Stranger Danger

Chapter 442: Zhao Lan’s Worry

Yao Zhao and Xu Rulin teleported out of the platform at the same time.

Yang Zhao was pressing one hand to his chest wound, but he gave to Xu Rulin and the surrounding crowd a bow just like a primp and proper gentleman before returning to Yang Shixiu’s side.

On the other hand, Xu Rulin only took two steps before he suddenly collapsed on the ground and spilled his blood everywhere.

While everyone was panicking, three people appeared in front of Xu Rulin at the same time. The first person was Hong Jianglong, the second was Lei Xiaodan, and the third was a fat, ugly man who was almost as broad as he was tall.

When he landed on the floor, it felt like the entire mountain was shaking a little.

No one dared to laugh in his face, however. He was Zhou Hengshan, the commander-in-chief of the Hengshan Army.

Hong Jianglong glanced at the duo before crouching on one knee and placing a finger on Xu Rulin’s wrist.

“How is it?” Lei Xiaodan asked.

He’s hurt very badly. His mind in particular is tethering on the brink of collapse,” Hong Jianglong said seriously. “He needs immediate medical treatment.”

“Xu Rulin is a soldier. Leave him to me,” Zhou Hengshan declared in a tone that wouldn’t accept any other answer.

“Sure.” Hong Jianglong didn’t stop him. Every second counted considering Xu Rulin’s condition.

Zhou Hengshan ordered his men to take Xu Rulin away. The surrounding murmurs only subsided after Xu Rulin was out of sight and out of mind.

“I knew it. Can Xu Rulin even recover in time to take part in the next round?” Luo Zhan wondered out loud.

“Who knows?” Ye Qing shrugged. He was happy though. If Xu Rulin really was too injured to participate in the next round, that was one less competitor standing in his way of becoming the champion. “Let’s focus on the remaining matches, shall we?”

Two matches were still in progress, and one of them was the match between Zhao Lan and Zhao Bu’er. After so much time had passed, their battle was nearing its end. From the start until the end, Zhao Lan was able to stay a step ahead of Zhao Bu’er using the sheer resilience and recovery speed of the Eight Directions Art of Begging. However, that didn’t mean that Zhao Bu’er didn’t put up a good fight. With the Ghost Razor, he was able to launch multiple counterattacks that could’ve downed Zhao Lan if not for his cultivation art. At the very end, he even shaved his own head using the Ghost Razor and allowed himself to be possessed by hundreds of ghosts in hopes of making the ultimate comeback.

Unfortunately for Zhao Bu’er, it still wasn’t enough. That was what ultimately cemented his defeat.

Zhuo Henshui and Wen Xiaonuan’s battle was far more one-sided, but it was very different from what most people had imagined. Almost everyone thought that Wen Xiaonuan would easily defeat Zhuo Henshui with her aura of depression and despair, but in reality, it was the other way around.

Just yesterday, the head of the Little Fist Sect and his men had attacked Zhuo Henshui to take revenge for his disciple. While Zhuo Henshui astounded everyone by overcoming not just numbers, but an entire cultivation level by grievously wounding Lu Youwang, a late-stage Spirit Master, there was no way she could’ve done it without a terrible price. They all expected her to lose going into the match.

They were wrong, however. From the start until the end, Zhuo Henshui was kicking Wen Xiaonuan’s ass like nobody’s business. For whatever reason, Wen Xiaonuan’s debilitating aura was unable to affect Zhuo Henshui one bit, and it was the same for her bizarre, almost suicidal martial art.

In fact, Zhuo Henshuid dealt with everything Wen Xiaonuan threw at her with one move: a simple punch. Her techniques were neither profound nor impressive, but each punch seemed powerful enough to shatter a mountain or split a river.

When Wen Xiaonuan attacked her from range, she crushed all of the projectiles with her bare fists.

When Wen Xiaonuan tried to get close, Zhuo Henshui sent her flying with a single punch.

