Chapter 136: Tussle
Bang!
Zhang Ze Xing formed hand seals, controlling the Lightning Pagoda to shrink bit by bit until it became the size of something that could be held in one hand.
As for Bai Qing inside, Jiang Ce guessed that he did not shrink along with it.
Because a lot of black water had sprayed out from the bottom of the pagoda, just like leeches being squeezed until their juices burst.
This made Jiang Ce glance sideways.
“Holy shit, your pagoda is on its period!”
Zhang Ze Xing’s face, which was already somewhat pale from excessive consumption, suddenly turned green again, but he clearly did not want to argue too much with Jiang Ce.
After controlling the purple lightning to scatter the last drop of black blood saturated with Bai Qing’s malice, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Throughout the entire process, Xiao Lin just watched without making a sound to disturb.
Having some connection with the Old Celestial Master, he naturally recognized Zhang Ze Xing, but he did not seem surprised that Zhang Ze Xing was here.
Jiang Ce keenly caught this point.
Since even Xiao Lin was not surprised, it was enough to indicate that Wei Lao was most likely aware.
This made Jiang Ce feel a bit frustrated; he had thought he was scheming everything behind the scenes, fully prepared, and had fooled everyone, but who knew that in the eyes of higher-level big shots, all his actions were fully observed.
The current question was how much Wei Lao actually knew.
Did he know everything, or only part of it.
If he only knew part of it, the Gatekeeper could still stay, but if he knew everything, was it time to run now.
But with Xiao Lin and Zhang Ze Xing here, how should he run if he wanted to?
Seeing Zhang Ze Xing finish, Xiao Lin was just about to commercially flatter him a couple of sentences when he heard Jiang Ce suddenly speak up.
“Is the Old Celestial Master doing well?”
Xiao Lin was stunned, and Zhang Ze Xing was also stunned.
Then they heard Jiang Ce continue asking.
“I heard that the old man is preparing to have a third child?”
Xiao Lin’s eyes gradually widened, and Zhang Ze Xing’s eyes gradually narrowed.
“The old man invited me to crash his wedding night, very urgent, he just texted me—why don’t you two go see Wei Lao, and I’ll head out first?”
Boom!
A bolt of lightning exploded in front of Jiang Ce; he could even feel the scorching heat and the Daoist Qi so dense it was enough to suffocate him.
“If you spout any more nonsense, I’ll scatter your soul!”
Although Xiao Lin did not know what had happened, he could tell that Zhang Ze Xing was very angry.
He immediately stood in front of Jiang Ce, but for some reason, he felt secretly delighted inside.
After all, seeing Zhang Ze Xing’s emotions fluctuate was as rare in the Celestial Master’s Mansion as the Old Celestial Master having a third child.
Jiang Ce had just genuinely felt the threat of death, so he was also anxious now; relying on Xiao Lin’s protection, he stared straight at Zhang Ze Xing and stubbornly said word by word: “Your dad doesn’t love you anymore.”
Xiao Lin tightly pursed his lips, corners turned down, eyes glaring fixedly, his whole body trembling from holding back.
Zhang Ze Xing took a deep breath, silently reciting in his heart: Father said not to get angry, not to touch him.
“Daddy’s boy is no longer daddy’s baby!”
Jiang Ce leisurely added another sentence.
“Hoo” Zhang Ze Xing took a deep breath, his eyes filled with danger, almost unable to hold back from making a move.
But he still restrained himself.
“I won’t meet Wei Men Shen, I have to go back.”
He directly turned around, no longer looking at Jiang Ce, as if afraid that hearing one more sentence would break his defense.
“Xiao Lin, my father asked me to say hello to you on his behalf.”
“Thank you for the Old Celestial Master’s concern.” Seeing the tense atmosphere dissipate, Xiao Lin also breathed a sigh of relief and responded with a smile.
He had no ill feelings toward the Celestial Master’s Mansion; in fact, he quite liked it, but due to their positions, if Zhang Ze Xing really moved against Jiang Ce, he had to protect Jiang Ce and thus make a move.
