Chapter 3405 — No Solution

"That's the only way, then," Shen Yushu said with a nod.

The matter of the hidden Tang family could be considered temporarily resolved. With Little Pure and the hypnotist captured, An Liwen likely would not stir up any trouble for a while, and Wei Zhao could leave with an easy mind.

Yet Wei Zhao felt not the slightest joy at having solved the problem. Yu Xiaoke had collapsed for no apparent reason, and it weighed heavily on his heart.

His heart was full of regret. If he had not been so careless and underestimated his enemy, how could Yu Xiaoke have been hurt? Had he prepared a true qi bomb in advance, this tragedy would never have happened.

And during the battle, while he was healing himself, he really had thought of compressing a true qi bomb, or of letting the ghostly thing inside the jade pendant send its puppet to help. But he had assumed Yu Xiaoke could hold out a while longer, and so he had not done it.

At the time, Wei Zhao's body was weak, and there certainly would not have been enough time to condense a true qi bomb. As for releasing the puppet, he feared others would learn his hidden card too early.

That card was no ordinary one, after all. If word got out and reached Ancestor Xuanchen, it would bring Wei Zhao even greater trouble. Unless he was a fool, he could not possibly let people see that puppet at will.

But looking back now, he would rather have made a decisive move then and there. He had not known Yu Xiaoke would end up like this; had he known, he would sooner have risked discovery and the wrath of Ancestor Xuanchen than fail to act.

By the time they returned to the hotel, Wang Xinyan had already awakened, but she had not left. She sat quietly on the bed waiting for Wei Zhao. Seeing him carry Yu Xiaoke through the door, she was startled at once. "Wei Zhao, what happened to Xiaoke? Is she hurt?"

"Not hurt—she collapsed. Or rather, she's in hibernation..." With that, Wei Zhao briefly explained Yu Xiaoke's condition.

"Ah! Then tonight, why not let her sleep inside the energy stones and see if it works?" Wang Xinyan was thinking of her own case, so she made the suggestion.

"We can try, but I doubt there's much hope." Wei Zhao's Heavenly Spring Rain martial technique was much like the energy stones. Though it did not supply as much energy as the stones, under Wei Zhao's full exertion Yu Xiaoke's physical energy and true qi had already recovered, so the stones likely had little to do with it now.

Wang Xinyan nodded and said nothing. Qiu Lingshan and Shen Yushu were somewhat silent as well; of them all, Qiu Lingshan felt the most guilt. In the past, she and Yu Xiaoke had been adversaries—Yu Xiaoke had been a female thief, and Qiu Lingshan had tried several times to bring her to justice.

But now Yu Xiaoke had rendered great service, helping her settle the Tang family affair, and had fallen into a coma for it.

After placing Yu Xiaoke among the pile of energy stones, Wei Zhao dialed Yu Dake's number.

"Mr. Lin, is everything going well on your end?" Yu Dake was minding the house and had been worrying about Wei Zhao and his sister all along.

"Everything's been settled, but Xiaoke has run into a bit of trouble." Wei Zhao sighed and recounted the whole affair to Yu Dake in detail.

"Xiaoke, she..." Yu Dake grew agitated upon hearing it, yet he did not blame Wei Zhao. After all, both his own life and his sister's, as well as their family vengeance, had been saved and avenged by Wei Zhao. At such a moment he could not possibly speak ill of him. Still, he was truly worried about his sister's safety—if even a figure as formidable as Wei Zhao was at his wit's end, did that mean there was no hope for her?

"Dake, don't worry. I will certainly find a way. Xinyan's problem was so serious, and in the end we found a solution. I will do everything I can for Xiaoke as well!" Wei Zhao said.

"It's all right, Mr. Lin. I trust you will surely bring Xiaoke back to consciousness. But as for asking me about this matter, I'm afraid I don't know what's wrong with Xiaoke for the moment. However, when I went home last time, I brought back our Yu family's journals. I'll search through them and see if any similar case is mentioned!" Yu Dake said. Though the journals were many and long, for Yu Xiaoke's sake he intended to read them from the beginning.

"All right, then I'll wait for your news!" Wei Zhao had not obtained an answer from Yu Dake, which was in fact within his expectations, but Yu Dake's mention that the journals might contain a solution gave him a sliver of hope.

"How is it? How is it?" Shen Yushu asked anxiously the moment he hung up.

"Ah, Dake has no solution either." Wei Zhao sighed. "It seems I'll have to ask the old man at home."

"Yes, yes, Grandpa Lin is so capable—he's sure to have a way," Shen Yushu said.

Wei Zhao nodded and dialed Lin Dongfang's number. Ordinarily, he would not lightly trouble his adoptive grandfather over trifles; it was only because he truly had no other recourse that he did so now.

"Xiao Yi, what is it? Calling this old man all of a sudden—have you run into trouble again?" They say a father knows his son best, and the same held for this adoptive grandfather.

"Old man, I really have run into some trouble." Wei Zhao gave a wry smile. "Yu Xiaoke has collapsed."

"Yu Xiaoke collapsed? And who might Yu Xiaoke be? What does she do?" The old man was taken aback; he had never heard Wei Zhao mention Yu Xiaoke before, so her sudden appearance caught him off guard.

"Uh... she's a... close lady friend of mine." Wei Zhao broke into a sweat and explained, "Never mind her and me for now—let me first tell you about her..."

With that, Wei Zhao told the old man how Yu Xiaoke had obtained the Nüwa Heaven-Mending Formula, then explained the formula's special properties and how Yu Xiaoke had collapsed earlier while shielding him from an attack.

"Collapsed while shielding you from an attack..." The old man paused slightly. "I've never encountered such a thing. Why don't you bring her back and let me have a look? I'll see for myself what the problem is."

"That works. I'll come back, then." Wei Zhao happened to have nothing else on his hands at the moment, so he decided to return and let the old man take a look.

After hanging up, Qiu Lingshan said at once, "We'll all go back with you. This matter started because of me—I was too greedy for merit. If not for the development of the Mysterious Investigation Bureau, I would never have taken on this hidden-family mission, and then Xiaoke would not have collapsed." (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to vote for it with