Chapter 163 — Wei Zhao's Cheat

"Miss Gu, I must answer for your safety." Wei Zhao had shed his usual flippant air and spoke with complete seriousness: "Only once Uncle Qing has delivered you both home safely will I be easy in my mind."

"But..." Gu Mengyao had not expected that even after she apologized, Wei Zhao would still turn her down without sparing her dignity, and for a moment she was mortified. It was the first time she had ever bowed her head to him, and yet he...

Gu Mengyao was rather angry, but she knew Wei Zhao had her safety and Xiaoshu's in mind, so she stamped her foot and, for the first time in her life, did not fire off a single sarcastic remark at him.

At any other time Gu Mengyao would long since have taken offense: I have already bowed my head and owned up to you, so what more do you want? And besides, it was your fault in the first place. If you had not been flirting with some middle-aged woman, would I have needed to hire a male escort at all?

In Gu Mengyao's eyes, Sun Jingyan had become a middle-aged woman.

Wei Zhao had already called Uncle Qing and told him where they were; Uncle Qing said he would be there at once.

Shen Yushu stuck out her tongue. "Shield Bro, Yaoyao and I are actually first-timers at a bar..."

"Heh. There is something wrong with this bar. Next time let us try another one." Wei Zhao nodded and said no more. There was nothing unreasonable about Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu going to a bar for fun; for girls from families like theirs, coming to one at all for the first time was already remarkable. As for the prank of calling in a male escort, Wei Zhao could only be left speechless.

In truth, neither Gu Mengyao nor Shen Yushu was bad at heart. Miss Gu had her little streak of pride and self-regard, cold on the surface and warm underneath. Miss Chen was a pure-born troublemaker, yet exceedingly easygoing.

After spending so long in their company, Wei Zhao no longer felt the resistance and the going-through-the-motions that had marked his first days.

From what Wei Zhao said, they could come again next time, as though he was not angry at all about the trouble stirred up at the bar. Shen Yushu was a little surprised; she blinked. "Shield Bro, you are not angry?"

"Angry about what?" Wei Zhao said with a laugh. "You two go back and get some early rest. I still have a bit of business to see to, and I may not be back until very late, so do not wait up for me."

"Oh... then be careful..." Shen Yushu nodded.

Seeing how easily and casually Wei Zhao and Shen Yushu chatted, Gu Mengyao could not help feeling a faint ache somewhere in her heart. Why did Xiaoshu seem so at ease with him, while between her and Wei Zhao there always seemed to stand something unsaid?

But what did it matter whether he and she got along? He was plainly the attendant her daddy had hired for her. Even if they did not get along, he still had to do as she said. So why should she feel bad about it?

Uncle Qing came quickly, and he did not come alone. Several men followed at his back, all of them obviously trained hands, though they specialized in external martial arts and their strength was not much to speak of. Against ordinary people they were more than enough, but against that refined man of before, they would be no match.

"Mr. Lin, I have put you to trouble." Uncle Qing nodded to Wei Zhao. "Will you not come along with us?"

"I still have a bit of business here," Wei Zhao said. "Uncle Qing, you take them and go first. As for the matter here, I will find a time to speak with Uncle Chu about it."

"Very well." Uncle Qing said nothing more and left the bar with Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu. In truth, he understood: unless Wei Zhao had run into something urgent, he would never have sent for him to come and take Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu away. It would have been better for him to escort them home himself.

As matters stood, Wei Zhao had plainly run into something. Since he would not speak of it, Uncle Qing could hardly press him.

Only after watching Uncle Qing and the girls leave the bar did Wei Zhao rise and walk off in the direction the refined man had taken. Passing the counter, he saw that the refined man was already standing there waiting with a somewhat ordinary-looking man.

"Mr. Lin, I am Su Jiaonang, the manager of this bar. I am extremely sorry about what happened earlier..." the ordinary-looking man said as he saw Wei Zhao approach.

"Save the nonsense. Where is Li Cihua?" Wei Zhao cut him off short. Such empty words he had no wish whatever to hear.

Cut off by Wei Zhao, Su Jiaonang flushed slightly and showed a touch of anger, but he recovered himself at once. "Mr. Lin, this way, please."

The man before him was someone the boss wished to invite, and from what Li Yao — the refined man — had said a moment ago, Wei Zhao's strength was likely no less than his own. So Su Jiaonang did not dare be careless.

Wei Zhao followed Su Jiaonang and Li Yao to the door of an office. Su Jiaonang knocked, and from inside came Li Cihua's voice, the same voice from the phone call earlier: "Come in."

Su Jiaonang opened the door and gestured him in. "Mr. Lin, please come in. The boss is waiting for you inside."

Wei Zhao walked straight in. Inside the room sat a pot-bellied man, and behind him stood a gaunt, skeletal man with a thoroughly ordinary face — the sort no one would spare a second glance, the sort who would be lost the instant he stood in a crowd.

But Wei Zhao's expression tightened. The energy fluctuations coming off this skeletal man already faintly surpassed his own... It seemed this was the strength of a peak late-stage Yellow grade...

"Elder Jiao, I can sense the energy fluctuations on them. Can they sense the energy fluctuations on me?" A very important question had suddenly occurred to Wei Zhao — whether this sensing worked both ways.

"I should not think so," Elder Jiao said flatly. "The way his body draws in energy is not the same as yours. Theirs is called true qi. The true qi produced by each cultivation art differs; it can only be used by the one who cultivates it and cannot be passed on to another. The energy in your body, however, is universal..."

"I understand. So the energy in my body can also be converted into the true qi he needs — is that it?" Wei Zhao asked.

"That is so, in theory." Elder Jiao spoke in the tone of a teacher well pleased with his pupil. "And it is precisely for this reason that you can sense his, while he cannot sense yours."

Wei Zhao was delighted to have received a satisfying answer. It seemed that from now on he could play the pig to eat the tiger and put on whatever airs he liked: he could see clearly the strength of others, while others could not see his... This was nothing short of a top-tier cheat. If he saw that his opponent was too strong and he could not beat him, he could simply run for his life.

Wei Zhao's gaze rested on the skeletal man for only an instant. The skeletal man smiled faintly at Wei Zhao. In his view, Wei Zhao was merely at the peak of the early Yellow grade, and since he had suppressed his own aura as a matter of course, it was impossible for Wei Zhao to see through his strength.

So the skeletal man paid it no mind, taking Wei Zhao's glance for a casual one.

For the fastest updates and a pop-up-free reading experience, please visit our site.