Chapter 4364 — Reunion After Long Parting

All eyes promptly fell on Wei Zhaotong, and at that point, no matter how deep into his corner he shrank, he had no choice but to brace himself and step forward.

"I actually heard it from Cheng Qitian as well… but… he's already dead… I never imagined he was that sort of man either…" Wei Zhaotong defended himself with an awkward expression.

"So after all this back-and-forth, it all ends up pinned on a dead man?" Ling Yuanqing could not help growing somewhat vexed, and Qin Deli and Wei Zhaotong, hearing this, were instantly seized with terror—if this great figure flew into a rage like the East Sea Divine Nun, then the two of them truly would be going to keep Cheng Qitian company.

Yet Ling Yuanqing was, after all, the head of the Morning Star Academy, and unlike the East Sea Divine Nun, whose scales had been truly trampled, he was not one to kill at random, nor did he intend to dig any deeper into the matter—it was meaningless.

Wei Zhaotong was someone he knew; back when the man had served as vice steward in the Gao Lin sea region of the Eastern Continent, he had run to the Morning Star Academy often enough. Now that he had become the branch steward of the Wei Arc sea region, he was, whatever else one might say, a man of the Hong Merchant Guild, and Ling Yuanqing was not about to move rashly against a member of the Hong Merchant Guild over so trifling a matter.

"In that case, we may as well go back," Ling Yuanqing said at last, and beside him Wei Hebei let out a regretful sigh. He had come full of hope, only to return empty-handed; this so-called peerless prodigy who could slay foes across a whole great realm turned out, in the end, to be nothing but a farce—how was a man supposed to stomach that?

Yet regrets, however keen, changed nothing now that the truth was out in the open. The three of them were mighty figures of the Mountain-Opening stage; they could not linger long in this little Qingtian Escort Agency, or the uninformed outsiders would begin to imagine there was some dark secret understanding between the Morning Star Academy and the Qingtian Escort Agency.

The party rose at once to leave, but Wang Xinyan suddenly spoke up: "Master, Xiaotao here is this Young Master Ling Yi's junior sister, and she once worked alongside the others here at the Qingtian Escort Agency. To have her simply leave with us like this would be a bit heartless. Why not let me stay behind with Xiaotao, and invite them to a meal—a final farewell, if you will."

"Very well, then. When you come back tonight, mind you be careful on the road," the East Sea Divine Nun said with a nod of assent. She had always doted on these two disciples, and so reasonable a request was naturally not one to refuse.

"Rest assured, Senior. Our agency's people will escort the two of them back together," Wei Zhao said hurriedly.

"Yes, yes. Small as our Qingtian Escort Agency is, we still carry some weight in these parts of Wei Arc City. No one will be allowed to spoil the two young ladies' mood," Qi Wenmo pledged in turn.

"Mm, then I'll trouble you all," the East Sea Divine Nun said with a nod, and then she departed together with Ling Yuanqing and the others. Wei Zhao and the rest saw them out with every courtesy as far as the main gate before turning back inside.

"Brother Ling, I kept wondering why Escort Huang never came back—I was worried all along that something had happened to her, and I dared not ask for fear of upsetting you. Who would have thought she had been chosen by the Morning Star Academy and become a personal disciple of the East Sea Divine Nun, a titan of the Mountain-Opening stage! You're too unkind, Brother Ling—keeping a thing like this from me!" Qi Wenmo clapped Wei Zhao on the shoulder with feigned reproach.

"Ha ha. You never asked all this time, Brother Qi, so I never found a good way to bring it up. Otherwise people would think I was bragging, or even spinning tall tales!" Wei Zhao laughed.

Anyone else, had their junior sister climbed so high and become a personal disciple of the East Sea Divine Nun, would have wanted to beat gongs and drums and let the whole world know—but with his retiring nature, how could he ever do such a thing?

Besides, in strength, potential, and depth alike, Wei Zhao was unquestionably a being of the transcendent first rank—and even that was modesty speaking.

Others might revere a Mountain-Opening titan like the East Sea Divine Nun as a god, but for him it was at most a matter of looking up with a measure of respect; one day he would stand shoulder to shoulder with such figures, or even far surpass them. So naturally he did not regard Huang Xiaotao's entering her tutelage as climbing some lofty branch—at most he judged that the East Sea Divine Nun would not treat Huang Xiaotao badly.

"That's true enough. Escort Huang always kept so quiet about it—anyone who didn't know would truly find it hard to believe," Qi Wenmo said with a hearty laugh, then grew excited: "This is a joy of the first order—we must celebrate properly!"

For him and for the whole Qingtian Escort Agency, this was a day of great rejoicing. Three titans of the Mountain-Opening stage had come to their very door, and that alone was enough to make the Qingtian Escort Agency the center of attention throughout all of South Continent—even at the upcoming South Continent Escort Assembly to come.

And what gladdened Qi Wenmo even more was that Cheng Qitian was dead—and dead at the hands of the East Sea Divine Nun. That man he had endured for a long time, yet he had never found a proper way to strike; now, without the slightest warning, a great enemy had been wiped from his path as if from thin air. Even the legendary meat pie falling from the sky could hardly match this!

And beyond that, the long-vanished Huang Xiaotao had in the blink of an eye become a personal disciple of the East Sea Divine Nun, which meant that so long as the Qingtian Escort Agency stayed on good terms with Ling Yi, they would at the same time have won the friendship of this top genius of the Morning Star Academy.

He would not presume to say they could thereby make the East Sea Divine Nun regard them with new eyes, but even so much alone was an enviable connection—after all, a top genius whom even the three titans of the Morning Star Academy valued so highly was destined for boundless prospects. Who knew but that from here on they had found a great tree under which to take their ease in the shade!

Reckoning up one blessing after another, Qi Wenmo felt that fortune was simply beaming upon him—and at bottom, all of it had come to him through Wei Zhao. He suddenly felt himself to be a man of truly piercing insight, and thanked his lucky stars that he had spotted Wei Zhao at the docks that one time; only so had all these good things come knocking at his door.

Otherwise, never mind all these blessings—the matter of the escort robbery alone would have kept him in the dark from beginning to end, and he might well be playing the fool even now, danced in circles by that old fox Wei Zhaotong!

"Brother Ling, you keep the two young ladies company for a while—I'll go arrange the banquet and treat you all properly!" Qi Wenmo said excitedly, still unable to calm himself; excusing himself to the two women, he at once went in person to see to the preparations.

"Then let's sit a while in my room," Wei Zhao said with a smile, leading Wang Xinyan and Huang Xiaotao to his own quarters. It was, after all, the finest guest room in the Qingtian Escort Agency, and its furnishings were quite elegant and tasteful; the small parlor attached to the room was just the place for the three of them to talk.