Chapter 1721 — Yu Huoxing's Lie

"Of course!" The Yu family patriarch nodded. "These two letters are yours to handle. Give one of them to Xiaoning and tell her to come see me when she has the time. I want to have a good talk with her. As for the other one, you know what to do, don't you?"

"Understood. I'll go find Yu Huoxing right away!" Yu Xiaoshen said.

When Yu Huoxing heard that Yu Xiaoshen already had news and wanted to see him, he was overjoyed. He assumed the Yu family had decided to stand up for the secular Yu family and hurried to the family head's chambers. Bowing respectfully, he said, "Family Head Yu, what did the patriarch say? Is he going to avenge our secular Yu family? After all, even if we haven't rendered great service over the years, we have certainly endured our share of hardship. We've worked diligently to help the hidden Yu family make money, and handed over the lion's share of everything we earned."

"Huoxing, it's not that I don't want to help you. It's that, given what you've done, how can our Yu family possibly help?" Yu Xiaoshen said with a dark expression. "Did you really take us for fools?"

"What?" Yu Huoxing froze. He had no idea what Yu Xiaoshen meant and asked nervously, "Family Head... what... what do you mean?"

"What do I mean? Hmph. Read this letter yourself!" As he spoke, Yu Xiaoshen tossed Yu Bing's letter to the family over to Yu Huoxing. Aside from greetings to the family, it dealt entirely with Yu Huoxing's affair, so there was no secret in it that he needed to hide from him.

"A letter? What letter?" Seeing Yu Xiaoshen's expression, Yu Huoxing suddenly sensed that something was wrong. He carefully accepted the letter from Yu Xiaoshen, only to find himself puzzled. It was plainly a family letter. What could it possibly have to do with him?

Judging by the look of it, the letter had been written by one of the Yu family's juniors. Yu Huoxing glanced at the signature and saw that it was from Yu Bing, which left him even more perplexed. Still, he began reading patiently. Yu Xiaoshen would not have shown him a family letter for no reason. There had to be some explanation.

But when Yu Huoxing reached the part where Yu Bing said that he had Qi-gathering pills in his possession and had failed to turn them over, his expression changed drastically. He could not understand how anyone had learned of that secret. A few days ago, the news had reported that the husband-and-wife thieves and Old Black's group of tomb robbers had all been caught in one sweep. Who else could know about it?

Regardless, the matter had been exposed. Yu Bing's tone was utterly certain, which meant he must have possessed conclusive evidence. Yu Huoxing had no chance of denying it. If Yu Bing had spoken in terms of possibility or suspicion, Yu Huoxing might still have had room to maneuver.

"Family Head Yu... I... this..." Yu Huoxing was terrified. He had no idea how Yu Xiaoshen intended to deal with him, and his whole body began to tremble. For the moment, he could not come up with a plausible excuse. Should he claim that he had given the Qi-gathering pills to the hidden Zhao family?

If he told the truth, not only would the secular Yu family's great revenge remain impossible, but Yu Xiaoshen might even strike him dead on the spot. Yu Huoxing's thoughts raced as he desperately tried to find a reasonable excuse to evade the Yu family's censure.

"I what? Can't think of an excuse?" Yu Xiaoshen demanded with a cold laugh.

"No... I... I just find it a little embarrassing to say..." Yu Huoxing lowered his head. He had already thought of a story. Putting on an awkward, embarrassed air, he fidgeted and said,

"What's so embarrassing about it?" Yu Xiaoshen asked with a frown.

"The truth is... the male thief in the ancient tomb was Wei Zhao!" Yu Huoxing began to fabricate his tale. He had come up with the perfect plan: one that would let him escape responsibility while framing Wei Zhao. That way, the hidden Yu family would turn its fury on Wei Zhao, and Wei Zhao would be finished.

"The male thief was Wei Zhao?" Yu Xiaoshen stared at him in surprise. "How could the male thief have been Wei Zhao? And even if it was Wei Zhao, what does that have to do with your failure to hand over the Qi-gathering pills?"

"It's shameful to admit, but Wei Zhao snatched my Qi-gathering pills away!" Yu Huoxing said mournfully.

"Wei Zhao stole your Qi-gathering pills? As far as I know, before Wei Zhao went to take part in the trial, he was only at the peak of the mid-Mysterious Class. At the time, you were already in the early Earth Class. Why would you be afraid of Wei Zhao?" Yu Xiaoshen found Yu Huoxing's explanation increasingly bizarre.

"That's precisely why I didn't dare tell anyone!" Yu Huoxing said bitterly. "Although Wei Zhao was only at the peak of the mid-Mysterious Class, he had some astonishing trump cards. And I had been poisoned... Yes, poisoned! So even though I was in the Earth Class, I still wasn't his match. That's how he managed to take my Qi-gathering pills..."

"Then why didn't you say so sooner?" Yu Xiaoshen was no fool. Yu Huoxing's account was vague and incomplete, and he could hardly be expected to believe it outright.

"Wasn't I afraid of losing face? I'm a dignified early Earth Class expert, yet I was robbed of my Qi-gathering pills by someone at the peak of the mid-Mysterious Class. If word got out, how could I ever show my face again?" Yu Huoxing said miserably. "Family Head, you know Wei Zhao really does have some tricks up his sleeve. Otherwise, he couldn't have killed my second brother! After taking the pills, my second brother was comparable to someone at the peak of the early Earth Class. Since Wei Zhao was capable of fighting above his level, then..."

"I naturally know that Wei Zhao possesses unusual strength. You needn't explain it to me!" Yu Xiaoshen waved a hand. He already understood Wei Zhao well enough. Anyone capable of making Feng Nitian and Zhang Naipao, men from an ancient aristocratic family and an ancient sect, suffer such humiliating setbacks could hardly be an ordinary opponent.

The real question was how much of Yu Huoxing's story could be trusted.

"Yes... I'm sorry, Family Head Yu. I concealed the truth because I was afraid of being punished and reprimanded by the family..." Yu Huoxing said cautiously.

"Is everything you've said true?" Yu Xiaoshen asked with a frown.

"Of course it is! I wouldn't dare conceal a single thing!" Yu Huoxing replied in terror.

"If that's the case, I'll write a letter and ask Yu Bing whether the Qi-gathering pills were really taken by Wei Zhao!" Yu Xiaoshen said coldly, as though he did not believe Yu Huoxing's story.

In reality, however, Yu Xiaoshen already believed most of it. Yu Bing had become friendly with Wei Zhao during the trial, so there was an eighty percent chance that the news about Yu Huoxing obtaining the Qi-gathering pills had reached Yu Bing through Wei Zhao. Wei Zhao and the secular Yu family were mortal enemies. He had probably intended to use Yu Bing to pass the story on to the hidden Yu family, either to make them deal with Yu Huoxing or to keep them from involving themselves in the struggle between Wei Zhao and the secular Yu family.

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