Chapter 3407 — A Change of Plans

"Lingshan, I'm heading to West Star Mountain Village—you should go on back first," Wei Zhao said to Qiu Lingshan. After all, with two criminal suspects in tow, it would be inconvenient for her to escort them alone. Qiu Lingshan had said she wanted to stay with Wei Zhao, feeling responsible for Yu Xiaoke's collapse, but the situation was different now.

"This..." Qiu Lingshan hesitated, but thinking of the mission she carried, she finally said, "All right, then I'll head back first. If anything comes up with Xiaoke, contact me anytime."

"Mm!" Wei Zhao nodded. But then an unexpected phone call changed his itinerary entirely!

Wei Zhao's phone rang. A glance at the caller ID showed it was from Yu Dake! He quickly answered—could Yu Dake have news about Yu Xiaoke?

"Dake, how is it? Did you find the root of the problem?" Wei Zhao asked urgently as soon as he picked up.

"Mr. Lin, I did indeed find a case similar to my sister's—one of our Yu family ancestors," Yu Dake said. "The journal mentions the fainting spells. The cause was an overdraft of the spiritual consciousness and mental power within the body, creating a deficit that led to unconsciousness."

"Spiritual consciousness and mental power? A deficit?" Wei Zhao was taken aback. What kind of condition was this? It was the first time he had ever heard of it.

"Yes. When resisting a powerful pressure or blow, if one's own strength has already been pushed to its limit and still cannot hold out, then if the person carries a certain conviction, it will—aided by powerful spiritual consciousness and mental power—continue to resist until that consciousness and mental power are utterly exhausted," Yu Dake explained. "You are the man my sister loves. She did not want anything to happen to you, so after her physical stamina and true qi were spent, she sustained herself on her powerful spiritual consciousness and mental power—and that is how this came about." "So that's how it was!" Wei Zhao found it somewhat fantastical, but such was the way of the cultivation world—things that defied ordinary reason. He asked, "Then how can she be woken? Or rather, how can her spiritual consciousness and mental power be restored?"

"That I don't know either. Spiritual consciousness and mental power are not the same as physical stamina and true qi—which is also why she still hasn't woken even after you restored her stamina and true qi! This journal doesn't record anything on that front. It only mentions that this ancestor of mine recovered with the help of a divine physician," Yu Dake said.

"Which divine physician? How did he restore her?" Wei Zhao asked at once.

"That I don't know. That matter should have been recorded in my ancestor's personal journal rather than the family journal. After all, these are private matters—the family journal only touches on them briefly, never in detail! The specifics would have to be found in that ancestor's personal journal," Yu Dake explained.

"Then... does that ancestor's personal journal still exist?" Wei Zhao could not help feeling tense.

"It should. In our Yu family ancestral hall, beneath the memorial tablets of each ancestor, their personal journals are kept," Yu Dake said. "But that means we'll have to go back again."

"Then let's go back." Wei Zhao was not afraid of a long journey—after all, he had other business in the Hakunamata Desert. Earlier he had been too preoccupied with Wang Xinyan's affairs, and then he had run into Kang Jingming and his group; Wei Zhao did not want Kang Jingming to know his purpose in coming here.

And Wang Xinyan urgently needed energy stones, so Wei Zhao had gone back first.

His journey to the Hakunamata Desert was, in truth, to find someone—and that person was the Pangolin! According to the map stolen from the Red Conch headquarters, there was a poison-refining base in the Hakunamata Desert, and the Pangolin was very likely there.

Judging by the overland route and distance, this was one of the most likely places for the Pangolin to be.

So this time, if he went to the Yu family again, Wei Zhao planned to look for the Pangolin as well. The hope was slim, but he had to try.

That was why Wei Zhao had agreed without the slightest hesitation.

"Fine—so long as Mr. Lin doesn't mind the long journey, then we'll go!" Yu Dake was worried about his sister and had nothing else on his hands; a trip with Wei Zhao would do no harm.

"Good. We'll split up and meet on the way to the Hakunamata Desert. Setting out from my side and yours, the nearest city should be Chenbei City," Wei Zhao said. "Let's meet at the highway entrance to Chenbei City."

"All right. Then, Mr. Lin, shall I drive the Land Rover from our garage?" Yu Dake asked.

"The Land Rover, of course." Wei Zhao smiled. That Land Rover had been brought back by him and Feng Xiaoxiao together. Back when Feng Xiaoxiao was in a coma, Wei Zhao had feared it would stir painful memories and had not driven it since. Later, once Feng Xiaoxiao was fine, the car no longer called up anything unpleasant—so it hardly mattered now.

"Then we'll meet at the highway entrance!" Yu Dake nodded.

Wei Zhao hung up, then said to Qiu Lingshan, Shen Yushu, and Wang Xinyan, "Lingshan, this time you, Xiaoshu, and Xinyan take Xiaoke back with you. I need to make another trip to the Hakunamata Desert—the answer to Yu Xiaoke's collapse may lie there. That is where the Yu family is."

Qiu Lingshan nodded and said nothing more. After all, Wei Zhao had proper business to attend to. As for Xiaoshu, though she was a little reluctant and wanted to go with Wei Zhao, she knew that if she went, he would only have to look after her—so she agreed as well: "Okay, Shield Bro, we'll take good care of Sister Xiaoke!"

"Mm." Wei Zhao's greatest worry had been that Xiaoshu would insist on coming along, but to his surprise she was so sensible and easy to deal with.

Qiu Lingshan, Shen Yushu, and Wang Xinyan took Yu Xiaoke into a vehicle provided by the Hidden Tang family—the Land Cruiser off-roader. Wei Zhao drove the Grand Cherokee as before.

Wei Zhao did not bring Yu Xiaoke along because, as Yu Dake had said, the recovery had been achieved with the help of a divine physician. Without finding that physician, bringing Yu Xiaoke along would be useless—and besides, whether the man was even still alive was another question entirely.

What mattered most to Wei Zhao was finding the method—or finding that divine physician's successor.

Moreover, this trip to the Hakunamata Desert was not solely for the Yu family; he also had to visit the poison-refining base. Bringing Yu Xiaoke along would only be a burden, awkward to handle when the time came. (To be continued.)