"Exactly! You two went way too far!" Chen Wuji joined in the condemnation.
"Sorry, sorry!" An Wuzhi bobbed his head and bowed, apologizing repeatedly.
Having failed to get the divine fire, he had cooled down considerably. He knew he had been bewitched by greed and lost his head earlier, and had indeed gone too far. How could he act so recklessly when lives were at stake? If the Chief had not been there, they might have fallen out on the spot.
Zhu Xiangxin also kept bowing and apologizing. "Sorry, sorry. I'm truly ashamed, and I have no excuse. But let me give the three of you my word today: once I've absorbed this divine fire, if you ever need pills refined or anything else, I won't refuse anything within my power."
Only then did Chu Jingtang and the other two realize something.
Hao Ji pointed at the divine fire in Zhu Xiangxin's hand and asked Shi Chun, "Chief, you're giving him this divine fire?"
"I was just about to tell you." Shi Chun swept his gaze over their faces, then pointed at Chen Wuji. "He needs somewhere to absorb it. Go with him and stand guard, keep a lookout and so on, so you can get away quickly if anything goes wrong."
Chen Wuji nodded slightly and had no objection, though he could not help exchanging looks with Chu Jingtang and the others. In their eyes, at this point all the divine fire should go to Tong Mingshan to improve his chances of taking first place. If Tong Mingshan really won, those three treasures alone would be worth enough for them to lie back and live comfortably for the rest of their lives.
But the Chief had clearly intended to avoid the Four Cauldron Sect earlier, and they did not