Chapter 1969 — Family Crisis
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
And those few hidden families had begun to stir. They showed no intent, as yet, of moving against the hidden Han family, but they had put forward some strange proposals and demands — namely, that several contests be held at the Hidden Families Summit!
The events were of every kind: martial duels, contests of art, contests of endurance under blows, contests of strength — even car races! In each contest, every hidden family would put up a treasure as the stake. Any discerning eye could see at a glance that these contests were aimed at the weak Han family!
For the hidden Han family was simply too weak — so weak that they could not hope to win a single contest. Yet these contests covered a broad range and appeared perfectly fair, so even knowing that those hidden families could no longer sit still and meant to scheme for the Han family's treasures, the Han family had no way to refuse.
To decline the Hidden Families Summit would be to forfeit their standing as a hidden family. And without the shelter of that title, even the Arbitration Association would no longer concern itself with the fate of the hidden Han family. At that point those hidden families would certainly move against the Han family one by one!
It was a dead end. They knew there would be losses — that they would surely have to bleed out some fine treasures.
In such a pass, however, the hidden Han family could only pinch their noses and swallow it. Who had told them their own strength fell short?
Then, by chance, Han Xiaohu had witnessed Wei Zhao's driving, and he had clutched at the last-ditch hope of a man treating a dead horse as a live one: if they could win a single contest — just one — it would count as salvaging some pride for the Han family, better than losing every contest; and even if the Han family had to pay a certain price, he would not stint.
After all, this had already become a question of the hidden Han family's face.
As they spoke, Han Xiaohu's phone rang. Seeing the familiar name on the screen, his heart eased a little — word at last!
"Uncle Jiu." Han Xiaohu answered the phone with respect. Uncle Han Jiu was not a direct relative of the Han family, but he had been one of Grandfather's humble attendants in the old days, and the ancient ruin had been found by Grandfather and him together. It was only that Uncle Han Jiu's age was about the same as Han Xiaohu's father's, so by seniority he fell into the uncle's generation.
"Young Master Po, we've traced clearly who the car belongs to, but the owner's information is beyond our reach," Uncle Han Jiu said.
"What! No owner information?" Han Xiaohu was briefly stunned.
"The car is registered to the Mysterious Investigation Bureau. Our channels can't reach secrets of that level. And to go begging favors over it — never mind whether we could even find someone who knows anyone in the Mysterious Investigation Bureau; even if we did, they might not be able to dig it out," Uncle Han Jiu said.
"The Mysterious Investigation Bureau... No wonder. I hear there are many capable people there." Han Xiaohu understood. The cultivators of the Mysterious Investigation Bureau might not match the hidden families in raw strength, but in other respects they far surpassed them, for many among them were talents of every description.
Never mind superb driving skill — even performing stunts with an airplane would be easy work for them.