Chapter 2156 — The Purpose of the Banquet

Old Master Pi's steps faltered for a moment, then he quickened his pace once more, leaving the side hall and returning to the temporary quarters of the Hidden Pi Family.

Pi Zhishan had long since returned. Finding neither his grandfather nor his younger brother, he paced about in frantic circles. A disciple of the Hidden Zhao Family had come to inform him that dinner would be served in the banquet hall at four thirty, but he had no stomach for it; he brushed the disciple off with a few perfunctory words and sent him on his way.

"Grandfather!" Pi Zhishan looked up and saw his grandfather walk in carrying his younger brother, Pi Zhihai. He hurried to ask, "Zhihai, is he..."

"Ah..." Old Master Pi shook his head and laid Pi Zhihai on the bed. "Zhao the Medicine King of the Zhao Family has no solution at all..."

"Then my brother is..." Pi Zhishan was alarmed. He had been close to Pi Zhihai since childhood, and if Pi Zhihai were crippled this time, it would greatly affect his own control over the Pi Family once he became its head in the future!

"It is not that there is no solution... there is a solution, after all..." Old Master Pi's brows knitted deeply, as though he were mulling something over.

"Grandfather, what solution? You look as if it troubles you greatly. Why not tell me, and let your grandson help you think it through?" Seeing his grandfather's expression, Pi Zhishan asked cautiously.

"Very well, I will speak of it, and you shall help me weigh it!" Old Master Pi nodded. "The matter stands thus..."

Thereupon Old Master Pi recounted, point by point, everything Zhao the Medicine King had said to him, hoping Pi Zhishan might offer some counsel.

"So that is to say, both Wei Zhao and the Mystic Elixir Sect could heal him?" After hearing his grandfather out, Pi Zhishan frowned and asked.

"Indeed, though how much credit to give it, I cannot say." Old Master Pi was no fool; Zhao the Medicine King might say such things, but whether to believe him was another matter entirely, and one for Old Master Pi himself. "Zhishan, what do you make of it?"

"Grandfather, the way I see it, this sounds like Zhao the Medicine King deliberately stoking the hatred between our Pi Family and Wei Zhao!" Pi Zhishan analyzed objectively. "But whether Wei Zhao can heal him is uncertain—however, as for the Mystic Elixir Sect, I fear that even if they could, they would not!"

"Oh? Why do you say so?" Old Master Pi nodded and asked with a hint of approval.

"This refining of true qi—as Old Master Zhao himself said—is a perilous business, spending one's own strength to complete another. What profit could we possibly offer to induce the Mystic Elixir Sect to help us?" Pi Zhishan gave a cold laugh. "How Zhao the Medicine King was cured of this true qi back then, he did not say—but it was certainly not the Mystic Elixir Sect that cured him!"

"And Wei Zhao?" Old Master Pi was gratified; under his tutelage, Pi Zhishan was coming more and more to resemble one who stood above others, considering matters ever more thoroughly, unclouded by personal feeling.

"Wei Zhao..." Pi Zhishan said, "Of Wei Zhao I cannot speak with certainty, but since Zhao the Medicine King has raised it, the matter is likely no fabrication. If we make inquiries, we should be able to verify it. There is no gain to him in deceiving us—there are many ways to deepen our hatred for Wei Zhao, and to spout nonsense on this matter would only harm the Zhao Family's reputation."

"True enough. And so what do you propose?" Old Master Pi nodded.

"I think... begging Wei Zhao is more reliable than begging the Mystic Elixir Sect. Even if we have not moved against Wei Zhao, and Wei Zhao proves unable, we can still turn to the Mystic Elixir Sect!" Pi Zhishan said. "What standing has the Mystic Elixir Sect? Would they heal our Pi Family for free out of regard for the Right Family? If we can offer sufficient price, then with or without the Right Family's regard, the Mystic Elixir Sect will help. Otherwise, no introduction will serve! Look at how the Right Family's Old Master Right treats his own disciple—you can see how heartless these pill-refining sects are! That disciple took part in the endurance contest, and when he was injured, he still had to heal himself!"

"So then, you do not favor moving against Wei Zhao?" Old Master Pi asked.

"Grandfather, you said before that the grievance between our Hidden Pi Family and Wei Zhao is not great—a few people died, no more, and they were not of our direct line. Bear it, and it will pass," Pi Zhishan said. "On the contrary, attaching ourselves to Wei Zhao brings many benefits. Look at Han Tianba and Han Xiaopo—what were they before? The lowest of the hidden families. And now? If Wei Zhao comes through this unscathed, the Hidden Han Family will surely rise high hereafter."

"Zhishan, well said!" Old Master Pi said. "That you can see this clearly shows you already possess the vision of an heir—my efforts to cultivate you have not been wasted."

"It was also your guidance during the earlier matches, Grandfather, that opened my eyes!" Pi Zhishan said. "Grandfather, then we now... ah, that's right—earlier a disciple of the Zhao Family invited us to dine in the banquet hall at four thirty..."

"It is certainly to discuss how to deal with Wei Zhao. Let us go and see!" Old Master Pi said. "For now, listen only—do not declare where we stand!"

"Very well!" Pi Zhishan nodded, and the two of them hurried off toward the banquet hall...

In the banquet hall of the Hidden Zhao Family, the seats were filled with guests. Every family head and heir attending this Hidden World Family Summit, along with the sect masters and prized disciples of the various sects, were all present—save, of course, the Hidden Han Family and those disciples injured or slain in the contests.

"That you honored guests could grace this banquet with your presence is truly the greatest honor for one surnamed Zhao—it lends this hall a brilliance beyond its worth!" Seeing that all had arrived, Old Master Zhao rose and cupped his hands in salute.

"You are too kind, too kind..." The old masters of families that had suffered no losses, and An Mingyue of the Fire Wolf Gang, all rose to respond.

But those old masters and sect leaders who had lost men or suffered injuries were less sanguine; their faces wore the look of mourners, dark and sullen, and they spoke little.

"The purpose of my banquet tonight, I believe you all understand?" Old Master Zhao had limited time and went straight to the point. "I think that everyone seated here, whether or not you bear Wei Zhao a deep hatred, has tasted bitterness at Wei Zhao's hands at this Hidden World Family Summit?"

"Old Master Zhao, have you already thought of a countermeasure?" Old Master Right was likewise a sworn enemy of Wei Zhao, so the moment Old Master Zhao said this, Old Master Right at once voiced his approval.

"Indeed. This was meant to be a summit of our hidden families and sects against the Hidden Han Family, and yet it has become a stage for Wei Zhao alone. Setting aside other grievances, how many fine treasures have we lost at this Hidden World Family Summit? All of them have gone into Wei Zhao's pockets!" Old Master Yu nodded in agreement.

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