Chapter 2562 — Zhu the Foreman's Plea for Help

Zhu the Foreman mulled it over for a moment, then ran after them—though as he ran, he fished out a battered, top-of-the-line-junk phone and dialed Wei Zhao's number. True, he was now a man of the hidden Zhuang family, but he was even more Wei Zhao's running dog. The hidden Zhuang family was formidable enough, yet it did not overawe him the way Wei Zhao did.

And now, having established a cooperative relationship with Wei Zhao, the first thing Zhu the Foreman naturally had to do was find him and get him to step in and resolve this trouble. And this trouble could be resolved by Wei Zhao alone.

Wei Zhao had not yet driven to the villa when his phone rang. He picked it up without thinking. "Hello, this is Wei Zhao."

"Is that Mr. Lin? This is Zhu the Foreman!" Zhu the Foreman said rapidly, still running.

"Oh? Foreman Zhu? What is it? I was just about to head to the school to pick up Chen Xi and the others when they get out," Wei Zhao said, puzzled as to why the man would be calling him at such an hour.

"It's like this, Mr. Lin—Chen Xi and Ying Ziyu have been abducted. They're in a Mercedes-Benz commercial van right now, heading toward the North District..." Zhu the Foreman said.

"What? Chen Xi and Ying Ziyu have been abducted? What have you been doing? Why didn't you go and stop them?" Wei Zhao was aghast, and anger flared in his voice.

"I... Mr. Lin, it isn't that I wouldn't act. The men who took them are two top-tier early-stage Earth-rank experts. I'm no match for them—charging in would only be throwing my life away. Better to tail them and call for help than..." Zhu the Foreman said with a bitter smile.

"I see. Then where are you? I'll come at once!" The anger drained out of Wei Zhao at those words. Zhu the Foreman had, in fact, handled this well; if he had recklessly charged in, he would essentially have been courting death.

"I'm on Kuxia Road. Their direction of travel is unknown for the moment. Don't hang up—let's keep in constant contact!" Zhu the Foreman said.

"All right. I'm heading that way now," Wei Zhao said.

It happened to be the evening rush hour. Though it had only just begun, the traffic on the roads had inevitably thickened considerably. Wei Zhao's driving skills were exceptional, but even he could not quite avoid being slowed and entangled—and then another piece of bad news came through from Uncle Zhu.

"Mr. Lin, this is bad—one of them has dragged Ying Ziyu into a different car, and the two vehicles are heading in different directions..." Zhu the Foreman said swiftly.

"What? Did they spot you?" Wei Zhao was startled; he had not expected the kidnappers to split up.

"That's impossible. If they'd spotted me, would they have let me live? Those two top-tier early-stage Earth-rank experts on the car could have killed me ten times over!" Zhu the Foreman rejected the notion outright, for he had been careful the whole way, and with his scavenger's appearance he was utterly unremarkable—he should not have been noticed.

"Then what's going on?" Wei Zhao was somewhat baffled.

In truth, the matter was simple. It was not that the two Zhuang brothers had discovered Zhu the Foreman tailing them; rather, the two Zhuang brothers meant to take Chen Xi back to the hidden Zhuang family to see Old Master Zhuang. Having abducted Chen Xi, they feared that a long delay would breed complications and that the power behind Chen Xi's cultivation would find out, so they wanted to return to the hidden Zhuang family at the first opportunity.

Accordingly, they had Chen Xiaoba find another car and take Ying Ziyu away separately. As to what became of Chen Xiaoba and Ying Ziyu, that was no concern of the two Zhuang brothers.

"Their target should be Chen Xi..." Here Zhu the Foreman began to hem and haw. It touched upon Chen Xi's secret, and he did not know whether he ought to tell Wei Zhao—which was why he had also concealed the identity of the two Zhuang brothers earlier.

"Chen Xi? What exactly is going on? Zhu the Foreman, have you a death wish? Or do you fancy the hidden Zhuang family a fine big tree to lounge beneath?" Hearing him stammer, Wei Zhao grew irritated and said in a chilling voice, "Do not forget what has become of Old Bi."

"That... all right, I'll talk!" At the thought of Old Bi, Zhu the Foreman shuddered from head to foot. Indeed—what was the hidden Zhuang family worth? Before Wei Zhao it was nothing at all. What sense was there in concealing anything now? That would be idiocy. So Zhu the Foreman hastened to say, "The truth is, Chen Xi's constitution is very special—a special cauldron-and-vessel constitution. And our hidden Zhuang family has been raising her all along as a cauldron. The ones who took her are Zhuang Niaoqiang and Zhuang Niaopao, the two brothers of the hidden Zhuang family. It's very likely they acted precisely because they saw through Chen Xi's constitution!"

"I thought as much. I was wondering where two top-tier early-stage Earth-rank robbers had suddenly sprung from—I was asking myself since when Earth-rank experts had grown so cheap that they were running all over the streets. So it's the hidden Zhuang family!" Wei Zhao said, the truth dawning on him. He did not much understand this cauldron business the foreman spoke of; he roughly knew that a cauldron was something to aid a cultivator's training, but not the specifics. That did not prevent him from deducing cause and effect, however: so the hidden Zhuang family had set its eyes on Chen Xi as a cauldron and made its move...

"Mr. Lin, tell me what to do first! The two cars are getting farther and farther away—which one am I supposed to follow?" Zhu the Foreman asked anxiously. "But from the look of it, the two Zhuang brothers are headed for Lin City. Lin City is the hidden Zhuang family's home ground... the direction they're taking should be the expressway to Lin City... their plate ends in 4321, and the model is a Mercedes-Benz Viano commercial van."

"Oh? Then I've got it. Here's what we'll do: you go after Ying Ziyu, and I'll go after those two Zhuang bastards." Wei Zhao made his decision swiftly. Zhu the Foreman should be more than capable of dealing with whoever had taken Ying Ziyu, but he would be no match for the two Zhuang brothers—even if he chased them down by car, he would not be their opponent, so the chase would be futile. Better that Wei Zhao go himself. "You can rescue Ying Ziyu on your end, can't you? No problem?"

"Absolutely no problem!" Zhu the Foreman answered at once. He had seen Chen Xiaoba—an ordinary man with no strength whatsoever.

"Good, then it's settled. Report to me at any time if anything comes up," Wei Zhao instructed.

"Will do. But the man who took Ying Ziyu—what do you want done with him..." Zhu the Foreman asked cautiously.

"See what they're up to. If he means Ying Ziyu any harm, then act. Just leave one alive for questioning; the rest you can handle as you see fit," Wei Zhao said. In truth, Wei Zhao was curious too—what did these people want with Ying Ziyu?

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