Chapter 4541 — Preparations for Departure

"Seeing as we've already agreed we're family, is there really any need for such formal talk?" Wei Zhao hastened to help Qi Mingyuan to his feet. He had gone out of his way to say this so that the Qitian Escort Bureau might weather the coming storm intact, not so that everyone would feel indebted to him.

"Father, Brother Ling—shouldn't we get the word out about this right away, give everyone else a chance to prepare? Otherwise a great many people are going to die!" Off to one side, Qi Wenmo was still visibly on edge.

At that, Wei Zhao glanced at Qi Mingyuan and said nothing. His only responsibility was to pass the news on to the two of them, and to Chai Laoshi as well. As for the fate of everyone else—frankly, it had little to do with him. More to the point, once a rumor like this began to spread, there was no guarantee it would do any good.

"No. Unless the spirit beasts truly make their move, spreading word of this ahead of time from our lips will make us a target for every eye. The spirit beast clan would come after us first to settle the score, and that is a price we cannot afford to pay," Qi Mingyuan said at once, shaking his head decisively.

"This... all right..." Hot-blooded as Qi Wenmo might be, he was not so thick-headed as to be beyond reason. Once he had thought through the stakes involved, he stopped agonizing over the matter. After all, nothing could matter more than the many lives of the Qitian Escort Bureau.

"Wenhan, mark my words—the news Young Hero Ling has brought must be kept strictly confidential. Not a whisper of it may get out ahead of time, not even among our own people in the bureau. As for what to do next, I will make the arrangements in secret. To you, this never happened. Understand?" Qi Mingyuan added, still uneasy.

The stakes were enormous. They had to prepare early, and more importantly they had to keep it absolutely secret. If even the slightest whisper leaked out ahead of time, it would spell utter ruin for the Qitian Escort Bureau. Qi Mingyuan himself was of course dependable; what he feared was his son doing something foolish in the name of loyalty, the consequences of which did not bear imagining.

"Rest easy, Father. I know how serious this is. I won't gamble with all the lives in our bureau," Qi Wenmo said with a solemn nod. His temperament was still far from that of a ruthless schemer, but in matters this grave he would not be sloppy; otherwise he would have no business inheriting the Qitian Escort Bureau.

"In that case, I shall take my leave," Wei Zhao said. He had said his farewells and given his warnings; staying on at the Qitian Escort Bureau any longer would be superfluous. Besides, with so many of the Longzhou Escort Bureau's eyes outside, this place had become a hot spot for him, far less safe than being out beyond those walls.

Qi Mingyuan and Qi Wenmo exchanged a look. By every measure of sentiment and reason they would have loved to keep Wei Zhao a few more days, to use the chance to properly reward this great benefactor and then see him off in style. But circumstances did not permit it; superfluous gestures would only make things worse. So they did not dare press him to stay.

"Circumstances being what they are, we dare not keep you, and between family there's no need for ceremony. But remember this, Young Hero Ling—there will always be a place for you in the Qitian Escort Bureau. If ever you have need of us, send but a word, and whether it means scaling a mountain of blades or leaping into a cauldron of oil, we will not shrink from death!" Qi Mingyuan said with great solemnity.

"That's right. Everything the bureau has today, you built, Brother Ling. Between brothers there's nothing to be said—shared fortune and shared hardship. If you insist on shouldering every burden alone, that would be a poor show of loyalty indeed," Qi Wenmo said, equally grave.

"Don't worry. When I have need of you, I won't stand on ceremony," Wei Zhao said with a smile and a nod, a surge of warmth rising in his heart.

Across all five great isles of the Heaven Tier, the Qitian Escort Bureau's present strength counted for nothing, but at least it was a power to be reckoned with in the Southern Isle's waters. And with its influence now surging, if it could weather the coming calamity, it would in time become a force no one could overlook—a most useful ally, perhaps of great service in the days to come.

After bidding farewell to Qi Mingyuan and Qi Wenmo, Wei Zhao went over the wall and back the way he had come under cover of night, slipping past the Longzhou Escort Bureau's many watchers. He found a remote inn and took a room, but he did not stay long—barely three hours. When the sky outside was just beginning to pale, he set out, heading straight for Weihu Pier.

To return to the Northern Isle, he could hardly take the sea route. Leaving aside whether there even was a direct passage to the Northern Isle, if such a route existed, it would likely mean at least half a year at sea. Wei Zhao had no such leisure.

So there was really only one way back to the Northern Isle: riding a flying spirit beast. And as it happened, Huang Xiaotao's large spirit bird was boarded right here. Back when Morning Star Academy had come to Weihu City to select disciples, Huang Xiaotao could have taken the bird with her—it had been her loyal companion for many years—but for Wei Zhao's convenience, she had ultimately left it behind.

Still wearing the Thousand-Silk Mask, Wei Zhao drew no particular attention while collecting the spirit bird. Only the attendant who received him gave him a rather startled glance.

For in the earlier records, the owner of this spirit bird had been a young woman surnamed Huang, and she was said to be close to the now-famous Ling Yi. Yet the man before him was a coarse-looking rustic warrior—the two could not have been less alike.

But puzzled as he was, the attendant did not pry. A minor figure of his lowly strength who wanted to make his way in the Southern Isle's waters had to mind his tongue, or in a place where men were killed in the streets at the slightest provocation, it would be all too easy for words to bring disaster.

In any case, the warrior carried the special token and had paid the boarding fees for the whole period, so the attendant briskly led Wei Zhao straight to the spirit bird.

Spirit beasts were already highly intelligent, and though this bird had not been tamed by Wei Zhao, seeing him again after so long, it was clearly delighted and excited. It knew full well that Wei Zhao was its "master," and besides, Huang Xiaotao had come quietly to visit it before she left, instructing it to obey Wei Zhao's every command.

Had it been some other fierce, intractable spirit beast, Wei Zhao might have had some trouble on his hands. But this gentle-natured bird presented no such difficulties—like master, like beast. In a sense, the bird's temperament was cut from the same cloth as Huang Xiaotao's: mild and soft, yet strong and enduring. (To be continued...)