Chapter 2079 — The Events

"Sorry to put you to so much trouble, Mr. Lin!" Han Tianba said.

After the meal, Wei Zhao did not linger over pleasantries with Han Tianba. Instead he had Han Xiaopo take him to his quarters, where he meant to study the rules of the Hidden World Clan Summit.

"Boss, are you satisfied with these surroundings?" Han Xiaopo asked cautiously once he had brought Wei Zhao to the guest room.

"Ha, I'm not particular about where I sleep, and this is more than good enough." As far as Wei Zhao was concerned, the place was finer than his own villa; it had to be a guest room the Hidden Han Family reserved for their high-class visitors. "And you don't need to be so careful around me. You're my underling now, so relax a little. One of these days I'll introduce you to a few of my other underlings!"

"Yes, Boss!" Han Xiaopo nodded in agreement, though it would likely be a while before he could truly loosen up.

"All right, tell me first—what events are there at this Hidden World Clan Summit?" Wei Zhao asked.

"Yes, Boss. I'll tell you about the events right now!" Han Xiaopo produced a stack of documents. "These are the brief and the rules jointly issued by the elder clans of the Hidden World Clan Summit."

"Elder clans?" Wei Zhao gave a cold snort. "Drawing up events that favor them, I suppose?"

"Uh… you could say that, but they don't dare go too far. It's just that our Hidden Han Family is truly too weak—there isn't a single one of the events they chose where we'd have any absolute advantage!" Han Xiaopo said with a bitter smile.

Wei Zhao nodded. There was some truth in what Han Xiaopo said; the crux was that the Hidden Han Family really had too little strength to compete with the other hidden clans. Even when others tailored the contest against you, so long as you were not utterly weak, there would always be something you excelled at.

"The car race is a certainty—the Summit brief mentions it as well, and the vehicles have already been fixed. It really is the Jetta we heard about earlier," Han Xiaopo said.

"Fine. It makes no difference what car it is," Wei Zhao said calmly. "So long as everyone drives the same model, I'm confident I can win."

"Excellent!" Hearing Wei Zhao's promise, Han Xiaopo finally breathed a sigh of relief. Wei Zhao had never given him a definite assurance before, so Han Xiaopo had not been sure whether Wei Zhao could really win. But now Wei Zhao had told him in a tone of absolute certainty that he could, and that meant he certainly would.

"What about the others?" Wei Zhao asked.

"There are also the martial arts contest, the solo endurance race, the solo endurance-of-beating contest, the hidden-weapon evasion contest, the solo arena match, the two-person cooperative arena match, the alchemy competition, the poison identification contest, and so on…" Han Xiaopo said. "But the detailed rules haven't come out yet. For now we only know the names."

Wei Zhao nodded. Though the detailed rules were not out, from the names alone one could more or less tell what these contests involved.

These hidden clans had not gone out of their way to target the Hidden Han Family; it was simply that the Hidden Han Family was hopeless—there was not one of these events they were any good at. Had he not joined them, the final result would likely have been a total rout.

"For these events, if we don't take part, do we still have to place bets?" Wei Zhao asked.

"Of course we have to place bets," Han Xiaopo said. "That's the rule. Even if you forfeit, you still have to bet."

"So it really is aimed at you," Wei Zhao said. "When the detailed rules come out before the competition, I'll study them. If it's feasible, we'll enter a few more events. But from what I see now, the solo arena match looks promising."

Wei Zhao did not speak too absolutely. He might well win other events too, but until the detailed rules were out he did not dare be too certain where he would hold the advantage. The solo arena match, though, was worth a try—barring an opponent of monstrous strength, winning it should not be much of a problem.

"Excellent! Boss really is something!" Han Xiaopo slapped his thigh and cried out excitedly. "With that, our Hidden Han Family has two events we might win. That way we may not come off too badly at this Hidden World Clan Summit! At the very least, the next time someone schemes against the Hidden Han Family, they'll have to think twice about whether it's worth the trouble!"

Han Xiaopo was right. If this round of competition was aimed specifically at the Hidden Han Family, then every hidden clan would have picked an event where it held the advantage. But if the Hidden Han Family won two in a row, that meant two hidden clans would lose out.

Then, the next time they plotted against the Hidden Han Family, those two hidden clans would certainly not be so eager; by then they would probably stay out of it altogether.

"Earlier you said you wanted to take the championship in that two-person cooperative arena match, didn't you?" Wei Zhao asked with a smile.

"I did, but with my strength…" Thinking of his own abilities, Han Xiaopo shook his head at once. "There's only one day left. The Summit is the day after tomorrow. However hard I try, I can't possibly match the boss…"

"Go and fetch that Minor Qi-Gathering Pill," Wei Zhao said.

"Hm? Now?" Taken aback by this answer that did not answer his question, Han Xiaopo was briefly stunned.

"That's right. Now," Wei Zhao said with a nod.

"This… all right then!" Though somewhat puzzled as to why Wei Zhao wanted the Minor Qi-Gathering Pill fetched at this moment, Han Xiaopo rose to his feet as told and left the room.

He had not gone far when he spotted Han Tianba.

"Xiaopo!" Han Tianba hurried up to him. "Well? How many events has Mr. Lin agreed to enter? Is there any hope of winning?"

"Grandfather, the boss has agreed to enter two events—the car race and the solo arena match," Han Xiaopo said. "He says he's confident of winning the race, and the solo arena match is also a real prospect."

"Good, excellent!" Han Tianba said delightedly. "That already exceeds our expectations. If we can win both events, two of the hidden clans scheming against us will lose out. Then, when they find the spoils unevenly divided, we'll see whether they still have the stomach to move against us again!"

"Indeed, exactly so!" Han Xiaopo said. "And with the boss taking the field, they'll be somewhat wary of us from now on."

"Right!" Han Tianba nodded, then remembered to ask, "What are you doing out here now? Shouldn't you be keeping Mr. Lin company and building up some goodwill?"

"Grandfather, the boss sent me out to fetch that Minor Qi-Gathering Pill. I was just on my way to find you!" Han Xiaopo said.

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