Chapter 4435 — Stunned on the Spot

Everyone had been holding back out of pride, reluctant to be the first to move, but now that someone had broken the deadlock, the pressure eased considerably.

Almost in unison, a great crowd surged three hurried steps forward, every face fixed eagerly on those treasure chests, as though terrified of falling behind, of there not being enough chests to go around.

Such undisguised desperation sent a wave of uproar through the crowd. Of the thirty-two escort agencies, several had been wiped out entirely in that instant—all ten of their escorts had "defected"—and the faces of those agencies' heads were now the picture of grief, ashen as though they had lost their own parents.

To be wiped out entirely like that had all but smashed to dust the reputation the agencies had painstakingly built. The heads of the various merchant guilds watching from the sidelines unanimously blacklisted these agencies; whatever their past, from this day on they would never dare work with them again.

Of the three hundred and twenty competing escorts in all, more than half had simply walked away in the space of a few moments—and even among those who remained, not all were truly loyal. Many still wavered between fifty thousand spirit jades and their duty, merely unable to make the choice just yet.

After a while, another batch of men, having wrestled and agonized, finally took their step.

"Those three bastards!" Qi Wenmo stared at the three escorts of his own agency, at the shameless way they clutched their treasure chests, and ground his teeth in fury, his face utterly black, longing to charge over and trample these ungrateful wretches to death.

All along, Qi Wenmo had presided over matters as the young master of the agency, and he had always treated the escorts under his command generously—especially for this Southern Continent Escort Gathering, where the bounty offered by the Skysupport Escort Agency had topped the entire field, higher even than the Four Seas Escort Agency's. And yet, for all that, three of them had still walked away in a single stroke!

The hardest thing in this world to command is the human heart, and that saying is not one bit false. Where there are men of towering honor, there are naturally men who forget their debts; and by comparison, the latter are often the more numerous.

"Brother Qi, there's no need for this," Wei Zhao consoled him from the side. "Whoever leaves now was never any good anyway. Their leaving may not be such a bad thing for the agency—had they stayed, who knows what trouble they might stir up later. Best to look at it that way."

"Brother Ling, you're right—not one of those who left is worth a damn. Still, I can't swallow this insult." Qi Wenmo remained indignant, though Hai Wuliang had already declared that no agency might settle accounts with competitors after the fact. However furious he was, he dared not truly do anything to those three.

Wei Zhao smiled and said no more. As things stood, the insult would have to be swallowed whether he liked it or not—unless some other outlet for his anger could be found.

In the end, the third round of the escorts' loyalty trial drew to a close. Thirty-two agencies, three hundred and twenty competing escorts—each had either walked away with fifty thousand spirit jades or stayed with a heart of pure loyalty. All had made their choice.

The Skysupport Escort Agency had lost three and kept seven, earning seventy points in the end. Compared with those small agencies that had been wiped out at the drop of a hat, such a result looked far better indeed—not perfect, perhaps, but at least passable.

Yet it was not only Qi Wenmo; even Qi Mingyuan's expression had grown darker and uglier by the moment.

Of the five great agencies, not one of the other four had lost a single man—all had turned in perfect scores of one hundred. Only the Skysupport Escort Agency had managed a mere seventy. Faced with such an awkward state of affairs, how could father and son possibly be pleased?

The five great agencies were the five great agencies after all, their foundations truly formidable. The steadfast loyalty of their escorts, their profound sense of belonging, was beyond comparison with any second-rate agency present; and in this respect, even the newly risen Skysupport Escort Agency still fell far short.

"There is one great difference between the old established houses and the upstarts," Hai Wuliang remarked with a pointed smile. "Foundation. So long as the foundation stands, an old house may stand forever; but an upstart—well, that's harder to say."

The heads of the other great agencies nearby exchanged knowing smiles at these words, and every mocking gaze came to rest upon Qi Mingyuan.

In the earlier contests, the Skysupport Escort Agency had shone brilliantly, trampling all these old established houses underfoot, and they had been nursing their resentment all the while. Now, at last, they had recovered a little face.

Mocked to his face like this, Qi Mingyuan's face went livid with suppressed anger, yet he could hardly say much in return. After all, it was a fact that his Skysupport Escort Agency lacked foundation; to win a war of words at the cost of offending the other four great houses would hardly be worth it.

On the other side, Qi Wenmo gave each and every competing escort who had chosen to stay a great bear hug—only to find their expressions varied. Watching those three wretches nearby, jubilant over their fifty thousand spirit jades, there was something of lament in their eyes, something of resentment, and even something of regret.

"I hereby declare," Qi Wenmo suddenly announced in a loud voice, "that in return for your loyalty to the agency, each of you seven escorts who chose to stay shall receive fifty thousand spirit jades as a reward!" At the same time he cast a cold, sneering glance at the three. "The Skysupport Escort Agency will never treat its own people shabbily. Every ounce of devotion and sacrifice you give will in the end reap a generous return!"

As his words fell, the crowd around burst into an uproar, and the seven escorts, whose hearts had been in turmoil a moment before, were now overjoyed beyond words, their cheers shaking the heavens.

Not far off, the three escorts who had taken the fifty thousand spirit jades heard Qi Wenmo's words and were struck dumb on the spot, each longing to slap himself twice across the face, their guts twisting with regret. Damn it—had they known there would be such a reward for staying, what had those three steps forward been for?

Though the gathering strictly forbade any agency from settling accounts afterward, having taken those fifty thousand spirit jades they could certainly never work in the escort trade again. Bearing the stain of ingratitude, not only would the Skysupport Escort Agency refuse them—every other agency would refuse them too.

Indeed, throughout the whole of the Southern Continent's waters, they would lose their footing forever. Chaotic as these waters were, a man who forgets his debts can hold his head up nowhere; he will be despised wherever he goes. (To be continued..) R527