Chapter 2259 — Continued Attention

In theory, this set of alchemist's notes from the Xuandan Sect was worth, by any measure, every last item traded away for it—a few ingredients and one broken cauldron that could never be repaired. To obtain such material in exchange was a bargain.

One had to remember that the Right family had slaved for the Xuandan Sect for years, paying no small price, before this material ever came into their hands.

And there lay the crux of the matter: this material—the Right family already possessed it, so naturally it was worthless. This sort of thing could be copied. What came first was precious; what came later differed not at all from waste paper.

"Never mind. You and Panhu couldn't have known about this material, so I don't blame the two of you!" Old Master Right waved a hand and sighed. "Go on out and ask Panhu—what does Wei Zhao have to say for himself this time?"

"Yes, Father!" Right Zhentian breathed a sigh of relief, yet secretly lamented: the material they had traded back was one the family already owned! As for the broken cauldron and those few ingredients, the Right family hardly cared; they were merely chafing.

Old Master Right and Right Zhentian stepped out. Right Panhu, still oblivious, thought he was about to be commended; he rose to speak, but then caught sight of his grandfather's and his uncle's dark faces and was at once bewildered.

"Panhu, we've been played by Wei Zhao again this time!" Seeing Right Panhu's stunned expression, Right Zhentian spoke up to explain.

"What? What do you mean, played by Wei Zhao again? That can't be!" Right Panhu was baffled. "I inspected that material myself—it is genuinely an alchemist's notebook, and a highly useful one at that. I read a few pages at random and benefited greatly. How could we have been played?"

"There's nothing wrong with the notebook itself; it is a fine piece of work. The trouble is that our family already has this very notebook..." Right Zhentian gave a bitter smile. Even if Panhu had examined it thoroughly before making the exchange with Wei Zhao, he likely would never have spotted the problem.

After all, Panhu had never read this material, and Right Zhentian himself had scarcely read any of it either. He would probably have made the same mistake.

"What? Our family already has it?" Right Panhu blurted out in shock.

"This alchemist's notebook is in fact the Xuandan Sect's alchemist's notebook." Old Master Right sighed and waved a hand. "What puzzles me is how it ended up in Wei Zhao's hands. Tell me carefully—what exactly did you say to Wei Zhao back then? Do not leave out a single detail!"

"Yes..." Right Panhu's heart went cold. He hurriedly began recalling with care, and recited his earlier conversation with Wei Zhao to Old Master Right word for word. "The situation at the time was like this..."

Having heard Right Panhu's account, Old Master Right knitted his brows and was silent for a long while. At last he said, "Wei Zhao is a cunning one indeed! I reckon Wei Zhao must have known this was the Xuandan Sect's alchemist's notebook—that is why he showed it to that Han Jingyi and also traded it to you. Otherwise, if it had truly been Elder Bai's own alchemist's notebook, then even if he traded it to you, he would surely have done so in secret, and would never have let a third person know of it or see it!"

Right Panhu mulled it over carefully, and indeed it was so. This thing was so important—without Elder Bai's permission, would Wei Zhao have shown it to Han Jingyi? The only explanation was that Wei Zhao knew the material was in fact the Xuandan Sect's alchemist's notebook, not Elder Bai's legacy, and that was why he had shown it to Han Jingyi...

And he himself had laughably believed he had caught Wei Zhao in a bind, forcing him to trade the material over for inspection. What a fool he had been!

But such is the way of things: at the time one cannot see clearly, and afterward one is left with nothing but regret.

"Grandfather... I..." Right Panhu flushed. He had not expected to trade back another piece of junk—and he had meant to claim credit for it?

"This is not your fault; the fault lies in Wei Zhao being too cunning!" said Old Master Right. "Fortunately our losses this time were small—smaller even than the first time! A broken antique cauldron beyond repair, and some alchemical ingredients. Things that can be bought with money mean nothing to us!"

Hearing Old Master Right say this, Right Panhu breathed a sigh of relief, though he no longer dared claim credit.

"This is what you'll do: after you return to the school, keep watching Wei Zhao's movements and see whether Elder Bai continues to give him material. If he gives him more material, find a way to trade for it again!" Old Master Right pondered a moment, then spoke.

"Trade again?" This time it was not only Right Panhu but even Right Zhentian who asked in astonishment.

"Of course we trade again!" Old Master Right nodded. "The premise, naturally, is that we trade him things of little use to our family—junk, ingredients, that sort of thing. Fine cauldrons and finished pills are not to be traded away!"

"But... if he brings out another swindle, wouldn't that be a loss for us?" Right Panhu asked doubtfully.

"Judging by this material, the grade of what Elder Bai gives Wei Zhao is rising bit by bit. Last time it was an introduction; this time it is personal notes; next time, even if it is not his own notes, it will likely be the notes from some out-of-print ancient text. When we trade for that, it will be of great use to our Right family!" said Old Master Right. "In any case, trading with him costs us nothing; we only put up some ingredients..."

"That is true..." Right Panhu nodded, feeling rather relieved. It seemed his grandfather had not only refrained from calling him to account for his mistake but was actually encouraging him to keep at it. That set Right Panhu's mind at ease.

"Wait, Father—from what Panhu just said, Wei Zhao told Elder Bai that he cannot refine pills and cannot even control pill fire. What use would the cauldron and the alchemical ingredients be to him?" Right Zhentian suddenly thought of something that did not add up.

"I have been considering that very question." Old Master Right waved a hand. "There are two explanations. One, Wei Zhao is hiding the fact that he can in truth refine pills—the lad is cunning enough, and deceiving people would be no surprise. The second possibility is that Wei Zhao cannot refine pills at all, and he wants those ingredients for that Han Jingyi—perhaps she has the makings of an alchemist!"

"The first possibility seems unlikely, doesn't it?" said Right Panhu. "Whether or not he can refine pills, there would be no need to hide it. This is not like one's own strength, where one can play the pig to eat the tiger—what is there to hide about alchemy? If he could refine pills, that would only help him win people over, win over other hidden families. He would have no need to hide it at all!"

"Quite right. Father, what do you think?" Right Zhentian nodded; he agreed with Right Panhu's view.

For the fastest updates, read without pop-ups, please.