Chapter 287, Blindsided
“Well, let’s get to it. You must be here for the Brimming Sacred Pill I wager. But don’t think for a second it’s going to be that easy to take it from me.”
Having dispensed the probing, Huangpu Qingtian snickered as he flashed the storage ring on his finger, “Come, show me what you’re made of!”
Zhuo Fan raised an eyebrow and shrugged, “Ha-ha-ha, you take me for an idiot? Fighting on your turf and on your own terms is retarded!”
“Yes, exactly so!” Huangpu Qingtian nodded as he boasted, “But if not for that, what are you even doing here? And without defeating me, you’ll never get this pill…”
Whoosh~
He didn’t finish as his ring vanished, now in Zhuo Fan’s hand.
Zhuo Fan’s right eye flashed golden as he mocked, “You were saying?”
Everyone watched on in shock.
They shuddered incredulously at what they just witnessed. Even the ever calm and stalwart Huangpu Qingtian had a reaction.
[How did he do that?]
The observer in the shadows also cried out, “What art did this kid use? It’s so weird even I couldn’t sense it!”
Zhuo Fan mocked, “I only came for the Brimming Sacred Pill. With that done, buh-bye!”
Zhuo Fan unfolded his wings and shot into the air before vanishing.
The rest were so out of it they couldn’t even react. They were in complete fear of his mystical art.
When they finally did snap out of it, Huangpu Qingtian’s face twisted. Toyed around like that never happened to him.
“Eldest young master…” You Yushan began.
Huangpu Qingtian dismissed him with a wave and turned to Lin Xuanfeng, “Give me the ring!”
Lin Xuanfeng hopped over with flattery, “He-he-he, eldest young master is amazing, leaving the ring with the pill in my care. Zhuo Fan would be blowing his top when he finds out all he got was nothing, ha-ha-ha…”
Huangpu Qingtian was not in the least bit amused of having duped his enemy. He took the ring as he sounded morose, “I only did it to not lose the pill. He’d never realize I’d be willing to leave the pill to a cripple. But never thought it would show its worth so fast.”
“Zhuo Fan is not easy to deal with!” Clenching his fist, Huangpu Qingtian spat.
Lin Xuanfeng was sullen. Huangpu Qingtian only referred to him as a cripple nowadays. The other two nodded solemnly.
But then Huangpu Qingtian found an eerie breeze pass by him and when he opened his palm, the ring was gone.
Huangpu Qingtian’s heart sank as he raved, “Zhuo Fan!”
“Tone it down. What do you want with me anyway?” Zhuo Fan grinned victoriously as he came from a bush.
The three lackeys jumped behind Huangpu Qingtian in fright. [Didn’t he just fly off? What’s he doing back?]
Huangpu Qingtian glared, “It was you just now!”
“Yep, what was I supposed to do with a fake ring anyway?” Zhuo Fan tossed the two rings around, taunting, “Young master Huangpu, who knew even you are scared of something, unwilling to give me the true location of the pill and tried to cheat me out of it instead. Are you perhaps afraid you were gonna lose?”
Huangpu Qingtian trembled as the rage got the best of him, “I never said the pill was on me, just waving my hand around. It’s your fault for jumping to conclusions.”
“Ha-ha-ha, sophistry!” Zhuo Fan put the two rings on his fingers and snickered, “But I got the pill this time, so I’ll be going. For real this time. Later people!”
Zhuo Fan was gone.
They all watched in shock, coming and going without a sign. Huangpu Qingtian released his soul sense in fear Zhuo Fan might be playing another trick.
Only after he knew the coast was clear, did Huangpu Qingtian ease his breath.
His mood dangerously low, Huangpu Qingtian felt horrendous having suffered so much. He had gone and challenged Zhuo Fan in front of so many people…
And what did that get him? Losing the pill faster than he got it. How could he possibly take it at face value?
You Yushan inched closer to Huangpu Qingtian in worry, “Eldest young master, short term gains aren’t important. Zhuo Fan is too much of a variable with mystical abilities. We need to find a way to deal with his disappearing acts. If we can’t trap him, the day we fight he’ll take us down one by one while we won’t even touch him. We can’t have that!”
The other two nodded. They felt utterly powerless in the face of Zhuo Fan’s shifting around unrestrained.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Huangpu Qingtian’s eyes flashed, “Sir Leng already predicted this. Isn’t our earlier plan all to deal with him?”
“You mean…” You Yushan said, “I see. I’ll gather the scattered people and instruct them harder…”
“No.”
Huangpu Qingtian waved his hand, “Zhuo Fan terrified them. They are obsolete. Just leave them to die on Beast King Mountain. Go after our vassals that are still missing. Have them help instead.”
They were all shocked by Huangpu Qingtian’s cruelty. These people had only been with them for around ten days and were quite hard working. And yet they were cast away like broken toys.
Huangpu Qingtian could tell what was on their minds, “Do you know the difference between a help and a burden?”
They shook their heads.
Huangpu Qingtian mocked, “A help assists me in achieving what I want and a burden works against me. It will one day mean the difference between life and death!”
The three blinked, still unconvinced. They knew of this of course, but weren’t getting where he was going with this.
Huangpu Qingtian snickered, “They would’ve helped me before, in dealing with this spawn. But now, they are terrified of Zhuo Fan and will be an inconvenience to us. Letting them participate regardless will pose a grave danger to us, even death. This is why I threw them away. Or would you rather have Zhuo Fan kill you because of some dead weights?”
They finally understood and looked at him in admiration.
[Huangpu Qingtian is the eldest young master for a reason. Such insight, such cunning, like a true emperor!] The shadow nodded from afar, pleased by Huangpu Qingtian’s character.
Glancing at them, Huangpu Qingtian continued, “You Yushan, weren’t you curious why I let Drifting Flowers Edifices’ group off? Ha-ha-ha, I’ll tell you. Because they are all Zhuo Fan’s burdens. If they die, Zhuo Fan will be uncontrollable, even to us. But now, with Chu Qingcheng helping us without knowing, we will grasp this chance to deal with him for good!”
The three gave their thumbs up.
Even lumped together, Chu Qingcheng’s gang was still as weak as if they were alone. While if Zhuo Fan was left alone, he may one day come to reap their lives.
Using these people to tie Zhuo Fan down was the best bet.
It was such an obvious trap that even Zhuo Fan had no choice but to jump right in.
Huangpu Qingtian’s eyes shined, regaining control of the situation.
Meanwhile, Zhuo Fan was cruising the skies, yet didn’t feel like a winner at all. He already guessed Huangpu Qingtian’s thinking, but he still couldn’t get himself to cast aside all those people.
And that was the least of his worries. The biggest headache was how easily Huangpu Qingtian could do it while he found it impossible.
Just now after he let Yan Fu go, Huangpu Qingtian grew suspicious of Yan Fu. His suspicions had no real reason and yet he made the prompt decision to attack Yan Fu.
If not for Zhuo Fan being an Oscar level actor, Yan Fu would’ve been a smear on the ground.
He was cruel enough to kill any doubts than let any mistake slip by. He always watched Zhuo Fan even as he attacked, but stopped short of killing to not give Zhuo Fan more reasons to mock him.
Other than that, Yan Fu would’ve been totally dead!
In this way one had so many burdens on his shoulders, while the other had nothing tying him down. Zhuo Fan found himself at a disadvantage in this psychological warfare, having to accept everything he was attacked with.
[Even though I say the demonic path is cruel and pitiless, going to battle with so many burdens will be hard!]
[I need to get the keys and exits to let them out as soon as possible!]
Zhuo Fan gnashed his teeth as he shot for Chu Qingcheng like lightning…
