Chapter 1677 — The Message Was Wrong

Of course, if it were merely a matter of very ordinary inner arts, Bingtang could have dug out a few volumes—but there was nothing remotely remarkable in any of them, and she doubted Wei Zhao would think much of them either. This time, a suitable inner art had to be found; they could not simply grab some random thing to make up the numbers.

"All right, I will wait for you at the Ice Palace!" Feng Xiaoxiao threw her arms around Wei Zhao, rose on tiptoe to plant a light kiss on his cheek, then quickly released him. A little embarrassed, she said to Tang Yun, "Don't be jealous, Sister Tang Yun. I am kissing him now because who knows how long it will be before I get another chance—and by then, the two of you will likely be even more intimate than this!"

Bold as Feng Xiaoxiao was, with Tang Yun standing right there she could not help feeling a little shy.

"Of course I won't be jealous," Tang Yun said with a smile. "Take good care of yourself, and don't wear yourself out."

"Don't worry, Sister Tang Yun!" Feng Xiaoxiao nodded in reply.

Just as Wei Zhao and the others were on their way back to Songshan City, inside the Geli Fuyun Bar, Zhao Qibing was waiting for good news from the Blood-Robed Yellow Springs Sect.

"I wonder whether this Blood-Robed Yellow Springs Sect is reliable at all. It has been so long and still no word has come—have they dealt with Wei Zhao or not?" Every day Zhao Qibing waited for news, and every day he was met with disappointment.

"Young Master Bing, the Blood-Robed Yellow Springs Sect may be a domineering lot, but their strength is not to be underestimated. If they sent three or four top-tier late Mystic-rank fighters, they should be able to handle Wei Zhao with ease," said Chief Zhu.

At this moment, word of what had happened with the hidden Tang family had not spread, for Chief Tang had issued a gag order: every guest present would keep the events of the birthday banquet to themselves. It was only natural, then, that the other hidden families had received no news.

"Forget it, let us set that aside for now. Cihua, how have business matters been lately?" Zhao Qibing had spent ten million to have Wei Zhao killed. It was not a vast sum, but to a man desperate to earn more merit for the Zhao family, money spent was money not earned.

"The new Qibing Tower is nearly complete, and the shantytown redevelopment is underway," Li Cihua said. "This time I chose to rebuild Qibing Tower in the shantytown. As for the plot where the old tower stood, I plan to sell it off for cash or redevelop it into a shopping mall."

"Oh? Why rebuild in the shantytown?" Zhao Qibing asked, slightly taken aback.

"That old site... the tower collapsed twice in a row, which is a bit unlucky, so I took it upon myself to build in the shantytown. That way it can proceed alongside the redevelopment work, which is more convenient..." Li Cihua said. "Didn't you say, Young Master Bing, that I could make my own decisions on business matters and needn't bother you? I figured this was no great matter, so I went ahead and decided."

"Oh, so that's how it is. It was never a big deal to begin with!" Zhao Qibing nodded. "A change of location is for the best. That old place—I feel sick at heart every time I see it, reminded of the shame of my broken leg and the two collapses. A new site is just the thing for a fresh start!"

"Understood. But as for the orphanage, that matter is still unsettled. The old director is stubborn as a mule and hard as stone. We tried frightening her once before, and there was no reaction at all!" Li Cihua said. "Then afterward we had one mishap after another here—the Medicine King and Uncle Zhu were both injured—so we stopped making trouble for them. What do you think, Young Master Bing...?"

"Damn it. Wei Zhao putting on airs is one thing, but a miserable little orphanage dares to act high and mighty too? Take some men and frighten them again. If they still won't listen, burn the place to the ground and see whether they move out or not!" Zhao Qibing was now a core figure in the Zhao family, and his tone had grown correspondingly arrogant.

"Yes, Young Master Bing! I will take some men over and warn them right away," Li Cihua said.

The two were still discussing the real estate development when a man in black walked into the Geli Fuyun Bar—none other than the Blood-Robed Yellow Springs Sect's contact from last time!

Su Jiaonang did not dare stand in his way. He followed the man in black all the way to the inner room, where the man planted himself brazenly before Zhao Qibing and said coldly, looking down at him, "Zhao, were you deliberately setting a trap for the Blood-Robed Yellow Springs Sect?"

"What?" Zhao Qibing had been rather pleased to see the man in black, assuming they had already finished off Wei Zhao. But that opening sentence left him utterly baffled. "What do you mean? What are you talking about? How did I set a trap for you? Did you kill Wei Zhao or not?"

"Kill him? We sent three top-tier late Mystic-rank fighters, and every one of them is now a corpse. You ask whether we killed him?" The Blood-Robed Yellow Springs Sect contact gave a cold snort and said harshly, "From what our people could tell, Wei Zhao is at least Earth-rank or above—and likely not the only Earth-rank on his side. Otherwise, how did our three top-tier late Mystic-rank fighters die? What kind of intelligence was it you gave us?"

"What? All three are dead?" Zhao Qibing was stunned. "Are you serious? There's no mistake? Wei Zhao is plainly only a top-tier late Yellow-rank fighter. Even if he wasn't poisoned, he would be no more than top-tier late Mystic-rank. You sent three top-tier late Mystic-rank fighters just like him—three against one—and you still couldn't kill him?"

"Nonsense! The fact is, our men are dead!" the man in black said coldly. "Zhao, what exactly do you mean by this? We told you not to conceal his strength, and you dared to hide it anyway—do you think the Yellow Springs Blood-Robed Sect is easy to push around?"

"What did I conceal?" Zhao Qibing said furiously. "Wei Zhao is plainly a top-tier late Mystic-rank fighter. He took part in the Ice Palace trial before—everyone knows what his strength is. If he were above Earth-rank, could he have entered the trial at all?"

"Then you are saying Wei Zhao broke through on the way?" the man in black asked.

"That I don't know, but I did not lie to anyone!" Zhao Qibing was both shocked and furious. He had never imagined that three top-tier late Mystic-rank fighters could all be killed by Wei Zhao. Damn it, how could Wei Zhao be so ruthless? Thank heavens he had not sent Chief Zhu into the fray—otherwise Chief Zhu might well have been killed too!

Yet try as he might, Zhao Qibing could not fathom how Wei Zhao could have killed three top-tier late Mystic-rank fighters. Even if Wei Zhao were an early Earth-rank fighter, he could not have done it so easily—and Wei Zhao had been poisoned on top of that!

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