Chapter 2158 — The Pi Family Sends Word

"You flatter me—I only did what I had no choice but to do!" Old Master Zhao laughed heartily, then said, "Well then, everyone, let us dine first. Once we've eaten our fill, we'll have the strength to deal with that Wei Zhao soon enough!" Under Old Master Zhao's lead, the assembled company raised their cups one after another. Whether or not they took part in the campaign against Wei Zhao, they were all losers at this Hidden World Summit of Clans, and so they could hardly oppose Old Master Zhao's plan—with the exception, of course, of the hidden Pi family!

What Old Master Pi was turning over in his mind now was not merely how to withhold support from Old Master Zhao's plan, but how to make that plan fail.

"Zhishan, Zhihai is injured and still in his room. Go back and look in on him—there's nothing more for you to do here!" Old Master Pi turned and gave Pi Zhifeng a wink. He trusted that a man of Pi Zhifeng's cunning would grasp his meaning.

"Yes, Grandfather, I'll go at once!" Pi Zhifeng nodded. When he saw Old Master Pi wink, he was momentarily taken aback, but then, recalling what had passed before, he understood what Old Master Pi wanted him to do—to carry word to Wei Zhao!

The hidden Pi family had never found an opportunity to curry favor with Wei Zhao; let this serve as a beginning. Both Old Master Pi and Pi Zhitao understood that this could only soften relations with Wei Zhao a little—if they wanted Wei Zhao to step forward and save a life, such a bargaining chip was plainly too small.

None of those present saw anything amiss in Old Master Pi's conduct. After all, Pi Zhitao was injured, and there was nothing improper about sending Pi Zhifeng back to look in on him. When Pi Zhifeng left, no one paid him any mind.

Once out of the dining hall, Pi Zhifeng walked briskly toward the hidden Pi family's temporary quarters. Who knew whether the hidden Zhao family's disciples had eyes watching him? He could not go straight to the hidden Han family's lodging to carry word—that would expose him.

Following his original plan, Pi Zhifeng returned to their quarters and checked on Pi Zhitao, who was still unconscious. Plainly that inexplicable true qi within his body had driven him to a deviation of his cultivation! External-school cultivators did not cultivate true qi to begin with, so their resistance to it was naturally weak; even a trace of true qi had left him insensible.

Of course, this was also Pi Zhitao's ill fortune—the Wind-Thunder Violet-Lightning Beast happened to possess such a power. Otherwise, other cultivators could project true qi in tangible form only if they were Heaven Rank experts, and even then not all Heaven Rank experts were capable of it.

Watching Pi Zhitao's condition, Pi Zhifeng's resolve to reconcile with Wei Zhao only grew firmer! Pi Zhitao was the hope of the Pi family's generation and the right arm Pi Zhifeng leaned upon. He hoped that after he himself assumed the headship of the hidden Pi family, he and Pi Zhitao could join forces to make the hidden Pi family strong and great!

After a moment's pondering, Pi Zhifeng realized he had no way to contact Wei Zhao—but he did have the contact for Old Master Han of the hidden Han family. The heads of every hidden clan kept records of one another's contact details.

Pi Zhifeng found Han Tianba's number and dialed it without hesitation. Han Tianba's voice came through from the other end: "Hello, who is this?"

"Old Master Han, this is Pi Zhifeng of the hidden Pi family. I have an important matter to report to Mr. Wei Zhao!" Pi Zhifeng said.

Here in these temporary quarters, he was not afraid of anyone overhearing their conversation; the soundproofing was first-rate, beyond even a Heaven Rank expert's perception. After all, this was a guest's privacy, and the hidden Zhao family handled such matters well, leaving no room for reproach.

Otherwise, with so many Heaven Rank elders about, if all of them used their perception to probe into other families' affairs, the Hidden World Summit of Clans might as well not be held at all.

"Pi Zhifeng?" Han Tianba was slightly startled, wondering what the man could want calling at such a time. But since it concerned Wei Zhao, Han Tianba could not decide on his own. He turned to Wei Zhao and asked, "Mr. Lin, Pi Zhifeng of the hidden Pi family is on the line. He says he has a matter to report to you!"

"For me?" Wei Zhao hesitated briefly, some guess forming in his mind. Could it be about Pi Zhitao? But how would Pi Zhifeng know that he was capable of healing Pi Zhitao? Be that as it may, Wei Zhao took the phone and said, "Pi Zhifeng?"

"Mr. Wei Zhao, it's me. I have an important matter to tell you!" Pi Zhifeng said hurriedly.

"What matter?" Wei Zhao asked, betraying nothing.

"Mr. Lin, just now in the banquet hall, the hidden Yu family, the hidden Zhao family, the hidden You family, the hidden Tang family, the Qianshan Sect, and the Golden Bell Sect reached an agreement—they mean to intercept and ambush you after you leave!" As he spoke, Pi Zhifeng repeated verbatim everything Old Master Zhao and the others had said in the banquet hall to Wei Zhao.

Just as he had thought! Wei Zhao's heart tightened. It seemed Old Master Zhao and the rest truly did not intend to let him off. But why was Pi Zhifeng calling now to carry word? What was his purpose—to curry favor?

"Pi Zhifeng, let's not beat around the bush—I'm not a man who cares for roundabout talk. Tell me plainly what you mean by this call," Wei Zhao said.

"Mr. Lin, to be frank, my grandfather did not agree to Old Master Zhao's joint proposal. The grudge between our hidden Pi family and you is truly not deep. As we said before, it all arose from the mundane Xiao family; there is no deep hatred between us. The few who died died because of the mundane Xiao family, and they were not direct-line descendants of our hidden Pi family. So there is no need for our hidden Pi family to make an enemy of you, Mr. Lin!" Pi Zhifeng said.

"Is that all—nothing more?" Wei Zhao asked.

"There is... there is more!" There were some things Pi Zhifeng had not meant to say this time. After all, cultivating ties with Wei Zhao had to be done step by step; he could not pour out all his thoughts and wishes at once. But since Wei Zhao had asked, he could hardly conceal them, and so he said, "Actually, it's this: Zhihai and I saw that Han Xiaohu had taken you as his leader and that the hidden Han family followed and gained greatly by it. We were consumed with envy, and the two of us wish to take you as our leader as well, so that you may watch over our hidden Pi family in the future!"

Wei Zhao found Pi Zhifeng's words amusing. The man was no fool: he clearly wanted Wei Zhao to step forward and heal Pi Zhitao, yet could not bring himself to say so directly, and instead concocted this pretext of wanting to acknowledge a leader. That way, if Wei Zhao agreed, Pi Zhitao would become his subordinate—and how could he then stand by and watch him suffer?

"If my memory serves me, your brother Pi Zhitao now seems to have become a cripple. What benefit is there in my taking a cripple as a subordinate?" Wei Zhao asked in feigned ignorance.