So Zhang Ze Xing leaving like this was exactly what he wanted.
Once Zhang Ze Xing had left, Xiao Lin looked at Jiang Ce strangely.
“What’s wrong with you, kid? He saved you and you say such ugly words?”
“You’ll understand when you reach my age.”
Jiang Ce sighed: “Youngster.”
Of course, he was not full and had nothing better to do to provoke Zhang Ze Xing; he just wanted Zhang Ze Xing and Xiao Lin to fight, so he could escape in the chaos—having hidden things from Wei Lao to make small moves, while the latter had turned the tables on him.
The worst part was that Wei Lao had disappeared without a trace, and Jiang Ce always felt he had probably gone to intercept Yan Yi and the others, with no guarantee that something unexpected wouldn’t happen.
So before confirming exactly how much Wei Lao knew and his attitude, Jiang Ce always felt that the Gatekeeper was no longer safe.
Before figuring out what exactly had happened, he felt he must find a place no one knew about and directly activate full-spectrum defense.
But what he did not expect was that Zhang Ze Xing was so composed; he had practically pointed at his nose and cursed, yet he did not get angry, just turned and left—really too infuriating.
So now he was very melancholic, not even willing to spare a smile for Xiao Lin.
Xiao Lin fiercely smacked the back of Jiang Ce’s head.
“Youngster? Giving you face, huh?” Xiao Lin laughed and cursed.
“Giving me face?” Jiang Ce asked suspiciously: “You smuggling human organs?”
“.”
One plan failing, Jiang Ce came up with another: “Do you want to check other places? Seems like the losses were pretty big this time—what if no one’s cleaning up and ordinary people discover traces?”
“It’s fine; when I arrived, the other battlefields had already ended, and the Gluttonous Ghost’s people—except for some that slipped through the net and escaped—had all been completely executed.”
Xiao Lin was very confident: “As for traces from cultivators’ battles, non-cultivators or those with affinity can’t detect them; to ordinary people, they’re at most some incomprehensible natural phenomena.”
Jiang Ce said nothing, just pointed at the collapsed building and the surrounding ruins and asked:
“Are you treating ordinary people like idiots? You can fool me, but don’t fool yourself.”
Xiao Lin fell somewhat silent.
The next moment, the back of Jiang Ce’s head was smacked again.
“I said it’s fine, so it’s fine—what the hell are you asking so much for?”
Xiao Lin had a straight face: “Let’s go, head back.”
“Xuan Qing is seriously injured.” Jiang Ce seemed to suddenly remember something: “I just hid him; let’s go check his condition now—why don’t you go ahead?”
“Where? I’ll go with you.” Xiao Lin was also full of anxiety.
Damn.
“Oh, I suddenly remembered I saved him and sent him back to the branch—look at my memory (sticks out tongue).”
“?”
Now there was no way at all to shake off Xiao Lin; Jiang Ce sighed.
Since that was the case, he could only take it one step at a time.
With Xiao Lin by his side, Jiang Ce did not need to walk back at all; in almost an instant, he was brought back to the branch by Xiao Lin.
The branch was very chaotic at this time, with some excited and thrilled, some injured and wryly smiling, and others seriously wounded and unconscious.
Everyone’s moods were different, but they were all equally exhilarated for this victory.
Jiang Ce first inquired about the messenger squad members’ situations; the others were all fine, except Xuan Qing who was still seriously injured and unconscious.
They had also learned about Xuan Qing’s condition by now and were very worried.
After checking, Xiao Lin also said there was nothing he could do but wait for Wei Lao to return.
Jiang Ce tightly gripped Xuan Qing’s hand, his emotions somewhat complex.
He comforted himself that it was fine not being able to leave; not seeing Xuan Qing wake up still felt suffocating.
After an unknown amount of time, until Xuan Qing’s breathing became very weak, he finally heard someone shout: “Wei Lao is back!”
People can’t help but go mad; I want rivers of blood, aaaaaaah!!
