Chapter 807 — Wei Zhao's Background

"It's a long story..." Zhao Qibing proceeded to tell Yu Haitian the whole tale of how his feud with Wei Zhao had begun, from the time Wei Zhao toppled his building, to the second time he built it and Wei Zhao blew it up again.

Yu Haitian listened from the side, dumbfounded. This Wei Zhao was something else! If what Zhao Qibing said was true, then the man who had beaten Yu Kun half to death was very likely Wei Zhao! With a temperament as reckless as Wei Zhao's — one who would dare break the legs of even the Zhao family's bastard son — why would he balk at a Yu Kun of the Yu family?

And Yu Haitian finally understood why Zhao Qibing had swallowed his pride and made no further moves against Wei Zhao. He had gone after him, but he had failed to do anything to Wei Zhao — and had landed himself in disaster instead.

"So by the sound of it, this Wei Zhao seems quite formidable?" Yu Haitian had not come this time to make an enemy of Wei Zhao; he was here purely to gather intelligence, so whether Wei Zhao was formidable or not mattered little to him. Owing to his constitution he could not practice martial arts, and so he had been assigned to oversee the Yu family's business and intelligence-gathering.

"You could say that," Zhao Qibing said flatly. "Brother Tian seems to take a great interest in Wei Zhao?"

"Oh, well — this isn't really any secret," Yu Haitian sighed. "My cousin Yu Kun had his martial arts crippled. Right here in Songshan City."

"What? Your cousin? Yu Kun?" Zhao Qibing was taken aback. "I remember that Yu Kun was a late-stage Yellow-rank expert, wasn't he? How was he crippled... it wouldn't have been Wei Zhao's doing, would it?"

It was no wonder Zhao Qibing thought of Wei Zhao at once, for everything he and Yu Haitian had been discussing up to that point had been about Wei Zhao.

"It's still unclear for now, but hearing you say all this, it's probably all but certain." Yu Haitian shook his head. "To be frank with you, Young Master Bing, I came to Songshan City this time to gather information!"

"Indeed! With your cousin Yu Kun's late-stage Yellow-rank strength, it would take no ordinary man to cripple his martial arts. I'd say that in all of Songshan City, only Wei Zhao could do it!" Zhao Qibing said. "None of the other experts are a match for Wei Zhao. Our Zhao family has had two Yellow-rank experts killed by Wei Zhao!"

"Oh? Your Zhao family has had two Yellow-rank experts fall at Wei Zhao's hands?" Now Yu Haitian was rather surprised! Wei Zhao had injured Uncle Zhu and had injured Zhao Qibing as well. Arrogant though he was, when all was said and done he had only wounded people — he had not yet crossed the Zhao family's bottom line.

After all, when a hidden family comes into the world, avenging a bastard son and a Mystic-rank expert is somewhat hard to justify in the name of propriety! But if two Yellow-rank experts had been killed by Wei Zhao, that changed everything!

Though Yellow-rank experts counted for little in the eyes of the hidden families, in the secular world they were the finest of the fine. Even among the hidden families, one more Yellow-rank expert was one more measure of strength — how could they possibly not care?

And yet Zhao Qibing had killed two Yellow-rank experts, and the Zhao family had made no move in response. That struck Yu Haitian as rather baffling.

"Those two were originally Li Cihua's men — one early-stage Yellow-rank, one late-stage Yellow-rank..." Zhao Qibing smiled bitterly. "Li Cihua sent them to finish off Wei Zhao, and then they vanished. Later, at the bottom of a cliff, their car was found wrecked and both men dead..."

"Hmm... that serious?" Yu Haitian was somewhat surprised. "So the Zhao family intends to let the matter rest?"

"Brother Tian, you know my position is awkward enough. My father may be the Zhao family's young master, but above him there is still the old master. Unless the old master speaks, my father can't very well mobilize Earth-rank experts against Wei Zhao..." Zhao Qibing smiled bitterly. "And our family's late-stage Mystic-rank experts have all been sent into seclusion at the old master's command, seeking the opportunity to break through from Mystic-rank to Earth-rank. So I truly don't know how to deal with Wei Zhao..."

"I see..." Yu Haitian said nothing aloud, but inwardly his brows knitted. He did not believe for a moment that the Zhao family would swallow such an insult. This was no small matter — a hidden family had two Yellow-rank experts killed by a nameless brat, one Mystic-rank expert wounded, and even the legs of its bastard son broken. If word of this got out, would it not be a colossal joke? How could the Zhao family possibly let it pass without a word? There had to be something hidden here!

Perhaps Zhao Qibing did not know — perhaps Zhao Guangyin had not told him. Or perhaps Zhao Qibing did know, but had not told him the truth.

Either way, Yu Haitian was now on his guard, and he resolved that when he reported to his second uncle, he must be exceedingly cautious.

"For now, I ask nothing more than that this great deity Wei Zhao not come looking for trouble with me of his own accord — just let me make my money in peace. If Brother Tian can deal with Wei Zhao, I'll certainly lend you a hand! Whatever you need, just say the word, and I won't refuse!" In his heart, Zhao Qibing hoped the Yu family would step forward and eliminate Wei Zhao. He himself was out of options, but the Yu family was powerful; even this secular branch possessed late-stage Mystic-rank experts, and killing Wei Zhao ought to be no problem for them.

"Hmm... what background does this Wei Zhao have? Whose man is he?" Yu Haitian asked, betraying nothing in his expression.

"That I'm not too clear on," Zhao Qibing said with a shake of his head. "My father once looked into it and even asked others from the hidden families, but no one seems to know where Wei Zhao comes from. From what we can see now, this Wei Zhao is a follower of Gu Mengyao, daughter of Gu Pengzhan of the Gu Group. He lives together with Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu every day — it seems Gu Pengzhan hired him?"

"Hired? A Mystic-rank expert serving as a follower to the daughter of an ordinary businessman? That does sound a little incredible," Yu Haitian said, thinking that a Mystic-rank expert came awfully cheap these days.

"That's the fact of it — everyone in Songshan City knows as much!" Zhao Qibing said. "At the very start, I tasked Li Cihua with dealing with the Gu Group. I won't hide it from you: I had my eye on the Gu Group's wealth and wanted it for myself. Every time I moved against Gu Mengyao, it was this Wei Zhao who interfered and made my plans fail! If Wei Zhao isn't Gu Mengyao's follower, no one would believe it — otherwise, why would he meddle in such affairs?"

"Now that is strange..." Yu Haitian frowned as well. "Wei Zhao's background really is a little odd! From what you've told me, there seems to be nothing formidable behind him at all — even Gu Pengzhan could hire him, so how much backing could a mere Mystic-rank expert have? And yet, how could an ordinary man ever become a Mystic-rank expert?"

"That I couldn't say..." Zhao Qibing shook his head. "Brother Tian, I've told you everything I know, and that's the long and short of it. If you need any help at all here in Songshan City, just say the word — your little brother will spare no effort! Wei Zhao is our common enemy now, so it's only right that I lend a hand!"