No matter what Wen Xiaonuan tried to do, she needed only one punch to dismantle it all.

Naturally, it was only a matter of time before Wen Xiaonuan lost.

A teatime later, the curtains fell on both matches. As expected, the victors were Zhao Lan and Zhuo Henshui.

After the quarter finals was over, the participants were once again given three days of rest. The four participants in the losers group would be duking it out with each other first to decide two victors and two losers, and the two losers would duke it out to decide the seventh and eighth place. After that, the two victors would fight against the two losers who faltered in the winner’s bracket to decide the sixth and fifth place.

Everyone left the mountain after Hong Jianglong declared the end of the quarter finals.

……

“You defeated a formidable opponent today, Brother Zhao. Do you want to go grab a drink and celebrate a little?”

“Do you even need to ask? It’s my treat tonight! How does Beauty Pageant Palace sound?”

“What are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

At the foot of Flying Dragon Mountain, Zhao Lan was walking back to the city while surrounded by a bunch of people.

Zhao Lan shook his head. “Thank you very much for the offer, but I need to head back and take care of my younger brother. So please, count me out.”

“Come on, Brother Zhao! Your younger brother’s only banged up a little, not dying! Surely he doesn’t need his older brother to take care of him!” Someone snorted.

However, Zhao Lan’s expression abruptly turned cold, and he grabbed the man’s neck before he could react. “What did you say?”

“Urgh… khh…” The guy’s face turned purple in just a matter of seconds. No matter how hard he struggled, he was unable to break free from Zhao Lan’s grasp.

Zhao Lan’s grip kept tightening as his eyes burned with killing intent. “Who are you to make fun of my younger brother? Who the hell do you think you are?”

“Calm down, Brother Zhao!”

“Deng Zhen was just making a joke, man! He didn’t mean anything by it!”

“Yeah, Brother Zhao! We’re all brothers here. Don’t let a harmless joke put a rift between us!”

The rest of the group hurriedly tried to talk Zhao Lan down.

For a time, Zhao Lan simply glared at Deng Zhen with bloodshot eyes, his acquaintances’ advice seemingly falling on deaf ears. Just when everyone thought that Deng Zhen was going to be strangled to death, Zhao Lan slowly let go of the man and swept his gaze across the group. “This is your first and only warning. Never, ever, make fun of my younger brother, get it? Otherwise, don’t blame me for what happens next.”

With that said, Zhao Lan walked away just like that.

Zhao Lan didn’t return to the city after leaving his group. Instead, he twisted and turned until he arrived at a shabby-looking temple.

“You… You’re back, boss?”

Inside the temple, a bunch of beggars automatically opened up a path for Zhao Lan while watching him with fear in their eyes.

“How is my brother?” Zhao Lan asked.

“He… he’s doing okay. We did everything you asked us to,” a beggar answered stutteringly.

“Good.” Zhao Lan nodded and walked toward the only side room in the temple. He never even looked at the beggars.

As soon as he stepped through the entrance, the thick smell of medicine entered his nostrils. Lying on a bed was a pale-faced, frail-looking Zhao Lu.

“Big brother—cough! Cough…”

Zhao Lu struggled to sit up as soon as he saw Zhao Lan. The older brother hurriedly ran forward to support him before gently setting him down on the headboard. He then asked concernedly, “How do you feel, brother?”

“I’m fine. Dough! I’m doing much better.” Zhao Lu shot him a weak smile before asking, “How is your match today, brother?”

Zhao Lan answered simply, “I won.”

Zhao Lu cheered, “I knew you’d be able to win, big brother! You’ve always been so—cough! Cough!”

Zhao Lu patted his back gently while injecting wisps of internal energy into his body. He chided Zhao Lu, “You know better than to let your emotions run out of control while you’re this hurt.”

Zhao Lu chuckled. “Well, I can’t help but be happy for you!”

Zhao Lu’s weakness ignited an ember of hatred in Zhao Lan’s eyes. “It’s all because of that Ye Qing. If it wasn’t for him, you wouldn’t be hurt like this.”

