Chapter 4472 — Who Will Take the Field

"Then let me go. The strategist's martial skill is unfathomable—there's no hiding it. The moment he makes his move, he'll likely frighten that Ling Yi stiff. And afterward, when we challenge the Qingtian Escort Agency, if Ling Yi simply refuses to fight, we'll have to go to a great deal of trouble. Better the strategist conserve his true qi and save it for Ling Yi later."

"Very well, so be it," Wu Baoliang nodded, casting Cheng Haonan a faintly surprised glance.

He had assumed that since this fellow had been nursing his grudge and longing to avenge Cheng Qitian, he would naturally take the field himself against Ling Yi. After all, nothing is sweeter than killing one's enemy with one's own hand. To have the chance pushed onto him instead was genuinely unexpected.

What he did not realize was that this was precisely where Cheng Haonan's cunning lay. He did want Ling Yi dead, but he had no wish to strike the blow himself. Ling Yi's various identities and connections were all on public display; even in a ring match where each man takes his own fate in hand, Cheng Haonan wanted no part of such a feud. Borrowing Wu Baoliang's blade to kill was the safest and least troublesome course.

Such petty calculations never so much as crossed Wu Baoliang's mind, nor would he ever have bothered to dwell on them.

He was not like Cheng Haonan, a jianghu grandee with schemes packed into every fiber of his being. He was simply a devil cultivator, pure and simple: whoever crossed his path and roused his desire to kill, he killed, never once weighing the consequences. At worst, as before, he would find another place to lie low.

Once the three had settled on the plan, Cheng Haonan at once stepped forward on behalf of the Dragon Boat Escort Agency and walked slowly up onto the platform to accept the challenge.

"They're actually sending this one out? That's giving the Blackwater Escort Agency far too much credit, isn't it?" Qi Wenmo could not help but stare at the sight.

The Qingtian Escort Agency and the Poison Eye Mercenary Corps were sworn enemies. Even if he had never crossed blades with Cheng Haonan in person, he at least had a fair idea of the man's strength. On the surface he was a late-stage Gold Core cultivator, but in truth, even compared with Qi Wenmo's own father, he probably gave away little.

To pit a figure like Cheng Haonan against a mere Gold Core expert—was that not outright bullying?

Wei Zhao was likewise somewhat taken aback, though he said nothing. Instead he settled himself and watched Cheng Haonan's every move.

Because of Cheng Qitian, this man was bound to be his enemy as well. But the fellow had never once made a move, so there had never been a chance to see through to his true strength. This was an opportunity.

Neither Qi Wenmo nor Wei Zhao doubted this would be a rout. After all, the man led the Poison Eye Mercenary Corps; if Cheng Haonan lacked even this much strength, it would be sheer nonsense.

Yet the duel took a full half-incense stick's worth of time. The Blackwater Escort Agency's challenger was finally kicked off the platform by Cheng Haonan by the narrowest of margins, and the fight was over.

The men of the Blackwater Escort Agency—Chief Escort Fang Heng above all—went ashen at the sight. There was no need to step closer to look; the escort who had been kicked off the platform was plainly a dead man, for his chest had been pierced clean through by a single kick, leaving only a great bloody hole where his heart had been.

Fang Heng's vision went black, and he collapsed on the spot. The crowd around him erupted into a flurry of confusion, and the whole Blackwater Escort Agency fell into chaos.

They had not merely lost a hundred points in this match—the crucial thing was that the escort sent up was the last of the Blackwater Escort Agency's elite. Their entire elite force had been wiped out, and every one of them had died at the hands of the Dragon Boat Escort Agency. How were they supposed to survive now?

Cheng Haonan stood on the platform looking proudly upon the scene, the corner of his mouth curling in a smile so faint none could mark it. For the sake of keeping a low profile, however, he refrained from any boastful talk; otherwise all his earlier effort would have been wasted.

Throughout the entire process, Cheng Haonan displayed no overwhelming strength whatsoever. To all appearances he was merely an ordinary late-stage Gold Core expert, with nothing heaven-defying about him. And no wonder—he simply did not want to frighten Ling Yi.

"Heh, quite a performance. If I hadn't known beforehand that he leads the Poison Eye Mercenary Corps, I might well have been fooled," Wei Zhao said with a smile.

"But he didn't play it out completely. If the two of them were truly so evenly matched and locked in such a bitter struggle, how could that final kick have been so crisp and clean, not even leaving the man a breath?" Qi Wenmo curled his lip dismissively.

"Let's see what they intend to do next. I rather think it's about time I took the field," Wei Zhao said with a faint smile.

"Huh?" Qi Wenmo blinked, then caught on and hurriedly said, "Brother Ling, Cheng Haonan is no ordinary foe. If they really mean to challenge us, let me go up instead."

"You're a match for him?" Wei Zhao asked in return.

"Er..." Qi Wenmo was struck dumb. He would have liked to put on a show of toughness, but in the end he could only answer honestly, "No. I've never fought him directly, but I know my own limits well enough. It would take my father himself to handle him."

"There you have it." Wei Zhao smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. "If they're coming for me, then your going up would accomplish nothing except to throw your life away. Rest easy. I won't boast of much else, but this much I can be sure of."

"But..." Qi Wenmo wanted to say more, yet seeing the resolve in Wei Zhao's expression, he knew persuasion was useless. He could only close his mouth in reluctance. "All right then. Brother Ling, be careful. The moment things look bad, jump down off the platform. At worst we lose a few points. Everything the agency has achieved so far is thanks to you, and we're already more than content. Even if we lost it all back, it wouldn't matter. Your safety is what counts most, Brother Ling."

"I know," Wei Zhao nodded.

Meanwhile, thanks to Cheng Haonan's victory, the right to challenge had fallen as wished into the hands of the Dragon Boat Escort Agency. Without a moment's hesitation, Long Kuiba stepped forward and announced, "The Dragon Boat Escort Agency challenges the Qingtian Escort Agency!"

The whole assembly erupted in an uproar. The atmosphere, which had been somewhat tepid until then, blazed to life all at once. The real drama had finally begun.

The Dragon Boat Escort Agency had ranked eighth to begin with. Having just seized a hundred points from the Blackwater Escort Agency, they had shot up two places to sixth, overtaking the South Gate Escort Agency. If they now took points from the Qingtian Escort Agency as well, they would break straight into the top five—a historic advance into the ranks of the great five escort agencies!

"I knew this would happen," Wei Zhao said with a smile. After exchanging a glance with Qi Wenmo, he at once strode up onto the platform. Whoever the other side sent out, he had to win this match—for reasons exactly the same as those that had just driven the Dragon Boat Escort Agency.

Seeing Wei Zhao take the stage, Cheng Haonan and his companions were overjoyed. They had been wondering whether to kill Qi Wenmo first, never dreaming that the prize would come to them without the slightest effort—the fellow had walked up and presented himself on the platform. A fool who did not even know he was standing at death's door.

"Strategist, I leave the boy to you!" Cheng Haonan said with a savage grin. In his eyes, Wei Zhao was already a corpse. (To be continued...)

...R1071