Chapter 868 — A Fine Plan

"That makes sense! Then I understand. Don't worry, Young Master Bing," said the Medicine King with a nod. "I'll give him a condition of the eyes—make his vision blurrier and blurrier until finally he can't see a thing! Of course, it will take about a year..."

"Good, then it's settled! A year from now, once the Zhen family has raked in enough money, they'll hand it over to us! Wahahahaha!" Zhao Qibing laughed excitedly.

Just as the Medicine King had predicted, Zhen Dazhou came back with Zhen Yingjun in tow. They had found nothing wrong at the hospital, so they had no choice but to return to Zhao Qibing and be fleeced again.

"Young Master Bing, I've finally scraped the money together. When can we begin the treatment?" Zhen Dazhou said with an ingratiating smile. By now he was certain: without the Medicine King, his son's illness could not be cured.

"Actually, we could have started a while ago. You're an old customer of ours—no need to pay upfront!" Zhao Qibing said, not without sarcasm.

"Ha, I just figured I'd get the money together first, that's all." Zhen Dazhou, unsure whether Zhao Qibing had guessed the purpose of his earlier departure, felt suddenly awkward. "Shall we begin now?"

The Medicine King nodded: "Very well, let us begin. Go with Li Cihua and handle the transfer formalities; I will treat your son now."

Zhen Dazhou went off with Li Cihua to complete the transfer, while the Medicine King put on a great show of beginning to channel his power to treat Zhen Yingjun. In his left hand he held the silver needles; with his right he pressed firmly on Zhen Yingjun's pulse gate, heating each thread of true qi until Zhen Yingjun felt his whole body grow hot.

In an instant the silver needles covered Zhen Yingjun from head to toe, turning him into a hedgehog—but Zhen Yingjun trusted the Medicine King's skill and was not afraid.

In truth, only one of the needles was inserted in the right place. The rest were mere show, not even planted in the acupoints at all, and one more besides was there to destroy his eyesight... But Zhen Yingjun did not know this and took it all for some miraculous technique!

The Medicine King heated his own true qi, and so he too grew so hot that sweat poured down his back and face. To onlookers it looked as though he had overexerted himself and worn himself out.

Watching the Medicine King drip with sweat, Zhen Dazhou sighed to himself. It seemed this thirty million was not so easy to earn after all—how much true qi must it be costing him!

"So hot, I'm dying of heat..." Zhen Yingjun was scalded unbearably by the Medicine King; his whole body had turned red as if he had been boiled.

"Yingjun, you must hold on!" Zhen Dazhou hastily cheered his son on. "The healing process is naturally painful!"

"I know, I'll endure it... Like the Ninja Turtles, brave and mighty..." Zhen Yingjun began muttering words of encouragement to himself...

Zhen Yingjun was tormented half to death for over an hour, and that hour was hard on the Medicine King too—he had been scalded badly himself. But for the sake of thirty million, he had to put on a show, had to make Zhen Dazhou feel the money was well spent, so that the man would go out and spread the word of what a marvel Zhao the Medicine King was!

"It's responding, it's responding!" A while later, Zhen Yingjun suddenly discovered that his lower body was responding, and he cried out joyfully, "Dad, it's responding!"

"Oh? That's wonderful!" Zhen Dazhou went over to look, and he too was thrilled at once. "The Medicine King truly brings the dying back to life! Even the hospital doctors said it couldn't be cured, and the Medicine King cures it with a touch of his hand!"

"Of course! You should know who the Medicine King is!" Zhao Qibing said smugly, while inwardly cursing Zhen Dazhou for a fool—this was the Medicine King's own handiwork, so who else could cure it?

"Phew..." The Medicine King finally began to wind down his power. He wiped the sweat from his brow and said, "There, it's cured! But this old man is spent and must regulate his breathing for a while!"

"The Medicine King has worked hard!" Seeing how exhausted the Medicine King was, Zhen Dazhou felt in his heart that the thirty million had been well worth it. The Medicine King had treated Zhen Yingjun many times before, but never had he been so worn out. It seemed his son's illness truly was stubborn.

The Medicine King waved a hand and said nothing, merely sitting there with eyes closed to restore his spirit, while Zhen Yingjun leapt up in excitement: "Dad, it really works, it's really cured!"

"That's good, that's good!" Zhen Dazhou breathed a sigh of relief. "Many thanks to Young Master Bing and the Medicine King!"

"Think nothing of it. I must congratulate your son on restoring his manly vigor!" Zhao Qibing cackled. "Though that thirty million of yours was money wasted!"

"What do you mean by that?" Zhen Dazhou was taken aback; he had not expected Zhao Qibing to say such a thing.

"If Gu Mengyao and that Shen Yushu hadn't stuck their noses in, if Wei Zhao hadn't stepped in for the two of them, would Zhen Yingjun be in such a state? Would you have suffered such a loss?" Zhao Qibing set about goading Zhen Dazhou into making an enemy of Wei Zhao.

"You're right! This time I won't let him off lightly! But I'll be counting on your help, Young Master Bing—help me dig up whatever you can on the Gu Group..." Zhen Dazhou figured that in a city where he knew no one, he would have to rely on the locals to get anything done. Zou Tiandi had clearly been keeping his distance these past few days; Zhen Dazhou had more or less heard about the grudge between Zou Tiandi and Wei Zhao, and secretly laughed at him for being a coward. He simply stopped troubling him and turned to cooperate with Li Cihua instead.

"Hmm... that's no problem." Zhao Qibing nodded with considerable generosity. "We're old acquaintances, after all—a small favor like this I can manage. But how do you plan to deal with Wei Zhao? If it's convenient, tell me and I'll offer a few suggestions? Wei Zhao and I are old rivals too!"

It was precisely because Zhen Dazhou had also heard about the grudge between Zhao Qibing and Wei Zhao that he now dared to lay out his plan against Wei Zhao without the slightest concealment. The enemy of my enemy is my friend—he trusted that Zhao Qibing would not betray him.

"It's like this—I plan to..." Zhen Dazhou laid out his plan for dealing with Wei Zhao for Zhao Qibing to hear...

"Hmm, that's a fine plan—why didn't I think of it before!" The moment Zhao Qibing heard Zhen Dazhou's scheme, he slapped the table in admiration. First, use a Mystic-rank mid-stage expert to abduct Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu, then lure Wei Zhao to some deserted place and open fire on him with a hail of bullets. If the shooting doesn't kill him, it'll leave him gravely wounded, and then send that Mystic-rank mid-stage expert to finish Wei Zhao off. Brilliant!"

Zhao Qibing had always thought of sending a more formidable expert to settle things with Wei Zhao one-on-one, but he had overlooked one important fact: there is strength in numbers. Could a pack of musketeers fail to wipe out a single Wei Zhao? RO