Chapter 4067 — The Central Merchant Guild

At last, Heaven rewarded his perseverance. Just when Si Haitao had crawled himself to exhaustion and was on the verge of giving up, he spotted a Fourth-Grade Great Restoration Pill in the display cabinet of a shop called the "Central Merchant Guild."

Si Haitao was instantly overjoyed. Even without a Fifth-Grade Great Meridian-Opening Pill, this Fourth-Grade Great Restoration Pill alone was a life-saving rain in the nick of time for him.

Scrambling through the gates of the Central Merchant Guild, Si Haitao pointed at the display cabinet with one hand and shouted, "Someone come! This old man wants that Fourth-Grade Great Restoration Pill. It is sitting right there in plain sight—surely you cannot look me in the eye and lie that you have none in stock!"

The steward gave him an odd look, then smiled. "The customer jests. This is business delivered to our door—what merchant would turn it away? Since the customer wants it, I will have it packed for you at once. As for payment, will you be paying by spirit-jade card, or...?"

"Of course." Si Haitao laboriously drew the spirit-jade card from his bosom and handed it to the steward, silently congratulating himself. Thank goodness for all the spirit jade he had skimmed off over the years—this was the capital for his comeback.

Yet mere moments later, Si Haitao was struck dumb. The spirit-jade card had been frozen—it could not be used at all!

The news hit him so hard that he spewed a mouthful of old blood in public. Every piece of spirit jade he owned was on that card; it was his very life!

Crippled into a useless wreck, and now even the one last thing he could rely on—his spirit-jade card—was unusable. In his despair, Si Haitao's vision went black, and he nearly collapsed dead on the spot at the entrance of the Central Merchant Guild.

Summoning the last shred of his spirit, Si Haitao crawled out the gate like a man who had lost his soul, yet he had no idea where to go. No road to heaven above, no door into the earth below—this time he truly had no recourse left at all.

Just then, a voice suddenly sounded beside him: "You want pills, do you? Follow me."

Si Haitao looked up toward the voice and found that the speaker was a mysterious figure draped in a black trench coat, his face hidden entirely beneath a black bamboo hat so that no one could make out his features.

"You... are you speaking to this old man?" Si Haitao had already sunk into utter despair. Now he was like a drowning man clutching at the last straw.

The mysterious figure did not answer, only lowered his head to give him a meaningful glance, then turned and walked off to one side.

Si Haitao was baffled, but he still harbored one last shred of hope. In the end he gritted his teeth and, with immense effort, followed after him.

After all, he was nothing now, penniless besides—a thorough wreck of a man with one worthless life left. There was nothing left to fear.

As if waiting for Si Haitao, the mysterious figure deliberately walked slowly. Only after a full stick of incense's time did he finally stop before the entrance of a grand and luxurious teahouse called the "Central Tea Assembly."

Si Haitao could not help but wonder privately: judging by the name, could this place be run by the same people as that Central Merchant Guild?

Come to think of it, as the former Four Directions Inspector of the Hong Shadow Group, Si Haitao had deliberately investigated this Central Merchant Guild before taking up his post on the North Island.

It was a commercial house that had only recently risen to prominence, yet within a few short months it had rapidly occupied every island. Even on the fiercely competitive Middle Island, its guild had appeared at the same time.

Si Haitao had deployed the intelligence system of the Hong Shadow Group, yet in the end he still could not uncover the master behind the Central Merchant Guild. All he knew was that this person was exceedingly mysterious, wielding a terrifyingly vast power.

The Central Merchant Guild was nothing like the other commercial houses, which grew bit by bit from small to great. It gave the impression of springing from nothing into being in a mere few days—like a spring wind arriving overnight, and a thousand trees blooming with pear blossoms—suddenly, all at once, it was spread across the five great islands of the Heavenly Steps.

Following the mysterious figure all the way into an elegant private room, Si Haitao saw him sit down facing him, and only then did he stiffen his scalp and say with some nervousness, "You sought me out...?"

Before the words had left his mouth, the mysterious figure said nothing but produced a Fifth-Grade Great Meridian-Opening Pill and placed it on the table before Si Haitao.

"This... this is for me?" Si Haitao could not help but swallow hard, his eyes shining as he stared at the Fifth-Grade Great Meridian-Opening Pill before him. This was the one life-saving pill that could let him turn things around now.

Yet Si Haitao was no fool after all. However much he craved it, he dared not rashly reach out for the Fifth-Grade Great Meridian-Opening Pill. He could only rub his hands awkwardly and say, "I... I have no spirit jade..."

"No spirit jade is needed. It is a gift," the mysterious figure said mildly.

Si Haitao was overjoyed, but he still forced down his greed and said, "This... this old man believes that I am now worth nothing at all. I do not know what you..."

"You have value. You simply have not discovered it yourself," the mysterious figure interrupted.

"Oh?" Si Haitao was startled, not quite understanding what the other meant.

"So long as you agree to serve me with all your heart from now on, then this Fifth-Grade Great Meridian-Opening Pill is yours," the mysterious figure stated his terms.

"Agreed!" Si Haitao did not hesitate for an instant, agreeing without a second thought. He had nothing left now; whatever this mysterious figure wanted him to do in the future, it would still be better than being a wreck waiting for death as he was now.

The mysterious figure nodded in satisfaction, then said, "I hear you come from an intelligence background. Good. I have an organization in hand, and I will put you in charge of it from now on."

"Oh? Me, in charge? What do I need to do?" Si Haitao's eyes lit up as he asked hastily.

The mysterious figure smiled faintly. "Very simple. Help me find people with growth potential, but whose hearts are crooked—people like yourself, for instance."

"Huh?" Si Haitao suddenly felt his brain was not quite up to the task. Finding people with growth potential was easy enough to understand, but crooked of heart? What kind of requirement was that?

"No need to ask why. So long as you agree, I will give you a brand-new future. Your status shall be no lower than that of a branch manager in your Hong Clan Merchant Guild, and as for power, it will be beyond anything you can imagine." The mysterious figure's tone was flat, yet in Si Haitao's ears it was an extraordinary temptation.

"Good, I agree!" Si Haitao nodded at once.

"Excellent. From today on, you are the manager of the North Island Central Merchant Guild. That, of course, is only your public identity. As for your hidden identity—you are the head of the Central North Island Intelligence Group!" the mysterious figure said mildly.

"Ha?" Even though Si Haitao had already conjectured countless possibilities in his mind, hearing the mysterious figure's words now, he was still so stunned that he could not recover his senses for a long while.