"Regret? Heh heh..." The You family disciple shook his head. "What use is regret?"

"If I could make you whole again, would you be willing to serve as my piece within the hidden You family?" Wei Zhao glanced at the disciple, and his heart stirred as he asked.

"A piece... you want a cripple like me to be your piece... What? You say you can make me whole again?" The You family disciple froze for a moment. "You have the Meridian-Opening Pill and the Lesser Restoration Pill?"

"Naturally!" Wei Zhao nodded. The Meridian-Opening Pill and the Lesser Restoration Pill—though he had never sought them out, after so many matches he had still come away with a few of each. "Have you not heard how many rounds I have won?"

"That... why would you want to save me?" The You family disciple was puzzled. "And why make me a piece inside the You family? Do you have some grievance with the hidden You family?"

"Not for now—in the future, who can say." Wei Zhao spoke calmly. True qi could heal this disciple's wounds, but the man was not yet one of his trusted confidants, and Wei Zhao could not treat him as such.

Besides, this matter of planting a piece in the You family was merely a passing thought. If the man agreed, well and good; if not, nothing would be lost.

"Not for now? Then why save me..." The disciple grew even more bewildered. If Wei Zhao bore the hidden You family a deep and deadly grudge, then saving him and sending him back to infiltrate their ranks would make sense—with his strength, so long as he did not go after the Heaven Rank experts, he could assassinate the other Earth Rank hands with ease. Yet Wei Zhao had said plainly that there was no grievance for the time being!

"Nothing much. Perhaps it is fellow feeling—I too have known moments of despair like yours." Wei Zhao sighed. "Truth be told, I may not even need you to do anything for me. How things stand between me and the hidden You family rests entirely on a single thought in Old Man You's head."

"Forgive me, but for now I cannot agree!" The disciple hesitated a moment, then refused Wei Zhao's offer.

Wei Zhao was both startled and curious. Did this disciple not wish to be whole again? To refuse his offer outright—what did that mean?

"You do not wish to be whole again?" Wei Zhao asked, baffled.

"I am a man who repays kindness with kindness. The You family may have treated me unjustly, but after all these years they gave me a place to stay, and gave me spirit medicines to aid my cultivation. Though they cast me aside this time, coming to this contest was my own proposal, for the rich rewards awaiting the victor—the You family did not force me!" the disciple said. "So unless the You family does something truly unforgivable to me, I cannot move against them, nor help you do so!"

"I never took you for such a blindly loyal fool!" Wei Zhao shook his head.

"This is not blind loyalty. If you can save me today and make me whole again, I will repay you richly another day!" the disciple said. "That reward—I had meant to give it to the You family, but I have changed my mind."

"A rich reward?" Wei Zhao narrowed his eyes slightly. "What do you mean?"

"A treasure map!" the disciple said. "As for what it leads to, once you have saved me I will tell you. After this contest ends, I will return to the You family, fetch that treasure map, and hand it to you at a fitting opportunity!"

"A treasure map... never mind whether it is genuine—even if it is, there is no telling whether the treasure still remains," Wei Zhao said mildly, showing little excitement. "Besides, even if the treasure is there, why not go looking for it yourself?"

"I went once, but the place is utterly desolate and I could not find the exact spot." The disciple did not conceal it. "Afterward, I meant to present it as a contribution to the You family, so that the hidden You family would help me obtain a Qi-Gathering Pill and advance to the Heaven Rank, that I might avenge my family!"

"Are you certain you will not help me move against the You family?" Wei Zhao asked.

"If I feel that there is no longer any need for me to remain with the You family, I will surely come to you, my lord, to repay the debt of saving my life today!" the disciple said firmly. He had not answered Wei Zhao's question directly, but his meaning was plain enough.

"Very well, come with me." Wei Zhao waved a hand. The disciple was somewhat blindly loyal, but once he returned and gradually came to see Old Master You's true face, his mind would likely change. Wei Zhao counted it as planting a seed of goodwill—even if he could not use the man against the hidden You family, at the very least he could pass along word of things.

"Thank you for saving my life, my lord!" Overjoyed, the disciple rose to his feet and clasped his hands. "Once I return to the hidden You family, I, Yu Dake, will surely keep my word and deliver that treasure map into your hands with both of mine!"

"Pff... cough cough cough..." Wei Zhao was struck dumb by the disciple's name. "What did you say your name was?"

"Yu Dake. Why?" Yu Dake stared at Wei Zhao in bewilderment, unable to see what was so wrong with his name that it should astonish Wei Zhao to such a degree.

"Then... what is your sister's name?" Wei Zhao asked.

"My sister... why do you ask?" At Wei Zhao's question, Yu Dake's expression turned suddenly wary. "Who are you?"

"What is Yu Xiaoke to you?" Wei Zhao paid no heed to Yu Dake's expression and asked directly.

"Yu Xiaoke..." Yu Dake's face turned uglier still, and he seemed to regret having told Wei Zhao his true name. He had seen Wei Zhao act righteously and offer him the Lesser Restoration Pill and the Meridian-Opening Pill, and so he had given his real name!

He was a man who repaid kindness without fail and did not wish to hide anything from his benefactor, so he had spoken his true name outright—a name he had never used even within the You family. In the You family he went by the name You Jiu, a designation for You family disciples, much like You Shisan before him.

The man before him had begun to look strange the moment he heard the name—and that was not all. He even knew his sister's name. Could it be that this man was his enemy?

At that thought, Yu Dake's hopes crumbled to ash! He knew Wei Zhao's strength well; a full-force blow from a Heaven Rank expert had left him utterly unfazed, and the very fact that he could stand here trading jokes was proof enough!

Never mind that he was already injured—even at his peak, before the wounds, he could not possibly have beaten Wei Zhao, nor escaped being slain. So as he thought it through, Yu Dake could only look at Wei Zhao with helpless regret, cursing himself for having trusted Wei Zhao too readily.

"So then, she is your sister?" Wei Zhao stared at Yu Dake, somewhat shaken!