Chapter 4431 — No Match at All

Hai Wuliang gave a cold snort. "A man like that is bound to be the linchpin of the Qingtian Escort Agency. To move against him now—never mind whether we could even pull it off; even if we did, by then every last soul would be pointing the finger at us!"

"Sss!" Wang Baitiao sucked in a sharp breath as the kick landed on his wound, the pain making him gasp. Yet he was still unwilling to let it go. "But Boss Hai... we can't just let him off like that..."

"Let him off?" Hai Wuliang raised an eyebrow, his tone unfathomable. "Hmph. Be that as it may, this man truly cannot be underestimated. We must first investigate his background thoroughly. I am leaving that to you—and remember, not a third person is to know."

"Yes, your subordinate obeys!" Wang Baitiao was overjoyed and hurried to accept the order through his pain. Since Hai Wuliang was giving him a task, that meant his miserable little life was safe for the time being. He promptly scrambled out of the room.

"Ling Yi? Hmph. No matter what backwater you crawled out of, now that you are here with me—if you are a dragon, you coil; if you are a tiger, you lie down!" A flash of killing intent flickered across Hai Wuliang's face and vanished.

What Hai Wuliang did not know was that at the very moment he sent Wang Baitiao to investigate Ling Yi, in an inn not far from the Four Seas Escort Agency, several leading figures of the Dragon Boat Escort Agency were grinding their teeth over that same name.

"Ling Yi! It is that Ling Yi! The one who murdered my son! If I do not hack this man to pieces, may I never be called a man again!" In the room, a bearded man in a gray greatcoat spoke through clenched teeth. His aura was monstrous, his bearing awe-inspiring—none other than Cheng Haonan, master of the infamous Poison Eye Mercenary Corps of the Weihu Sea Region.

Two other men were in the room as well. The one on the left was born with a single thick unibrow and a pair of leopard eyes that radiated open ferocity. His looks were so savage that no one could forget them after a single glance—Long Kuiba, chief escort of the Dragon Boat Escort Agency.

The man seated to Cheng Haonan's right had a pair of sinister, mismatched triangular eyes and a face of the most bizarre greenish-yellow hue, chilling to behold—Wu Baoliang, the mysterious strategist of the Poison Eye Mercenary Corps, the foremost man beneath Cheng Haonan.

Ever since the Dragon Boat Escort Agency and the Poison Eye Mercenary Corps joined forces, the two forces had merged into one. They struck terror into all who heard their name and already showed every sign of becoming the strongest power in the Weihu Sea Region. Naturally, these three had come together to form a triumvirate ruling the fate of both forces.

For this session of the Southern Continent Escort Grand Gathering, the Dragon Boat Escort Agency had come with overwhelming momentum to supplant the Qingtian Escort Agency and claim a place among the five great escort agencies of the Southern Continent. That was the minimum goal the three had set beforehand.

Yet after a mere two rounds, that goal had already become a joke. Because of Wei Zhao's presence, the Qingtian Escort Agency sat atop the standings with three hundred points, leaving even the Four Seas Escort Agency far behind.

As for the Dragon Boat Escort Agency, though the elite troops and hardened fighters of the Poison Eye Mercenary Corps had indeed sent its strength soaring, earning a high score of ninety points in the first round and proving itself a rather impressive dark horse, in the second round it had, like the other twenty-nine escort agencies, scored not a single point.

In the space of a mere two rounds, the Qingtian Escort Agency had simply yanked them out to a vast gap of two hundred and ten points. With a disparity that absurd, to still dream of supplanting the Qingtian Escort Agency could only be called self-deception.

Hearing Cheng Haonan's roar, the atmosphere in the room turned somewhat heavy. As chief escort of the Dragon Boat Escort Agency, Long Kuiba had been full of ambition this time, only to have a bucket of cold water dumped over his head by the Qingtian Escort Agency—or more precisely, by Wei Zhao. His mood was naturally far from good.

Cheng Haonan, for his part, now laid the death of his son Cheng Qitian entirely at Wei Zhao's feet.

Of course he knew that the one who had truly struck the fatal blow was the East Sea Divine Nun, one of the three giants of the Morning Star Academy. But would he dare go settle accounts with the East Sea Divine Nun?

Of course not. Lend Cheng Haonan ten guts, and he still would never have that kind of nerve!

By the strength of the Poison Eye Mercenary Corps alone, they were not even invincible within the Weihu Sea Region, and set against the many sea regions of the Southern Continent, they did not even rank among the first-rate powers. To stand against a colossus like the Morning Star Academy of the Eastern Continent—what was that if not seeking death?

The only fate awaiting them then would be to be crushed dead by a single finger, a matter of mere moments.

So Cheng Haonan not only did not dare harbor a grudge against the East Sea Divine Nun; he did not dare even to think of Huang Xiaotao, direct disciple of the East Sea Divine Nun. Naturally, all his hatred was diverted onto Wei Zhao.

Cheng Qitian had not been killed by Wei Zhao's own hand, true, but the affair had arisen because of him. To call him the chief culprit was no exaggeration at all. If Cheng Haonan did not kill him, whom would he kill?

Had Wei Zhao not held the title of honorary vice president of the Hong Clan Merchant Guild, had he not been so close to Huang Xiaotao, direct disciple of the East Sea Divine Nun, Cheng Haonan would likely have long since been unable to restrain himself and struck out in reckless revenge, heedless of everything.

It was precisely because he feared those two sensitive identities of his—that if word ever leaked out it would bring down enormous trouble—that Cheng Haonan dared not act openly, and could only bide his time, seeking an opportunity in the shadows.

The trouble was, of late Wei Zhao either shut himself away in the Hong Clan Merchant Guild or stayed at the Qingtian Escort Agency. Either place, to slip in and kill a man without anyone being the wiser—how could that be easy?

As a local serpent whose very name turned the faces of all in the Weihu Sea Region pale, Cheng Haonan was absolutely not the sort to swallow his anger. But faced with Wei Zhao, faced with the deep hatred of a murdered son, he had no choice—swallow it he must, and so he had swallowed it, grinding his teeth, all the way to this day.

"Kill him! I will kill him, I swear it!" Cheng Haonan could hold back no longer. His face was contorted with the look of a man ready to devour his enemy alive. He turned to Wu Baoliang and said, "Strategist, think of something, quick—how do we kill that Ling Yi!"

"Indeed. This Ling Yi is a mortal threat to us. Unless he is removed, our hope of supplanting the Qingtian Escort Agency will be as hard as climbing to heaven." Long Kuiba nodded in agreement.

After only two rounds, this Ling Yi had already, openly and covertly alike, helped the Qingtian Escort Agency seize fully two hundred and sixty points, becoming the focus of the entire gathering by sheer force. The extent of his ability was plain to see. Were he allowed to continue unchecked, who knew what heights of brilliance he might reach in the rounds to come?

"There is no need for the two of you to fret." Wu Baoliang glanced at them both, his expression contemptuous and lofty. "This Southern Continent Escort Grand Gathering is in fact the perfect chance to wipe this man out. Do not be dazzled by how splendid the boy looks now—the moment he faces me, he is a dead man."