Chapter 4456 — Nothing More Than That

Qi Wenmo could not help but feel a little uneasy. The strength of the five escort fighters on his side was roughly equal to that of their opponents, but if it came to a real fight, they might well suffer a heavy loss.

"It seems this Wuma Escort Agency has done its share of brainwashing these fighters," Wei Zhao said, slightly taken aback, though not the least bit worried; his expression remained as calm as ever.

"Huh? Brainwashing?" Qi Wenmo thought for a moment before grasping what the word meant, then nodded emphatically. "Right, brainwashing. I hear the Wuma Escort Agency runs everything from top to bottom on military lines. Three times a day—morning, noon, and night—the higher-ups deliver lectures, spouting nothing but how one should serve the agency with utter loyalty and die for it if need be..."

"That kind of opponent is indeed hard to deal with. A formation of men ready to die, charging forward without a backward glance—unstoppable, unless one's strength vastly outstrips theirs. Otherwise, even a seasoned expert will come off badly." Wei Zhao nodded thoughtfully, then turned to the escort fighters beside him. "Well, you five—what do you make of it?"

"We await Escort Chief Ling's orders!" the five contestants said in unison.

"Good. First, let me ask something off-topic. Do you play games—the sort children play, like drawing a circle on the ground and chasing each other around inside it?" Wei Zhao asked suddenly, his interest clearly piqued.

"Huh? Play games?" The five contestants and Qi Wenmo and the others all gaped at once.

"Yes, games. I was thinking—since our opponents are coming at us with such ferocity, why don't we play a game with them first?" Wei Zhao said, perfectly straight-faced.

"Uh..." Everyone was speechless, exchanging glances. If not for Wei Zhao's miraculous performance earlier, which had won their sincere admiration, they would have suspected the man's head was not screwed on right...

At last, prodded again and again by the staff, the five contestants of the Qingtian Escort Agency, wearing strange expressions, slowly mounted the arena that had drawn the eyes of the world, while Wei Zhao, Qi Wenmo, and the rest stood together at the arena's edge to oversee the bout.

"What's the dawdling about? You're supposed to be the dark horse of this tournament—don't tell me the Qingtian Escort Agency has cold feet and is afraid of us Wuma Escort Agency?" Wu Conglong, the chief escort of the Wuma Escort Agency, who stood overseeing from the opposite side, opened with a sharp, aggressive taunt.

Others might be cowed by the Qingtian Escort Agency's formidable, heaven-defying momentum. Not Wu Conglong. Looking back over the many editions of the Southern Continent Escort Gathering, the Qingtian Escort Agency had never once gained the upper hand against him, and this year would be no different. As for how much strength the Qingtian Escort Agency really had, he knew far better than most.

"Heh, it's not an important match anyway. The result is already decided, so what's the rush? What difference does a little sooner or later make?" Wei Zhao replied with a faint smile.

A commotion swept the crowd. By the current standings, the Wuma Escort Agency was indeed not fit to carry the Qingtian Escort Agency's shoes—but everyone knew the Wuma Escort Agency was a tough nut to crack. Even a traditional powerhouse like the Sihai Escort Agency would not dare to take them lightly. Wasn't that a bit too arrogant?

"Hmph. You scraped together a pile of points on sheer dumb luck, without ever fighting a single real battle. Your strength is anyone's guess, but your mouth is certainly big!" Wu Conglong flew into a rage.

He was the absolute master of the Wuma Escort Agency. The moment his fury rose, the five death-sworn fighters on the arena instantly struck the pose of servants ready to die for their lord's disgrace—like mad dogs, itching to tear the Qingtian Escort Agency's people limb from limb and devour them raw. An ordinary man standing before them would likely be too frightened to even get to his feet.

Even the five fighters Wei Zhao had chosen—none of them timid or fearful—still felt like mice before cats in the presence of these opponents. It did not look at all like a contest between equals.

"A pack of nobodies who scraped up a mere hundred and sixty points—not even a fraction of our total—and you turn around and call us big-mouthed. Truly speechless. I can only answer with two words: heh heh." Wei Zhao kept his faint smile and shot back, and this calm, contemptuous manner drove Wu Conglong into a stomping fury.

Yet the spectators below saw something else entirely. For all this escort chief's tough talk, the five contestants on the arena looked cowering and shriveled, as if frightened stiff by their opponents. By no stretch of the imagination did they carry themselves like the number one escort agency should...

"Sharp tongue! And 'heh heh' me, will you? We'll see if you can still 'heh heh' in a moment!" Wu Conglong sneered, then bellowed: "Brothers, our friends here are the number one escort agency, and they don't think much of the Wuma Escort Agency! What do you say to that?"

"Whoever insults the Wuma Escort Agency shall be ground to dust!" the five Wuma fighters roared in unison.

"They really are poisoned deep—that brainwashing, tsk tsk." Wei Zhao shook his head with a laugh at the sight, then said no more, for his purpose had been achieved—and the match had officially begun.

At the presiding judge's command, a long stick of incense was lit at the arena's edge, and the five Wuma fighters, chomping at the bit, charged at the five from the Qingtian Escort Agency with a roar. Against that ferocity—hungry tigers pouncing on sheep—the five from the Qingtian Escort Agency were like so many quail, with not a trace of the spirit needed to fight back.

"The Qingtian Escort Agency can't really be all show, can it?" The spectators exchanged bewildered glances, and what happened next only confirmed their doubts.

Facing the onrushing Wuma fighters, the five from the Qingtian Escort Agency showed not the slightest awareness of what it meant to be a powerhouse of the Five Great Escort Agencies. Their reaction was even worse than the weakest of them, the Wanli Escort Agency—instead of even thinking of fighting back, they turned tail and ran!

An uproar swept the arena. Hai Wuliang and his lot were dumbstruck, and even Qi Mingyuan, who knew nothing of the plan, stared open-mouthed. In an arena match like this, to not only refuse battle but to turn and flee—this was utterly unprecedented in the history of the Southern Continent Escort Gathering!

The one consolation was that the five from the Qingtian Escort Agency retained at least a shred of shame. At least they did not bolt straight off the arena; instead they fled desperately about the field. Had they jumped down, they would have been counted out and defeated on the spot, and the whole contest would have ended there and then...

Even so, watching the chaos on the arena—five Qingtian fighters chased all over the place by their Wuma counterparts, every one of them covering their heads and scurrying, without a shred of resistance—the crowd's jaws dropped. They were simply pathetic.

"Haha, I said it all along—the Qingtian Escort Agency is nothing more than that! A pack of cowards who can only run their mouths and haven't the guts for a real, bloody fight—rats, the lot of them!" Wu Conglong jeered loudly from below the arena. (To be continued)