Chapter 876 — The Target
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Even so, the effort had cost Wei Zhao a head full of cold sweat and no small amount of energy. After all, that single palm strike had been enough to kill Uncle Qing. Wei Zhao had not fully healed him—the body and bones had yet to recover—but the organs he had been obliged to repair with his energy, for the slightest injury to any one of them would have been enough to end Uncle Qing's life.
Had Uncle Qing not possessed such an extraordinary physique, no ordinary man could have held on this long.
Wei Zhao wiped the sweat from his brow. When he looked up, he saw that Qiu Lingshan and Gu Pengzhan had already arrived and were standing to one side, watching him anxiously.
Qiu Lingshan had seen Wei Zhao heal before. The moment she arrived, she had cleared everyone away from him and dispatched Liu Wangli and his squad to guard Wei Zhao, so that no one would disturb him.
"Xiaoyi, how is he?" Gu Pengzhan's face was grim, his brows tightly knit. Anxious as he was for his daughter's safety, he was also worried about Uncle Qing's injuries.
"His life is saved, but whether he'll recover his strength, I can't say. Uncle Qing is an external-school expert, and his body has been battered this badly..." Wei Zhao shrugged. His energy could restore damaged parts to their original state, as though newly born, but it could never drive Uncle Qing's body and bones into a tempered state.
That could only be achieved through long, unremitting training afterward—it was not something Wei Zhao's energy could alter. Unlike the true qi of an internal-school expert, which could be replenished through energy conversion, this was the greatest difference between internal-school and external-school experts.
Once the meridians of an internal-school expert were destroyed, the true qi within the body could no longer be preserved, and the man became a cripple. And once an external-school expert's body suffered severe injury, even if the wounds healed, the body could never return to its former state—he would be essentially no different from an ordinary man...
"As long as his life is saved!" Gu Pengzhan let out a breath. Whether Uncle Qing could recover his strength no longer mattered; living was what mattered most. Though Gu Pengzhan and Uncle Qing were master and servant in name, after all these years, how could a man be devoid of feeling?
His bond with Uncle Qing was already much like that of old friends and confidants. Even if it cost him every last penny, Gu Pengzhan would want Uncle Qing to live.
"What about Yaoyao and Xiaoshu? Any word?" Wei Zhao's face was somewhat pale. Healing Uncle Qing had plainly drained a great deal of his strength, and in such a state he was unfit for battle. But the situation was urgent, and he could not spare the time to rest.
"The two Range Rover Evoques the kidnappers drove all had fake plates—cloned from a car-rental company in Donghai City. A check through the system shows the original model was a Honda RV. For now we can't identify the kidnappers," Liu Wangli reported. "And they're cunning—they must have strong counter-surveillance skills. Only a few cameras on the main roads caught the two vehicles, and after that the trail went cold. Two possibilities: either they switched cars, or they reached their destination or deliberately avoided certain cameras while driving..."
Gu Pengzhan nodded and sighed softly. He did not even know who the enemy was this time—he was utterly at a loss. Hearing Liu Wangli's words, he could not help turning to Wei Zhao, hoping Wei Zhao would make a decision for him.
"Uncle Chu, since the kidnappers took Yaoyao and Xiaoshu, they must have their reasons. I believe they'll contact us of their own accord," Wei Zhao said after a moment's thought. "If they didn't intend to use Yaoyao and Xiaoshu to achieve some end, they wouldn't have taken them. If it were mere vengeance, they would have shot them on the spot, like Uncle Qing."