Chapter 1969 — Family Crisis

In a small town near Donghai City, inside a lavish manor, two brothers sat at the computer desk in the study, replaying the same video clip on the screen over and over...

These two were the very pair in the Ferrari that Wei Zhao had run into on the road to Songjiang City.

"Brother, still nothing? Checking who a license plate belongs to takes this long? Uncle Han Jiu's information channels aren't all they're cracked up to be!" The one who spoke was the younger of the Ferrari pair, Han Xiaoling. The one who had been driving was his elder brother, Han Xiaopo.

"Uncle Han Jiu has always handled intelligence for our hidden Han family. That there's still no word by now doesn't mean his channels are poor. It means the car's owner is no ordinary man!" Han Xiaopo was one of the young heirs of this generation of the hidden Han family; he saw things with some clarity, and he spotted the problem at a glance.

"Ah, brother, then tell me — if this owner isn't an ordinary man, would he still drive for us?" Han Xiaoling asked, a little uneasy.

"I don't know. But first we have to see which side he belongs to. If he's not from a hidden family, then so long as we offer enough benefit and sincerity, there shouldn't be a problem," Han Xiaopo said.

"Oh..." Han Xiaoling was Han Xiaopo's own brother, and so within the hidden Han family he kept very close to Han Xiaopo.

The hidden Han family was a clan that kept a very low profile. Its rise had come only in the past ten years. The head of the Han family had begun as a lone cultivator, with strength only at the early Mystic Rank. But fifteen years ago he found an ancient ruin, and from it he obtained a golden elixir; after swallowing it, his strength soared from early Mystic Rank all the way to early Earth Rank. Together with the other treasures he carried out of that ruin, this let Old Master Han, a lone cultivator with nothing to his name, smoothly take his place among the hidden families.

Only, the hidden Han family's foundations were still far too shallow. Apart from Old Master Han himself, an early Earth Rank expert, holding down the fort, the best of the family's second generation had reached only Mystic Rank, and the third generation was more pitiful still, with nothing but Yellow Rank strength.

Had they not obtained the treasures of that ancient ruin — and had the Han family not also caught the tide just right, with the Arbitration Association of the Hidden Families newly established — that whole chain of circumstances would never have made the Han family, by sheer freak chance, one of the hidden families...

But Old Master Han understood: his family's roots were too shallow. Had an old, established hidden family obtained the treasures of that ancient ruin, they would have had nothing to fear; they might even have advanced another step and become an ancient family!

For even without a Celestial Rank expert, such a family would have a peak late Earth Rank expert holding the fort. By the compact among ancient sects and ancient families at that level, Celestial Rank experts were not permitted to make a move at will; so with peak late Earth Rank strength, a family could essentially rest easy.

The Han family was different. The common man is blameless; the jade in his keeping is his crime. So in recent years the Han family had developed quietly and cautiously. The Ice Palace Trials, the council of elders of the Arbitration Association — the Han family took part in none of it. Their only task was to rest and recover, slowly building up the family's strength. The day an expert of peak late Earth Rank, or even a Celestial Rank expert, arose among them — that would be the day the Han family rose to glory!

Of course, held in check as they were by the Arbitration Association of the Hidden Families, no other family had done anything to the Han family all these years. But lately Old Master Han had heard bad news: the Grand Elder of the Arbitration Association of the Hidden Families had vanished!

And those few hidden families had begun to stir. They showed no intent, as yet, of moving against the hidden Han family, but they had put forward some strange proposals and demands — namely, that several contests be held at the Hidden Families Summit!

The events were of every kind: martial duels, contests of art, contests of endurance under blows, contests of strength — even car races! In each contest, every hidden family would put up a treasure as the stake. Any discerning eye could see at a glance that these contests were aimed at the weak Han family!

For the hidden Han family was simply too weak — so weak that they could not hope to win a single contest. Yet these contests covered a broad range and appeared perfectly fair, so even knowing that those hidden families could no longer sit still and meant to scheme for the Han family's treasures, the Han family had no way to refuse.

To decline the Hidden Families Summit would be to forfeit their standing as a hidden family. And without the shelter of that title, even the Arbitration Association would no longer concern itself with the fate of the hidden Han family. At that point those hidden families would certainly move against the Han family one by one!

It was a dead end. They knew there would be losses — that they would surely have to bleed out some fine treasures.

In such a pass, however, the hidden Han family could only pinch their noses and swallow it. Who had told them their own strength fell short?

Then, by chance, Han Xiaopo had witnessed Wei Zhao's driving, and he had clutched at the last-ditch hope of a man treating a dead horse as a live one: if they could win a single contest — just one — it would count as salvaging some pride for the Han family, better than losing every contest; and even if the Han family had to pay a certain price, he would not stint.

After all, this had already become a question of the hidden Han family's face.

As they spoke, Han Xiaopo's phone rang. Seeing the familiar name on the screen, his heart eased a little — word at last!

"Uncle Jiu." Han Xiaopo answered the phone with respect. Uncle Han Jiu was not a direct relative of the Han family, but he had been one of Grandfather's humble attendants in the old days, and the ancient ruin had been found by Grandfather and him together. It was only that Uncle Han Jiu's age was about the same as Han Xiaopo's father's, so by seniority he fell into the uncle's generation.

"Young Master Po, we've traced clearly who the car belongs to, but the owner's information is beyond our reach," Uncle Han Jiu said.

"What! No owner information?" Han Xiaopo was briefly stunned.

"The car is registered to the Mysterious Investigation Bureau. Our channels can't reach secrets of that level. And to go begging favors over it — never mind whether we could even find someone who knows anyone in the Mysterious Investigation Bureau; even if we did, they might not be able to dig it out," Uncle Han Jiu said.

"The Mysterious Investigation Bureau... No wonder. I hear there are many capable people there." Han Xiaopo understood. The cultivators of the Mysterious Investigation Bureau might not match the hidden families in raw strength, but in other respects they far surpassed them, for many among them were talents of every description.

Never mind superb driving skill — even performing stunts with an airplane would be easy work for them.

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