Chapter 3409 — Unexpected Resistance

The two of them set to work together, and in no time every hidden compartment stood open. The private journals of the Yu family ancestors were brought out one after another; Yu Dake took them in hand and began searching carefully for the name of that particular ancestor.

Yu Haitang. Found it.

Yu Dake lifted Yu Haitang's slender booklet with care and began flipping through it rapidly, while Wei Zhao leaned in close beside him.

It did not take long for Yu Dake to find the cause of Yu Haitang's collapse and the account of how she had been saved.

It turned out that during a martial contest, Yu Haitang had shielded her elder brother from an attack; the drain on her spiritual sense and mental energy had left her unconscious and unable to wake. Afterward, the Yu family consulted physician after physician and consumed no end of spirit medicines, all to no effect whatsoever.

In the end, someone recommended a visit to Zhang Lifeng, the finest physician of his generation. What method Zhang Lifeng used, no one knew, but he had actually roused Yu Haitang and restored her to full health! The gratitude of the Yu family knew no bounds.

What disappointed both Wei Zhao and Yu Dake, however, was that the booklet said not a single word about how the cure had been carried out. From its pages one could learn only that Zhang Lifeng had treated Yu Haitang; the method itself remained entirely unknown.

Zhang Lifeng... Wei Zhao was caught between laughter and tears. He had assumed that even if he could not find the miraculous physician who had cured Yu Haitang, he ought at least to be able to find his successor. But now it turned out that Zhang Lifeng's successor was himself!

How on earth was he supposed to cure her?

The one thought that did give Wei Zhao hope was this: on his last visit to the ancient tomb, someone had been there before him. At the time, Wei Zhao had guessed that Zhang Lifeng might have returned—which meant Zhang Lifeng was presumably not dead, but had gone to Yunjie Island and ascended to the Heavenly Dao.

Yet even if Zhang Lifeng lived, Wei Zhao had no way to reach him. The man had gone to Yunjie Island—how was Wei Zhao supposed to find him? Was he to go to Yunjie Island himself? But as things stood, how one might get to Yunjie Island, or whether it could be reached at all, even Old Ancestor Xuanchen did not know, let alone Wei Zhao!

Beyond all that, Wei Zhao had one more hope: he possessed Zhang Lifeng's medical notes. He had read through them for a time and then handed them to Lin Dongfang to make a copy.

With any luck, Zhang Lifeng had recorded this very case in those notes.

"Mr. Lin, this Zhang Lifeng—wasn't he said to be dead?" Yu Dake's face had gone somewhat ashen. He knew about Zhang Lifeng's tomb, and he knew too that Wei Zhao and Yu Xiaoke had pledged their love within that ancient grave.

If the man was dead, how could he possibly cure anyone?

"I have Mr. Zhang Lifeng's medical notes. I'll place a call right now and have the old man at home—my sworn grandfather—look through them, to see whether there's any record of Senior Yu Haitang's case!" Wei Zhao said.

"Ah, that would be wonderful. Mr. Lin, please make the call at once," Yu Dake said hurriedly.

Wei Zhao had asked Old Man Wei about this before, but Old Man Wei had not been at all clear on the matter; to search the records blindly, it would have taken who knew how long before anyone thought to look under Zhang Lifeng's name. Now, though, they had a target, which made things far easier.

The call connected, and after a short while Old Man Wei's voice came through: "Xiaoyi, you're back?"

"Uh—no, I haven't come back. I've gone to the Yu family, out in the Hakunamata Desert." Only then did Wei Zhao remember that he had never returned home, nor told Old Man Wei a thing about it, so he hurriedly explained the reason.

"So that's how it is. Then have you found the cause of Yu Xiaoke's coma, and a way to resolve it?" Old Man Wei asked. "I haven't had any luck finding a good approach on my end!"

"I've found it, yes—but not in any detail. All we know at present is that it was caused by a drain on her spiritual sense and mental energy; as for how to remedy it, how to treat it, none of that is mentioned," Wei Zhao said. "The only thing we do know is that Zhang Lifeng, the finest physician of his generation, treated a case like this once, and treated it successfully. So, old man, take a look through Mr. Zhang Lifeng's medical notes and see whether they mention anything of the sort?"

"All right, I'll look right now!" Old Man Wei said with a nod.

"Good, we'll leave it there for now. Contact me the moment you find anything," Wei Zhao said.

Yu Dake gathered all the private journals of the Yu ancestors together; he meant to take them with him rather than leave them here. He and Wei Zhao tidied things up and then left the great mansion—since there was nothing more to be had here, there was no use in staying.

"Mr. Lin, you mean to go looking for that so-called poison-refining base?" Yu Dake was rather startled to hear Wei Zhao say he was going to find his comrade-in-arms. "Our Yu family has lived here for so many years, and I've never heard of any poison-refining base anywhere nearby."

"Perhaps it was built only in recent years, after you had already left," Wei Zhao said, shaking his head. "For something like this, we'd do better to ask the Paoli clan. They may well know more clearly."

"That works. Then let's go to the Paoli clan now," Yu Dake said with a nod.

"You're coming with me too?" Wei Zhao had meant to send Yu Dake back, and had not expected him to follow along.

"Yes, let's go together. We'll see whether I can be of any help. My cultivation is rather low—I still haven't broken through to the Heaven Rank—but it's always good to have an extra pair of hands," Yu Dake said.

Wei Zhao nodded and did not refuse. This time the two of them took only one vehicle, Wei Zhao's Grand Cherokee; the Range Rover was left for the time being at the Yu family mansion. There was no need to drive two cars.

This time the road to the Paoli clan was familiar ground, and they reached it with ease. The one who barred their way was, once again, Tuo'ertu!

But when Tuo'ertu saw that it was Wei Zhao and Yu Dake, he at once grew warm: "So it's Young Hero Lin and Young Hero Yu who've come! Have you come to haul away some more energy stones?"

"Not energy stones this time—those can wait. There's something I'd like to ask you about," Wei Zhao said with a wave of his hand. "Do you know whether there's a poison-refining base somewhere here in the Hakunamata Desert?"

"A poison-refining base?" Tuo'ertu was briefly taken aback, and then his expression shifted slightly. "Young Hero Lin, might I ask what you want with such a thing?"

At the look on Tuo'ertu's face, Wei Zhao's heart sank a little. Could it be that the Paoli clan had some entanglement with the poison-refining base? If so, going there himself might meet with no small resistance.

For now, Wei Zhao had no wish to make an enemy of the Paoli clan, so he gave a slight nod and said, "That's right—the poison-refining base. A friend of mine has been captured and taken there, and I mean to go and find him."