Chapter 3294 — Something's Not Right!

True, a fifty percent chance did not guarantee any increase in attack and defense—but it was still far, far better than before, and Wei Zhao was thoroughly satisfied.

He did not bother testing the newly refined essence necklace any further. He simply hung it around his neck and pushed the door open, stepping out of the room. No one had disturbed him these past five days, but the person he worried about most right now was Yang Qiqi. He had no idea how she was doing!

Theoretically, Yang Qiqi's trip to the Overseas Cultivators Association should not have been dangerous, but who knew whether He Dantou, after being thwarted in the Red Conch affair, might not do something utterly unreasonable?

Fortunately, when Wei Zhao emerged from his room and entered the great hall of the old castle, he found Yang Qiqi, Xiao Jiu, Xu Shilan, and Cheng Yiyi sitting together chatting about something. The moment they saw him come out, they all fell silent at once—clearly, the topic had had something to do with him.

But Wei Zhao had no mind to gossip about such trifles. Seeing that Yang Qiqi was safe and sound, he let out a breath of relief. "Qiqi, you've been to the Overseas Cultivators Association? How did it go?"

"Mm, I got back the day before yesterday." Yang Qiqi seemed quite at ease. "The people at the Overseas Cultivators Association were certainly surprised that I'm an early Earth-rank internal cultivator, but once they connected it to the particular nature of my clan, they didn't pry any further. Still, I could tell the elders were all delighted. After all, I'd charged straight to early Earth-rank without relying on any cultivation resources—that's no small feat. With talent like that, there's a real chance I could push for Heaven-rank."

Wei Zhao nodded. It seemed Yang Qiqi's flourishing success overseas was not without reason. At least in Wei Zhao's eyes, Yang Qiqi was not as useless as she had seemed when they first met. Perhaps the circles she moved in were simply different from his own. "As long as they don't suspect you, that's what matters."

"Oh, they don't. I didn't hide my strength from them, after all, so they were quite pleased." Yang Qiqi shook her head. "They understand me well enough. They even gave me a few Minor Qi Gathering Pills as cultivation resources."

"Oh? So the Overseas Cultivators Association is actually quite generous!" Wei Zhao could not help but sigh softly. The Association did treat its members rather well. If not for its overbearing ways, they might even have been friends—except that He Dantou's patriarchal manner made him very hard to stomach.

"Heh, the Overseas Cultivators Association isn't a sect with deep foundations. People join it more like retainers and hangers-on. Without benefits, how would they gather anyone together?" Yang Qiqi said. "Only after tasting the sweetness of the rewards will people stay in the Association."

Wei Zhao nodded at that. Indeed. That was exactly right—the Overseas Cultivators Association was more like the hired experts that great clans recruited, rather than a proper sect with disciples and inherited traditions. An organization that had grown up in such a short time was bound to have flaws of one kind or another.

"Did you see He Dantou this time?" Wei Zhao asked.

"No. I heard President He has gone into seclusion. He won't be coming out for a while. But for matters like this, there's no need for the president to appear—the elders can decide just fine," Yang Qiqi said.

Wei Zhao was struck dumb. He had wanted to ask how He Dantou was doing—after all, he had set a trap and then left, and he had no idea whether He Dantou had fallen for it. He had hoped to learn something about He Dantou through Yang Qiqi, but who would have thought the man had gone into seclusion!

What did that mean? Had the transaction succeeded or failed? What was he shutting himself away for?

But Wei Zhao could hardly explain such secrets to Yang Qiqi openly, so he had no choice but to let it drop and go on helping Yang Qiqi raise her strength to the peak of late Earth-rank... In truth, after He Dantou returned, he had not gone into seclusion at all—he had been gravely injured and was recuperating in a secret chamber! After all, when two consummate experts at the peak of late Heaven-rank fought each other, what good could possibly come of it?

Between the two of them, it was either one dies or the other lives—and at best, both would be badly wounded. As it stood now, this was the best possible outcome.

After returning, He Dantou lay on his sickbed, and the more he thought, the more something felt wrong. He was no fool. At the time, he could be excused for acting on impulse—impulse is the devil, after all—but on cool reflection afterward, there were far too many suspicious points in the whole affair!

He Dantou turned it over and over in his mind. He had certainly gone there carrying a suitcase of money; of that there was no doubt. Never mind that he had been holding the case the whole time—even if the case had been sitting right beside him, with his level of strength, it would have been absolutely impossible for anyone to take the money out of that case right under his nose.

And to suggest a switch had been made was even more impossible. After he got back, He Dantou had examined the suitcase carefully—it was unquestionably his own, and there was no possibility of a substitution. So how had the money vanished into thin air? It was enough to make a man think he had seen a ghost!

Besides, that place called the Pine Mountain Orphanage or whatever—He Dantou had never heard of it in his life. At the time, he had indeed assumed that Red Conch was trying to set up some dummy account to commit fraud. But on reflection, Red Conch was not insane—if they wanted to swindle money, whose money couldn't they swindle? Those big drug lords had money to burn. Why swindle the president of the Overseas Cultivators Association?

Any fool knew he was not someone to be trifled with, and to try to swindle him with such a stupid trick—just thinking about it made it seem unlikely! At least in He Dantou's view, that sum of money could have been swindled from anyone; there was no need to get it out of his hands.

And besides, this was not a one-off deal—there would surely be cooperation in the future. Red Conch had seen plenty of money. Was it really worth it?

While He Dantou came to realize something was wrong on his end, the general manager had actually come to the same realization on his. After all, he felt there was no need for He Dantou to stage such a performance—to come to a transaction carrying an empty case and then transfer the money to his own account. That would be making trouble for no reason at all.

Coming all the way to Red Conch headquarters to pull such a low-grade con—was that interesting? Did he think he could actually get the drugs? The result was that both sides lost, with neither gaining anything. So the general manager concluded that only a man with nothing better to do would come and do such a meaningless thing.

Once the general manager grew suspicious, he naturally summoned Fanny for questioning at the first opportunity. Though he absolutely trusted Fanny, it was still hard to guarantee she hadn't tampered with the computer.