Chapter 1862 — Sorrow

But Kang still said that if Gu Pengzhan needed money, he could have his family sell the teahouse first. By then, however, Uncle Qing had already received the remittance from Gu Mengyao, so at least the medical expenses were no longer a problem.

In the ward, everyone saw Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu. Wei Zhao was not there, but Gu Pengzhan had already awakened—clearly he had been treated by Wei Zhao. Only Wei Zhao could bring a man at death's door back to normal so quickly.

Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu had once been at odds with Qiu Lingshan. But Qiu Lingshan had thrown caution aside to block Yu Liu for them, and they had kept that debt of gratitude in their hearts. They knew she had done it for Wei Zhao, but even so, when the three met, they were no longer as hostile as before.

Getting along harmoniously, however, was out of the question; at most, they treated each other as if the other did not exist.

"Mr. Gu, Mr. Li, I am truly ashamed that I could not get my son to waive your medical fees..." Guan Xuemin had come here, in fact, to offer his apologies.

"Elder Guan, please don't say that..." Uncle Qing knew the inside story. He also knew that Guan Xiaoxiang and Guan Xuemin had fallen out over Wei Zhao's pharmaceutical company. Now that the company had gone bankrupt, how could Guan Xiaoxiang show a kind face to anyone close to Wei Zhao?

"Yes, Elder Guan, it is all my fault. If I had not expanded the business at all costs, we would not be in this mess today," Fatty Lai said with a bitter smile.

"This matter... no one is to blame but me. I lost my head for no reason and insisted on investing in futures..." Gu Pengzhan waved his hand. "As for me, having so many friends trying to help—I am overwhelmed. But I know it is all because of Wei Zhao, so I thank you all here!"

Gu Pengzhan spoke with sincerity. Just now, he had listened as Uncle Qing and Gu Mengyao slowly recounted the hardships of these days, and he had come to understand that there were no true friends in the business world. These friends were all Wei Zhao's; even Xie Guangbo, who had brought the money, had done so for Wei Zhao's sake.

This filled Gu Pengzhan with boundless emotion and, at the same time, deep comfort.

Wei Zhao had come alone to Songshan City, and in just half a year he had built such powerful connections and gathered so many friends who would stand by him through thick and thin—something Gu Pengzhan could only dream of. But after this great upheaval, his own outlook had changed somewhat.

He would certainly start a new business, but while doing so, he also wanted to make friends who would stand by him through thick and thin, instead of throwing all his time into work...

In a daze, Gu Pengzhan seemed to return to his youth, to the days when he and Wan'er hid together from the Night Palace's search. The friend he had met then had been a true friend!

For his sake, that friend had dared to climb knives and plunge into fire—to face the entire Night Palace and force it to abandon its plan to kill him and Yao Yao.

Otherwise, given the circumstances then, the Night Palace would never have let Gu Pengzhan and Gu Mengyao off so easily. Yet the Night Palace had compromised... But in the blink of an eye, more than ten years had passed. Where was that friend now?

Sometimes, when he thought of the past, Gu Pengzhan would secretly blame himself for being too young back then and for not asking enough questions. His father, by contrast, had gotten along with that friend very well; but whenever Gu Pengzhan asked where the friend had gone, his father would become evasive...

"You are too kind, Mr. Gu!" Fatty Lai said with a smile. "You are our elder; we hardly deserve your thanks! But now that the leader has awakened, the day we turn things around is not far off!"

"Yes, it is all over..." Gu Pengzhan sighed. "We have lost a great deal, but we can start over!"

Bold words sounded inspiring and stirring, but Fatty Lai and Gu Pengzhan both knew how hard it was to start over.

Fatty Lai was better off. As long as Wei Zhao supported him, the pharmaceutical company would surely rise again. But Gu Pengzhan worked in manufacturing, and how difficult it would be for him to begin anew!

"Eh? That's right—why isn't Tang Yun here?" Kang noticed that someone very important was missing from the room: Tang Yun. Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu were both present, yet Tang Yun was absent. By rights, that should not be possible.

During this time, everyone except Kang had learned where Tang Yun had gone, and they avoided the topic. But Kang had just returned and naturally knew nothing of it.

"She..." Thinking of Tang Yun, Gu Mengyao felt a faint ache in her heart, and slowly told them what had happened to Tang Yun...

After hearing it, Kang was shocked, and then a wave of sorrow washed over him... Would he never see her again? Never again?

The others, even though they already knew, still felt pain and loss as they heard Gu Mengyao tell it again...

"I heard that Leader Wei Zhao wiped out three Earth-rank experts with a single move, one of them even late Earth-rank. What power that must have been! Yao Yao, Xiaoshu, you were both there at the time, weren't you? Tell me what happened," Chen Yutian said. Seeing everyone's grief, he shot Shen Yushu a look. Wei Zhao was not here, but he might return at any moment, so Chen decisively changed the subject.

"Yes! Yao Yao and I saw it from the side!" Shen Yushu immediately took the hint and began. "It happened like this. Yao Yao and I had just gotten home... We were at a loss, and those three were about to take our lives and General Weiwu's. Then Brother Arrow Shield descended like a celestial being, blocked them in front of us, and, with remarkable poise, said two words to those three Earth-rank experts: 'One move!'"

Shen Yushu's vivid account made everyone feel as if they were there. Especially when they heard that Wei Zhao had said those two words—"One move!"—their blood boiled! What self-confidence did it take to face three Earth-rank experts with such arrogance?

And Wei Zhao had not been boasting; he had truly done it—killing three Earth-rank experts in one move. To experts of the same rank, this was almost mythical. Even a peak late Earth-rank expert would not dare claim he could annihilate three early Earth-rank experts in a single move!

After all, at the Earth rank, the gap in strength still mattered, but not as much as it had before Earth rank. In battles between Earth-rank experts, victory depended on martial skills!