"It's me..." Yu Bing gave a bitter smile. He had meant to bring Yu Ning glad tidings, for he had seen Wei Zhao today and was certain the news would delight her, but... the glad tidings had turned to bad, and he hardly knew how to explain it to his little sister!

After all, Wei Zhao had been harmed by his enemies right before his eyes, and he had been powerless to help.

"What's wrong? Big brother? You don't sound happy at all?" Yu Ning asked, puzzled.

"Well... I have bad news... Little sister, you must hold yourself together after I tell you..." Yu Bing said hesitantly.

"What news? You make it sound so frightening? Big brother, what on earth has happened?" A groundless tightness seized Yu Ning's heart as she listened. "Have you run into trouble yourself?"

"Not me... Little sister, do you know whom I met at the inn in Ice Snow Spirit Town?" Yu Bing asked with a bitter smile.

"Who?" Yu Ning asked, taken slightly aback.

"Wei Zhao!" Yu Bing said.

"What! You saw him?" Shock and joy struck Yu Ning at once. "You met him? He came to take part in the trial too... No, wait, you said before you had bad news... Is it about him?"

Yu Ning's heart gave an instinctive tremble. Could something really have happened to him?

"Yes..." Yu Bing had called this time to tell Yu Ning the plain truth, so rather than stammer and hedge, he might as well speak frankly. After a moment's thought to gather his words, he told her the whole affair in detail.

"What! He has lost all his strength... and the others are disciples of an ancient sect..." Yu Ning was deeply shocked as she listened, yet she did not blame her brother. As one of the Hidden Yu family, she knew what an ancient sect meant, and she knew that if the other side was truly as formidable as her brother said, even his intervention would have been in vain! In such a pass, his choice to endure for the moment was right, for this was no time to act on impulse.

"Yes... I am truly sorry, little sister, there was no way I could step in..." Yu Bing said with a bitter smile. "I carry Father's hopes on my shoulders, I carry the hopes of the Yu family for this trial... I cannot afford to lose all my strength..."

"I understand... but he..." Yu Ning shook her head. She understood her brother's mind and would never reproach him for it. "When I heard he had already become an expert at the peak of the mid-stage Xuan Rank, I was so happy... but in the blink of an eye, he has lost all his strength..."

"That is why I called to tell you. At first I meant to keep it from you and not let you know, for fear you would grieve once you knew." Yu Bing said. "But I need your help. If Wei Zhao is to recover his strength, he will need a great quantity of cultivation elixirs, Spirit-Gathering Pills for example. Our Yu family can produce them, but the resources I alone can command are limited... For the rest, you will have to act..."

"But... I am no cultivator. I have never asked for elixirs or such things?" Yu Ning was slightly startled, though she felt her brother's plan was workable. To restore Wei Zhao's strength, she would do anything willingly!

She would never forget what had happened on that Valentine's night. Her whole heart was bound to Wei Zhao.

Still, Yu Ning was not an impulsive person. She knew her own position. If she rashly demanded cultivation elixirs from the family, the family would surely grow suspicious, so it would have to be done with skill...

"So we must think of a way together, though this came so suddenly that I have no good plan yet." Yu Bing smiled bitterly. "I am only telling you first, so you can think about it too..."

"All right, I will think about it at once!" Yu Ning dared not neglect anything concerning Wei Zhao and nodded hastily.

"Well, that is all for now. Do not let anyone else know. I will call home to say I am safe!" Yu Bing sighed. Heavy as his heart was, the call home still had to be made.

"Mm... Brother..." Yu Ning hesitated.

"What is it? Is there something else?" Yu Bing was about to hang up when he heard Yu Ning call him, so he asked.

"Could I... speak with him?" Yu Ning asked, mustering her courage.

"Tomorrow... I will try to talk him round. He is resting in his room now, and I think he would not wish others to know of this just now, so better not disturb him?" Yu Bing said.

"That is fine too..." Yu Ning nodded. She understood Wei Zhao's feelings now. Anyone stripped of all his strength would be unhappy. "But, brother, tell him for me that no matter what, I will help him. Ask him to trust me. I can surely do it. Even if not now... when... I will surely be able to help him! Tell him he must never give up on himself!"

In her agitation Yu Ning nearly blurted out that she could inherit the cultivation left in the ancient ruins, but in the Yu family that matter was ranked as a top secret. Apart from Yu Ning herself, only the Old Ancestor of the Yu family and Yu Xiaochen knew of it. Even Yu Yi did not fully understand it.

"Mm! I understand!" Yu Bing asked no more. He had long known his sister carried a great secret, the secret to reviving the Yu family, but since their father did not wish him to know, there was no need to press her. That would only put her in a difficult place!

After all, this was not a simple matter of feeling between brother and sister. It touched the house rules of the Yu family, and Yu Bing knew the weight of it.

After calling home to report that he was safe, Yu Bing had no heart left to win others over. He lay on the bed and rested early. Though he could not sleep and his mind was troubled, he had no wish to do anything else...

Zhao Qitan, Zhao Qijiu and Yu Shan were just now walking back to the inn, well fed and well drunk. It was already three in the morning, and they had clearly drunk to their hearts' content, for they were all delighted! Yet the three of them now hung half a step behind, for ahead of them walked one more man, an ally they had just won over.

This ally was surely no simple figure, or Yu Shan, who came from the Yu family, the head of the hidden families, would never show him such deference!

"Brother Nitian, with you joining us, our team is sure to achieve heaven-defying results in this trial!" Zhao Qitan was beside himself with excitement. To have forged a tie with a man of an ancient house, the advantages went without saying!

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