Chapter 1373 — Wu Chengtian Stands Guard: Thinking of This, the Two of Them Tried to Slip Away, but Shen Yushu Called Them Back: "Hey, Wait — Weren't You Going to Play Us?"

"Er..." Zhen Yingjun staggered and very nearly went sprawling. Play with you, my foot! he thought. True, I'm neither man nor woman at the moment, but at least I'm still alive; if I played with you, I'd be dead for certain! So he hastily pasted on an apologetic grin: "Ha, Sister Shu, I was only joking. You'd far better let your shield-brother play with you instead. I'm off... see you..."

"That's more like it — now beat it!" Shen Yushu was thoroughly pleased by what Zhen Yingjun said, and let him off for the time being.

Zhen Dazhou and Zhen Yingjun, as though granted a general pardon, turned and bolted, leaving only Zhao Qibing sitting blankly in his wheelchair.

"Hey, Zhao Qibing, see that? See how awesome Prophecy Yushu is — the arrogant always get their punishment. Look, Jin Wudi is dead, isn't he?" Shen Yushu turned toward Zhao Qibing and asked.

"Sorry, we're merely passing through — in fact, we were only out buying soy sauce..." Li Cihua, who was pushing Zhao Qibing's wheelchair, recovered first. He bared his teeth in a grin and declared with an air of perfect innocence, "We only stopped to watch the show. We'll be on our way now..."

"Right — we're just here for the soy sauce!" Zhao Qibing chimed in quickly, though inwardly he was fit to be tied. If he'd known, he never would have come. What a load of rubbish. Jin Wudi? Invincible, my foot — he couldn't even...

Zhao Qibing left too. And across Er Goudan's face, until now utterly impassive, there suddenly flushed an unhealthy crimson.

"Pfft—" A mouthful of fresh blood sprayed out. Er Goudan clutched his chest. It had been years — years — since he last felt anything like this. Ever since the first time such agony had come upon him, he had gone on drinking from that spring of spirit water; but now there was no spirit spring water to be had, and Er Goudan had nothing left but to endure it.

"Chief, what's wrong?!" Wu Chengtian had been on the phone arranging for someone to dispose of Jin Wudi's body — no great difficulty for a young master of a clan like his — but the instant he hung up, he saw Er Goudan spitting blood.

"Xiao Er, what's wrong?" Shen Yushu jumped as well. "Are you hurt?"

"Zhou Jiaming, are you all right? Shall I call Uncle Qing and have him take you to the hospital?" Gu Mengyao asked with concern.

"No need." Er Goudan waved a hand. He knew his own condition better than anyone, and he knew a hospital would be of no use to him.

Wu Chengtian hurried to steady him. "Chief, let me help you inside..."

Er Goudan nodded. This Wu Chengtian, he decided, was not a bad sort — and he rather felt inclined to take him on as a junior follower.

Inside the villa, Er Goudan sank down onto the sofa. His face was ghastly; the whole man looked as though he were past saving.

"Chief, what should we do now? Our Wu family's stores may not compare with yours, Chief, but we do have some good medicines on hand. Shall I have some sent over?" Wu Chengtian asked, somewhat anxiously.

"No need... thank you all the same." Er Goudan studied Wu Chengtian for a moment, weighed his words, and said: "I'm injured and will need to rest for a while. But in the meantime Chief Wei Zhao has not yet returned — could you stay inside the villa and protect Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu?"

Er Goudan truly had no other way out. There was not an ounce of strength left in his body, and the gu poison within him was stirring restlessly, as though it might erupt and devour him at any moment. He had no choice but to hand the task of protecting Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu over to Wu Chengtian.

It was admittedly a risk — Er Goudan had not yet measured the true character of this Wu Chengtian — but there was no other course. Come evening he would have Uncle Qing move in as well; with Uncle Qing there to keep him in check, Wu Chengtian would hardly be able to play any tricks.

"Done!" Wu Chengtian thumped his chest without a heartbeat's hesitation. "Rest easy and heal, Chief — leave this to me. I will protect Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu. So long as they are safe, I am here; if anything at all befalls them, I will come and present you my head!"

Wu Chengtian was a braggart, that much was true — but what he said now came straight from the heart.

He had no choice left. As the future heir of the Wu family, this was the first time he had stepped forward to declare publicly that he stood on Wei Zhao's side. And after today's events, Wu Chengtian was now firmly established as one of Wei Zhao's underlings. If anything happened to Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu, that would spell Wei Zhao's ruin as well — and his Wu family would go down with him.

So Wu Chengtian had no option but to guard Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu with all his heart and all his duty.

Everything that took place here fell into the eyes of Shadow Thirteen. No sooner was Jin Wudi dead than Shadow Thirteen once again dialed Elder Li's number.

"Well? Has the young miss been taken?" Elder Li snatched up the phone and demanded urgently — with none of the composure an elder of an ancient sect ought to possess. Small wonder: the matter concerned the daughter of the young lady he doted on most. How could he keep his mind steady?

"Elder Li. Jin Wudi is dead." Those were Shadow Thirteen's very first words.

"De-dead?" Elder Li started. "How did he die? Did some expert intervene?"

"No. It was one of Wei Zhao's underlings — a man they call Hero Goudan or some such. One punch, and Jin Wudi was dead..." Shadow Thirteen was shaken too. What manner of man was this, to one-shot Jin Wudi, an expert at the very peak of the early Earth Rank?

"One punch, and Jin Wudi dead? What sort of power does he have?" Elder Li's jaw dropped in astonishment. Wei Zhao's underling was far, far too ruthless!

"Yes, one punch! To be precise, both hands, both fists. As for his power — I could not see it..." At this point Shadow Thirteen could not help frowning. "I could see Jin Wudi's level. I could see Pi Zhishan's level. But this Hero Goudan's — I could not see it at all..."

"What! You couldn't tell? How old is he?" Elder Li was more shocked still. The men of the Shadow Group, though no great hands at attack, were first-rate at gathering intelligence — above all gifted with a special ability to discern a cultivator's strength. And if a man's strength could not be read by the Shadow Group, then either he knew how to conceal his power, or he was already an expert at the peak of the late Heaven Rank, well on the way back to the plain and the true... But how old was Wei Zhao's underling? How could he possibly be a master at the peak of the late Heaven Rank?

"Not old — twenty, give or take!" said Shadow Thirteen. "I suspect he has no measurable power at all. He may well be a rankless master."

"A rankless master?" Elder Li froze. "Could a rankless master kill Jin Wudi — a man at the peak of the early Earth Rank who had perfected the Golden Bell Shield?"

"That is precisely what puzzles me. But after killing Jin Wudi he seemed to be wounded — he spat blood... then he went inside the villa. What happened after that, I do not know." said Shadow Thirteen.

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