Chapter 4618 — A Harmonious Banquet

The banquet began. Everyone sat quietly watching Wei Zhao, waiting for him, the host and center of it all, to deliver the opening words. Wei Zhao's smiling gaze swept slowly across every face, and only then did he finally speak: "It has been nearly two years since we parted. Seeing that everyone is well brings me great joy—there is nothing more important than this. A person ought to be content with what he has. Come, let us raise our cups to our long-awaited reunion. Cheers!"

"Cheers!" Everyone laughed and lifted their cups high, and even little Juanjuan the bear drained its cup in proper fashion. Of course, what it drank was not spirit wine but the spirit-fruit juice everyone had especially prepared for it and Shangguan Lan'er—the drunken frenzy of the Juanjuan bear clan was no laughing matter. If the little thing got drunk on a single cup, the joke would truly get out of hand...

"Little Junior Brother, hurry and tell us about your time on South Island—I can't wait!" Shangguan Lan'er said at once, impatiently.

"Yes, yes, Leader, tell us quickly! We're all waiting to hear about your legendary experiences!" Qiao Hongcai and the others chimed in as well. Up until now, it had basically been Wei Zhao asking about their situation; now it was time for the tables to turn.

"Indeed, this old man is quite curious as well about how you managed to escape from the hands of the Old Sect of West Mountain, Young Hero Lin. Had you returned a few days later, I was already preparing to make the trip to South Continent myself. All this time Chai Laoshi kept saying he could find no word of you, and I began to think he was a fence-sitter who, seeing how things stood, had developed second thoughts. I was just about to go give him a proper interrogation—thank goodness you returned today, or I would have wronged a good man." Hong Zhong laughed along from the side.

Hearing this, Wei Zhao could not help but feel touched. South Continent was universally acknowledged as a land of trouble, a place ordinary people would not go without special reason. Especially for a personage of Hong Zhong's illustrious standing—to go to South Continent in person would mean risking his life.

Because it would inevitably give his enemies and rivals an opening. In North Island and Central Island they would not dare strike from the shadows, but once in South Continent they could act openly and without the slightest scruple; a single word would easily excuse them afterward. Even if they took the opportunity to kill Hong Zhong, there would be no lingering consequences—after all, murder and arson were far too commonplace in South Continent, and such matters could not even be investigated.

"Heh heh. Then where would you like me to begin? The events before I ran into the Old Sect of West Mountain—you should all know about those already, no?" Wei Zhao laughed. He knew North Island had always had people gathering intelligence on him—not only ears from Qingyun Pavilion, but likely from Chongtian Pavilion as well. Otherwise Shangguan Tianxia would not have known his movements so clearly.

"Start from the beginning!" Shangguan Lan'er rushed to say. "I only know some general news about you, Little Junior Brother, but the specifics are quite unclear. And also—how come Sister Xiaotao didn't come back with you?"

"Eh? You still don't know about Xiaotao?" Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback. Huang Xiaotao's affairs had caused quite a stir in South Continent. Granted, it was a world away from here, but surely some word would have drifted over?

"No idea." The others exchanged glances and shook their heads. In truth, they had found it strange from the moment they saw Wei Zhao, only they had been too excited to ask. After all, none of them had any personal ties with Huang Xiaotao—they had merely met her a few times. Only Shangguan Lan'er was relatively close to her. So ordinarily they paid attention only to news of Wei Zhao and never went out of their way to inquire about Huang Xiaotao.

"All right, then I'll start from the beginning." Wei Zhao paused, then began: "On the very first day Xiaotao and I arrived in South Continent, we ran into a trouble neither too big nor too small—we clashed with a local thug of a young master in the Weihu Sea Region. Fortunately, Qi Wenmo, the young proprietor of the local Qingtian Escort Agency, helped us out of it. After that, the two of us joined the Qingtian Escort Agency and became escorts. And the very first escort mission we took came from the Weihu branch of the Hong Clan Merchant Guild here."

"The matter of Wei Zhaotong. It was this old man's failure to judge character—I never imagined it would nearly do you harm. I am truly sorry." Hearing this, Hong Zhong cut in with a face full of apology.

"Elder Hong, you speak too seriously. You introduced this Wei Zhaotong entirely out of concern for me; that he changed heart and turned rotten was his own affair, and it has nothing to do with you. I can at least tell good from bad in this matter—why should you blame yourself for it? Besides, he never truly caused me any trouble. As far as the outcome goes, he actually promoted and won over Chai Laoshi, which is a rare piece of good fortune for both you and me." Wei Zhao waved his hand dismissively with a laugh.

"Be that as it may, a mistake is a mistake. I must keep this matter firmly in mind, to remind myself to keep my eyes sharp in the days to come and never again be blinded by such a petty scoundrel." Hong Zhong sighed with some emotion. Wei Zhaotong had been his old friend for many years, and for such an affair to come of it—no matter who it happened to, their mood would not be good.

"What on earth are you two talking about? Who is Wei Zhaotong? How did he nearly harm you, Little Junior Brother?" Shangguan Lan'er and the others were utterly baffled.

"Heh heh, Wei Zhaotong is none other than the manager of the local Weihu branch. I had thought the fellow was a good man, never expecting him to harbor malicious intent and be utterly devoid of conscience. On one hand he had the Qingtian Escort Agency transport the goods; on the other he contacted pirates to intercept them midway. After swallowing his own goods back, he would then demand the Qingtian Escort Agency compensate him at full price. The manager of a branch of the illustrious Hong Clan Merchant Guild actually running a business with no capital at all—it truly leaves one speechless just thinking about it." Wei Zhao smiled bitterly.

"Rob his own goods and then make the escort agency pay compensation at full price? To think there's such a black-hearted, black-lunged scoundrel in this world—he deserves death!" Everyone was instantly filled with righteous indignation.

"And after that? Little Junior Brother, did you beat those scoundrels to a pulp?" Shangguan Lan'er said eagerly, her eyes shining. In her eyes, Wei Zhao had always been an omnipotent presence, and at a time like this he of course ought to have shown his prowess.

"No. Four pirates came at us, and each one was far stronger than the four of us escorts. On top of that, the lead escort on our side was the first to give up resistance, so we had no choice but to endure it in silence." Wei Zhao shook his head, then said: "After that, those pirates dumped us in Zhenduan City. Xiaotao and I could not return to the Weihu Sea Region for the time being, so we had to stay in Zhenduan City. In the meantime we made a trip to explore the Rufeng Forest on South Island, and we reaped quite a few unexpected gains." (July 13th: the live-action drama *The School Beauty's Bodyguard* premieres on iQiyi. For more news, follow Yuren 22.) (To be continued)