Over the years, his energy had gone almost entirely into cultivation and alchemy, and he had long since washed his hands of sect affairs; he knew of the Xuanzhen Ancestor's plan, but had taken no part in it.

"Second Brother..." The Xuanzhen Ancestor paused there, then said with a note of sorrow, "It did not go well. Second Brother, not long ago, something grave happened!"

"What! Something grave? What happened?" The Xuanzhen Ancestor's face went blank and his steps halted. He turned to look at the Xuanzhen Ancestor. "What on earth happened?"

"Second Brother, Tagan Long has been crippled!" The Xuanzhen Ancestor sighed and spoke with some bitterness.

"What! Tagan Long crippled?" The Xuanzhen Ancestor was greatly shocked. "How? How was he crippled?"

"Second Brother, this is how it happened..." The Xuanzhen Ancestor recounted Tagan Long's situation to the Xuanzhen Ancestor, and only at the end did he say, "Originally I placed my hopes on you, Second Brother, thinking that once you came out of seclusion you might refine fourth-grade pills, and then we could make the Great Return Pill and the fourth-grade Great Channel-Clearing Pill. But..."

"If fourth-grade pills could be refined, then Lingtou, he too..." The Xuanzhen Ancestor gave a helpless, bitter smile. "These three years, I have made no breakthrough, and I reckon that in the years to come I shall make no progress either. Fourth-grade pills are beyond hope..."

"So I took it upon myself to activate the contingency plan first. After all, a person with a five-element constitution is exceedingly hard to find. You and I searched for so many years, and at last found only Tagan Long — one in a hundred million, a composite constitution..." the Xuanzhen Ancestor said.

"The contingency plan..." The Xuanzhen Ancestor nodded. He knew a little of this plan, though not in any detail. "Are you confident the contingency plan will work?"

"Confident... half and half, I would say. Whether the hidden piece comes through, only time will tell." As he spoke, the Xuanzhen Ancestor lowered his voice and murmured into the Xuanzhen Ancestor's ear.

In truth, the Xuanzhen Ancestor was also afraid of being overheard by his two disciples, Xiao'er and Xiao San — after all, only he and Xiao Yi knew of this matter.

The Xuanzhen Ancestor nodded upon hearing this and said, "Let us hope it succeeds. I never imagined that such a great calamity would strike during this seclusion of mine..."

"There is no help for it. If this attempt fails, we can only slowly search again for someone of the right constitution..." The Xuanzhen Ancestor sighed helplessly.

"Is there no way for Tagan Long to recover, other than by taking fourth-grade pills?" the Xuanzhen Ancestor asked.

"Second Brother, you may go and examine him yourself. Beyond that, I truly cannot think of any other stroke of fortune..." the Xuanzhen Ancestor said.

"Then let us go and have a look..." At this moment, the Xuanzhen Ancestor could only treat a dead horse as if it were alive.

The two hurried to the room where Tagan Long was recuperating. Though Tagan Long's injuries had been brought under control, he had not awakened; his pulse was utterly chaotic, and the Xuanzhen Ancestor had merely preserved his life for the time being — restoring him was out of the question.

The Xuanzhen Ancestor carefully took Tagan Long's pulse, his brows knitting into a deep frown, and for a long while he said nothing...

……………………

In the blink of an eye it was noon and school was out. There were no classes this afternoon, so Wei Zhao said goodbye to Wang Xinyan and walked out of the classroom with Han Jingyi.

Kang Zhaolong had meant to sidle over and exchange a few words with Wang Xinyan, but thinking of the humiliation he had suffered that day, he gave up in the end. He reckoned that if he went to speak to her now, she would hardly give him a kind look, so he thought better of it.

Besides, he had arranged with You Panhu to go and scout out the natural ski resort in Jidun City first, so he left the classroom together with You Panhu.

"Brother Wei Zhao, are you trying to fleece You Panhu of his herbs again?" Han Jingyi asked once they were outside the classroom.

"That's right. We have no herbs of our own to speak of, so we can only get them from You Panhu," Wei Zhao said. "Since the fellow is delivering himself to our door, there is no reason to let him off."

"Oh. Then how should Jingjing cooperate?" Han Jingyi nodded, showing not the slightest inclination to dispute Wei Zhao's proposal.

"The next time he comes to talk to you, whatever he asks, just say you're short of herbs. Every time he comes, pester him for herbs — until he realizes he's been played and stops falling for it," Wei Zhao said.

"Mm-hm, got it." Han Jingyi nodded in agreement. "But after You Panhu realizes he's been tricked, he won't come making trouble for Jingjing, will he?"

"If he gives you trouble, just tell him straight that I put you up to it and have him come to me." Wei Zhao took the trouble onto his own shoulders; he was not afraid of You Panhu.

"Jingjing understands." Han Jingyi nodded and said.

The medical program had no classes this afternoon, but Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu did. Wei Zhao called Gu Mengyao and asked her to have lunch with him at noon.

He walked with Han Jingyi to the building of the economics department, and before long he caught sight of Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu.

Seeing the same old smile on Shen Yushu's face, Wei Zhao breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed Xiaoshu's troubles had been resolved. Only, Wei Zhao still could not figure out who had set Xiaoshu to assassinate him.

Who could have made Xiaoshu do such a thing? Or, to put it another way, what reason could have made Xiaoshu comply? But Xiaoshu did not wish to speak of it, and Wei Zhao could not press her. So long as she seemed all right now, Wei Zhao was content.

Wei Zhao glanced at Gu Mengyao, and Gu Mengyao nodded to him, signaling that Xiaoshu was perfectly normal.

"What shall we have for lunch?" Wei Zhao asked. "The cafeteria, or somewhere out?"

"Let's eat out. Xiaoshu wants a proper feast," Shen Yushu said after a moment's thought.

Today's affair had been muddled through, giving Xiaoshu the feeling of having survived a great disaster — and above all, she would no longer have to move against Wei Zhao, which delighted her no end. So she wanted a grand meal to celebrate.

"All right, then let's go out for a feast." Wei Zhao nodded readily in agreement.

"Shall we invite Sister Xinyan too?" Shen Yushu suggested.

"I'll ask." If they were eating in the school cafeteria, Wei Zhao naturally would not have invited Wang Xinyan, but since they were going out, it was better to ask. He dialed Wang Xinyan's number and asked, "Xinyan, where are you? Jingjing, Yaoyao, Xiaoshu and I are thinking of going out to eat — will you join us?"

"Me..." Wang Xinyan hesitated at once. On any other day she would certainly have agreed — after all, she was on good terms with Wei Zhao, Yaoyao and Xiaoshu, and Han Jingyi was her classmate too. There was simply no way she could refuse.

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