Chapter 1442 — Uncle Qing's Mindset
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
Once Feng Tianlong had gone, Wei Zhao took Uncle Qing to have his strength enhanced. He had originally meant to enhance Feng Tianlong's as well, but thought better of it for the time being; after all, there would be no harm in doing it when Feng Tianlong came back, while doing it now would serve little purpose. Feng Tianlong had his identity with the Mystery Investigation Bureau and was in no need of exceptional power.
Uncle Qing and Wei Zhao were an old partnership; with a breakthrough already behind them, this second time ought to have been a well-worn road — only Uncle Qing had not bargained for how much it would hurt. But hearing Wei Zhao say that even Wu Chengtian had clenched his teeth and endured it without so much as a cry, Uncle Qing too clamped his jaws and hung on for all he was worth!
Enhancing Uncle Qing meant carrying him only from the peak of the late Yellow stage to the early Profound stage, so the time it took was far shorter than upgrading Wu Chengtian. Wei Zhao finished the task in short order; what came after was up to Uncle Qing himself.
That afternoon Uncle Qing changed his clothes and walked out of the bedroom — his previous ones had been blown to shreds, naturally. Yet now he was clear-headed and exhilarated, his whole body charged with an indescribable vitality, brimming with the elation of a man in his prime.
"The Profound stage! I never thought the day would come when I would stand at the Profound stage again!" These were the first words Uncle Qing spoke on coming out and finding Wei Zhao there, and he said them with feeling: "In those days my sect was wiped out, my wife and daughter were lost to me, and I dragged out a wretched existence — all so that one day I might have my revenge! But... as the years wore on, the hatred wore away with them. Only today has the wish caught fire in me again... Xiao Yi, you don't hold it against me, do you?"
After all, Uncle Qing had told Wei Zhao before that he had laid his hatred aside and would devote himself entirely to the Gu family — which was precisely why Wei Zhao helped him so readily. Wei Zhao's original intention in helping him was to make him the Gu family's protector, not to send him out after revenge.
"It is hatred that gives you drive." Wei Zhao smiled slightly. "Your hatred is nothing less than the annihilation of your clan. If you had truly let it go, I would say nothing of it — but I would look down on you for it. I believe the day will come when you avenge them with your own hands!"
"Thank you, Xiao Yi!" Uncle Qing was rather moved; he had not expected Wei Zhao to support him instead.
"No need to thank me. Though it is an irreverent thing to say, and only a joke, Uncle Qing: until you possess strength you are absolutely certain of, you will do well to stay peacefully in the Gu family and protect Yaoyao and Xiaoshu — unless one day you surpass me, and then I will let you go and take your revenge." Wei Zhao did not say this out of any lack of respect for Uncle Qing, but to help him find his proper place.
To rise to the early Profound stage so suddenly was bound to inflate Uncle Qing's confidence and leave him rather too pleased with himself, and that is not a wholesome state of mind. Even Wu Chengtian had been all for marching straight off to settle accounts with Uncle Zhu — let alone a man carrying a feud as total as the destruction of one's entire clan.
So Wei Zhao had to pour a bucket of cold water over his head, that he might know he was not the strongest — he could not even beat Wei Zhao himself, so how was he to take revenge?
"Xiao Yi, I understand." Uncle Qing nodded gravely. "Thank you for the warning. Today, my state of mind was indeed a little out of balance."
Uncle Qing naturally understood why Wei Zhao had suddenly spoken as he did — encouragement first, admonition after — and he was deeply grateful for it.