Chapter 2634 — Seeking an Opportunity

Having thought it through, You Panhu made up his mind: he would trade for Han Jingyi's alchemist's notes.

Just then, his phone rang. He picked it up, saw that it was Zhao Qibing calling, and answered without a second thought. "Hello? Young Master Bing—what's the matter?"

"Second Young Master You, has your memory gone soft on account of your lofty station? Have you forgotten what you promised me? It's been days now, and not a word?" Zhao Qibing asked, a note of impatience in his voice.

"What's been days? What did I promise?" You Panhu, who had been turning over how to approach Han Jingyi for the notes that very afternoon, was caught completely off guard by the question.

"Damn, don't tell me you really forgot?" Zhao Qibing said hurriedly. "The broken-leg business! When are you going to give me the chance to get my leg broken?"

"The broken leg..." It came back to You Panhu in a rush—he still owed Zhao Qibing that favor! To his mind, it had always been a simple enough thing; having Wei Zhao break Zhao Qibing's leg was a trifling matter. But Wei Zhao had flatly refused.

After that, You Panhu had let the matter slip from his mind entirely. Only now, pressed by Zhao Qibing, did he remember. In truth, if he chose to wriggle out of it, Zhao Qibing had no real recourse—nothing had been signed or sealed, there was no evidence.

But it would be bad for his reputation, and worse for the hidden You family's. Had Zhao Qibing been an ordinary man, it might not have mattered; but he was, of all things, the heir of the hidden Zhao family. You Panhu could not treat his own spoken word like a fart in the wind.

"That's right, Second Young Master You, I'm begging you—could you treat this like it actually matters?" Hearing his tone, Zhao Qibing grew anxious. "When you lost your phone, I searched the whole city for it and got it back for you! You can't just leave this hanging!"

"I'll do it, of course I'll do it!" You Panhu frowned. "But does it have to be Wei Zhao? Just find anyone and have them break your leg—what's so hard about breaking a leg?"

"Anyone else would botch it. Not as clean as Wei Zhao. If they cripple me by mistake, my whole life is finished!" Zhao Qibing rejected the idea outright. "Besides, it has to be an expert stronger than me, or my true qi will instinctively guard my body—and I can't control that at will! Unless you can catch me off guard with a sneak attack and break the leg, it has to be someone stronger than me who does it!"

"Why does it have to be so complicated!" Hearing all this, You Panhu found it thoroughly troublesome—yet what Zhao Qibing said made sense. Cultivators instinctively shielded themselves with true qi when danger threatened, just as an ordinary person would squeeze their eyes shut when windblown sand swept past. It was pure instinct. Unless one struck by surprise while the target was unaware—but a surprise attack required exceptional agility, at the very least the skill of a lightness-art specialist. Ordinary cultivators, and even common professional assassins, lacked such footwork. Cultivators generally relied on frontal clashes of strength and seldom resorted to ambush.

Wei Zhao, of course, was an oddity among cultivators: swift in movement, an assassin by trade, skilled at ambush—and, most crucially, a master of playing the pig to eat the tiger, ambushing high-level cultivators from a position of apparent weakness. That was why he succeeded time and again. After all, what high-level cultivator would ever guard against a low-level one?

By common sense, even a Heaven-rank expert could stand still and let an Earth-rank expert strike him and still not be killed. So there was no need for ambush at all—which was precisely why so many experts met their end the moment they crossed paths with Wei Zhao.

"It's not complicated—could you just help me think of a way?" Hearing You Panhu's tone, Zhao Qibing knew the fellow was looking to dodge the matter and was not to be trusted. He pressed on: "Second Young Master You, we're both people of standing. Once a word is out, it can't be taken back!"

"Of course not!" A flash of inspiration struck You Panhu. "Haven't I been looking for an opening for you all along? You know how troublesome Wei Zhao is—no ordinary man can handle him. I'm helping you take the roundabout route!"

"Oh? So you've thought of a good plan?" Zhao Qibing assumed he was just fobbing him off, and naturally did not believe a word.

"Here's the thing—our school is holding a charity gala in a few days. It works like this..." And You Panhu explained the school's charity gala to Zhao Qibing in detail.

"You mean for me to attend this charity gala too, then join that masquerade, then pick out Wei Zhao and get him to agree to one thing—namely, to break my leg?" Zhao Qibing had grasped his meaning.

"Yes, exactly. Wei Zhao will certainly be there—it's a fine opportunity..." You Panhu had barely gotten half of it out before Zhao Qibing cut him off.

"Wait—from what I know, Wei Zhao isn't one to attend such events, is he? Even if he shows up for the auction, a masquerade seems unlikely—he's not the type to join the crowd," said Zhao Qibing, who knew Wei Zhao well enough to be sure he would normally skip a masquerade.

"That's where you're wrong! According to my inside information, the recipient of this round of donations is the Songshan City Orphanage—and that suggestion came from Wei Zhao himself!" You Panhu said. "Bai Lingtou has already smoothed the way for him, so Wei Zhao will definitely attend this gala. He has to give Bai Lingtou some face—otherwise, what was all Bai Lingtou's help for?"

"The Songshan City Orphanage..." Zhao Qibing's mouth twitched twice. At the mention of that orphanage he wanted to curse aloud. That damned orphanage had been the death of him! He had gained not the slightest advantage, had a whole tower burned down for nothing, and ended up offending Wei Zhao even more deeply... But what was done was done. And if what You Panhu said was true, then Wei Zhao really might attend the masquerade. "So what am I supposed to do? Second Young Master You, this doesn't count as helping me at all! Me going to that masquerade is no better than buying a lottery ticket—if I fail to pick out Wei Zhao, I'll have gone for nothing!"