Chapter 3395 — What Is It?

Fortunately, Wei Zhao was close enough to Shen Yushu and Yu Xiaoke that there was no need for any awkwardness; besides, they were exhausted, and the moment they lay down they fell into a deep sleep. Wei Zhao cultivated the whole time, keeping an ear out for any movement outside.

Only, these robbers seemed not to operate at night. Each of these raids had been carried out in broad daylight—nothing less than a show of contempt for the hidden Tang family, as if it were beneath them to sneak about under cover of darkness.

Morning, noon, afternoon—not a stir. The bandits did not come here, nor did they visit any of the Tang family's other shops.

Just as Qiu Lingshan was beginning to think Shen Yushu had been talking nonsense, several men in white shirts and black trousers burst into the antique shop without warning! And the moment they were inside, without a word, they began hauling items down from the shelves and carrying them out to a white van parked at the door.

Wei Zhao had heard before how these people operated, but seeing it with his own eyes, he still found them utterly brazen, as if no one else in the world mattered. Yet there was something dull and vacant in their eyes that reminded him, oddly enough, of the biohumans An Liwen had cooked up before.

"Stop right there!" Wei Zhao shouted at one of the biohumans.

But the biohuman paid him no heed, as though he had not heard a thing. With no other choice, Wei Zhao reached out and blocked his path.

This time the biohuman finally noticed Wei Zhao, and promptly smashed the antique vase in his hands straight at him. These creatures simply did as the hypnotist's suggestions told them; they had no thoughts of their own—only instructions!

The hypnotist had shown them Qiu Lingshan's photograph beforehand. Qiu Lingshan was on their whitelist; they would not attack her, only avoid her. Wei Zhao, however, was not, and so when his path was blocked, the biohuman went straight on the offensive.

That antique vase was worth at least a few hundred thousand, and though Wei Zhao had money to spare, he had no desire to waste it. He simply swept it into his jade pendant's space—the place was in utter chaos anyway, and no one was going to ask about it now; a bit of perfunctory talk afterward would smooth things over, and he doubted Tang Taizhong would dare press the matter!

Indeed, though Tang Taizhong wondered where the vase had vanished to, he did not dare breathe a word about it—for no other reason than that he feared distracting Wei Zhao. If he caused Wei Zhao to lose focus, his guilt would be enormous. So what if one battered old vase was gone? However it had gone missing, so be it.

"Boom!" Wei Zhao drove a fist at the robber before him, using only the ordinary tenth form of the Frenzied Flame Fist; his aim was simply to test the strength of this biohuman.

To his disappointment, though, the tenth form of the Frenzied Flame Fist alone was enough to cave in the creature's chest and send him flying backward. He crashed to the ground, spewing mouthful after mouthful of bloody foam, struggling but unable to rise.

Strength like that was no worthy opponent at all. By rights, a man of Tang Taizhong's caliber should have been able to kill these people outright—so how had he ended up wounded by them instead?

Wei Zhao was still puzzling over it when what happened next cleared up the mystery for him!

The biohumans who had been hauling antiques, sensing that their comrade had been attacked, all dropped what they were carrying and turned on Wei Zhao as one. The five who remained all struck at him together.

At the sight, Yu Xiaoke panicked and made to channel the Goddess Nuwa's Sky-Mending Art to shield Wei Zhao. But when Wei Zhao saw what she was doing, he shook his head and said, "No need. Let me test their strength first—if I can't handle it, I'll call for you."

"All right…" Yu Xiaoke nodded, yet she still began circulating her mental cultivation method, though she did not unleash it, holding it ready at all times.

The five struck at Wei Zhao simultaneously. Wei Zhao circulated his mental cultivation method to defend, then lashed out at one of them.

"Boom!" Four fists landed on Wei Zhao at once; only one man was sent flying by his blow. The technique he used was still the tenth form of the Frenzied Flame Fist.

Early Heaven rank! Wei Zhao sensed the strength of these four. Striking together as they did, even with true qi guarding his body, he was nearly made to vomit blood. He hastily circulated his mental cultivation method to repair his injuries!

The wounds were not grave, but at last Wei Zhao understood how Tang Taizhong had been hurt: one man could take on perhaps one of them, but not five. Strike at one, and the others strike at you at the same moment—it would be strange if you did not come away injured!

Had Wei Zhao's strength not far exceeded theirs, and had he not been able to swiftly mend the damage within his body, he truly would have been badly wounded.

So Wei Zhao repeated the same tactics, dispatching each biohuman one by one—though not without taking a few more punches. Fortunately, these people had no technique to speak of; their blows came straight and simple, letting Wei Zhao respond and defend with ease.

All the robbers were left sprawled on the ground by Wei Zhao. The first five he had shown no mercy; judging by how caved-in their chests were, they likely would not last long before dying. The last one, though, he had merely knocked down, temporarily unable to move.

Wei Zhao figured he should at least leave one alive, though he did not think much could be learned from these creatures.

"Lingshan, take this one into custody. The rest can be handed straight to Old Master Tang—off to the graveyard with them," Wei Zhao said to Qiu Lingshan.

"Right!" Qiu Lingshan deftly clamped handcuffs and shackles on the last biohuman. The others were plainly not going to survive; Tang Taizhong at once ordered the Tang family disciples to help haul them away.

The antiques that had been loaded into the van were all brought back and returned to their places. Tang Taizhong was deeply grateful to Wei Zhao—without him, they would have lost another fortune today. At the very least, tens of millions would have vanished.

"Young Hero Lin, thank you for your righteous aid today," Tang Taizhong said gratefully. "This humble one has prepared a small gift. I hope you will not refuse it."

"What is it?" Wei Zhao asked bluntly, without any false pleasantries.

Wei Zhao's directness left Tang Taizhong slightly taken aback—this fellow truly did not stand on ceremony, demanding his wages the moment the work was done? Then again, Wei Zhao was not with the Mysterious Investigation Bureau, so it was only natural. (To be continued.)