Chapter 4521 — The Old Sect Returns

When all was said and done, it came back to the Old Sect of the Western Hills. A mighty evil cultivator of the Mountain-Opening stage, and all he had gone out to do was hunt down a mere Ling Yi—yet he had vanished without a trace, a whole month gone by with not a word. Long Kuiba was thoroughly resentful now, privately cursing the old monster: surely he hadn't gone back on his word, had he? Killed Ling Yi and then decided he couldn't be bothered with the Dragon Boat Escort Agency?

It was entirely possible. After all, once Wu Baoliang and Cheng Haonan had died at Ling Yi's hands one after the other, there was no longer any connection between his Dragon Boat Escort Agency and the Old Sect of the Western Hills. The Old Sect truly had no reason to stoop to keeping watch over the Dragon Boat Escort Agency any longer. But if that were so, then Long Kuiba and the Dragon Boat Escort Agency were in a sorry state indeed—they were being roasted over an open fire, plain and simple!

To have earned the foul reputation of colluding with evil cultivators for nothing, to have gained not a single benefit from it, and to have watched business go from bad to worse—when Long Kuiba thought of all these miseries, he wanted to slap himself. He'd had a perfectly good easy life, so what madness had possessed him back then to ally with the Poison Eye Mercenary Corps?

If not for that, none of the troubles that followed would ever have come to pass. Even without the title of second-ranked escort agency, he could at least have preserved the business he once had, and would not have ended up as he had now, with not a customer in sight—a Dragon Boat Escort Agency vast in size, yet unable from dawn to dusk to take in a single escort contract, everyone from top to bottom left to stare helplessly at the northwest wind...

With nothing to do, Long Kuiba could only drown his sorrows alone in drink. The lively clang of gongs and drums outside grated on his nerves all the more, and suddenly he roared, "Where the hell has everyone gone? It's deafening out there—does no one know how to shut the door?"

"Shut the door? Sounds like this sect isn't especially welcome here?" A mass of black mist suddenly gathered in the center of the great hall, and from it emerged a bizarre old man with crimson hair and green brows—none other than the Old Sect of the Western Hills.

"Se-Senior, you've returned?" Long Kuiba gave a great start, then, caught between fright and joy, hurried to his feet and paid his respects, saying with the utmost deference, "Long Kuiba greets Senior of the Old Sect of the Western Hills. I was merely vexed by the noise outside just now—it was not aimed at you, Senior. Please, I beg you, do not take it to heart."

"I doubt you'd have the nerve." The Old Sect of the Western Hills gave a cackling laugh, then with a flicker of his form went straight to the master's seat in the great hall and sat down. Though at first glance he still seemed as unfathomable as ever, there was a weariness between his brows that he could scarcely conceal.

"Someone, quickly—prepare the finest banquet! Your Chief Escort is going to give the Senior a proper welcome." Long Kuiba issued his orders in a flurry, his face alight with wild joy. After hoping and praying so long, this time he had finally gotten the Old Sect of the Western Hills to come. Now let me see just how those snobbish, fickle wretches plan to answer for themselves!

The whole of the Dragon Boat Escort Agency turned out, and a banquet of the highest order was soon laid out. Long Kuiba took the humblest seat at the far end, endlessly toasting the Old Sect of the Western Hills, making no effort to hide his flattery. Even the agency's own people broke out in gooseflesh listening to it—yet it happened to be exactly what the Old Sect of the Western Hills relished, and his words toward Long Kuiba grew considerably more amiable.

Seeing that the Old Sect of the Western Hills had been waited on about as well as could be, Long Kuiba at last ventured tentatively, "Senior of the Western Hills, in killing Ling Yi this time, you not only avenged Brother Wu and Brother Cheng, but also rid my Dragon Boat Escort Agency of a great scourge. On behalf of all of us at the Dragon Boat Escort Agency, I thank you for your boundless grace."

"Ling Yi?" At the sound of that name, the Old Sect of the Western Hills' expression turned abruptly cold, and he said with some discomfort, "Don't mention it. This sect was careless this time. I had meant to take him alive and refine him into a puppet, but never expected to blunder into the territory of South Isle, where I was set upon by top-tier masters of the spirit beast race, and the boy escaped with his life."

"What? Ling Yi fled to South Isle? How is that possible—I don't recall any teleportation array within Mohai City?" Long Kuiba was struck dumb with astonishment at these words. He was a native of the Southern Continent born and bred, and apart from those few teleportation arrays, he had never known of any other way to enter the territory of South Isle.

"What? You dare question even this sect's word?" The Old Sect of the Western Hills fixed Long Kuiba with an unfriendly stare, turning hostile at the slightest provocation—a trait common to many evil cultivators.

"N-no... not at all... Where would I get the nerve, Senior? You make too much of it. I only found it hard to believe—that boy Ling Yi's luck is simply too good, to have stumbled by sheer chance into top-tier masters of the spirit beast race speaking up for him. Otherwise, a hundred lives would not have been enough to save him this time!" Long Kuiba broke out in a cold sweat on the spot and hastened to make amends.

"Hmph. His fleeing into the territory of South Isle this time was indeed a stroke of dog-shit luck, but that doesn't necessarily mean his luck is good. With his paltry strength, the moment the spirit beast race discovers him, he's bound to end up as a meal—so he may as well be a dead man already; it's only that we won't get to see the corpse." Only then did the Old Sect of the Western Hills' expression ease somewhat.

"Quite so, quite so. Ling Yi is doomed this time, no doubt about it. However heaven-defying his luck, there's no way he'll escape the spirit beast race's territory all alone." Long Kuiba nodded and echoed him again and again.

"Naturally. Breaking out of South Isle this time, even this sect had to expend enormous effort, and was nearly set upon by masters of the spirit beast race—let alone a specimen like Ling Yi." There was plainly a lingering fear in the Old Sect of the Western Hills' voice as he spoke.

Had he not been entangled by those powerful spirit beasts of South Isle, a man of his strength ought to have returned long ago; a whole month would never have been needed. That the Old Sect of the Western Hills had escaped South Isle whole this time was owed not only to the formidable power of a Mountain-Opening stage titan, but even more to luck. Had his luck been a shade worse, this evil-cultivator titan might well have been buried in South Isle.

When it came down to it, South Isle was, after all, the inviolable stronghold of the spirit beast race. Even though the spirit beasts and human cultivators now kept peace with one another, unless the spirit beast race issued an invitation, no human cultivator was permitted to enter South Isle on any account; the slightest trespass meant death without mercy.

"Senior, now that Ling Yi is dead beyond doubt, should the men of the Qingtian Escort Agency be wiped out as well? They were all Ling Yi's accomplices, and now they hold the position of overlord among the Southern Continent's escort agencies—their power is not to be underestimated. As the saying goes, if the grass is cut but the roots are not pulled, the spring wind will bring it back to life." Long Kuiba at once redirected his hatred.