Chapter 965 — Are You of the Sun Family?

Liu Tianli bowed his head and said nothing, the very picture of a man receiving instruction.

"An entrepreneur, by contrast, must look far ahead rather than haggle over a momentary gain or loss!" Liu Zhenhu said. "Jingjing, why don't you tell us what you make of this?"

"Yes, Grandfather." Liu Jinghan inclined her head slightly, then said, "Wei Zhao repaid what he owed our Liu family and threw in a favor besides. That tells us he still does not truly count the Liu family as a friend; it was a thank-you, a settling of accounts between us and him. We may have gained something for the moment, but there is nothing here to be glad about."

"Did you hear that, Tianli? That is the difference between your vision and Jingjing's. In her hands the group could double its profits; you merely hold to the old ways." Liu Zhenhu waved a hand. "Never mind. If Wei Zhao's friendship could be won so easily, it would be worth very little. We will have other chances... I hear that at this Great Family Assembly the rankings may shift. By the look of it, the Xiao family is fated to have its name struck from the roll of Great Families..."

"Indeed. And after the Xiao family, who then? Looking over the strength of every Great Family, ours is the weakest," Liu Tianyi said. "We can secure our standing for now, but who knows what the future holds?"

Naturally Wei Zhao had no patience to spare for the Liu family's fretting over gain and loss. By now he had followed Gu Pengzhan into Uncle Qing's room.

Uncle Qing lay motionless on the sickbed, not stirring at all, his body still covered in silver needles—the ones Wei Zhao had inserted earlier.

Wei Zhao quickly examined Uncle Qing's condition and found that it had not worsened, and could not help letting out a breath of relief.

"Well, Xiao Yi, can he be saved?" Gu Pengzhan asked, a little anxious.

"Yes." Wei Zhao nodded. "Have Yaoyao and Xiaoshu wait in the living room and keep watch for me. If any enemy comes in, call me at once."

"All right!" Gu Pengzhan did not dare delay. He hurried out to instruct Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu. He knew Wei Zhao was about to use his own peculiar method to heal Uncle Qing, and not daring to disturb him, he quietly withdrew and shut the door behind him.

Wei Zhao did not intend to cure Uncle Qing in a single day. Though every open enemy had for the moment been cowed into stillness, all of them frightened into submission by Wei Zhao, there was no telling whether some desperate man might yet be driven to a reckless leap. So Wei Zhao meant to heal Uncle Qing over several days, which would also let him recover swiftly once his own energy was spent.

In any case, even cured, Uncle Qing would be a cripple, so Wei Zhao was in no hurry.

After all, outer-style skill differs from inner-style skill. Wei Zhao could only restore Uncle Qing's body to its original state; he could not give the man his strength back. Outer-style arts temper the body, and Wei Zhao could not train in his place.

Wei Zhao roused the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art and began repairing the meridians within Uncle Qing's body. His own energy poured ceaselessly into Uncle Qing, swiftly mending the damaged organs. Wei Zhao meant to repair the internal injuries first, and the external ones after.

Once the internal injuries were healed, Uncle Qing would wake; whether he could get out of bed mattered far less.

Half an hour later Wei Zhao let out a long breath. Repairing Uncle Qing's damaged organs had cost him roughly a third of his energy. In treating Uncle Qing he had held nothing back, as he had when treating Liu Bojia; he had let Uncle Qing's organs be restored completely.

Uncle Qing had lain in that bed long enough. The moment his organs were mended, he slowly came to. Seeing Wei Zhao before the bed, he was briefly stunned, then cried out urgently, "Mr. Lin, go save the young miss and Xiaoshu—they've been taken!"

"Ha, they've already been rescued." Wei Zhao smiled. He had not expected Uncle Qing to be so loyal—to sacrifice himself for Yaoyao and Xiaoshu, and then, the instant he woke, to make his first words a plea for their rescue.

"Phew..." Uncle Qing let out a long breath. "Good, good! Mr. Lin, you saved me? Of course—yes, of course it was you. I'm asking what I already know! Thank you!"

"Ha, Uncle Qing, you're being too formal. We're not strangers, and you were hurt on Yaoyao's and Xiaoshu's account—how could I stand by?" Wei Zhao smiled, unconcerned. He did not count healing Uncle Qing as any kind of merit.

"For a debt like that, words of thanks are not enough!" Uncle Qing nodded. "By the way, Mr. Lin..."

"Call me Xiao Yi," Wei Zhao cut in. "Uncle Chu does."

"Very well, then—Xiao Yi." Uncle Qing hesitated a moment, then agreed. "Xiao Yi, I have always wondered: your true qi can actually be used to heal others. You should know that, apart from fellow disciples of the same school, whose true qi may be shared with one another, the true qi of an outsider not only does another no good—it does harm."

"I know that. But I am rather special." Wei Zhao understood well what Uncle Qing meant: when true qi of a different kind entered the body of an inner-style expert, it had to be refined away at the cost of even more true qi, and otherwise might even endanger the man's life. This was precisely why Wei Zhao had driven his energy, without converting it through the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art, straight into the Medicine King's body; the true qi could not be used by the Medicine King—it had instead gravely wounded him.

"Hmm... Are you of the Sun family?" Uncle Qing asked after a moment's hesitation.

"The Sun family? Which Sun family?" Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback.

"You're not..." Seeing Wei Zhao's blank look, Uncle Qing knew he had guessed wrong, and shook his head. "Of course. A member of the Sun family could not heal so many people at once. Their true qi can serve only one person, or a few..."

"What do you mean?" Wei Zhao was beginning to take an interest. "Uncle Qing, you're saying this Sun family of yours has the same ability I do?"

It was the first time Wei Zhao had heard that another Great Family possessed an ability like his own—the power to use true qi to mend another's wounds.

"You could put it that way!" Uncle Qing nodded, a faraway look of remembrance coming into his eyes. "In the martial world there are the inner school and the outer school—but there are also Great Families of medicine and Great Families of healing. Those two families are, in truth, support-type families; think of the healers and priests in online games. In fact, much of the inspiration for today's online games comes from the legends of the Great Families..."

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