Chapter 2563 — Danger and Opportunity

"Understood." Zhu the Foreman was in truth a ruthless man himself—he simply could not muster that ruthlessness before Wei Zhao. Back then he had poisoned Chen Xi's mother, meaning to kill her, which showed plainly enough what a vicious, merciless creature he was.

Wei Zhao pressed on toward the expressway leading to Lin City. "Lin City" was merely an abbreviation; its full name was Shanlin City, which really meant the city beside Song Mountain. It was a later-developed county-level city, so everyone had grown used to calling it Lin City for short.

Once they were clear of the city center, the traffic thinned, and Wei Zhao's speed shot up at once. Soon he was on the ring expressway, heading in the direction of Lin City.

Now that the identity of the hidden Zhuang brothers was confirmed, Wei Zhao was no longer anxious. If the two of them were in such a hurry to get home, they certainly would not harm Chen Xi along the way—all Wei Zhao had to do was catch up before they reached their destination.

On he drove, and at last, on the expressway, Wei Zhao spotted the Mercedes-Benz Viano van with the plate 4321. It seemed Zhu the Foreman's judgment had been spot on. Wei Zhao slowed down and eased in behind the vehicle.

Wei Zhao had no intention of forcing the car ahead to stop. Zhuang Niaoqiang and Zhuang Niaopao were both Earth-rank experts; even if the van flipped, they would come to no harm—but Chen Xi certainly would not. So for the time being, Wei Zhao would do nothing reckless.

The trouble was that although Zhuang Niaoqiang and Zhuang Niaopao were somewhat arrogant, they were no fools. Traffic on the expressway was sparse to begin with, and Wei Zhao's car had been tailing their Mercedes van the whole way, so before long Zhuang Niaoqiang, who was driving, sensed something was off.

Glancing at the Grand Cherokee in the rearview mirror, Zhuang Niaoqiang said, "Niaopao, that Grand Cherokee behind us seems to have been following us the whole way..."

"Oh?" Zhuang Niaopao turned and looked out the rear window. Sure enough, there was a Grand Cherokee not far behind. He was not worried, though. "Can't be. This is an expressway—cars behind us are normal. Maybe they just happen to be going the same speed?"

"Happen to be going exactly the same speed?" Zhuang Niaoqiang shook his head. "Let me try speeding up."

Up to now Zhuang Niaoqiang had not been speeding, merely keeping to a normal pace. After all, neither of them was a professional driver; they did not drive often, and their skills were nothing special.

Zhuang Niaoqiang picked up speed—and Wei Zhao, who had never had any real intention of hiding, did the same. He had chased them all the way here; once they left the expressway, he meant to take Zhuang Niaoqiang and Zhuang Niaopao down. So when Zhuang Niaoqiang accelerated, Wei Zhao accelerated too.

"He really is following us!" Zhuang Niaopao's expression turned ugly. "Where did that car come from? It wasn't there before—did it only show up once we were on the expressway?"

"Not necessarily. There was heavy traffic earlier, so we didn't notice. The expressway is empty, so it stood out at once," Zhuang Niaoqiang said. "What will be will be; what can't be avoided can't be dodged. Let's pull over and have a look."

Zhuang Niaopao nodded in agreement. If the people in the car behind meant them harm, there was no avoiding it—so stopping the car and settling it early was the proper course. So long as the pursuer was no great master, the two of them together should have no trouble.

The key fear was that the car behind might suddenly surge forward and force them to stop. Zhuang Niaoqiang's driving was mediocre at best; if the van went out of control and flipped, they would be fine, but Chen Xi would be in danger—and they had no intention of destroying this furnace vessel that came once in a thousand years.

So Zhuang Niaoqiang began to slow down, and the van soon pulled onto the expressway's emergency shoulder. Wei Zhao stopped his car as well.

Zhuang Niaoqiang and Zhuang Niaopao wanted to settle this quickly, so they held nothing back. They got out of the car radiating menace and strode straight toward Wei Zhao's Grand Cherokee.

Wei Zhao watched the two brothers come on with such ferocity and sneered inwardly. He opened his door and got out as well.

"Gah?!" The moment Zhuang Niaoqiang and Zhuang Niaopao saw who stepped out of the Grand Cherokee, they halted in their tracks as one, horror written across their faces, and very nearly turned to flee. They had no idea how they had offended Wei Zhao, but if Wei Zhao had chased them down, nothing good could come of it.

Fleeing, however, was only a fond notion. Before they had taken a step, they turned back again. With Wei Zhao's fearsome reputation, could they possibly outrun him? Wei Zhao was a master who could kill even a Heaven-rank expert in a single move—dealing with the two of them, ordinary experts at the early peak of the Earth rank, would be child's play.

"Master Ling... hello there... long time no see, ha ha..." Zhuang Niaoqiang wiped the cold sweat from his brow and babbled incoherently.

"Yes, Master Ling, what a coincidence—I never expected to run into you here..." Zhuang Niaopao forced out two dry laughs as well, though his smile was dreadful to behold.

"A coincidence, is it? I was following you on purpose," Wei Zhao said flatly.

"F-following..." Zhuang Niaoqiang's expression changed instantly, and he could not help but shiver. He asked cautiously, "Master Ling, might I ask... how my brother and I have offended you..."

"That girl in your car is my sworn sister," Wei Zhao said, gesturing toward the Mercedes van.

"What? Sworn sister?" Zhuang Niaopao's vision went black, and he nearly fainted. He had speculated about Chen Xi's background and backers, but after all his guessing he had concluded only that she might have been cultivated by some hidden family—surely nothing more formidable than that. That was why they had resolved to pull off this job.

Once Grandpa Zhuang advanced to the Heaven rank, the other hidden families would not be able to do anything about it—just as the hidden Zhao family had swallowed up the hidden Yu family's Qi Gathering Pills. But now they were hearing that Chen Xi was actually Wei Zhao's sworn sister? That... that was terrifying!

"Yes. My sworn sister. You understand," Wei Zhao said with a smile.

"Mother of God!" This time it was Zhuang Niaopao's turn to nearly keel over. A cold dread washed over him. Thank heavens Wei Zhao had caught up with them midway! If they had actually taken Chen Xi home and Grandpa had used her, would Wei Zhao not have wiped out the hidden Zhuang family?

Never mind Grandpa, a master who had only just advanced to the Heaven rank—even the long-renowned Heaven-rank master of the hidden You family had been crippled by Wei Zhao, and Wei Zhao had needed only one move to do it. Clearly he had had no intent to kill; otherwise, one more strike would have finished the man beyond doubt...

"Master Ling, I'm sorry—we didn't know Chen Xi was your sister. Had we known, we would never have dared, not for all the courage heaven could give us!" Zhuang Niaoqiang drew a deep breath and decided to tell the whole truth without concealment. After all, lying to Wei Zhao at this point was essentially courting death—Wei Zhao was no fool, so how could he be easily deceived?

And in Zhuang Niaoqiang's eyes, danger and opportunity went hand in hand!

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