Chapter 2134 — A Straight Surrender
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
And when they died, others would mock Old Master Pi for not knowing how to appreciate a favor—Wei Zhao had warned them outright, and they had still fought? Was that not sheer lunacy?
"Hah. Since Mr. Lin has put it that plainly, then the hidden Pi family has no choice but to concede!" Old Master Pi said with a faint smile. "But it is you, Mr. Lin, whom we fear—not Han Xiaohu. As for finishing someone in an instant, we too could slay one the moment we stepped onto the stage. But we would rather not trade one for two. That's a poor bargain! And it would be meaningless besides."
Wei Zhao nodded. "That would be best. I have many enemies here. I hope Old Master Pi makes the right choice, and has no cause for regret."
"Ha, Mr. Lin, I said before that the enmity between us was built upon the Xiao family—in essence there is no real conflict between us. Haha, I will restrain the Xiao family and see that they do not provoke you. With no clash of interests between us hereafter, what enemies are there to speak of?" Old Master Pi laughed heartily and said.
In saying so, he was in truth yielding. He was merely an outer-path expert of the early Heaven Rank. Wei Zhao could withstand the full-force blow of an inner-path expert of the early Heaven Rank, so he might well withstand a blow from Old Master Pi as well—and once Wei Zhao weathered it and struck back, the result would be devastating!
Old Master Pi asked himself whether, against that fierce strike of Wei Zhao's on yesterday's arena, he would have had any chance of survival at all. So no matter how stifled he felt now, no matter how many experts Wei Zhao and his underlings had slain before, he had no choice but to pinch his nose and swallow it!
Such was the world of cultivators: the strong are revered. Without strength, you must compromise—or be destroyed.
"That would be most excellent!" Wei Zhao nodded.
"Pi Zhifeng, Pi Zhitao, concede outright!" Old Master Pi said to his two grandsons. "There is no shame in conceding before Mr. Lin. Only a ** fool would put on airs before him!"
"Yes!" Though Pi Zhifeng and Pi Zhitao felt somewhat aggrieved at heart, they knew Old Master Pi was speaking the truth. It was true they had the power to destroy Han Xiaohu—but Wei Zhao likewise had the power to destroy the two of them, and that was a poor bargain. Better to concede!
And so Pi Zhifeng and Pi Zhitao cupped their fists and said, "We are no match for Mr. Wei Zhao. We concede."
Still, the hidden Pi family's choice of words was artful indeed. They said again and again that they conceded to Wei Zhao, not to the hidden Han family. Though the result was the same, the meaning was altogether different.
Wei Zhao did not call them out on it, and Han Xiaohu had no mind to quibble either. The Han family had latched onto Wei Zhao's coattails—so what? Sour grapes on their part; they might wish to be Wei Zhao's underlings, but he would not even have them!
"Ha, it's fine. When you lot have acknowledged a formidable chief of your own someday, I, Han Xiaohu, will concede of my own accord too!" Han Xiaohu said, taking no shame in it but rather pride.
"Hmph!" Old Master Pi was all pleasantness toward Wei Zhao, but toward Han Xiaohu he showed no such face. With a cold snort, he led Pi Zhifeng and Pi Zhitao away from the arena.
"The contest between the hidden Han family and the hidden Pi family—the hidden Han family wins!" Old Master Zhao announced the result. He represented the official authority of the Hidden Clans Summit, so there was no room for wordplay—no saying things like "Wei Zhao wins."