“This was supposed to be our chance to be renowned throughout the jianghu, a moment to be remembered for eternity for the two of us. And yet, Ye Qing had ruined it all.”

“It’s all his fault!”

Zhao Lu hurriedly advised, “Calm down, big brother. Ye Qing is a member of the Pacification Bureau and a strong foe. Please don’t get reckless because of me.”

The hard lines on Zhao Lan’s face softened as he consoled Zhao Lu, “Relax. I know what to do.”

Zhao Lu let out a sigh of relief before deflating a bit. “Sigh. It’s my fault for being so weak. I didn’t want to worry you like this.”

Zhao Lan patted his head and said gently, “What are you talking about? You’re my brother. If I don’t worry about you, who will?”

“Anyway, you should catch some rest. The sooner you heal, the better it is for everyone. Leave the rest to me!”

“Got it.” Zhao Lu nodded. “You should catch some rest too, big brother. You just came back from outside.”

“Yeah, I know.” Zhao Lan tucked Zhao Lu back into bed and straightened out his blanket for him. Then, he quietly left the side room.

After he returned to the main hall, he glanced at the beggars and ordered in a cold, unfeeling tone, “I’m heading out for a bit. Take care of my brother. I will take your heads if he loses a single hair on his body, understand?”

“Y-Yes boss! We swear we’ll take good care of your brother!” Every beggar stammered with terror.

After he exited the temple, Zhao Lan suddenly let out a small cough, and blood trickled down a corner of his lips. He looked disturbed.

Although he had dominated the fight against Zhao Bu’er from the start until the end, the warrior’s final counterattack still hurt him a little.

Of course, that wasn’t the point. He could heal from such an injury easily. The point was that he was unable to win against Zhao Bu’er, a middle-stage Spirit Purifier without suffering some injuries, while Ye Qing had defeated Jian Wusheng, a named warrior on the Human Champions Ranking with relatively few wounds.

Although he hadn’t watched Ye Qing and Jian Wusheng’s battle, he heard enough to piece together more or less everything that had happened in that fight. The long story short was that Ye Qing had defeated Jian Wusheng fair and square.

Zhao Lan was very confident in his abilities, but he wasn’t that confident that he thought he could defeat Jian Wusheng. However, Ye Qing had done the impossible. It surprised him as much as it disgusted him. Jealousy and anger threatened to rip him apart from the inside.

Ye Qing had hurt his younger brother so badly that his martial foundation was damaged. Without a great boon, his future as a warrior was more or less ruined. How could he not resent Ye Qing for it? Loath him for it?

He must have revenge for his younger brother. That was why he had purposely injured Ye Qing’s friend.

Because of this, Ye Qing too wanted to kill him. Compromise was impossible. The only way they would be satisfied was if the other party died.

Before, he didn’t think much of Ye Qing. He was sure he could cripple the bastard fair and square and take revenge for his younger brother. Not even the Pacification Bureau would dare to interfere with the outcome of a match of the Hidden Dragon Meet. But now, things had changed. Ye Qing had surpassed his expectations and defeated Jian Wusheng. He was a real threat he couldn’t afford to underestimate even a little.

If he lost, and Ye Qing killed him, there was a not insignificant chance the bastard might kill Zhao Lu as well. After all, it was common sense to wipe out one’s enemies when they could. The mere thought of his brother dying caused waves of worry and anger in his head.

It was at this moment a young man appeared at the distance. “Brother Zhao! You’re here? Man, it sure is difficult to find you.”

“What’s your business with me, Ding Xuan?” Zhao Lan glared at Ding Xuan unhappily. Right now, he felt like killing someone to vent his frustrations.

As if he couldn’t feel Zhao Lan’s unfriendly gaze, Ding Xuan said excitedly, “I have good news, Brother Zhao! There might be a way to save your brother!”

“What? What did you say?” Zhao Lan appeared in front of Ding Xuan and grabbed his shoulders tightly.