Ancestor Xuanchen glanced at Kang Zhaoming. With his wisdom, how could he fail to see through the man's hypocrisy? Yet Ancestor Xuanchen said nothing. He simply liked that sort of temperament in Kang Zhaoming; in the arts of the sly, the petty, and the downright unscrupulous, this disciple, he was certain, would surpass all his others.

This too was why Ancestor Xuanchen so often kept Kang Zhaoming at his side. To have a disciple whose wickedness fairly smoked off him—truly one of life's great pleasures.

……………………

What happened today had been close, but not quite close enough to cost him—still, it had left Wei Zhao drenched in cold sweat.

Had the Sky Silkworm Metamorphosis not appeared in the nick of time, Wei Zhao would have had no choice but to hand over the Great Return Pill. Yet even had he surrendered it, Zhao Qibing's venomous nature meant there was no guarantee he would spare Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu; the man would surely have done something to make Wei Zhao sick to his stomach.

Granted, with Zhao Qibing's third leg broken, he was hardly in any condition to do anything truly filthy. Wei Zhao was confident that Medicine King Zhao could not heal him that quickly. But precisely because of that, Zhao Qibing's mind would only grow more unhinged, more warped by the day.

Today, with the Sky Silkworm Metamorphosis present, they had slipped past disaster. Wei Zhao could offer no assurance about what might happen next time.

This time, Wei Zhao's injuries had not come with any crisis pressing at his brows or fire singeing his eyelashes, yet the anxiety gnawing at his heart was all the sharper for it. He could not predict what might happen from one moment to the next. If Kang Zhaoming caught wind of things and quietly brought men to stir up trouble again, Wei Zhao would be utterly defenseless.

So after dinner that evening, looking at the people gathered before him, Wei Zhao made a difficult decision.

"I'm going to pack up and take Little Shu and Yaoyao back to the Western Star Mountain Village with me. We'll lie low there for a while. Once I'm gone, our enemies won't come after you. Go back to your own homes." His tone was perfectly ordinary, giving nothing away—yet anyone could see the helplessness and desolation flitting across his face.

His words plunged the company, who had only just finished eating, into silence. The first time Wei Zhao had been wounded and reduced to a cripple, he had spoken of returning to the Western Star Mountain Village. Many of his underlings had not been at his side then, but afterward they had heard the news from others.

Now he meant to go back again. Clearly he had been driven to the end of his rope, with no move left to make—and that was the last thing any of them wished to see.

"Boss, wherever you go, I go with you. You may not need me as a bodyguard, but I can still carry bags and put in a good day's work!" Wu Chengtian was the first to speak up, declaring he would follow Wei Zhao to the Western Star Mountain Village.

"I've nothing much on my plate either. I'll take Zhishan and Zhihai and go have a look around Mr. Lin's old hometown—call it a vacation." Old Master Pi smiled and spoke as though it were nothing at all.

"Ha! Old Pi, it seems our minds run along the same track! The Han family has nothing pressing either—we'll make a trip of it as well!" Old Master Han Tianba said much the same.

"You're all going, and leaving us behind? We wouldn't be happy about that. We're all the boss's underlings—why should you get to go and not us?" Zhuang Niaoqiang chimed in at once.

Hearing these words from his followers, Wei Zhao was deeply moved—especially since the Zhuang brothers, who had joined him only later, were just as eager. His people were loyal, he reflected; these were the core of the force he could confidently raise to the Heaven Rank and lead into the ancient strata.

"If you're coming as guests, of course you're welcome." Wei Zhao did not stand on ceremony or protest further. He merely nodded to them, then turned to Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu. "Yaoyao, what do you think?"

"Xiao Shu and I certainly have no problem with it. Only, Daddy will need to be told." Gu Mengyao was overjoyed at the thought of following Wei Zhao back to his hometown, yet her face showed only composure, as though this were the most ordinary matter in the world.

"Yaoyao, this time back home it'll be just the two of us! You'd better seize the chance and make your move!" Shen Yushu raised a fist and cheered her on.

"Xiao Shu!" Gu Mengyao kicked her under the table. "What nonsense are you spouting!"

"I'm not! I'm just stating facts..." Shen Yushu puckered her lips, looking a little wronged.

"What do you mean, just the two of you? Last time, didn't the two of you go back with me?" Wei Zhao felt his thoughts suddenly growing muddled. On that last trip to the Western Star Mountain Village, he vaguely remembered going with Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu—and yet, it seemed it had not been that way at all...

Gu Mengyao shot Shen Yushu a furious glare. What angered her was not the talk of making a move, but that phrase—just the two of us this time. It was bound to make Wei Zhao suspicious, and sure enough... there it was.

Only then did Shen Yushu realize she had let something slip. She gave an awkward laugh. "Well, it was last time too, but last time Yaoyao wasn't exactly forward about it..."

"All right, Xiao Shu, enough of that. I'll call Daddy right now and tell him about this." Gu Mengyao seized on Shen Yushu's words and steered the conversation elsewhere.

With that, she picked up her phone and dialed Gu Pengzhan's number. By then, even if Wei Zhao had his doubts, he could hardly interrupt her call, so he had no choice but to let it drop.

On the phone, Gu Mengyao gave Gu Pengzhan a rough account of Wei Zhao's injuries. Astonished, Gu Pengzhan said he and Uncle Qing would come over at once.

Gu Pengzhan was currently expanding his business in East Sea City—usually busy, but able to arrive quickly enough.

Sure enough, before long Uncle Qing drove Gu Pengzhan and Sun Luoyue to Wei Zhao's villa. It turned out that when Gu Mengyao called, they had all been in a meeting at the company. Now that Sun Luoyue had recovered, she naturally helped out as an assistant at Gu Pengzhan's new company in East Sea City, which also let her spend plenty of time at Uncle Qing's side.

"Xiao Yi, how did this happen?" Uncle Qing was shocked at the sight of Wei Zhao's injuries. He was one of those who knew of Wei Zhao's wondrous abilities—could Wei Zhao not heal his own wounds? Why could he not do so this time?

Wei Zhao smiled bitterly and recounted in detail the troubles he had run into, for Uncle Qing, Gu Pengzhan, and the others. On the phone, the young miss had been unable to explain clearly, giving only a vague, general sketch.

"So it's poison, and on top of that, problems with both your dantian and your meridians..." Uncle Qing nodded, understanding Wei Zhao's predicament well enough. With trouble brought on by so many overlapping problems, it was not that Wei Zhao did not wish to solve them—he simply had no way to. No wonder he meant to return to the Western Star Mountain Village. (To be continued)

For the fastest updates, please read without pop-ups.