Chapter 2993 — Someone Got Away

"Yes. According to the Zhao family's disciples, Senior Lin and the others had only just entered the Zhao residence when Zhao Guangyin left through the rear gate under Elder Mian's protection. It's been more than half an hour now. I searched all around the back hill, but couldn't find a trace of him..." Old Master You hurriedly explained.

"Someone actually got away?" Wei Zhao was momentarily stunned. He had not expected Zhao Guangyin to flee so quickly. The reason Wei Zhao had come to the Hidden Zhao residence in a wheelchair, without letting Old Master Pi and the others get out of the car first, was to mislead the people inside into thinking that he lacked the strength to swallow the Hidden Zhao family and had merely come to throw his life away.

In fact, that was precisely what Old Master Zhao had believed earlier. With Old Master You, Sect Master Wo, and Sect Master Jin present, he had been even more certain that Wei Zhao and the others would never return alive.

Yet Zhao Guangyin was clearly a capable man. Even when the situation had seemed to favor the Hidden Zhao family, he had still chosen to run. It appeared that Zhao Guangyin was not nearly as spineless as Wei Zhao had previously been led to believe.

"Yes. The moment you entered the Hidden Zhao residence, Senior Lin, Zhao Guangyin took Elder Mian and fled!" Old Master You said. "What do we do now? There's no way we can catch him. I don't even know where he went."

"Leave him for now. We can deal with everyone else first." Hearing that Zhao Guangyin had escaped, Wei Zhao felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding, as though something terrible were about to happen. Yet for the moment, he could not imagine what harm Zhao Guangyin's escape might cause. After all, Zhao Guangyin was only a Heaven-rank expert. If even Zhao Qibing, a disciple of the ancient sect Night Palace, was no cause for concern, what trouble could Zhao Guangyin possibly stir up?

Old Master Zhao, who had been sitting in his chair looking somewhat dejected, suddenly burst into laughter when he heard that Zhao Guangyin had escaped. "Zhao Guangyin, Zhao Guangyin—you really are something! You left without taking me with you. After all these years, you even managed to deceive your own father!"

Old Master Zhao likely understood by now that Zhao Guangyin's earlier air of helplessness had been an act. Old Master Zhao was too domineering, too self-centered, and too hungry for power; he had clung to the position of family head and refused to relinquish it. As the young family head, Zhao Guangyin had had no choice but to behave that way if he wanted to protect himself.

And when the crucial moment arrived, Zhao Guangyin's intelligence revealed itself. He was plainly more clever than Old Master Zhao. He had always been wary of Wei Zhao, and the instant he saw Wei Zhao and the others arrive, he knew it could mean nothing good. So he had simply run.

After complaining for a while, however, Old Master Zhao began laughing again. "Good, good, good! Excellent! At least one of us finally got away. Wei Zhao, you wanted to wipe out the entire Hidden Zhao family, but now you can't!"

"I never planned to wipe out your entire family. Isn't Zhao Qitan still alive and well?" Wei Zhao studied Old Master Zhao's expression, thoughtful. It seemed the old man had been driven to the brink and was no longer entirely sane.

It was understandable, in a way. Life could hurl a man from one extreme to the other: one moment he was the victor with every advantage, and the next he had lost so completely that nothing remained.

Before long, Old Master You, Sect Master Wo, and Sect Master Jin returned. Most of the servants and nonessential Zhao disciples had been dismissed, while the stubborn loyalists and core disciples who refused to submit had all died beneath the hands of the three men.

Although the three men were not especially powerful, dealing with the far weaker disciples of the Hidden Zhao family had been as easy as slaughtering chickens.

"Senior Lin, we've finished what you asked us to do. May we leave now?" Old Master You asked.

"Leave? There's no hurry. Since all of you admire me so much, why don't we take a photograph together here at the entrance to the Hidden Zhao residence? Old Master Zhao, with all his disabilities, can serve as a fine backdrop." Wei Zhao smiled.

"What? A photograph too?" Old Master You froze, then his expression darkened. How could he not understand what Wei Zhao meant? Now that the Hidden Zhao family had been destroyed, if the three of them went home and spread rumors, presenting a united story, Wei Zhao might find himself facing some minor trouble. After all, he still could not stand above the ancient world. If the ancient factions came demanding answers, Wei Zhao would have difficulty dealing with them.

But now Wei Zhao was forcing Old Master You, Sect Master Jin, and Sect Master Wo to pose beside the crippled Old Master Zhao. That meant they would all be implicated in what had happened today. Unless the three men had lost their minds, none of them would go home and stir up trouble over it.

Even if Old Master Zhao went to the ancient sects and claimed that Wei Zhao had destroyed the Hidden Zhao family, the three men would stand up and testify that he had not.

"And how else can we prove our friendship if we don't take a photograph?" Wei Zhao countered mildly.

"Well... all right. A photograph, then. We'll take one." Old Master You nodded helplessly.

And so Old Master You, Sect Master Jin, and Sect Master Wo stood with Wei Zhao before Old Master Zhao and took a photograph together. None of the three was particularly pleased, but to humor Wei Zhao, they could only force smiles onto their faces. After all, they were afraid of dying too.

Once the photograph had been taken, Wei Zhao waved a hand. "All right. You may leave. Behave yourselves when you get home, and don't entertain any foolish ideas. It won't do you any good."

"Understood, Senior Lin. We'll keep our heads down and conduct ourselves properly when we return!" Old Master You and the other two hurriedly assured him.

Wei Zhao nodded and led his followers away from the Hidden Zhao residence. The once-bustling great family had become eerily deserted in the space of a moment. Some were dead, and the rest had fled. As for the aftermath, Old Master Han would naturally handle it; matters involving a hidden aristocratic family were not something ordinary people could interfere with.

However, just as Wei Zhao had left the Hidden Zhao residence and was preparing to head home for a celebration, his phone suddenly rang. An ordinary ringtone would normally have been perfectly unremarkable to him, but for some reason, this time it filled Wei Zhao with a sudden, inexplicable dread.

He glanced at the caller ID and was surprised to see that it was Ying Ziyu. Puzzled, Wei Zhao quickly answered. "Ziyu? What is it?"

"Brother Wei Zhao, this is bad! Your little lover has been kidnapped!" Ying Ziyu shrieked frantically through the phone.

"What little lover of mine?" Wei Zhao was utterly bewildered. He had no idea what Ying Ziyu was talking about.

"Xiao Xi! Xiao Xi has been kidnapped!" Ying Ziyu exclaimed.

"Chen Xi? How was she kidnapped? Who took her?" Only then did Wei Zhao understand whom Ying Ziyu meant by "little lover," but he had no time to argue about that. He could only ask urgently, "Who took her?" (To be continued.)

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