Chapter 770 — The Tower Collapsed Again

"By my reckoning, the time should be about up. The bomb in Wei Zhao's car ought to be going off any second now." Zhang Yuzhou glanced at his watch.

"Right. Cihua, go turn on the TV — the news will probably be reporting it soon," Zhao Qibing ordered Li Cihua.

"Yes, Young Master Bing!" Li Cihua turned to switch on the television, but just then his phone rang.

By reflex Li Cihua pulled it out and glanced at the screen. Wei Zhao. He hesitated, then pressed the answer key. He had no idea why Wei Zhao would be calling at a moment like this, but the thought of hearing, over the line, the instant the man was blown to bits was a pleasure not to be passed up.

"Hello? Wei Zhao, what is it?" Li Cihua asked, feigning indifference.

"Brother Cihua? It just occurred to me that I still have a few things to take care of. I'll leave the car parked with you for now. If anything happens to it, I'll be looking to you for compensation!" That was all Wei Zhao said before he hung up.

"Hello? What do you mean? What are you talking about? ... Gah?" Li Cihua suddenly let out a strangled cry. His eyes were fixed on the monitor screen, and he stood rooted to the spot as though struck by a body-freezing spell.

"What are you doing?" That sudden "Gah" had startled Zhao Qibing half out of his wits, and he snapped at him in annoyance.

"Young Master Bing, Young Master Bing — this is bad, bad! He's back!" Jolted out of his shock by the scolding, Li Cihua pointed a trembling finger at the monitor and cried, "He's come back!"

"What's come back?" Zhao Qibing blinked.

"Wei Zhao! Wei Zhao has come back!" Li Cihua said urgently. "Wei Zhao has driven the car back down into the underground parking garage!"

"What? What did you say?" Zhao Qibing was horrified. He whirled to the monitor — and froze, dumbstruck. There, in the underground garage of Qibing Tower, was Wei Zhao's beat-up van once more! "Quick, get that car out of there!"

"We don't have the keys — and even if we pushed it out now there'd be no time. Less than five minutes before the bomb goes off!" Zhang Yuzhou had seen it too. Shaking all over, he jabbed a finger at his watch. "Young Master Bing, we have to run for our lives!"

"Then go take the bomb off and throw it away!" Young Master Bing was badly rattled, and issued the order at once.

"There's no time, Young Master Bing — and besides, who'd dare go near it?" Li Cihua thought for a moment; he was comparatively composed. "Just getting down in the elevator would cost us two minutes at the least. We should just run."

"Damn it, then push me downstairs, now! Wei Zhao, you bastard! You've screwed me over!" Young Master Bing's eyes were bloodshot; he was about to burst with rage.

Li Cihua wasted no time either. He shoved Young Master Bing's wheelchair toward the elevator, with Su Jiaonang and Zhang Yuzhou at their heels. The moment the four of them tumbled out of the elevator they ran like mad out of the tower. Zhao Qibing no longer cared how the wheelchair jolted; all the way he urged them on: "Hurry, hurry, hurry! Move!"

Half running, half scrambling, the four of them finally made it out of the building. They had just reached the far side of the street when a tremendous bang rang out, followed by the rumble and roar of collapsing structure — and a brand-new, magnificent Qibing Tower was reduced to rubble in an instant!

Watching the tower he had just finished building come down like that, Zhao Qibing was beyond tears.

Gone? Gone again? Zhao Qibing felt as though he were dreaming. The first tower had stood for exactly one day before it collapsed. The second tower had also stood for exactly one day before it came down the same way! Such speed — surely there had never been its like, nor ever would be.

Li Cihua's face was ashen too. He had never imagined Wei Zhao would pull a trick like this! It was too dirty. Returning the car with less than five minutes to spare — who would dare touch it then? Even knowing perfectly well there was a bomb inside, no one would go anywhere near it!

"Holy crap! What kind of bomb was that? How could it do that much damage?" Zhao Qibing demanded, eyes bulging, red-rimmed.

"TNT. I was afraid it wouldn't be enough to kill Wei Zhao — he's a Yellow Rank expert, after all — so I used high-grade TNT..." Zhang Yuzhou said weakly.

"You son of a bitch — my tower!" Zhao Qibing was on the verge of tears. Did he have it easy? The first tower had been torn down by Wei Zhao the very day it was finished; now the second tower, also just finished, had been blown up by Wei Zhao too...

And yet, whose fault was it, in the end? Wei Zhao's, or his own? Zhao Qibing felt utterly wretched. The bomb had been meant to kill Wei Zhao, and in the end Wei Zhao had not been killed at all — instead his own tower had been leveled to the ground!

Was there ever such injustice? If the tower and Wei Zhao had gone up together, Zhao Qibing could have accepted it. So long as Wei Zhao died, losing a tower would have been losing a tower. The crux of it was that Wei Zhao was perfectly fine!

"Young Master Bing, I never expected this either... If I'd known, I'd have used ordinary explosives..." Seeing the twisted look on Zhao Qibing's face, Zhang Yuzhou explained, conscience-stricken.

"Wei Zhao, if I don't kill you, my name isn't Zhao Qibing! Damn your whole family!" Yet he did not blame Zhang Yuzhou. A grievance has its source and a debt its master; Zhang Yuzhou had meant well — he had feared the blast would not be enough to kill Wei Zhao, which was why he had used the strong stuff. How could Zhao Qibing hold it against him? The blame lay only in this: Wei Zhao was too treacherous. If Wei Zhao had not driven the car back, could the tower have come down?

Just then, however, Li Cihua's phone rang.

"It's Wei Zhao..." Li Cihua glanced at the caller ID and said cautiously.

"Answer it. See what he has to say!" Zhao Qibing said through gritted teeth.

"Hello?" Li Cihua picked up the call.

"Brother Cihua, what happened to your tower? My car was still down in the underground garage! You people are shockingly irresponsible — you'll have to cover my losses in full!" Wei Zhao's voice over the line sounded thoroughly aghast.

"..." Li Cihua very much wanted to curse, but after a moment's hesitation he held his tongue.

Zhao Qibing, sitting beside him, had heard every word. He held out his hand. "Give me the phone!"

Li Cihua hurriedly handed it to him.

"Wei Zhao? Not bad, you. Just you wait!" Zhao Qibing said venomously.

"Young Master Bing, what are you talking about? I don't follow at all. Right now it's my car that came to grief at your tower, so it stands to reason that you ought to compensate me, doesn't it?" Wei Zhao said mildly. "Or have you hidden something dangerous in that tower of yours? Shall I go and call the police?"