Chapter 4337 — Enemies Upon Return

Wei Zhao waved farewell to the crowd on the dock while sighing inwardly, though a trace of lingering dread rose in him as well. These people were simply too warm-hearted, and he was not made of the cold stuff that could truly hold others at arm's length. Had the Day of Heaven's Sacrifice not been drawing near—had the miasmic fog not been about to return and disrupt his journey—he reckoned they would have kept him there for a good month at least.

"Little Black, get over here," Wei Zhao said suddenly once the ship had left the dock and put out to sea.

"Yes, yes—what orders does the senior have?" The man in black dared not be the least bit negligent and hurried over at once.

"You haven't pulled any tricks on me these past two days, and you haven't tried to run. You know how to read the room," Wei Zhao said flatly.

"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare—without the senior's orders, how would this humble one presume to make trouble?" The man in black nodded and smiled obsequiously, though inwardly he was cursing up a storm. Damn it, only a fool wouldn't want to run—but Xianpeng Island was entirely the Fang family's territory. Unless he forcibly seized a boat and put to sea, anywhere he fled would mean only one thing: death!

What was more, these past two days that Fang Biwu had deliberately set the Fang family's old steward to watch him—and that was a fine expert of the Nascent Soul stage. Under such a one's nose, how could he possibly slip away?

"Best that you have that much sense. It saves me the trouble of having to use force and kill you." Wei Zhao smiled meaningfully, then said, "Go sail the boat."

"Oh—yes, yes." The man in black nodded hurriedly, but then asked again, "May I ask the senior, where are we headed next?"

"Wei Arc City," Wei Zhao said flatly.

"Ah?" The man in black could not help but look troubled. Not only had he botched the task Wei Zhaotong had given him, but he had also made an enemy of the Qingtian Escort Agency at the same time. Whichever one he ran into, the outcome would be far from pleasant—so the one place he now least dared to go was Wei Arc City.

"What? You have an objection? That's fine too. I'll steer the boat myself, and as for you—you can go keep your three pirate brothers company." A flash of killing intent passed through Wei Zhao's eyes.

"No, no—no objection, absolutely no objection. Senior, please calm yourself; this humble one will do as told at once." The man in black shook his head vigorously and scurried off to sail the boat. To him, the Wei Arc sea region might be a den of dragons and tigers, but it still beat being killed by Wei Zhao right now. Circumstances were stronger than the man; he could only take things one step at a time.

Several days later, the cargo ship bearing Wei Zhao finally eased into the dock at Wei Arc City. Gazing at the bustling scene before him, identical to the one he remembered, Wei Zhao could not help but feel a stir of emotion.

When he had first come here with Huang Xiaotao, both of them had only been at the early Golden Core stage, strangers in a strange land, and trouble had piled onto them the moment they arrived—one might even say disaster had loomed over their heads. Yet now, barely a month later, Huang Xiaotao had already gone to the Morning Star Academy on the Eastern Continent, while he himself had broken through to the mid Golden Core stage. Truly, the fortunes of life were fickle beyond measure.

The man in black stealthily watched for Wei Zhao's reaction while secretly gathering his true qi, ready to strike the instant Wei Zhao showed the slightest lapse in attention.

Of course, he would never dare face Wei Zhao alone; he merely meant to create a bit of chaos and seize the chance to flee. After all, Wei Arc City was now a place of trouble for him—the sooner he escaped, the farther the better.

Wei Zhao stood on the deck, looking down at the busy dock below, and stretched lazily, as though preparing to leap down from the cargo ship. This was the moment—the man in black's spirits surged, and he was about to make his move.

But before he could land so much as half a punch or a kick, a blur flashed before his eyes, and Wei Zhao's figure abruptly appeared right in front of him, giving him such a fright that he stumbled back a step.

"Se—senior, what is this about…" The man in black retreated again and again, his heart churning like a stormy sea. How could this thing be so fast, appearing and vanishing like a ghost!

"Little Black, you stayed honest the whole way, and now you want to run? Aren't you afraid I'll kill you?" Wei Zhao raised an eyebrow. His divine sense had been fixed on the man in black the entire time; any flicker of true qi from the fellow could never escape his perception.

"N—no, senior, you misunderstand. I was just a little excited just now, I truly didn't mean to flee, absolutely not, I swear to heaven!" the man in black said, hurriedly invoking oaths.

"Didn't mean to flee?" Wei Zhao smiled and gave a faint nod. "Since you're so cooperative, Little Black, so much the better. You needn't die, and I needn't dirty my hands—good for you and good for me."

"Yes, yes—thank you, senior, for sparing my worthless life." The man in black was overjoyed at the words and let out a breath of relief. He had thought that being caught red-handed this time meant certain death.

But before he could finish exhaling, his vision went black—Wei Zhao swept a kick across his head, and the whole man flew sideways, landing in utter disgrace on the dock and setting the surrounding crowd to clamoring. Before he passed out, his face still full of grievance, he stammered, "Didn't you say you wouldn't kill me…"

"That's right, I won't kill you—but I never said I wouldn't kick you," Wei Zhao said, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.

He truly had no intention of killing the man; but this fellow was, after all, an expert at the peak of the late Golden Core stage, not some ordinary stray cat or dog, and his head was full of plots and foul schemes. Left to hop about freely, he would surely stir up trouble sooner or later. Wei Zhao still meant to have him testify against Wei Zhaotong—so of course knocking him out first was the simpler course.

Wei Zhao leaped down from the cargo ship, exchanged a few words with the clerk at the dock's storage office, left the ship in their keeping, then walked straight up to the man in black. Under the watching eyes of the surrounding crowd, he hoisted the man up with one hand, ready to return to the Qingtian Escort Agency and report.

Just then, a familiar voice suddenly rang out from the distance, laughing in triumph: "Hahahaha, I thought you'd just run off for good, boy—that you'd never dare come back in this lifetime! Who'd have thought that after hiding in your shell so long, the shrinking turtle would finally poke his head out again!"

At the sound, the faces of the crowd around them all changed, and they hurriedly parted to either side. Wei Zhao looked up and saw the very first enemy he had made after arriving in the Wei Arc sea region coming straight toward him: Cheng Qitian, the young master of the Poison Eye Mercenary Corps—and behind him, as ever, followed that Old Kong, an expert at the peak of the early Nascent Soul stage!

"Hmph, the world is small indeed—enemies will meet," Wei Zhao sneered coldly, and without haste casually tossed the unconscious man in black to one side.

He had long expected such a scene. A man like Cheng Qitian was plainly the sort who repaid every slight, and having been humiliated in public by Wei Zhao last time, he would never let the matter rest until he had evened the score. No doubt his Poison Eye Mercenary Corps had kept spies planted on the dock all these days; Wei Zhao had probably been reported before his ship even docked.