Chapter 4446 — Secret Backing

"Hmph—so you want me to throw the matches?" Hai Wuliang's expression changed at once, his face turning cold. "You may as well forget it. Every South Continent Escort Agency Grand Meet has always been held to absolute fairness, with no hint of cheating permitted; otherwise the assembly would lose all reason to exist. The three of you had best be on your way."

"Wait!" Seeing that Hai Wuliang was about to lift his teacup and dismiss them, Cheng Haonan hurriedly spoke up. "Hold on, Chief Escort Hai. The opponent we want you to arrange for us is none other than Qingtian Escort Agency!"

"Qingtian Escort Agency?" Hai Wuliang's hand paused a fraction. Those were the four words he least wished to hear these days; the mere thought of how badly he had been bested earlier set his fury smoldering.

"Exactly. The one we most want to deal with is Ling Yi of Qingtian Escort Agency. You have suffered at his hands too, Chief Escort Hai, and I trust your hatred for the man runs to the bone. We can work together!" Cheng Haonan said rapidly.

Ling Yi was a thorn in his eye and a splinter in his flesh. To deal with Ling Yi and avenge his son, he would pay any price. If he let this chance slip by, he would truly regret it forever.

"Oh?" Hai Wuliang slowly set the teacup he had raised back down. He did not drive them out after all, but fell into thought.

There was hope after all! Long Kuiba and the other two exchanged glances, their spirits soaring and their hearts settling.

"Tell me, then—why are you so determined to deal with Ling Yi?" Hai Wuliang drummed his fingers on the table in rhythm and looked up, reappraising the three of them.

Had it not been for that one sentence from Cheng Haonan, he would certainly have turned on them and thrown them out on the spot. After all, the name of the Four Seas Escort Agency stood here. If these men had loose tongues and went about spreading talk, trouble would easily follow; for that reason, in ordinary matters—even if only out of concern for appearances—Hai Wuliang had to remain impartial.

But where Qingtian Escort Agency and this Ling Yi were concerned, that was another matter entirely. Cheng Haonan was not wrong at all. He did indeed hate Ling Yi to the bone!

The Four Seas Escort Agency had fallen from its zenith as the overlord of escort agencies to its present dimmed and diminished state, its points total mired in third place, nearly dropping out of the top five altogether. The chief culprit behind all of it was this Ling Yi.

It was no exaggeration to say that of the six hundred and seventy points Qingtian Escort Agency had earned, at least five hundred had come directly from Ling Yi's own hand. The man's abilities were truly those of a madman, beyond the measure of common sense.

Having twice suffered crushing losses at his hands, even Hai Wuliang had to admit a fact: so long as Ling Yi remained, the odds of the Four Seas Escort Agency ever turning itself around were bound to be vanishingly small. And now that ready-made henchmen had delivered themselves to his door, he did not mind fanning the flames a little and playing a round of killing with a borrowed knife.

He had seen with his own eyes how Long Kuiba and his companions had clashed with Ling Yi during the day, and so he believed the two sides had the foundation to become allies. But before that, he had to first ascertain the specifics; otherwise this would not be killing with a borrowed knife—it would be letting himself become the knife in another's hand.

"You may not know, Chief Escort Hai, that our Longzhou Escort Agency and the Poison Eye Mercenary Corps share the city of Weihu with Qingtian Escort Agency. We have always been at daggers drawn, and it is hardly once or twice that we have fought and killed one another," Long Kuiba hastened to explain.

"Heh. One mountain cannot hold two tigers." Hai Wuliang lifted his eyelids slightly. This was no surprise at all. Those in the same trade were natural enemies; two escort agencies squeezed into one place—it would be strange if they could live in harmony!

As for this Poison Eye Mercenary Corps, there was an unwritten rule in the South Continent's sea regions: all so-called mercenary corps were in fact pirate bands that had laundered their identities. As such, they generally shared blood-deep feuds with the local escort agencies, and being at daggers drawn was the most natural thing in the world.

"That is not all. My only son, Qitian, died at the hands of Qingtian Escort Agency—murdered by this Ling Yi. Tell me, Chief Escort Hai, how could I possibly let this bastard off?" Cheng Haonan ground his teeth as he added this from the side.

"Oh? There is such a thing?" Hai Wuliang was visibly moved. The hatred of a murdered son was irreconcilable with heaven itself, and from the look of Cheng Haonan it was impossible he would make light of such a matter.

"In the presence of Chief Escort Hai, I would not dare utter a single false word. So to avenge this great wrong of my son's murder, I earnestly beg Chief Escort Hai to open this one door of convenience and let me slay my enemy with my own hand. Cheng would be endlessly grateful," Cheng Haonan said, his emotions running high. He was a clever man; he no longer spoke of the feud between the Four Seas Escort Agency and Ling Yi, but transferred the matter onto his own shoulders.

"Your request is not unreasonable..." Hai Wuliang's face was unreadable. Long Kuiba and the other two thought he was about to agree and were overjoyed—then his tone suddenly shifted. "However, though the Four Seas Escort Agency has suffered some setbacks at this grand meet, that does not mean we shall stoop to private vengeance. To sacrifice the public good for private spite is a great taboo. I will never let the fairness of the South Continent Escort Agency Grand Meet be destroyed at my hands—not before, not now, and not ever!"

This fine, high-sounding official reply left Long Kuiba and the other two utterly dumbstruck. They exchanged bewildered looks. Was there ever such a swift turnabout of face?

Seeing that Hai Wuliang still wore an air of righteous severity, and did not appear to be putting it on, the three felt as though a basin of cold water had been poured over their heads, and their disappointment was complete. All three had already resigned themselves to being knives, had come forward of their own accord to let him do the borrowed-killing—and yet the man simply would not take up the knife. What kind of game was this?

Across the whole South Continent Escort Agency Grand Meet, the only ones with the opportunity to pull strings openly and legitimately were the five judges drawn from the five great escort agencies; no one else came remotely close to qualifying.

It was a pity that Cheng Haonan and Wu Baoliang, the two outsiders, hardly bore mentioning—even Long Kuiba himself, because the Longzhou Escort Agency had always been weak, could scarcely cling to the coattails of those five great agencies. Now they had finally found a chance in the person of Ling Yi, their common enemy, and had thought they could enlist Hai Wuliang's help, only to run into a wall after all.

Matters having come to this, lingering any longer would merely make them a laughingstock. Long Kuiba and the other two exchanged glances, and could only cup their hands to Hai Wuliang with diminished spirits. "Since that is how it is, we shall intrude no further on Chief Escort Hai. We take our leave."

"Hold on." Hai Wuliang suddenly barred their way. "Out of public duty, it is absolutely impossible for me to seek private revenge, and I never shall. But in light of the blood-deep hatred among you, this matter admits of some mercy. I can agree to give you a little backing in secret—but I cannot lean too far in your favor. You understand?"