Chapter 4498 — Two Tenths in Dry Shares

"Heh. The old fox is far too cunning for that—there's no way he'd hand us a handle to grab in a situation like this. If he's dead set on playing the shrinking turtle, there really is nothing we can do about him." Wei Zhao nodded, a note of regret in his voice.

"Then... we can't just let him off the hook, can we? That's letting the old bastard off far too easy!" Qi Wenmo was still seething.

"As long as he doesn't slip up, there's nothing to be done about it." Wei Zhao smiled helplessly. This alone was enough to show how crafty Hai Wuliang was—though he had plainly set his sights on Wei Zhao and the entire Qingtian Escort Agency, every word from his mouth was spoken in the name of justice. Even if he stumbled once, there would be no way to lay the blame at his feet.

"Actually, Brother Qi, there's no need for you to be so furious. As things stand, you're neither suited nor of sufficient standing to take on a man like Hai Wuliang—you'd only give people something to gossip about. Best leave this matter to Head Escort Qi to resolve; I trust he won't disappoint you or me." Wei Zhao smiled as he tried to talk him down.

That was the truth. Men like Hai Wuliang were masters at wrapping themselves in lofty rhetoric and putting on a grand show, and there were only two ways to deal with such a person.

Either you possessed absolute strength far beyond his, like those aloof and untouchable Eastern Continent Academies that ignored all rules and could crush him with ease—or you fought poison with poison, using the same tactics to force him into showing a flaw. Any other simple, blunt approach would find it very hard to gain the upper hand.

As for Qi Wenmo, he clearly could manage neither of the two. By contrast, his father Qi Mingyuan might just be able to pull off the second—the man was a formidable figure in his own right, his scheming and depth far surpassing those of his hot-blooded young master of a son. With his current standing as the overlord of the escort agencies, dealing with Hai Wuliang ought to be well within his means.

"That's true enough—the old man is far better at this sort of thing than I am." Only then did Qi Wenmo dismiss the thought. Leave professional matters to the professionals; barging in rashly would only make things worse. That was a principle he understood well enough.

Once Qi Mingyuan finished reading the closing address, the three-day South Continent Escort Assembly finally drew to a close. The crowds who had come from all corners to watch the spectacle and enjoy the excitement dispersed in a bustling stream, and the legendary events that had unfolded at this assembly would surely spread through word of mouth across the entire South Continent sea region.

It was easy to foresee that the names of Qingtian Escort Agency and Ling Yi would inevitably become the talk of everyone's idle hours. Ling Yi would become a legend of the South Continent sea region, and the Qingtian Escort Agency behind him would usher in a brand-new era.

Once the assembly dispersed, the first thing everyone in the Qingtian Escort Agency had to do was naturally celebrate and revel.

Having historically become the overlord of the South Continent escort agencies, everyone in the Qingtian Escort Agency—from Head Escort Qi Mingyuan at the top down to the most ordinary junior escorts—still felt as though they were dreaming, that none of it was real. The thing they did most after the assembly dispersed was to pinch the flesh on their own bodies with all their might, the more it hurt the happier they were...

Watching this bunch, who showed a distinctly psychiatric tendency, Wei Zhao could only laugh and cry at once. Though even he had never imagined they could achieve such astonishing results, he was, after all, an outsider—even having taken first place, it honestly did not feel like that big a deal to him. Those who were not of the South Continent sea region could never truly grasp the enormous significance behind it.

That said, none of this stopped Wei Zhao from becoming the star of the celebration banquet. That the Qingtian Escort Agency could stand where it did today was, one could say, entirely thanks to Wei Zhao.

When he came to attend this South Continent Escort Assembly, apart from dealing with Wu Baoliang, Wei Zhao had originally meant only to serve as outside support, lending a small hand when necessary. Who would have thought he would end up being the undisputed main force—more than eighty percent of the points the agency had earned were directly or indirectly connected to him.

To use a battlefield as an analogy, Wei Zhao had simply raised his blade and cut down the enemy in one sweep, cutting a full circle through both their commanders and their rank and file—single-handedly carving his way straight through the enemy army...

As the greatest contributor, Wei Zhao was naturally the one and only focus of the celebration banquet. Everyone in the Qingtian Escort Agency, high and low, came up one after another to toast him in turn. And the father and son Qi Mingyuan and Qi Wenmo, besides expressing their boundless gratitude, went further and announced a momentous matter before the crowd—a matter momentous enough to change the fate of the entire Qingtian Escort Agency.

The father and son had decided to gift Wei Zhao, unconditionally and in the form of dry shares, two tenths of the entire Qingtian Escort Agency's assets!

When they heard these words from Qi Mingyuan's mouth, even the celebration banquet, whose atmosphere had been so feverishly lively, could not help but fall silent for a moment. After a long stretch of stunned silence, the crowd finally reacted one after another, exchanging glances, their gazes toward Wei Zhao filled with envy and awe.

Before this, Wei Zhao had been the benefactor of the Qingtian Escort Agency, its permanent honorary head escort. The crowd had held him in awe then too, but they had never felt any sense of pressure from him—because, when all was said and done, an honorary head escort was still an outsider.

But now things were different. With two tenths of the Qingtian Escort Agency's dry shares, Wei Zhao was no longer purely an outsider in the eyes of the crowd—he had become the third owner of the agency, after Qi Mingyuan and Qi Wenmo!

Not only was the crowd shocked into silence; even Wei Zhao himself could not help but be somewhat stunned at these words. He looked at Qi Mingyuan and Qi Wenmo with a baffled expression—what had suddenly made them think of giving him two tenths in dry shares?

"How could I possibly accept this!" Wei Zhao snapped back to his senses and hastily declined. If it were only spirit jade, he could accept it even if they gave him several hundred thousand—he had already made up his mind to refine a batch of elixirs for the Qingtian Escort Agency, so they would not come out the worse for it. But two tenths in dry shares—that meant something else entirely.

Never mind that they had won the position of the new reigning escort overlord and that the Qingtian Escort Agency was bound to soar to the heavens from now on; even before this, two tenths of the Qingtian Escort Agency's dry shares had been an astronomical figure. After all, this was one of the genuine Five Great Escort Agencies—converted into present value, two tenths in dry shares came to at least a million spirit jade, and given time, that figure would only double and soar ever higher!

"Brother Ling, don't be so quick to refuse. This is a decision my father, Uncle Song, and I reached after discussing it together—the result of careful deliberation, not a momentary impulse. Doing this is good for you and good for us." Qi Wenmo smiled and slung an arm around Wei Zhao's shoulder. R1152