Chapter 2352 — There Was No Other Way
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
"Er..." The lobby manager was truly beyond tears. He was a distant relative of Zhao Guangsi's, and had gone to no end of begging and pleading to land the post of lobby manager—only to be stripped of it a few days after taking office!
"Er, nothing! Young Master Han told you to get lost—so get lost!" Zhao Guangsi barked furiously.
"..." The lobby manager, his face a mask of misery, withdrew from the private room, thinking to himself: what has this to do with me? I was only following your instructions...
That afternoon, Gu Pengzhan, Qing Bo, and Zhao Guangsi went off together to deal with East Sea business matters, while Wei Zhao drove the young mistress, Xiaoshu, and Granny Sun home.
Han Xiaohu, for his part, returned alone to the hidden Han family to make inquiries on Wei Zhao's behalf about the Xuandan Sect's trial.
The hidden Zhao family.
Zhao Qibing, Zhao Guangyin, and Lei Daming stood before a courtyard, their faces ashen, waiting anxiously for the outcome.
This courtyard was ordinarily guarded by Old Bi himself. But today, Old Bi lay on a bed in one of its rooms while the old master of the Zhao family and Zhao Yaowang diagnosed and treated his injuries.
"How is he?" the old master of the Zhao family asked, his face full of grief.
"For the most part, he's finished," Zhao Yaowang said with a sigh, somewhat helplessly. "His life can be saved, but his strength can never be restored. With the Small Return Pill and the Meridian-Opening Pill, his strength can at best be held at the Yellow Rank—at the very highest, the Mystic Rank."
"Ai!" The old master of the Zhao family sighed, and at the same time was deeply puzzled: who on earth was so formidable as to have wounded Old Bi? In his anxiety over Old Bi's injuries, he had not yet had time to ask how it had happened—nor had Zhao Qibing and Lei Daming had time to tell him. "Is there no other way?"
"Unless he takes a third-grade pill, the Great Return Pill!" Zhao Yaowang said. "But that remedy can scarcely be called a remedy, for a third-grade Great Return Pill is simply beyond anything we could dream of... as precious as the Qi-Gathering Pill..."
"Qitan!" The old master of the Zhao family suddenly thought of the Xuandan Sect trial that Zhao Qilei was soon to enter, and his eyes lit up at once. "If Qitan can pass the Xuandan Sect's trial smoothly, then a third-grade pill will be no problem!"
"That may be so, but passing the Xuandan Sect's trial is harder than ascending to heaven..." Zhao Yaowang knew something of the inside story, and smiled bitterly. "How many have sought to pass the trial, and virtually none have returned! When we sent Qitan to take part in the trial back then, the truth is we meant to use it to be rid of him, did we not?"
The old master of the Zhao family nodded silently. Indeed—how could the Xuandan Sect's trial be passed so easily? If it were that simple, third-grade pills would not be worth so much.
"Be that as it may, this is our last hope..." The old master of the Zhao family sighed. "First, stabilize Old Bi's injuries. I will go and ask just who is so formidable as to have wounded Old Bi."
"Yes!" Zhao Yaowang nodded in assent.
And the old master of the Zhao family, his face dark, left the courtyard. Looking at Zhao Guangyin, Zhao Qibing, and Lei Daming at the gate, he asked in a low, heavy voice, "What exactly happened?"
"Grandfather, it was Wei Zhao!" Zhao Qibing did not think the fault lay with him. He had done nothing wrong—he had simply encountered Wei Zhao. So he recounted the whole affair to the old master of the Zhao family in detail, though fright had left his face looking dreadful.