Chapter 876 — The Target

Even so, it had cost Wei Zhao a head of cold sweat and no small amount of energy. That single palm strike had been enough to kill Uncle Qing; though Wei Zhao had not healed him completely, what remained unhealed was only the body and bones. The organs he had been forced to repair with his energy—for the slightest damage to any one of them would have been enough to end Uncle Qing's life.

Had Uncle Qing not possessed such an extraordinary constitution, no ordinary man could have held on this long.

Wei Zhao wiped the sweat from his brow and looked up, only to find that Qiu Lingshan and Gu Pengzhan had already arrived and were standing to one side, watching him anxiously.

Qiu Lingshan had witnessed Wei Zhao heal before. The moment she arrived, she dispersed the people around him and dispatched Liu Wangli and his squad to guard him, lest anyone disturb his work.

"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 no less worried about Uncle Qing's injuries.

"His life is saved, but whether he can recover his strength, I can't say. Uncle Qing is an external-school master, and his body has been damaged this badly..." Wei Zhao shrugged. His energy could restore the injured parts to their original state, as though reborn, but it could never push Uncle Qing's body and bones into a tempered state.

That could only be achieved through long, unremitting training in the days and years to come—it was not something Wei Zhao's energy could alter. It was unlike the true qi of an internal-school master, which could be replenished through the conversion of energy. This was the greatest difference between internal-school and external-school masters.

Once the meridians of an internal-school master were destroyed, the true qi within could no longer be retained, and he would become a cripple. And once the body of an external-school master suffered severe injury, even after the wounds healed, it could never be restored to its former state—he would be little different from an ordinary man.

"As long as his life is saved!" Gu Pengzhan let out a breath of relief. Whether Uncle Qing could recover his strength no longer mattered; that he could live—that 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 without feeling?

His bond with Uncle Qing was closer to that of old friends and confidants. Even if it cost Gu Pengzhan his entire fortune, he would still want Uncle Qing to live.

"How are Yaoyao and Xiaoshu? Any news?" Wei Zhao's face was somewhat pale. Healing Uncle Qing had clearly drained much of his strength, and in such a state he was unfit for battle—but the situation was urgent, and he could not afford 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 vehicle model was a Honda CR-V. For now we cannot determine the kidnappers' identities." Liu Wangli laid out what the investigation had turned up. "And the kidnappers are cunning. They must have strong anti-surveillance skills. Only a few cameras on the main roads caught these two cars, and after that the trail went cold. There are two possibilities: either the kidnappers switched vehicles, or they reached their destination or deliberately avoided certain cameras while driving."

Gu Pengzhan nodded and gave a faint sigh. He did not even know who his opponent was this time—he was completely at a loss. Hearing Liu Wangli's words, he could not help turning to look at Wei Zhao, hoping Wei Zhao could give him some direction.

"Uncle Chu, since the kidnappers took Yaoyao and Xiaoshu, they must have a purpose. I believe they will contact us on their own initiative." Wei Zhao paused in thought, then said, "If they did not intend to use Yaoyao and Xiaoshu to achieve some end, they would not have taken them. If it were merely a grudge, then they would have done as they did with Uncle Qing—shot them dead on the spot."

"Yes... but they are both young women..." Gu Pengzhan had in fact thought the same—that since the kidnappers had taken his daughter and Xiaoshu, they must mean to use them to achieve some end. Yet he feared the kidnappers might harbor baser intentions.

"Rather than wearing ourselves out here, I say we go back and wait for the kidnappers' call?" Wei Zhao suggested. He needed to sleep a while to replenish his strength; otherwise, even if word of the kidnappers came, he would have no way to fight them.

"All right!" Gu Pengzhan was no longer the spirited company chairman but an anxious father. He had no ideas of his own, and since Wei Zhao proposed going back to wait, he could only do so for now.

Qiu Lingshan did not object either, for she knew that if even Wei Zhao could not resolve this, her own worry would be of no use. Since Wei Zhao wanted to go back, then let him go back.

As for Uncle Qing, Wei Zhao did not send him to the hospital either, but had the paramedic called Xiao Liu help move him to the villa. Wei Zhao had already stabilized Uncle Qing's injuries; so long as he was not hurt again, his condition would not worsen.

Now only three people remained in the villa—Wei Zhao, Gu Pengzhan, and Uncle Qing—along with a single yellow-rank hound, General Weiwu.

"Xiaoyi, are we just going to wait for the kidnappers to contact us?" Gu Pengzhan glanced at his watch anxiously. More than an hour had passed, and the kidnappers still had not called, leaving him restless.

"I can't think of a better way." Wei Zhao sighed as well. "Most importantly, I need to rest. To stabilize Uncle Qing's injuries earlier, I used up a great deal of true qi. I fear this may be a trap the enemy set deliberately—leaving Uncle Qing barely alive on purpose, just to drain my strength..."

At Wei Zhao's words, Gu Pengzhan's expression turned grave. He had not thought that far before, but now, hearing Wei Zhao say it, he too felt it very likely. He said hurriedly, "Xiaoyi, then go rest at once. I will wait here for the kidnappers' call!"

"No need. The sofa will do." With that, Wei Zhao closed his eyes and entered a state of feigned sleep. He did not fall into deep slumber; after entering the jade pendant's space, he remained aware of everything happening in the outside world.

Though Wei Zhao entered the jade pendant's space and desperately absorbed the energy within, his mind never rested. He kept wondering what sort of opponent he would face this time.

Following the sequence of cause and effect, Wei Zhao narrowed his suspicions to two people: Yu Kun of the Yu family, and Zhen Yingjun.

As the foremost family, the Yu family could not possibly show no reaction after a direct-line descendant was beaten and injured—that would not befit the name of the foremost family, and the Yu family could not possibly swallow such an insult. But what puzzled Wei Zhao was this: if the Yu family were to send someone, the first person they would want to deal with would likely be Wei Zhao himself, not Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu.

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