Chapter 2567 — The Zhuang Family's Sincerity
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
"Birdgun, Birdcannon, what I am about to say, you may hear and that is all—do not breathe a word of it to outsiders! These words I have never spoken even to your fathers!" Old Master Zhuang said. "This is the core secret of our Hidden Zhuang family, passed down from one head of the family to the next. But now that our Hidden Zhuang family is throwing in its lot with Senior Lin, naturally we cannot keep such things from him."
"Yes, Grandfather, we won't talk!" Zhuang Birdgun and Zhuang Birdcannon hastily promised.
Wei Zhao was rather astonished. What secret did the Hidden Zhuang family hold that even the Zhuang brothers knew nothing of?
"Senior Lin, the truth is that our Hidden Zhuang family's ancestors came from the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow sect. Our ancestor was a disciple of the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow sect, but he fell out with the sect leader of that time and left to establish a school of his own. Yet one man alone is weak—though the Hidden Zhuang family flourished for a time and was once nearly as powerful as the ancient stratum, we of the later generations have produced no truly outstanding talents. By now we are classed merely as a hidden family. Much time has passed since those events, and even the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow sect itself no longer knows of this. Nor do we dare proclaim that the martial techniques and mental methods of our Hidden Zhuang family came from the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow sect—that would only invite the hostility of the great orthodox sects, and we fear the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow sect might come demanding the fine treasures our ancestor carried off in those years." Old Master Zhuang explained it all in one breath.
"So... you are a branch of the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow sect? That is a formidable lineage indeed!" Wei Zhao said in surprise. "I have a grudge against the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow sect—have you thought this through?"
"One might say the grudge goes back to our ancestors as well. If word of this got out, we would gain nothing by it," Old Master Zhuang said with a bitter smile. "Besides, if Senior Lin does not speak of it, would the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow sect even bother with small fry like us?"
Wei Zhao nodded. "Let us see what fine treasures you have in your collection."
"Very well. The vault is this way, and the scripture pavilion that way. Which would Senior Lin like to see first?" Old Master Zhuang asked.
"Mm... let us look at the treasures first," Wei Zhao said after a moment's thought.
Mental methods and martial techniques were, for the time being, not what Wei Zhao lacked—unless something was extraordinarily heaven-defying. So he put his attention on the treasures first, to see whether there was anything he needed.
"Here we are!" Old Master Zhuang led Wei Zhao into one of the rooms and gestured to a row of display racks before them. "This is the collection our Hidden Zhuang family has accumulated over many years!"
Wei Zhao glanced at the objects on the racks and could not help but be struck dumb. In truth, there were not many things on the racks; all were stored in small bottles and little boxes, and beneath each item was a label stating what the bottle or box contained.