Chapter 2570 — Zhuang the Leader Arrives

But Wei Zhao's thoughts were not something Old Master Zhuang could guess. He had Zhuang Niaoqiang take the martial techniques out and run them through the copier for a duplicate. Copying, indeed—in this age of high technology, even the time spent copying was saved; just photocopy it directly!

With the copied cultivation methods and martial techniques in hand, Wei Zhao took his leave of the Hidden Zhuang family's treasure vault.

It was then that Wei Zhao received a call from Leader Zhuang. Leader Zhuang had already reached the road junction leading to the Hidden Zhuang family estate, but the guards there would not let him through.

"Hold on a moment."

Wei Zhao handed the phone to Old Master Zhuang. "My people have arrived. They're being stopped at the road junction—would you have a word with them?"

"Yes, Senior Lin!" Old Master Zhuang hurriedly took the phone and said a few words to the other end. Only then did the guards at the junction hastily let them through.

In the reception hall, Wei Zhao saw Ying Ziyu and Leader Zhuang, both unharmed. Chen Xi, however, had still not woken and remained slung over Wei Zhao's shoulder.

"Huh? Brother Wei Zhao, what's wrong with Xiao Xi?" Ying Ziyu asked in some surprise, pointing at Chen Xi on Wei Zhao's shoulder. She alone dared to speak to Wei Zhao in such a manner; Leader Zhuang, Old Master Zhuang, Zhuang Niaoqiang, and Zhuang Niaopao all stood respectfully to one side.

"Xiao Xi passed out, but I noticed she hasn't been sleeping enough, so I let her sleep a while," Wei Zhao said. "Don't worry about her!"

"Ah! I recognize them! It was these two little bastards who knocked me ou—uh, who knocked this young lady out!" Ying Ziyu suddenly caught sight of Zhuang Niaoqiang and Zhuang Niaopao not far behind Wei Zhao. In her excitement she let slip a word like "this old lady," but recalling that Wei Zhao had forbidden her to use coarse language, she hastily corrected herself. Even so, she glared at Zhuang Niaoqiang and Zhuang Niaopao with utter fury, as though she wanted to swallow them alive!

Zhuang Niaoqiang and Zhuang Niaopao exchanged a helpless glance, privately marveling at Ying Ziyu's memory—to be able to recall their faces in an instant. Still, this girl was evidently Wei Zhao's little sister too; otherwise, how would she dare speak to him like that? So the two could only explain cautiously, "Sorry about that—we didn't mean to..."

"Didn't mean to? You clearly did it on purpose!" Ying Ziyu said.

"Uh... well..." Zhuang Niaoqiang was suddenly embarrassed. It had indeed been deliberate; claiming otherwise would be barefaced lying. He had only been looking for an excuse, never expecting Ying Ziyu to take it seriously. "Well... I'm Senior Lin's underling now, so we're on the same side. That business from before—let's just forget it, shall we?"

"Underling?" Ying Ziyu was taken aback and glanced at Wei Zhao in some confusion. "Is he really your underling?"

"Yes, though I only took him on just now." Wei Zhao nodded.

"Since you're Brother Wei Zhao's underlings, then naturally you're also this old—this young lady's underlings. Well? Aren't you going to call me Big Sister Boss?" Ying Ziyu said, pointing at Zhuang Niaoqiang and Zhuang Niaopao.

"Uh... hello, Big Sister Boss," Zhuang Niaoqiang and Zhuang Niaopao said hurriedly, wise men not fighting when the odds were against them.

"That's more like it. I'll put the matter of you hitting me on the record for now and won't punish you, but from now on, when I tell you to do something, you'd better hop to it!" Ying Ziyu was no fool; she had seen at a glance that Zhuang Niaoqiang and Zhuang Niaopao were no ordinary men. Anyone who could live in a manor like this had to be somebody. Having two such underlings was a good thing—far more useful than that creature Zou Ruoming.

"Sure, no problem!" Zhuang Niaoqiang and Zhuang Niaopao had been worrying about how to find a chance to serve Wei Zhao. Serving Wei Zhao's little sister amounted to the same thing—and when the time came, Wei Zhao would have no choice but to take them in.

Wei Zhao did not interject. Since the Zhuang family intended to expand from Lin City into Songshan City, having Zhuang Niaoqiang and Zhuang Niaopao look after Ying Ziyu and Chen Xi in the future would be a good thing. At least they were far more reliable than Li Cihua. Zou Ruoming might not dare to disobey openly while pretending compliance, but his caliber was simply too low—he could not even handle Chen Xiaoba.

"Mr. Lin, I've brought Chen Xiaoba and Chen Bawang. They're in the car at the gate. What would you have me do?" Leader Zhuang waited until Ying Ziyu and the two Zhuang brothers had finished speaking before asking.

"Oh? You brought them?" Wei Zhao nodded and looked at Old Master Zhuang. "Old Master Zhuang, this Chen Bawang and his son are, after all, members of the Zhuang family. Since they've been brought here, how to deal with them is for Old Master Zhuang to decide."

"Niaoqiang, Niaopao, bury them," Old Master Zhuang said. The very mention of Chen Bawang and his son made him queasy—he had nearly lost his life over them and nearly dragged the entire Hidden Zhuang family down with him! True, the outcome had been good, but that had been pure luck. Had Chen Xi been used as intended, everything would have been finished!

And the cause of it all was Chen Xiaoba's lust for Ying Ziyu's beauty! So even without the business with Chen Xi, if Ying Ziyu had been violated by Chen Xiaoba, Wei Zhao would not have let the Zhuang family—Chen Bawang's backers—off easily.

Thus, the moment Old Master Zhuang spoke, he sentenced these two troublemakers to death. In any case, they were about to expand into Songshan City; they could find new people then. Spokesmen they could cultivate were plentiful—that was one thing they did not lack.

"Yes, Grandfather!" Zhuang Niaoqiang and Zhuang Niaopao answered. But they did not move at once; instead they turned to Wei Zhao. "Leader, what do you think?"

This refusal to obey Old Master Zhuang's orders did not anger him—on the contrary, it delighted him. Clearly his two grandsons were not fools who knew only how to cultivate; they were shrewd enough to know how to curry favor with Wei Zhao!

"Do as Old Master Zhuang says," Wei Zhao said indifferently. "There's a man in Songshan City named Zou Tiandi who's not bad. Train him up a little—he'd make a good spokesman for you."

To Wei Zhao, Zou Tiandi and Zou Ruoming were simply too low in station. He could not take them on as underlings directly—after all, they were not cultivators, and he could not train them. But in light of how diligently and dutifully they had served him, Ying Ziyu, and Chen Xi these past days, clearing away their troubles, Wei Zhao gave them a timely boost.

"Yes!" Only then did Zhuang Niaoqiang and Zhuang Niaopao follow Leader Zhuang outside, preparing to dig a pit and bury the men. As for Old Master Zhuang, hearing Wei Zhao's words, he immediately committed the name Zou Tiandi to memory.

"As for the Hidden Zhao family..." Old Master Zhuang was somewhat worried about how the Hidden Zhao family would react. After all, Songshan City had once been the Hidden Zhao family's territory.

"Tell Li Cihua to get himself back to Donghai City. If he won't go, tell him I said to go," Wei Zhao said indifferently. (To be continued.)