Chapter 1376 — Strength Discovered: The Gu villa had no one to stop him, only Wu Chengtian, an early-stage Yellow Rank fighter; Uncle Qing was rushing back but had not yet arrived, so Pi Zhishan slipped into the outer grounds of the Gu villa as if there were no one there, and quickly found the room where Er Goudan was!

Pi Zhishan pressed himself against the wall, ear cocked, listening for the slightest movement inside.

"Hello? Is that Grandpa Lin? This is Er Goudan..." Er Goudan was calling Old Master Wei in a feeble voice. Having crossed paths with Wei Zhao, he had naturally come away with the old man's number once more; and now that Wei Zhao was gone, the trouble in his own body could be put to no one else.

The sudden call left Old Master Wei at a loss. He knew that Wei Zhao had gone off tomb raiding, and he knew that Er Goudan had been left to protect Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu; but unless it was something truly important, the boy would never have called him of his own accord.

"Grandpa Lin, my strength is all spent. I can't hold down what's wrong inside me any longer--what should I do? Boss Wei still hasn't come back. I can't leave the villa for now, and if I fail the mission..." Er Goudan said.

"What? All your strength is spent?" Old Master Wei was taken aback. "Er Goudan, if that is how it is, you must come back at once. Otherwise your life could be in danger!"

"I'm all right--I can still hold on," Er Goudan said with a bitter smile. "Besides, hold on I must. This is the task the boss entrusted to me; I cannot let him down."

"Then you mustn't use another shred of strength. Just lie in bed all day, and the moment Wei Zhao returns, set off for Xixing Mountain Village at once." Old Master Wei pondered for a moment before answering. He knew the boy's nature: simple and honest, yet stubborn to a fault. Whatever he had promised Wei Zhao, he would never break off halfway.

"Yes, I know. I stay in bed every day, and the moment Boss Wei comes back, I'll head home," Er Goudan said.

At this, Pi Zhishan's expression grew more puzzled than ever. What exactly was going on? This Er Goudan's strength appeared to be limited in its use--once it was spent, he could not draw on any more? And he was about to leave?

If that was the case, then the man was nothing to fear anymore? No wonder he had never been able to tell what rank of fighter Er Goudan was--the boy was no fighter at all, but someone whose body held some peculiar gift, letting him summon enormous strength.

Pi Zhishan, however, was a cautious and careful man. However he might judge, he did not dare step inside to test it, nor did he dare make an enemy of Er Goudan and Wei Zhao just yet. He was in the habit of planning before acting; all of this had to be reported to his father first, and nothing decided until it had been talked over.

Just then the sound of a car rose in the villa's courtyard. Not daring to linger, Pi Zhishan slipped sideways out of the villa and disappeared without a trace.

Uncle Qing had just returned, and so failed to notice that someone had been in the courtyard moments before; his heart was in his mouth over Er Goudan, and the moment he got out of the car he hurried into the villa to see the boy.

At that very moment, Er Goudan had no idea that his secret was already known to the Pi family...

Zhao Qibing and Li Cihua practically fled back to the Geili Floating Cloud Bar. Neither was in any temper--Wei Zhao had not only failed to die, but Jin Wudi had been beaten to death by one of his underlings. Yet the affair also let Zhao Qibing see just how formidable Wei Zhao was: even his underlings were this terrifying.

Zhao Qibing had made up his mind not to provoke Wei Zhao for the time being. Who was Pi Zhishan? The first-in-line heir of the reclusive Pi family, and even he had bowed his head to Er Goudan--what did Zhao Qibing have left to swagger about? The man was a bona fide young master, while he himself was nothing but an illegitimate son!

Even Jin Wudi of the sect was dead; he figured that killing him wouldn't make Wei Zhao bat an eye.

And now Zhao Qibing finally understood why Wei Zhao could be so brazen--knowing he belonged to a Hidden Family, the man still dared strike with a heavy hand. Thinking back on it, he had been awfully lucky; not dying had been a narrow escape indeed.

Was the Zhao family stronger than the Golden Bell Sect? Even the Zhao family did not dare say what they would do to the Golden Bell Sect--yet Wei Zhao and his underling had beaten the sect's master and disciple, one dead and the other crippled!

"Call my father. Until we are certain of victory, we make no move against Wei Zhao--let him go on enjoying himself for now!" Zhao Qibing looked at Li Cihua and let out a long sigh. Though he was seething as he said it, a man under another's roof has no choice but to bow his head; aggrieved or unwilling alike, since he could do nothing to Wei Zhao, all that was left was to swallow it.

"You did right this time, Young Master Bing. A great man knows when to bend and stretch--and as the saying goes, a gentleman's revenge is never too late. Once we have planned it properly, we will finish Wei Zhao off in one stroke!" Li Cihua nodded.

Medicine King Zhao and Uncle Zhu too fell silent. They had fought Wei Zhao for so long, only to end up swallowing their pride.

"I won't accept it! I'll not rest until Wei Zhao is dead!" Though Uncle Zhu's body had recovered a good deal, regaining his peak strength was far harder. "If only my senior brother were here, he would never have watched me take this loss. I don't know where the patriarch has sent him on some mission--if he were cultivating quietly at home, he would surely have broken through to the Earth Rank by now!"

"Uncle Zhu, how can you speak so wildly about the patriarch's affairs?" Seeing the old man agitated, Li Cihua hastily rebuked him. Zhao Qibing was sitting right there, and the patriarch was, after all, his father; a man ought to watch his tongue.

"It's fine." Zhao Qibing waved a hand. "Uncle Zhu is not wrong--this young master thinks the same. But we have no certainty yet, so we let Wei Zhao go for now. The day we do have absolute certainty, that will be Wei Zhao's day of death!"

Jin Wudi was dead. Ordinary folk might not care, but above the level of the great families word traveled fast--and Wu Gonggao, patriarch of the Wu family, was one of those who heard it.

At that very moment, Wu Gonggao was in the hospital on an IV drip when the news arrived.

"Patriarch! Terrible news--something terrible has happened!" A Wu family disciple, the one assigned to gather intelligence, came rushing frantically into the ward.

Wu Gonggao had only just got his breath back when a disciple burst in announcing disaster; the shock nearly sent him fainting all over again on the bed.

Wu Jiaoqi, father of Wu Chengtian, took one look at the disciple's manner and flared up at once. "Who let you in? What is this great emergency? Did it have to be said now? Couldn't you have reported to me in private? The patriarch is ill--who do you think can stand all your shouting?"

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