"What? You even found the treasure? Where is it now?" Qing Bo stared at Wei Zhao with surprise and excitement, but a moment later he shook his head. "Forgive me, Xiaoyi—I got carried away. You were the one who found the treasure, so by rights it is yours. Even ** said nothing about it, so of course I won't ask for it back..."

"If you wanted it, it's gone—I gave it away," Wei Zhao said with a smile, spreading his hands.

"Gave it away?" Qing Bo was startled. Had Wei Zhao kept the thing for himself, Qing Bo certainly would not have objected, but to hear it had been given away left him feeling a pang of regret and reluctance. "Who did you give it to? That object was priceless..."

"I gave it to Sun Jingyan," Wei Zhao said. "So she could take it back and use it with the ** Sun family mental cultivation method."

"Ah?" Qing Bo was dumbstruck for a moment, then he did not know whether to laugh or cry. "You nearly scared me to death! Xiaoyi, how is that giving it away? She's hardly an outsider."

"Heh heh..." Wei Zhao chuckled.

"By the way, does Jingyi know about any of this?" Qing Bo asked suddenly.

"No, she doesn't. That's why I'm telling you two in private. Everything up to now has been my suspicions and guesses—Jingyi knows nothing," Wei Zhao said, shaking his head. "This old grudge is far too tangled, and the enemy far too powerful. I don't want her knowing too much; it would only make her worry. That's why I came back to speak with you first. As for whether to tell her, that's for you to decide."

"A tangled grudge? An enemy too powerful?" Qing Bo was slightly taken aback and looked at Wei Zhao in puzzlement. "Enemy? What enemy?"

"I crossed blades with the people from the force that wiped out your sect..." And with that, Wei Zhao told Qing Bo and Granny Sun in detail everything that had happened in the Ulaghot Mountains...

"What... you fought them?" Hearing Wei Zhao's account, Qing Bo was both shocked and horrified. He had assumed that Wei Zhao's trip to the Ulaghot Mountains would end with him locating the treasure according to the bearings marked on the map and bringing it back. Never had he imagined that Wei Zhao would end up in a life-and-death struggle with enemies lying in wait in the mountains!

When he heard how Wei Zhao and the Heaven-rank brute had joined forces to kill an early Heaven-rank expert, Qing Bo was utterly astounded! Thinking of the perils Wei Zhao and Sun Jingyan had faced along the way, his heart clenched for them.

"Still, it was more fright than danger in the end—we made it back alive," Wei Zhao said, holding nothing back. He told them about the Fire Lion clan and the Spider clan, and did not conceal even his trip to the Tagan family to steal the secret manual on forging the essence-essence necklace.

"How is that 'more fright than danger'!" Qing Bo let out a long breath. "Xiaoyi, thank you. Thank you for watching over Jingyi the whole way. This Fu owes you yet another favor!"

"Qing Bo, family doesn't speak such words. With the bond between us, saying that only makes us strangers," Wei Zhao said, waving a hand. "Besides, Sun Jingyan and I... are good friends too..."

As he said this, Wei Zhao could not help blushing. He and Sun Jingyan were, it seemed, "lovers"? In the past that had been nothing—Qing Bo knew of the relationship—but things were different now. Sun Jingyan was Qing Bo's daughter. If anything more came of things between him and Sun Jingyan, how was he to answer to Qing Bo?

So at these thoughts, Wei Zhao felt a twinge of embarrassment and a headache coming on, and could only define their relationship as that of good friends.

"Heh heh..." Back when Gu Pengzhan was hospitalized, Qing Bo had known that Wei Zhao's relationship with Sun Jingyan and Qiu Lingshan was somewhat ambiguous—otherwise the two would not have kept running to the hospital. At the time Qing Bo had not thought much of it, and now he still would not. "Jingyi was not raised by Luo Yue and me from childhood. In truth, I have no right to interfere in her decisions. So long as she is happy, that is enough."

"Heh heh..." Wei Zhao could only smile bitterly. Then, after a laugh, he quickly changed the subject. "By the way, on Jingyi's side—should we tell her **?"

"For now, best not to tell her..." Qing Bo mused for a moment, then shook his head. "Though she and I long to recognize each other, you yourself said the enemy is too powerful. If she and I acknowledge each other, I fear it would not only bring trouble to her, but great trouble to me and to Luo Yue as well—and in the end that trouble would surely fall on your head. So, to be prudent, it is better not to acknowledge each other for now!"

"Mm... that's true enough, but isn't it a bit unfair to Jingyi?" Wei Zhao had often seen Sun Jingyan's loneliness and desolation, and it had to do with her family circumstances—a childhood without parents, and little regard in the Sun family, with an uncle who was distant and grandparents who did not care. So if possible, letting Sun Jingyan learn news of her parents would be a good thing.

Yet Qing Bo's misgivings were exactly Wei Zhao's own! Sun Jingyan had shown her true face before Tagan Long, and there was no guaranteeing they would not investigate her background. If they did and found she was a Sun, they would only suspect her of being a relative of Sun Luo Yue—they would hardly suspect her of being Sun Luo Yue's daughter. After all, her surname was Sun!

This was the same mistake Wei Zhao had made before by failing to consider this point—falling into the trap of assuming that relatives simply looked alike.

And even if the Tagan family's people found Sun Jingyan, as long as she had not acknowledged Qing Bo and Granny Sun, there would be no flaw to follow, and no way to implicate Qing Bo and Granny Sun. Their foes were too strange and too powerful; there was no harm in being careful.

Only, Tagan Long would have to wake up first. Of those who had seen Sun Jingyan, Lazi had fled, and no one in the Tagan family knew where Sun Jingyan had gone. Finding her from a single painting alone would be no simple matter.

"It is indeed unfair, but there is no help for it. If it were traced back, Luo Yue and I would both be in danger. After all, Luo Yue has no strength at all, and my own strength is not enough to protect mother and daughter..." Qing Bo said with a sigh.

"Mm, all right, then. We'll leave this matter for later," Wei Zhao nodded. "As for strength, we'll build it up slowly. Here—take this Small Qi-Gathering Pill, Qing Bo. Take it and raise yourself to early Earth-rank first!"

"Small Qi-Gathering Pill? For me?" Qing Bo was slightly stunned, then took the pill Wei Zhao handed him with some excitement. Such a thing was nothing special among the ancient sects, but in Qing Bo's hands at this moment, it was a miracle drug!

In the past, Qing Bo had had that treasure for his **, and had naturally disdained to use such pills.

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