Chapter 4244 — The Teleportation Array

Shouldering their way through the crowd, the six of them wove through the streets and alleys of Zhenduan City, and half an hour later at last arrived at their destination: the Rufeng Road Teleportation Array.

From a distance, they could already see a long queue ahead, arranged in groups of six—plainly all of them, like Wei Zhao and his companions, bound for adventure in the Rufeng Forest.

Wei Zhao craned his neck to look. Some hundred meters ahead stood a circular raised platform, which appeared to be some sort of giant disc array, ringed by six majestic spirit-jade pillars each ten zhang tall—this was the Rufeng Road Teleportation Array they had been told about.

Every so often, a burst of white light would flare upon the array, followed by a sharp shriek that tore through space; once silence returned, the next group would soon mount the platform. All in all, the pace was not too slow.

Waiting patiently, watching the people ahead of them thin out one by one, Wei Zhao suddenly noticed something: before every group stepped onto the array, they would voluntarily produce a large sack of spirit jade—by rough estimate some five thousand pieces—and hand it over to the array official stationed at the entrance.

Five thousand spirit jade made for a hefty sack indeed. A glance over his shoulder, and it was just about the size of the bags Guo Dengtao and Wang Feng were each carrying. Not everyone paid in ready spirit jade, though—some simply swiped a spirit jade card.

"Brother Guo, what's this..." Wei Zhao could not help but stare, pointing first at the array ahead, then at the big sack on Guo Dengtao's back. Spirit jade, no doubt, packed inside—no wonder he had refused to let Wei Zhao carry it earlier.

"What?" Guo Dengtao blinked, and only after a moment caught on. He slapped his forehead. "You didn't know? Using the Rufeng Road Teleportation Array costs a fee. Every teleportation array burns through vast amounts of spirit jade—you won't find a single one anywhere that lets people use it for free!"

"A fee?" Wei Zhao raised an eyebrow. It was not that he couldn't understand it; the thought had simply never crossed his mind. "You didn't mention it to us yesterday. How much does each person need to pay?"

"Ah, that was my oversight—but this is common knowledge, I assumed you two must know..." Guo Dengtao was speechless all over again, recalling that Wei Zhao and his companion knew nothing at all, illiterate in the ways of the world. He rubbed his aching head. "Five thousand spirit jade per person. That's no small sum—don't tell me you haven't made any preparation at all?"

"You might have said so earlier..." Wei Zhao gave him a resigned look. Beside him, Huang Xiaotao, her face veiled, showed a trace of worry—after all, even for a fine hand at the early Golden Core stage, ten thousand spirit jade was not something one could simply produce on a whim; it took advance preparation at the very least.

"Tch, one look at them and you know they're unprepared. I told you long ago, Taozi, that you'd take anything that came your way—dragging back two such blockheads. No strength to speak of, and now not even spirit jade. Aren't they just wasting our time!" Feng Hongyu seized the moment to toss in a few sour remarks from the sidelines.

Chu Bubai frowned at the sight. If Wei Zhao and his companion truly had no spirit jade ready, then the four of them could not go either—and the whole trip would have been for nothing.

"You really have no spirit jade? Ten thousand between the two of you—I can put it up for you. But as for the profits from this expedition, don't expect too large a share." Chu Bubai spoke in a low voice. "And once we're there, you'll follow my orders!"

Ten thousand spirit jade was no trifling sum, and Wei Zhao and his companion were, by any measure, "the weakest." Put that way, his words were not unreasonable.

"No need. Ten thousand spirit jade—we can produce that ourselves." Wei Zhao shook his head decisively.

He had noticed earlier that after each person paid their spirit jade, they received something like a token, and the array stewards would specifically warn them: when leaving the Rufeng Forest, they must follow the map to the teleportation array set up within the forest, and use the token to activate it before they could be sent back.

If Chu Bubai paid the spirit jade on their behalf, then the token would inevitably be in his keeping as well—and whether he and Huang Xiaotao could return, and when, would depend entirely on Chu Bubai's pleasure. Such a vital hold over them, Wei Zhao had no intention of letting fall into an outsider's hands.

Ten thousand spirit jade did sound like a great deal—most people truly could not produce it at short notice—but Wei Zhao was decidedly the exception. He had the Tiandan Pavilion at his back; a single day's ordinary takings came to at least fifty thousand spirit jade, and that was the most conservative estimate. To him, ten thousand spirit jade was nothing at all!

Over on Zhongdao, Tianchan sent spirit jade to him every month through the Merchant Alliance's special channels. The figure in his spirit jade card was by now an astronomical sum that would make one's jaw drop—ten thousand spirit jade did not even count as loose change.

"In that case, all the better." Chu Bubai was taken aback for a moment, then said no more. Beside him, Feng Hongyu still wore a look of utter disbelief.

From the very first glance she had pegged Wei Zhao and his companion as having no backing worth mentioning. Were it not for following Chu Bubai, even she—a peak expert of the early Golden Core stage—might not be able to produce ten thousand spirit jade at a moment's notice, let alone these two who had clearly never seen anything of the world. They must be putting on a stiff-necked show in front of everyone, too proud to admit it!

Feng Hongyu curled her lip in disdain. Hmph—just wait until they make fools of themselves. Then we'll see how the two of you save face!

"Brother Ling Yi, this is no laughing matter. If you're short for the moment, why not let Senior Brother Chu Bubai pay on your behalf—you'll only lose a little of the profits. There's really no need to spare your pride." Guo Dengtao lowered his voice to persuade him. As for Wang Feng beside him, his face betrayed nothing.

"Heh, Brother Guo, you worry too much. I do have enough spirit jade on hand—I simply didn't know about this beforehand." Wei Zhao smiled faintly.

Guo Dengtao opened his mouth to say more, but seeing that Wei Zhao's expression was not feigned, he let it drop. He had done his duty by warning him this far; if Wei Zhao ended up embarrassing himself, he had only himself to blame.

Soon it was their turn. Chu Bubai took the lead and swiped his spirit jade card, covering Feng Hongyu's share along with his own. Guo Dengtao and Wang Feng each handed a sack of spirit jade to the array steward. Then every gaze fell upon Wei Zhao. (Writing ran a little slow today—posting a bit late.) R1152