Chapter 2226 — The Great Fire Lion Strikes

So when it found the Great Fire Lion and the Little Fire Lion on the point of returning to their den, it embroidered Wei Zhao's plight for them, and the Great Fire Lion flew into a fury! For the Thunder Pig told it that others had discovered Wei Zhao secretly aiding the Little Fire Lion, and that this was why he had been repaid with vengeance.

That was more than could be borne! The instant the Great Fire Lion heard that its benefactor had been punished over its own child's affairs, it hurried off to help! Never mind whether the other party still counted as the Tagan family — better to offend them outright than to leave Wei Zhao unrescued!

And so the Great Fire Lion, the anxious Little Fire Lion, and the smug Thunder Pig all raced together to the scene.

While the crowd was still wondering why the Great Fire Lion had come back, the Fifth Protector felt a sudden fierce gust at his back, and then came a tearing, rending agony — with his own eyes he saw that everything below his waist had been ripped apart by the Great Fire Lion's two claws...

That was the last sight he saw in this world. He died without even knowing how he died; he could not understand why the Great Fire Lion had returned, why it had struck so suddenly, and why it had chosen him of all people to be carved up first.

This dramatic turn left everyone present dumbstruck, Tagan Long above all: one moment he had been savoring the delight of watching the Fifth Protector torment Wei Zhao, and the next he was plunged into profound terror.

Concealed strength or not, there was no concealing his way past this Great Fire Lion. From the ruthless, savage ferocity of its strike, Tagan Long knew full well that to step forward was to throw his life away.

He simply could not fathom it: what had the Great Fire Lion come back for? Had it not already gone?

Could it be that, once back home, the more it brooded the angrier it grew, and so it had returned for revenge?

At that thought Tagan Long's face turned the color of clay: "Great Lion, sir, I... I was only here watching the excitement, it has nothing to do with me. I'll be on my way at once. I never laid a hand on your son just now!"

The Great Fire Lion paid him no heed for the moment; together with the Little Fire Lion and the Thunder Pig it hastened to Wei Zhao's side. The Little Fire Lion gazed sorrowfully at the motionless Wei Zhao on the ground, stretched out its tongue, licked his forehead, and shed bitter tears...

The Little Fire Lion believed Wei Zhao dead, and its grief was only natural. To its mind, Wei Zhao had died saving it — which meant that it had killed him.

Fire Lions keep clear accounts of debt and kindness; to see a benefactor die on its own account, how could it be glad?

The Thunder Pig, however, knew Wei Zhao better. It examined him carefully and found that he still drew breath, that the life in him was not yet quite extinguished, and at once explained cheerfully to the Great Fire Lion and the Little Fire Lion: "Chirp chirp—"

The Thunder Pig told them that Wei Zhao possessed a wondrous power to heal himself, and that so long as a breath remained in him, so long as he had not fully died, there was nothing to worry about.

The Great Fire Lion and the Little Fire Lion were astonished at this, but recalling what the Little Fire Lion had said — that Wei Zhao had healed its wounds in a flash — the Great Fire Lion no longer doubted the Thunder Pig's words, and breathed a sigh of relief.

So long as Wei Zhao was safe, all was well; the pressing matter now was to let him heal in peace. Since this Tagan Long had not struck a blow, they would let him off for the time being — a mere Fifth Protector, and surely the Tagan family would not care overmuch.

And so the Great Fire Lion set aside its notion of exacting Tagan Long's life. It was clever: kill him now, and the Tagan family would surely go berserk, bringing trouble not only upon itself but upon Wei Zhao as well.

Seeing how the Great and Little Fire Lions behaved toward Wei Zhao, Tagan Long found it passing strange — why did they seem so intimate with him? Could it be that they had come back expressly to do Wei Zhao a service? The more he thought, the more wrong it seemed: the Little Fire Lion had been hunted down by Wei Zhao — why would it help him?

Yet for all his outward airs of a worthless, lecherous, self-important fop, Tagan Long was no fool. He knew the Fire Lions' nature: grateful for kindness, exact in their debts. If that was so, then Wei Zhao must have helped the Fire Lions at some point, and they had come back to repay him...

Helped... yes! He recalled how, time and again, just when the Little Fire Lion seemed at its last gasp, spent and staggering, it would run to Wei Zhao, trade a blow or two with him, and spring back full of vigor. Wei Zhao must have been working tricks in secret!

And Wei Zhao, suppressing his strength to come up the mountain on this mission — plainly there was something wrong in that. A mid Earth-rank expert, how could he sell his life for a single Spirit-Gathering Pill? Still less would he care about those five Spirit-Gathering Pellets! Then add to that how the Great Fire Lion had later given Wei Zhao a sham beating — everyone else died, and only Wei Zhao lived. If that was not suspicious, what was?

It seemed this Wei Zhao had been a spy from the very start, secretly aiding the Little Fire Lion!

Having worked it out, Tagan Long shot Wei Zhao a venomous look, and while the Great Fire Lion, the Little Fire Lion, and the Thunder Pig all had their attention fixed on Wei Zhao, he prepared to flee — and to drag Sun Jingyan along with him!

But no sooner had Tagan Long reached out to seize Sun Jingyan than the Thunder Pig, alerted, gave a "chirp chirp" cry.

"Roar—" The Great Fire Lion bellowed at Tagan Long and lunged, frightening him and Lazi out of their wits; abandoning all thought of Wei Zhao and Sun Jingyan, the two fled in panic down the mountain!

By then Sun Jingyan had recovered from her fright. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined the Thunder Pig to be so formidable as to summon both Fire Lions — and the Fifth Protector had simply met his doom.

"Thunder Pig, Great Fire Lion, Little Fire Lion — thank you, truly!" Sun Jingyan breathed a sigh of relief. She too could see that though Wei Zhao's injuries were grave, he was not dead; and so long as he lived, all would be well. His healing powers were something she knew well.

"Chirp chirp!" The Thunder Pig nodded smugly, though it made clear that this was merely what it ought to have done.

The two Fire Lions, meanwhile, smiled with a guileless, apologetic air; they did not feel they had helped Wei Zhao at all. In their eyes, it was the Little Fire Lion who had brought harm upon Wei Zhao, drawing Tagan Long's revenge down on him.

"Let's get out of here first, and find somewhere safe for him to heal."

The Thunder Pig wrote in the dirt with its claw. When it had finished, and Sun Jingyan had read it, it wiped the words away entirely, leaving no evidence behind.

The Great Fire Lion gave a gentle flick of its foreclaws and lifted Wei Zhao onto its back. Then the Little Fire Lion led the way in front, the Great Fire Lion bore Wei Zhao in the middle, and Sun Jingyan and the Thunder Pig followed behind, and together they set off toward the central range of the mountains...

The central range was the territory of the Fire Lion clan, and the Little Fire Lion led them straight to their home...

In truth, though it was called the Fire Lion clan, the whole clan numbered scarcely a few; apart from the Great and Little Fire Lions there was a single lioness — a family of three, plainly put. Only the lioness's cultivation was not high, and she had little fighting strength to speak of.

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