Chapter 1336 — A Great Opportunity — Of Course, Wei Zhao Had Left One Thing Unsaid: That Apart From Poisoning and Assassination... Yet Whoever Had Attacked Mr. Qiu Had Used Wholly Bloody, Brutal Means, Killing Him Outright Rather Than by Poison or Ambush!

For to kill Mr. Qiu without the man ahead of him — the one holding his hand — noticing anything at all, neither assassination nor poison would serve. Assassination, like poison, could not keep Mr. Qiu's body from halting for even a moment, and the man in front would have sensed something amiss and surely turned to look; his aim of killing in perfect silence would then have failed.

So if he wanted the man in front to notice nothing, he first had to sever Mr. Qiu's hand, and then, in almost the very same instant, strike Mr. Qiu down! To finish him off utterly before he could even register the pain! Of course, that was no assassination — that was killing in the open!

To accomplish that, Wei Zhao privately admitted, he had not the confidence. Yet this unknown enemy had done it.

What was more, Wei Zhao had not even sensed this person's aura — and naturally the jade pendant had given no warning either. Which meant that when the man killed Mr. Qiu, his target had been Mr. Qiu, and Mr. Qiu alone; toward Wei Zhao himself, toward Qiu Lingshan, Chen Yutian, even Yu Xiaoke, he harbored no hostility whatsoever.

The jade pendant's warning function was a curious thing; at times even Wei Zhao himself could not make sense of it. It seemed able to peer into his own heart, working only upon companions within a certain range whom it judged friends rather than foes, while upon others Wei Zhao had marked as strangers — or upon friends beyond a certain distance — it had no effect at all.

It was rather like the party system in an online game, effective only for members of the same team on the same map.

"An Earth Rank expert!" Qiu Lingshan and Chen Yutian were badly shaken by Wei Zhao's words. They exchanged a glance, their mouths falling open at the same time: "Isn't that the sort of expert only the hidden families and those sects are supposed to have?"

Both came of great families, so they knew well what an Earth Rank expert represented. Even an expert at the peak of the late Mystic Rank was seldom seen.

"That I don't know," Wei Zhao said. "The world is vast, and nothing is too strange for it. To you, perhaps, Earth Rank experts exist only within the hidden families and the sects — that much is on the surface. But perhaps, out in the secular world, certain dark forces hold such experts in their grip as well. These tomb-raiding crews, for instance..."

"True enough!" Qiu Lingshan said, light dawning. "My thinking was too narrow before — I confined myself to what lies in the open, and overlooked these criminal gangs!"

"If this Earth Rank expert truly exists, then I would advise against making an enemy of him. I am not certain I could do anything to him, and for your people to try to capture him would be all the harder! If he wishes to shield someone and flee, no one will be able to bar his way!" Wei Zhao reminded them mildly. "So your plan ought to be revised as well. When you know a thing cannot be done, do not attempt it..."

In truth, if Wei Zhao truly staked his life on a fight with this Earth Rank expert, he might not lose. But Wei Zhao had come to this ancient tomb for a matter of great consequence; so long as the Earth Rank expert did not hinder his search for clues to the Fire Spirit Sacred Fruit, the man might do as he pleased — Wei Zhao would not trouble himself over him.

Whether Qiu Lingshan and Chen Yutian could complete their mission was not something Wei Zhao paid much heed to either. Not that he lacked feeling for them; the situation simply was unusual now. Wei Zhao had to place Feng Xiaoxiao first, and all else came second.

Qiu Lingshan and Chen Yutian smiled bitterly and fell rather silent. Of course they knew how formidable an Earth Rank expert was! A Mystic Rank expert was already formidable enough in the secular world, to say nothing of an Earth Rank one! If even Wei Zhao said he lacked confidence, then he truly lacked it.

Who knew which tomb robber possessed such influence, to actually be able to summon an Earth Rank expert into action.

"We can only play it by ear..." Qiu Lingshan sighed. "Today Old Hei killed a man, and I could not stop him in time either. It truly caught me off guard..."

Naturally Qiu Lingshan did not wish a criminal suspect to die in the midst of their internal strife. If the man died, the embezzled funds and stolen goods he had obtained would be very difficult to recover.

"One dead is one fewer. Only with more deaths can I be certain which side that Earth Rank expert is on," Wei Zhao said, wholly unconcerned.

Qiu Lingshan and Chen Yutian were somewhat silenced. After pondering a while, they went off to rearrange their plan of action, while Wei Zhao dialed the number of the Gu family villa.

After a moment, Er Goudan's voice came over the line: "Hello? How do you do?"

"Er Goudan, it's me. How goes it — all well at home?" Wei Zhao had not expected that after staying with them this while, Er Goudan would have grown so refined in his speech; he even knew to say "how do you do" when he answered the phone.

"Boss, it's you!" At the sound of Wei Zhao's voice, Er Goudan grew excited at once. "Everything's fine at home. This morning I escorted the three sisters-in-law to school, and tonight I'll go fetch them as well! Rest easy, boss — I won't let anyone touch a single hair on their heads. Whoever dares, I'll put him down with one punch!"

"Good." Wei Zhao smiled. "By the way, how is Mighty General? In a little while, go out to the police station and hand Mighty General over to an officer in the criminal investigation unit named Liu Wangli. I'll speak to him myself."

"Mighty General? Sure!" Er Goudan nodded after hearing it. "All right, I'll take him over in a bit."

What had happened in the ancient tomb today suddenly reminded Wei Zhao of Mighty General. If Mighty General were here, he would have less trouble and more certainty — a dog's sense of smell is keen, after all, and this was also a card Wei Zhao had kept in reserve. If he never had to cross swords with that Earth Rank expert, so much the better; but if they did meet, he would play a little energy bomb on the fellow and blow him to death, and with Mighty General as his golden finger, he could swiftly repair the damaged meridians in his body and restore his strength anew!

Wei Zhao feared that if Mighty General were not at his side, and he happened to drop dead in the ancient tomb, things would turn very bad indeed.

After finishing his call with Er Goudan, Wei Zhao had Qiu Lingshan telephone Liu Wangli to make the arrangements, telling him to find someone to bring the dog over, while Wei Zhao drove out himself to meet it.

In the Xiao family villa, Xiao Ji hurriedly telephoned and summoned Xiao Ben back from the company.

In the Xiao family, the business was essentially all handled by Xiao Ben, while Xiao Ji was content to be an idle head of the household, managing nothing and holding only the title. For Xiao Ji, though, this was the finest of arrangements.

"Elder Brother, why did you call me back in such haste? What on earth has happened?" Xiao Ben rushed home and asked the moment he stepped through the door.

"Second Brother, good news! Wei Zhao has gone out — he is not at home. Right now is the perfect chance for us to make trouble for Gu Pengzhan!" Xiao Ji said. "A while back, we could not touch the Gu family, and it has been gnawing at me ever since. But now a fine opportunity has come, and we must not let it slip!"

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