Wei Zhao smiled. "So how is that lion doing now?"

"I don't know! Let's go have a look together — see whether it fought to the death or surrendered!" Stirred by Wei Zhao's words, Shen Yushu was suddenly desperate to know the outcome.

Gu Mengyao had not been interested at first, but hearing Shen Yushu and Wei Zhao carry on like that, she grew a little curious too, and rose to follow them out the villa's front door.

Yet the moment they stepped outside, they were treated to a sight to behold! General Weiwu was leaning back in the shade of a tree, enjoying the cool, while the lion crouched respectfully and reverently at his side, a scrap of torn cardboard clutched in its forepaws, fanning him.

"Damn! General Weiwu's taken on a lackey!" Shen Yushu said, eyes wide with astonishment.

"Heh..." Wei Zhao was hardly surprised by the outcome. It was only a lion; for the General Weiwu of today, putting it in its place was easy — a pleasure, even.

"Brother Arrow, you've got two underlings now — when we're home, you can go out without a care!" Shen Yushu said happily. "And now the house has another guard!"

Gu Mengyao could not help but smile as well. A lion fanning a dog — the sort of scene that could only ever appear in a cartoon, and here it was, real and plain before her eyes. She found it almost unbelievable.

Then again, ever since Wei Zhao had moved into the villa, far too many unbelievable things had happened under that roof.

"This lion is a bit weak, and its submission isn't necessarily sincere — it's only afraid of the terrifying aura on General Weiwu." Wei Zhao glanced at the lion not far off and spoke mildly.

"Oh?" Shen Yushu was slightly taken aback. The lion's submission was fake? Meaning it wasn't the loyal sort? Shen Yushu was no fool, and reality bore this out: some people, pressed by circumstance and cowed by power, have no choice but to yield, while in truth they are nursing their grievances and biding their time — and the moment a chance comes to turn on you or take revenge, they will not hesitate for an instant. Hearing Wei Zhao's words, Shen Yushu looked into the lion's eyes and thought she caught something insincere flickering there, so she too found his reasoning sound. She sighed. "Then what do we do? Can it be trusted to guard the courtyard faithfully?"

"Heh. As long as it's not a match for General Weiwu, it'll guard this place diligently enough." Wei Zhao saw it clearly. Sincere or subjugated, it made no difference — so long as the strength was there, the result was the same.

"Oh, then let's keep it for now!" Shen Yushu nodded, satisfied. "Hey, you — lion! You'd better guard the courtyard well, you hear me? Don't let strangers in just any time, or I'll have General Weiwu deal with you! Understand?"

"Awooo..." The lion seemed to be no fool; it appeared to understand Shen Yushu's words, and gave a cry.

Xie Yufeng had broken through to mid-stage Profound Rank, and he was in excellent spirits. After going home, he thought it over and over, and decided he had to call Qiu Lingshan and salvage his image from today! Otherwise, if Qiu Lingshan remembered him with a bruised and swollen face, he would look utterly pathetic.

Qiu Lingshan had called Wei Zhao and been turned down, which put her in a foul mood. She came out of the inner room with a sour look on her face.

"Well? Lingshan, did Wei Zhao agree?" Chen Yutian asked anxiously — he seemed even more impatient than she was.

"No..." Qiu Lingshan shook her head and sighed. "I asked him to think it over. He hasn't given me an answer..."

"Ah. If Wei Zhao were along on this operation, our chances would be much better!" Chen Yutian sighed as well. "This mission is extremely dangerous. I don't want anything to go wrong."

"Of course I want that too!" Qiu Lingshan said. "Looks like I'll have to keep begging him."

Even as they spoke, Qiu Lingshan's phone rang again. Her heart leapt — she thought it was Wei Zhao calling back, having changed his mind! But when she took out the phone and looked, it was an unfamiliar number.

"Hello, this is Qiu Lingshan." She answered in a businesslike tone and gave her name.

"Lingshan, it's Yufeng!" Xie Yufeng said, a little excitedly, thinking: her voice really is lovely, like music from heaven — even one plain sentence carries such charm.

"Yufeng? What do you want with me?" Qiu Lingshan frowned, her expression darkening. She had not expected this Yufeng to call her so soon! The man truly had no shame — he had just lost face in front of her today, and he wasn't even embarrassed; he still had the nerve to call?

"Heh, it's like this — I was looking around the seaside today, you see? The scenery and the surroundings are lovely here. I heard you're off tomorrow, so I wanted to invite you to come out to the beach, have some fun, relax a bit!" Xie Yufeng said with a smile. "Lingshan, your work is stressful too. Coming to the seaside would let you unwind, enjoy nature a little. We could have a picnic — how about it?"

Qiu Lingshan was seething inside. This Xie Yufeng had done his homework, hadn't he? He even knew she had tomorrow off?

"Are your injuries better? Weren't you going to the hospital today? What, discharged already?" Qiu Lingshan said flatly. Her meaning was plain: you got beaten that badly, and instead of resting quietly in the hospital for treatment, what are you running around for?

"Lingshan, don't misunderstand — I didn't actually get hurt fighting someone today. I had myself beaten on purpose!" Xie Yufeng had already worked out what to say; to save face, he had found himself a perfect excuse.

"Oh? You deliberately had someone beat you?" Qiu Lingshan was stunned. Were there such fools in the world? Deliberately seeking a beating? Had his skin started itching?

"Yes!" Xie Yufeng said gravely. "Lingshan, this is in fact a method of leveling up that I invented myself! I call this way of advancing 'the cadence method'! What is cadence? It means there is suppression and there is release. Whenever I'm about to break through and hit a bottleneck, I use this cadence method of advancement! First I suppress myself — that is, I have people beat me, and I don't fight back, I simply endure! Then, when I can endure no more, I erupt all at once, and I break through and level up!"

"So you broke through?" Qiu Lingshan asked mildly.

"Yes, I broke through!" Xie Yufeng said, not without pride. "I'm a mid-stage Profound Rank expert now!"

"Weren't you already mid-stage Profound Rank before?" Qiu Lingshan frowned.

Fastest updates — for a pop-up-free reading experience, please continue here.