Chapter 4377 — The Two Houses Join Forces

The Hong Clan Merchant Guild was one of the foremost powers on all of Cloud Terrace Island, and any honorary vice-chairman of it was a personage of no small consequence. Qi Wenmo might be the young master of the Qingtian Escort Agency, but he knew his own measure well enough: a figure of that caliber was simply not someone he could ever hope to reach.

And so, even after learning of the upheaval within the Hong Clan Merchant Guild, Qi Wenmo did not dare rush over to seek out Wei Zhao. More than that, he dreaded that if he did go looking, Wei Zhao would take it as a demand for the return of those three hundred thousand spirit jades, and then no amount of explaining would ever clear his name.

But now Wei Zhao had summoned him of his own accord, and that was naturally another matter entirely.

"Chairman Ling?" Wei Zhao was briefly taken aback. Then he clapped Qi Wenmo on the shoulder and laughed. "Brother Qi, what need is there for such formality between us? Don't tell me you're thinking of disowning me as a friend?"

"N-no... of course not! How could I? So long as you'll still have me, Brother Ling, I, Qi Wenmo, will be your friend for life!" Qi Wenmo could not help but laugh.

Their stations were so far apart that he had assumed Wei Zhao had merely been humoring him before; now that the man's true identity was out in the open, there would naturally be no further need for such pretense. Yet Wei Zhao's manner set his mind at ease—the man's standing might be different, but at least the bond between them was unchanged, and they could go on being friends.

"That's good to hear. I've never had many friends, and those I take to as readily as you, Brother Qi, are fewer still. If you disowned me, I'd have to regret it for quite some time." Wei Zhao patted Qi Wenmo's shoulder and laughed heartily.

"And if I let a friend like you slip away, Brother Ling, I'd regret it for the rest of my life!" Qi Wenmo laughed along with him, and the last faint barrier of unfamiliarity between them melted away in an instant.

"Then let's have no more of these empty courtesies between us. What sort of friends stand on such ceremony?" Wei Zhao said with a smile. "I asked you here for no other reason than this: those three hundred thousand spirit jades you gave Wei Zhaotong have been recovered, and now they return to their rightful owner. I've had Vice-Steward Chai make the preparations—you need only settle the handover with him."

"Truly?" Qi Wenmo was overjoyed. The Qingtian Escort Agency might be a power of some standing in the Weihu Sea, but measured against all of Cloud Terrace Island it was utterly insignificant, and three hundred thousand spirit jades was no trifling sum for the agency. They had scraped and pooled for so long before barely making up the amount, and to call it a grievous blow was no exaggeration at all.

Qi Wenmo had already accepted reality and made ready to empty his own coffers, gritting his teeth to weather the hard days ahead. Who could have guessed that what was lost would now be recovered?

"Heh, would I really deceive you?" Wei Zhao laughed, then beckoned over Chai Laoshi, who had been waiting to one side, and instructed him, "Take Brother Qi and see to the handover."

"Then... then I'll go ahead!" Qi Wenmo saluted Wei Zhao with cupped hands, barely able to contain his excitement, and hurried off with Chai Laoshi to complete the transfer.

In less than the time it takes to steep a cup of tea, Qi Wenmo returned, wild joy plain upon his face, and thanked Wei Zhao again and again: "Brother Ling, you've done the agency an enormous service this time. On behalf of everyone at the Qingtian Escort Agency, I thank you for your great kindness!"

"Not at all, not at all. It was only returning what was rightfully yours—nothing more than I ought to do. Don't stand on ceremony with me," Wei Zhao said with a smile.

"Honestly, even now I feel as though I'm dreaming. A great favor is not repaid with words, Brother Ling, so I won't say more. The Qingtian Escort Agency will never forget your kindness," Qi Wenmo said solemnly.

"Come now, what's the point of such talk between friends? If you're not busy, sit and share a pot of tea with me." Wei Zhao smilingly poured him a cup—all of it fine spirit tea seized from Wei Zhaotong's chambers. No sense letting it go to waste, and it might as well do the two of them some good.

"Yes, yes." Qi Wenmo nodded again and again. At a time like this, unless it were a matter of life and death, he would not bother himself with the agency's affairs at all. What could possibly be more important than drinking tea with Wei Zhao?

"By the way, how has the agency been these past few days? Any trouble?" Wei Zhao asked as he sipped his spirit tea.

"None at all. Everything's normal. If you have the time, Brother Ling, you might come by the agency as a guest, and let me treat you to some good tea in return!" Qi Wenmo said with a smile.

He had originally meant to ask Wei Zhao to attend the Southern Continent Escort Symposium on the agency's behalf, but now he was too embarrassed to raise the matter. The man was, after all, the honored vice-chairman of the Hong Clan Merchant Guild; to still expect him to go on serving as an escort of their agency would be utterly shameless.

"A guest? No, I'll pass on that!" Wei Zhao curled his lip, and Qi Wenmo started in alarm, thrown into awkward embarrassment, at a loss for what to do—but then Wei Zhao went on: "I'm an escort in name, after all. Going back to the agency to look in on things is only proper. How could you call that being a guest?"

"Ha, Brother Ling, you gave me quite a fright! I thought you'd turned up your nose at our little Qingtian Escort Agency!" Qi Wenmo burst out laughing.

As the two of them were chatting and laughing, a young clerk suddenly came running in through the door and stood staring eagerly at Wei Zhao, as though he had something to report, yet on catching sight of Qi Wenmo he swallowed his words.

"Brother Ling, shall I step out for a moment?" Qi Wenmo said tactfully at once.

"No need. Brother Qi is no outsider. Say what you have to say right here," Wei Zhao said, stopping him.

"Yes, sir. Reporting to the vice-chairman: a great matter has just come to pass outside. The Poison Eye Mercenary Corps has publicly announced that, as of today, it has entered into a strategic partnership with the Dragon Boat Escort Agency. From now on the two houses advance and retreat as one!" the clerk reported.

"What?!" Before Wei Zhao could even speak, Qi Wenmo had already cried out in shock, his face drawn with anxiety.

"What is it?" Wei Zhao asked, rather puzzled. The Poison Eye Mercenary Corps he naturally knew—he had crossed paths with them often enough—but this Dragon Boat Escort Agency he had never once heard of.

"You don't know, Brother Ling—the Dragon Boat Escort Agency is the second-largest agency native to the Weihu Sea, second in strength and standing only to our own Qingtian Escort Agency. I never imagined they'd actually throw in their lot with the Poison Eye Mercenary Corps!" Even now Qi Wenmo had not recovered from the shock, and he could scarcely believe it.

"One is the second-largest agency in these parts, the other the Poison Eye Mercenary Corps. For the two of them to join forces, and to choose this particular moment to do it—I fear they mean no good," Wei Zhao said, his brow furrowing as well. (To be continued..) R527