Chapter 2566 — Meeting Him in Person

It had begun on the very first day Wei Zhao took her in hand to do her hair, with that domineering, high-handed manner of his—from that moment on, Ying Ziyu had fallen for him, a little at a time.

But her fondness had crept in unnoticed. By the time she realized it, Chen Xi had already confessed to her that she liked Wei Zhao too. So Ying Ziyu could not go and compete with her sister for a man—that was beneath the code of a big sister, and so she had no choice but to bury the whole thing quietly in her heart.

True, she often helped Chen Xi plot and scheme, but were not those schemes, in the end, her own ideas—realized through Chen Xi?

"You old bastard, are you pretending I don't exist?" Tyrant Chen, hearing Foreman Zhu and Ying Ziyu chatting away as though he were not there at all, grew irritated. He was, after all, the underground king of a city, a boss of the underworld—being ignored like this, how could he possibly be pleased?

"Hmph. A little shrimp dares to make noise in front of a cultivator?" Foreman Zhu sneered, and with a casual wave of his palm, said mildly, "I won't take your life. Your life—I'll leave that for Mr. Lin to decide."

A cultivator? Tyrant Chen was horrified—that was his last thought before he lost consciousness. His backing was the Hidden Zhuang family, so of course he knew what a cultivator was, and how formidable cultivators could be. He had never imagined that this old man before him was actually a cultivator... Then whose faction did he belong to? But Tyrant Chen had no mind left to consider it—he had already blacked out.

Foreman Zhu then dialed Wei Zhao's number. "Mr. Lin, Miss Ying is fine—all is well. Young Chen got his balls kicked to bursting by Miss Ying, and when Tyrant Chen tried to pull a gun, I severed his meridians and broke his bones. He's a cripple now, nothing more."

"Well done. I'm on my way to the temporary Hidden Zhuang family estate—bring them along and come over as well." Wei Zhao breathed a sigh of relief. He had known that with Foreman Zhu at Ying Ziyu's side, nothing could possibly go wrong, but hearing the outcome still lifted a boulder from his heart.

"To the Hidden Zhuang family?" Foreman Zhu was briefly taken aback. "Mr. Lin, you still haven't settled things on your end? Are we going to storm the Hidden Zhuang family?"

The very thought set Foreman Zhu's blood racing. Was Wei Zhao about to bathe the Hidden Zhuang family in blood? That would be a thrilling sight indeed—only, with his own level of strength, would following at Wei Zhao's side just mean going to his death?

"Storm what?" Wei Zhao laughed at that. "The Hidden Zhuang family seems to be leaning toward submitting to my Heaven Alliance. I'll go have a look first, and we'll see."

"Ah? They want to..." Foreman Zhu was no fool; hearing Wei Zhao say it, he understood at once. The Hidden Zhuang family meant to acknowledge Wei Zhao as their leader? At that thought, Foreman Zhu felt a certain bitterness. Why was it that the Hidden Han family, the Hidden Pi family, and now even the Hidden Zhuang family were all so astute about the times, knowing that throwing in their lot with Wei Zhao was their only way out?

But the Hidden Zhao family—why did they insist on courting death? What damn good did opposing Wei Zhao do them? When Wei Zhao's patience ran out, he would go and wipe out the entire Hidden Zhao family! Foreman Zhu felt somewhat aggrieved. Other families had submitted to Wei Zhao, and for their people to cooperate with him was only natural—yet he himself still had to skulk about in secret. What kind of nonsense was that?

"Heh, no need to be so glum." Wei Zhao caught the note of grievance in Foreman Zhu's voice and smiled. "The Zhao family—don't they still have Zhao Qitan?"

"Oh?" Foreman Zhu's eyes lit up at once. That was right—there was still Zhao Qitan! Why hadn't he thought of it before? In this trial of the Mystic Elixir Sect, if Zhao Qitan died, that would be the end of the matter—but what if he didn't die?

With Wei Zhao's backing, Zhao Qitan would have no choice but to rise. By then, the Hidden Zhao family would likely be turned upside down—and it might even split apart...

"I'll head over right now!" Foreman Zhu drew a deep breath and made his choice. In truth, he had no choice at all. He did not wish to court death, and so he could only become Wei Zhao's subordinate.

With Ying Ziyu in tow and Young Chen and Tyrant Chen slung over his shoulders, Foreman Zhu got straight into the car they had come in and sped off in the direction of the neighboring city.

After Wei Zhao followed Zhu Niaoqiang off the expressway, they soon turned onto another road, one paved and leveled to a remarkable smoothness. The only oddity was a checkpoint at its head, much like a toll station—except this station did no public business. It existed solely to inspect and clear vehicles traveling to and from the Hidden Zhuang family estate.

With Zhu Niaoqiang leading the way and Zhu Niaopao sitting beside him, the two cars passed through without hindrance and raced along the road, soon arriving at a manor. The surroundings here were much like those of the Hidden Zhao and Hidden Han families—it seemed the style of every hidden clan was much the same.

Old Master Zhuang, having received Zhu Niaoqiang's call, had long since been waiting at the manor gate. Before Wei Zhao he had nothing to put on airs about. He was merely a top-tier late-stage Earth Rank expert, while Wei Zhao was already at the peak of mid-stage Earth Rank—and his true strength was such that he could slay Heaven Rank experts outright, across ranks. To Old Master Zhuang, Wei Zhao was practically an elder of the previous generation.

The two cars pulled up one behind the other at the manor gate. Old Master Zhuang paid Zhu Niaoqiang no mind at all; beaming, he walked over to Wei Zhao's Grand Cherokee and respectfully opened the door for him. "The arrival of Senior Lin at my humble dwelling lends it untold glory—welcome, most welcome!"

There had been a time when Old Master Zhuang, at the summit of the hidden clans, had been quite resistant to Wei Zhao. But times had changed, and once he learned of Wei Zhao's ability to slay Heaven Rank experts in an instant, Old Master Zhuang had adjusted his outlook—resistance had turned to awe and deference.

And now, with the Hidden Zhuang family possibly about to become Wei Zhao's subordinate, faced with such a fine opportunity, Old Master Zhuang was all the more cautious, daring not to make the slightest misstep.

"Heh, Old Master Zhuang is too kind!" Wei Zhao smiled faintly, and accepted the title of senior without protest. Back at the cultivators' market, Third Master You had long since been calling him senior, so he had grown used to it.

"This way, Senior Lin!" The more composed Wei Zhao was, the more formidable Old Master Zhuang found him. As the saying went, one does not take on the porcelain work without the diamond drill—if Wei Zhao were not truly formidable, could he carry himself with such bearing?

"Wait—let me first see how my sister is doing." Wei Zhao waved a hand, then turned and walked to Zhu Niaoqiang's Mercedes van. He lifted Chen Xi from the back seat. He had known all along that she was fine—the Zhu brothers could not possibly have lied to him—but only now, after a careful examination confirmed that she had merely fainted, did he let out a breath of relief.

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