Chapter 2078 — A Warm Reception
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
"Good—since Mr. Lin says to be at ease, then we shall be at ease. Let the banquet begin!" Han Tianba beckoned to the disciples waiting at the side, signaling that they might begin serving.
All the ingredients had been made ready beforehand. At Han Tianba's word, several chefs set to work at once, and soon dish after dish of fine food was carried to the table. But though Han Tianba had said to be at ease, no one dared lift their chopsticks before Wei Zhao; of every dish, only after Wei Zhao had eaten did the others dare to eat.
Wei Zhao was truly hungry and did not stand on ceremony; at this hour he would have been eating dinner back at the villa anyway, so he ate heartily.
Only, every time he ate, Wei Zhao thought of Feng Xiaoxiao. Now, in the Ice Palace, she surely did not lack for fine food, did she?
"Mr. Lin, on behalf of the Hidden Han Family, I drink to you!" Seeing that Wei Zhao had eaten his fill, Han Tianba finally raised his cup.
As for Wei Zhao's earlier devouring of the food like wind scattering clouds, not a single person dared say a word about it. Such was the difference of the strong: when Wei Zhao did it, all could say was that he was bold and straightforward; but had it been someone weak, it would have been called ignorance of propriety.
"Good." Wei Zhao answered faintly and raised his cup as well.
Han Xiaohu, naturally, poured himself a cup too and stood up in agreement.
"Mr. Lin, at this Hidden World Clan Summit, the fate of our Hidden Han Family is placed in your hands!" Han Tianba said. "Earlier, Xiaopo already made the promise: if you compete on behalf of our Hidden Han Family, then however much you win in bets shall be yours to dispose of as you please, including our Han Family's wagers—and moreover, after victory, you may select some things you need from our Hidden Han Family's treasure vault!"
Han Tianba had reasoned it out clearly: better to give all these things to Wei Zhao, even to give him a bit more, than to give them to the other hidden clans. Give them to Wei Zhao, and Wei Zhao would shelter them; give them to the other hidden clans, and what came back was only their ever more greedy appetite.
Once they had tasted this sweetness, no doubt all manner of competitions, trials, summits and other such exchanges would come forth endlessly, with but one aim: to squeeze the Hidden Han Family dry of every fine treasure it had gained from the ancient ruins.
In that case, the Hidden Han Family would not only be worn out dealing with these scheming hidden clans, but its standing among them would grow weaker and weaker, leaving it to be bullied at will. By then, not only would its position be lost, but its good things would all be plundered as well—and to rise again afterward would be a thousand times harder.
But giving these things to Wei Zhao was different. With Wei Zhao's fearsome name standing there, those hidden clans would at the very least not dare resort to coercion. Even if at this summit Wei Zhao won only the racing, that would not matter, because the Hidden Han Family would in effect have announced to the outside world that it was Wei Zhao's people. Let them scheme once—if they wished to scheme again, they could see whether Wei Zhao would agree.
And if by some fortune Wei Zhao won several more events, leaving most of those hidden clans