Chapter 2458 — Running for His Life

At this thought, Kang Zhaolong said, "How about we run off in that direction first, then call Right Panhu and have him come find us there?"

"That works too," Wei Zhao nodded. He too was afraid the great soft-shelled turtle might recover its wits and come looking for trouble.

So the group set off at a brisk pace in the direction Right Panhu had indicated, while Right Panhu took Wei Zhao's phone and dialed White Leader's cell again.

"Teacher White, this is Kang Zhaolong. Could I speak to Right Panhu..." Kang Zhaolong said urgently.

White Leader frowned and handed the phone to Right Panhu. He already knew the resort had refused to send a helicopter, and he knew the reason for it. To himself he cursed Kang Zhaolong for being an incorrigible troublemaker. White Leader had once thought rather well of Right Panhu as a student and had let him sit in on his class, never guessing he was such a fool. It left White Leader both angry and exasperated, and he had no patience left to bandy words with him.

"Brother Kang, don't panic. The resort won't send a helicopter because of our earlier run-in with Su Lengzi, but I've already called the Right Family for one. It should be here in about twenty minutes—just hold on a little longer!" Right Panhu took the phone and explained, then asked with deliberate pointedness, "Is Wei Zhao trying to hurt you? Is he forcing you into something?"

Right Panhu said this to poison White Leader's good opinion of Wei Zhao. That White Leader had taken Wei Zhao as a disciple and was teaching him the lore of pill refinement made Right Panhu burn with envy. With Wei Zhao standing in his way, Right Panhu could not take his place; only by constantly undermining Wei Zhao's image in White Leader's mind could he hope to rise smoothly to that position himself.

Yet White Leader seemed not to care about his words at all—he did not even glance at Right Panhu, much to the latter's disappointment. In truth White Leader had heard every word, but in his view, even if Wei Zhao had threatened Kang Zhaolong, that was only natural. If he did not threaten Kang Zhaolong into hurrying up and arranging a helicopter, was he really supposed to sit down there in the valley and keep him company? What kind of nonsense would that be?

"No, we ran into a water monster..." Kang Zhaolong was saying when he suddenly heard a tremendous splash behind him. He turned instinctively and saw the great soft-shelled turtle come charging out of the lake once more!

"This is bad—run!" Wei Zhao seized Wang Xinyan's hand and bolted forward. Judging by the turtle's furious look, it must have discovered the little bottle was missing.

Now Wei Zhao regretted not having left this place sooner. They had waited here for Right Panhu's helicopter to come pick them up, but after all that waiting, it was because Kang Zhaolong had offended Su Lengzi that the resort refused to send one.

Right Panhu's voice was not loud, but in the still valley his words carried through the phone to Wei Zhao's ears.

"ROAR—don't run! Stand where you are! Give me back my Turtle-Saliva Ice Crystal!" With a thunderous bellow, the great turtle came charging after Kang Zhaolong and the others.

"Brother Right, the water monster's caught up to us—no time to talk! Have the helicopter head north and wait for us there to pick us up!" With that, Kang Zhaolong hurriedly hung up and raced after Wei Zhao and Wang Xinyan at full speed...

"ROAR!" The great turtle had not expected these people to turn tail and run, so it leaped out of the lake and gave chase!

"Wei Zhao, wait—wait for me!" Kang Zhaolong's face was the color of clay, and he was shaking all over with terror. Seeing Wei Zhao and Wang Xinyan sprinting away, he was seized with indescribable panic.

Wei Zhao had his hands full looking after himself—what mood would he be in to bother with Kang Zhaolong?

"ROAR—you're asking for death!" Seeing that not one of the three had stopped, the great turtle was now certain they had stolen its Turtle-Saliva Ice Crystal. It flew into a towering rage and came hurtling in pursuit.

Yet for all its bulk and its long strides, the great turtle was, after all, a creature of the order Testudines, and its crawling speed was nothing remarkable. Its great strides just barely kept pace with Wei Zhao and the others—perhaps even a shade faster!

Sure enough, it was nearly upon Kang Zhaolong. The great turtle lashed out with a claw. It did not strike him squarely, but the wind of the swipe still caught him across the back, and Kang Zhaolong pitched forward and crashed to the ground, sent sprawling every which way.

"Help! Wei Zhao, save me!" Sprawled on the ground, Kang Zhaolong cried out at the top of his lungs, hoping Wei Zhao would lend him a hand.

Even as he cried for help, Kang Zhaolong fought down the pain and scrambled swiftly to his feet. Normally his constitution was quite sound—in university his athletic scores had been excellent—but today he had taken several savage beatings in a row and had eaten nothing since to restore his strength, so most of his energy was spent. Add to that the fall, and his legs had gone clumsy beneath him.

Seeing the great turtle draw closer and closer, its claw about to come down again, Kang Zhaolong suddenly bellowed, "STOP! Don't chase me—that little bottle was thrown away by the man up ahead, it has nothing to do with me, so leave me alone!"

Hearing this shameless talk, the great turtle was almost amused. "I've never seen anyone as slippery as you. You hurt my children before—I told you all that you would die—and now, no matter which of you laid hands on my Turtle-Saliva Ice Crystal, you will all answer for it!"

Seeing he could not talk the great turtle around, and that its claw was about to come down, Kang Zhaolong's will to survive erupted with superhuman force in the face of death. Summoning every ounce of strength he had, he ran madly forward and actually managed to gain a few steps on Wei Zhao, opening up some distance between himself and the great turtle!

Still, he had to thank his own shameless words for making the great turtle hesitate a moment and slow its pace; otherwise it would surely have brought its claw down on him right then.

Even so, Kang Zhaolong dared not let down his guard. He knew his stamina had hit its limit and that he could not keep running much longer, so he could only plead with a woebegone face: "Wei Zhao, save me, please! Just save me and I'll turn a blind eye to whatever is going on between you and Xinyan—how about that? I swear I won't pursue any of it..."

Even at a moment like this, Kang Zhaolong still chose his words artfully. He did not say he would dissolve his engagement to Wang Xinyan—only that he would turn a blind eye to whatever was between Wei Zhao and her, which was plainly leaving himself room to renege later.

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