Chapter 4520 — No Word

"Hear, hear! This time his true colors are out in the open at last—serves him right." The crowd voiced their contempt one after another. This time Hai Wuliang had well and truly lost every last shred of goodwill; he would find it hard to gain a foothold even in the Mohai Sea.

………………

"So we just go back like this?" Qi Wenmo watched the Mohai docks dwindle further and further behind, unwillingness burning in his chest as he slammed his fist against the railing. "Brother Ling fought tooth and nail for our Qingtian Escort Agency and earned merit like that, and in the end he's openly hunted by a mere crooked-path cultivator, left in a spot where the odds are all against him—and we can only stand by and watch, not able to help in the slightest. How do we even have the face to sit in the seat of the escort agency's overlord?"

Beside him, Chai Laoshi glanced at Qi Wenmo and nodded to himself in secret. This young master of the Qingtian Escort Agency was truly a man of feeling—Young Hero Ling had not misjudged him.

"I wanted to stay and keep probing for news of Young Hero Ling as well, but we have already waited more than a month. If we keep dragging on here endlessly, something disastrous may well break out over in Weihu City, and all of Young Hero Ling's hard work will have been for nothing." Qi Mingyuan sighed, clapped Qi Wenmo on the shoulder, and said, "Rest easy. Young Hero Ling has heaven's favor. I have already had Old Song station a great many men here; the moment there is any word of Young Hero Ling, we will know at once. Him staying here to hold the fort amounts to the same thing."

"The Hong Merchant Guild has its own channels for gathering information as well. I have instructed them to spare no effort in searching for news of Young Hero Ling—I trust nothing will come of it." As Chai Laoshi offered these words of comfort, he was in his heart praying for Wei Zhao.

Compared with the Qi father and son, his dependence on Wei Zhao was in truth even deeper. After all, he had never once met Hong Zhong; Wei Zhao was, to all intents and purposes, his only pillar in the Hong Merchant Guild, and it was only out of regard for Wei Zhao that Hong Zhong had genuinely taken him in. If Wei Zhao truly came to harm this time, it would be a fatal blow to him.

"Mm. With the networks your Hong Merchant Guild and my Qingtian Escort Agency have across the Southern Continent's seas, you can reach into every corner. Given time, finding Young Hero Ling should not be difficult." Qi Mingyuan nodded, then turned to Qi Wenmo. "Wenhan, do you know how to get in contact with Young Hero Ling's Junior Sister Huang?"

"Junior Sister Huang?" Qi Wenmo started at the words, then shot Qi Mingyuan a rather odd look. Brother Ling's fate was not even settled yet, and already Father wanted to mend fences and court favor with that Junior Sister Huang who had taken vows under the Eastern Sea Divine Nun?

"Young Hero Ling holds a twenty percent share of the profits—won by his own hard-earned merit. Our Qingtian Escort Agency must never go back on its word; we cannot simply fail to honor it because Young Hero Ling is no longer here. So to be safe, it would be best to first find a way to contact that Junior Sister Huang, and when the time comes, simply transfer the twenty percent share into her name. That way we can give Young Hero Ling a proper accounting." Qi Mingyuan's expression was grave.

"Truly honorable, Chief Escort Qi." Chai Laoshi nodded in approval. Huang Xiaotao was the only person any of them had ever seen who was connected to Wei Zhao, and connected intimately at that. If Wei Zhao truly met with disaster this time, transferring his twenty percent share into Huang Xiaotao's name would be entirely proper.

In this respect, Qi Mingyuan could be counted as exceedingly generous. After all, a twenty percent share was no small sum. Anyone else would be only too eager to swallow it back after Wei Zhao's death—Wei Zhao had no children, no disciples, no heirs of any kind. By rights, the moment he died, that twenty percent share would naturally revert to the escort agency, and no one would say a word against it.

"That... I really do not know how to contact Junior Sister Huang. I only know she is at the Morning Star Academy in the Eastern Continent..." Qi Wenmo shook his head, at a loss. When it came down to it, he and Huang Xiaotao were not close at all—they had met only a handful of times, had scarcely exchanged a few words, and she was, besides, somewhere as impossibly distant as the Eastern Continent.

"Then keep it set aside for her for now. Once we find a way to reach her, we will give it to her then." Qi Mingyuan pondered aloud. The Eastern Continent, after all, was not a place just anyone could go. Even knowing that the Morning Star Academy was in the Gaolin Sea, a man of Qi Mingyuan's own strength was far from qualified to go there alone in search of someone—let alone any of his subordinates.

"Yes, sir!" Qi Wenmo nodded with solemn gravity. Though he was the sole heir of the Qingtian Escort Agency, he raised both hands in wholehearted support of his father's decision.

There might have been something of far-sighted calculation in Qi Mingyuan's decision, but Qi Wenmo's support sprang from pure loyalty between friends. If Wei Zhao truly did not return this time, Qi Wenmo would not only have no thought of swallowing that twenty percent share—he would instead seek every means to repay more. That was what became a man of his feeling.

Bearing the halo of the Southern Continent's escort overlord, the Qingtian Escort Agency returned in glory to Weihu City. The Weihu docks thronged with people; the heads and leaders of every power great and small throughout the Weihu Sea had almost all turned out. Such a grand and bustling scene had not been seen in Weihu City for several decades.

The purpose of all these powers' leaders gathering here was plain enough: to be the first to curry favor with the Qingtian Escort Agency and leave a good impression in the heart of Qi Mingyuan, whose star was at its zenith.

After all, this was the new overlord of the Southern Continent's escort agencies, a status equivalent to the leader of the righteous path across the Southern Continent's seas. His influence in the days to come would be no small thing. Such a figure—even if one could not have him as a friend, one absolutely must not have him as an enemy!

And so even the local strongmen who had once held grudges against the Qingtian Escort Agency came bearing lavish gifts to make overtures, seeking by every means to seize this chance to bury the hatchet with a smile.

By contrast, the Dragon Boat Escort Agency, which had returned to Weihu City a full month earlier, enjoyed no such pomp. Even if it had recovered the title of the second-ranked escort agency, and rumors even held that it had a top-tier patron like the Xishan Old Sect behind it—the problem was that the Xishan Old Sect was not present. Who could say whether that giant of the crooked path would truly stoop to come sit in the Dragon Boat Escort Agency's headquarters?

If the Xishan Old Sect really did descend upon Weihu City, then everyone present would naturally have to treat the Dragon Boat Escort Agency with the utmost respect—when under another's roof, one must bow one's head. But until then, it was better to keep one's distance.

After all, in the absence of absolute power to overawe, the slogan that the righteous and the crooked can never coexist still had a ready market. To avoid inviting public censure, it was best not to be associated with the Dragon Boat Escort Agency for now. Such a thing could only bring harm and no benefit, and everyone present was no fool.