Chapter 2976 — Many Things Have Happened

When Zhao Qiwu and Yu Bing heard that an old friend had come to visit, they were taken aback at first, then guessed that the visitor could only be Wei Zhao or Zhao Qilei. Delighted, the two of them set off for the Ice Spirit Inn.

Zhao Qiwu, for his part, had brought along the pills the Ice Palace had bestowed on him—he meant to give Wei Zhao or Zhao Qilei a surprise.

In no time the two of them arrived at the Ice Spirit Inn, where Steward Li received them with the utmost courtesy. After all, the status of Zhao Qiwu and Yu Bing was not what it once had been: they were not only stewards of the outer court, but friends of Vice Palace Master Feng.

"Steward Zhao, Steward Yu, your friend Mr. Zhao Qilei has been waiting upstairs for some time!" Steward Li told them. Of course, Steward Li himself could not fathom why, when he had plainly written to Vice Palace Master Feng, it was Zhao Qiwu and Yu Bing who had come.

But such matters were decisions of the Ice Palace's high command, and Steward Li had no authority to interfere.

"So it is Young Master Tan after all!" Zhao Qiwu rushed excitedly up the stairs. Yu Bing, by contrast, let a flicker of disappointment cross his face—not that seeing Zhao Qilei displeased him, but his ties with Zhao Qilei were not especially close in truth. Once Zhao Qilei acknowledged Wei Zhao as his leader, he had left the Ice Palace, and the two had had little to do with each other since. It was his bond with Wei Zhao that had always been the closest.

Hearing the footsteps, Zhao Qilei opened the door and saw Zhao Qiwu charging ahead with Yu Bing following behind. He said joyfully at once, "Qijiu, Yu Bing, you've come! Why isn't Sister-in-law with you?"

"Eh?" Yu Bing was startled. "Were you expecting Sister Xiaoxiao too? She didn't come."

In front of outsiders, Yu Bing naturally addressed Feng Xiaoxiao as Vice Palace Master Feng, but among their own circle he called her Sister-in-law.

"Is that so..." Zhao Qilei frowned. He had plainly asked Steward Li to put him in touch with Feng Xiaoxiao, but since she had not come, it was clearly Bintao's doing, and so he asked no more. "I'm very glad the two of you have come!"

"Young Master Tan, I'm truly happy that you could come see me! What happened after you and Leader Wei Zhao went back? How are things with the Zhao family?" Zhao Qiwu had practically no sources of news in this place—despite being an outer-court steward, the information he could get was limited to the Ice Palace's internal affairs, and of outside news he knew nothing at all.

At Zhao Qiwu's question, Zhao Qilei's expression fell at once, and he gave a faint sigh. He did not conceal it. "It's all my fault—I'm the one who brought harm to Leader Wei Zhao!"

"What? What happened to the leader?" Yu Bing's expression changed as well, and he fixed Zhao Qilei with an urgent stare. "Has something happened to the leader?"

"Yes..." Zhao Qilei did not hold back, and briefly told the two of them how Wei Zhao had gone to the Zhao family as a guest, been secretly poisoned, and then had his meridians and dantian destroyed...

Although Yu Bing knew of Wei Zhao's wondrous healing ability, he understood at this moment that poison combined with ruined meridians and a shattered dantian truly left no room for remedy—every path to recovery was blocked!

Even if Wei Zhao had heaven-reaching powers, if he could not circulate his mental techniques and incantations, and if his shattered dantian could not break down pills, then there was nothing he could do.

Zhao Qiwu stared blankly at Zhao Qilei after hearing this. He had never imagined such a thing could happen. "Then... what are we to do now?"

"Yes—now that Leader Wei Zhao has been crippled, have his enemies gone looking for trouble with him? Has the hidden Yu family taken revenge on him?" What worried Yu Bing most was whether his own family would make trouble for Wei Zhao, for the accumulated grievance between Wei Zhao and the hidden Yu family ran deep.

Yet Yu Bing's question brought a strange look to Zhao Qilei's face. "The Yu family... has not taken revenge. Not only have they not taken revenge—they helped Leader Wei Zhao..."

"What do you mean?" Yu Bing was dumbfounded at Zhao Qilei's words, thinking he had misheard. "Are you talking about our hidden Yu family?"

"Speaking from where I stand, what other Yu family could it be? The secular Yu family no longer exists..." Zhao Qilei smiled bitterly, and recounted to Yu Bing and Zhao Qiwu what had happened the day Yu Yi appeared.

At Zhao Qilei's account, Yu Bing's mouth fell open and stayed open for a long while. "You're saying Senior Yu Yi came in person?"

"Yes. Zhao Qibing knows him—there can be no mistake," Zhao Qilei nodded. "However, we of the hidden Zhao family suspect that the Yu family acted because of your younger sister, Yu Ning."

"What? My sister... Xiao Ning can already command Yu Yi to do things?" Yu Bing felt the world was changing far too fast. He had been at the Ice Palace less than a year—how had the outside world been turned upside down in that time?

"That's not quite it. There was a small episode before that..." Zhao Qilei then told Yu Bing how Zhao Qibing and Yu Shan had colluded in an attempt to violate Yu Ning, and how Wei Zhao had rescued her and sent her back to the hidden Yu family.

"So that means Leader Wei Zhao's relations with our hidden Yu family must have eased—otherwise Grandfather could never have sent Yu Yi to help! Wonderful, wonderful—my sister's wish can finally come true..." Yu Bing was overjoyed; it was the first smile he had shown since hearing of Wei Zhao's injury. The relationship between Wei Zhao and the hidden Yu family had always weighed heaviest on Yu Bing's mind. He had originally planned to return from his studies at the Ice Palace and, after taking charge of the Yu family, deal with the matter between his sister and Wei Zhao. But never had he expected that, with him absent from the family, a twist of fate would instead have established a friendship between Wei Zhao and the Yu family.

"Though that's good news, the leader's injuries have never ceased to weigh on me," Zhao Qilei said, less than pleased. "After all, Leader Wei Zhao's enemies are not only my grandfather—there are also the Qianshan Sect, the Jinzhong Sect, and the hidden You family. True, those families and sects may be wary of Yu Yi's interference, but the Night Palace and the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow sect are the leader's enemies as well!"

Though the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow sect had not yet made its move, Zhao Qilei was deeply worried about what would happen if they did. When that time came, they would not have the good fortune they had enjoyed with the Night Palace before—on that occasion the intervention of the Heavenly Silkworm Transformation had come about because the trial's rewards were at stake. The Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow sect would certainly not invoke the trial's rewards, and the Xuandan Sect would naturally not interfere again...

"Why are the Night Palace and the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow sect involved too? Aren't those two ancient sects?" Yu Bing's expression changed again at once.

"That has to begin with the Xuandan Sect's trial..." So much had happened in this stretch of time that Zhao Qilei could only recount it bit by bit; he went over the ins and outs of the Xuandan Sect's trial once more for Yu Bing and Zhao Qiwu...