Chapter 1657 — Hiring Someone to Do the Job

"Young Master Bing, I can't accept this. Yesterday I made a point of going to keep watch at Wei Zhao's villa. It happened that guests had come to his house, and when Wei Zhao came out to greet them, he didn't conceal his strength. From what I could judge with my own eyes, Wei Zhao is only at the peak of the late Yellow Rank!" said Chief Zhu. "It's true he can recover his strength, but at most he can only recover to the peak of the late Yellow Rank. If he tries to recover even a little beyond that, he'll lose his strength again and become an ordinary man!"

"Are you certain?" Zhao Qibing frowned, his heart stirring slightly. "Could Wei Zhao have spotted you and deliberately released his strength for you to see? Could he be trying to lure us into making a move?"

Wei Zhao had broken Zhao Qibing's legs several times, and Zhao Qibing had developed a certain psychological fear of him — which was why he had also fallen into the habit of being suspicious of everything.

"That's hardly likely. My disguise skills are formidable. In my younger days I obtained a secret manual on the art of wondrous armor, which lets me conceal my true qi. Even a Heaven Rank expert couldn't detect me once I'm hidden!" said Chief Zhu. "The manual on cultivating Chen Xi into a cauldron was derived from that very art!"

"So that's how it is! Then you mean... we act on our own?" Zhao Qibing felt some reluctance in his heart, but what he felt more was fear — because Elder Bi had already spoken. If he made some small move in private and Elder Bi found out, wouldn't that make Elder Bi disappointed in him?

"Young Master Bing, I could ambush Wei Zhao on the road. When the time comes, you can simply say you knew nothing about it — that I acted on my own initiative to avenge my brother..." Chief Zhu said after a moment's thought.

"Nonsense! Do you take my master for a fool?" Zhao Qibing waved his hand, dismissing Chief Zhu's idea outright. "You're my man now — everyone knows it. Do you think the Zhao Qibing Faction won't make an issue of this when the time comes?"

"That... this one was presumptuous!" Chief Zhu thought it over and realized he was right. He had been loyal to the Zhao family for so many years — how could he suddenly act on his own initiative? Wouldn't that obviously be the same as acting under Zhao Qibing's orders?

At this thought, cold sweat broke out on Chief Zhu's forehead at once. He said to himself that Young Master Bing had indeed thought it through thoroughly — otherwise a great disaster might well have been provoked!

"Forget it. This time it's truly galling — all that preparation for nothing. In the end it was like drawing water with a bamboo basket — all in vain!" Zhao Qibing said indignantly. "The Hidden Pi family and the like are far too timid. They don't even dare to make a move?"

"That..." Chief Zhu could only smile bitterly. If even the Hidden Zhao family wouldn't act, then the Hidden Pi family were no reckless fools either — naturally they wouldn't act rashly. Besides, the Hidden Pi family had no direct conflict with Wei Zhao; they had merely inherited some displaced grievances through the Xiao family. They weren't exactly burning with hatred for Wei Zhao.

"By the way, I've heard that in the martial world there are sects that specialize in assassination. As long as you pay them, they'll deal with someone for you — just like hired killers. Is that so?" Zhao Qibing was a cultivator now too, and as he advanced step by step toward the Zhao family's core, he learned more and more about the affairs of the martial world.

"There are indeed such people!" Chief Zhu nodded. "Does Young Master Bing mean to hire them?"

"Why not?" Zhao Qibing asked. "Money is no problem. I still have some on hand."

"It's not that it can't be done... it's that these people are very hard to deal with. Unless there's truly no other way, no one goes to them to settle their troubles!" said Chief Zhu. "This sect is called the Bloody Garment Yellow Springs Sect. Every member they train is an assassin. But because of the sect's peculiar nature, few people have dealings with them..."

"How much would it cost, roughly, to do away with Wei Zhao?" Zhao Qibing could only seek outside help now. Since the Zhao family's people wouldn't act, he would hire someone to act!

"That I'd have to inquire about. I don't know the specifics myself..." said Chief Zhu. "If Young Master Bing has decided, I'll ask someone to help make contact. But the Bloody Garment Yellow Springs Sect has a rule: they never return empty-handed. Once they send someone to discuss a job, they won't leave with nothing. Whether you accept their price or not, you have to pay them a travel fee... Otherwise — I've heard that an employer once refused to pay the travel fee and was killed on the spot by them... That's another reason people are reluctant to contact them..."

"Oh? Then ask them how much it would cost!" Zhao Qibing gritted his teeth. "As long as it's not too outrageous, there's no problem!"

"Very well, Young Master Bing. I'll go make contact right away!" Once it was settled, Chief Zhu went to find connections to reach the people of the Bloody Garment Yellow Springs Sect.

That afternoon, the people from the Bloody Garment Yellow Springs Sect arrived — two men in black night-traveler garb, their manner exceedingly arrogant, as though they did not regard Zhao Qibing, the eldest young master of the Hidden Zhao family, as worth their attention at all.

"Young Master Bing, these two are the liaisons of the Bloody Garment Yellow Springs Sect. Both are experts at the peak of the late Yellow Rank!" Chief Zhu reminded Zhao Qibing in a low voice.

Two experts at the peak of the late Yellow Rank, and they carried themselves like this? Zhao Qibing frowned. Wasn't this a bit too arrogant?

As if reading Zhao Qibing's thoughts, Chief Zhu said quietly, "They're only the contact men..."

Contact men? And already experts at the peak of the late Yellow Rank? Zhao Qibing drew a sharp breath. If that were so, then these two did indeed have grounds for their arrogance. Their strength might not be high, but if experts at the peak of the late Yellow Rank were only small-time functionaries handling street-level contact within the Bloody Garment Yellow Springs Sect, then just how vast must the power behind them be?

These two did indeed have grounds for arrogance — and what they were proud of was not their own strength, but the power they represented!

"Gentlemen, I trust you already understand my purpose. Name your price — how much to put this man in the ground?" Zhao Qibing placed a photograph before the two black-clad liaisons. Though these two had grounds for arrogance, Zhao Qibing was not especially deferential toward them either. For him, a powerful contender to be the future young master of a Hidden family, to bow and scrape before these two was simply out of the question.

"What's this man's strength?" one of the black-clad liaisons asked.

"Peak of the late Yellow Rank — the same as you," Zhao Qibing said.

"Peak of the late Yellow Rank?" The black-clad liaison frowned, glanced at Zhao Qibing with a somewhat odd expression, then looked at Chief Zhu beside him. "Don't tell me the Hidden Zhao family can't even handle a single man at the peak of the late Yellow Rank? You do know the consequences of misreporting strength to our Bloody Garment Yellow Springs Sect?"

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