Chapter 4632 — Two Guards

No matter how formidable one's strength, the sight of such a leviathan of the sea was bound to strike awe into the heart. To Wei Zhao, this giant treasure ship before him was no less impressive than the aircraft carriers of the mortal world, which displaced tens of thousands of tons at a time.

And yet it was different, too. The treasure ship was a seamless whole; though no technological civilization had ever existed here, its design and craftsmanship were plainly superior by a notch. One could only marvel—those master artificers of Cloud Terrace Island in ages past had truly been craftsmen whose skill rivaled the gods.

By the time Wei Zhao and Shangguan Lan'er arrived, the North Island docks were bustling. Because the giant treasure ship was moored there, no other vessel could come near; for the moment everyone could only watch from a distance as the Sandie Pavilion disciples hauled goods aboard, trip after trip, heads together and tongues wagging.

To deploy a giant treasure ship on such a scale for the journey to West Island was, of course, not solely for Shangguan Lan'er's sake. Attending Ning Xuefei's birthday banquet was at most a pretext; the real purpose was to use the occasion to strengthen the ties between North Island and West Island.

No heavyweight figures had been dispatched, but where the person could not go, the gift could. The goods being carried aboard the giant treasure ship were all precious presents—not only on behalf of the entire Sandie Pavilion of North Island, but nearly every high-ranking member of the Pavilion had sent something of his own as well. The ship's hold was packed full, every last item a gift for the West Island lord and for Ning Xuefei.

North Island and West Island had always been on friendly terms, and good relations were common among the upper echelons of both. This time not only had the likes of Shangguan Tianxia prepared gifts, but even that most mysterious lord of North Island, who had long been in secluded cultivation, had not been left out—he had specially entrusted someone to bring a lavish present.

"Looks like there are quite a few people heading to West Island this time." Wei Zhao blinked at the sight. He had thought he was simply accompanying Shangguan Lan'er to a birthday banquet; he had not expected this to be an outright diplomatic mission—a hundred souls at least, all told.

On second thought, it was hardly surprising. This one giant treasure ship alone could carry no fewer than three figures' worth of people.

This was Wei Zhao's first time aboard a giant treasure ship, while Shangguan Lan'er at his side knew the place like the back of her hand. There was even a room on board reserved especially for her.

Wei Zhao's room happened to be right next door to hers, a single door between them; open it and the two rooms joined into one suite. To pay a visit, one need not even set foot in the corridor.

Having set down his mountain of gifts, Wei Zhao did not linger in his room. He meant to look around—best to familiarize himself with the layout of the giant treasure ship first, lest some mishap catch him unprepared halfway through the voyage.

Shangguan Lan'er and little Juanjuan Bear were certainly not about to sit idle. Since Wei Zhao wanted to wander, they were only too happy to tag along, and Shangguan Lan'er simply became his guide. She knew a thing or two about every part of the giant treasure ship and what it was for, and by the end of the tour Wei Zhao had a rough picture of the whole vessel.

"Work of the gods—whoever built a treasure ship like this must be a peerless genius, the likes of which appear once in a thousand years!" Wei Zhao sang its praises after his tour, and at the same time could not help thinking of Scrap King. He could see that the fellow's talent for artifact crafting was extraordinary too; given enough experience, reaching such heights someday was not impossible.

Amid their banter, Wei Zhao and Shangguan Lan'er returned to where they had first come aboard. By now the cargo on the docks had been loaded almost completely, and the various parties bound for West Island had all taken their places, ready to set sail at any moment.

A final crowd came surging in from the Cloud-Climbing Ladder, and Wei Zhao suddenly noticed that, for some reason, a circle had been deliberately left open in their midst. One careful look, and his heart skipped a beat.

In the middle stood two figures. One was dressed all in black, his bearing utterly unremarkable, and he had not spoken a single word from first to last—and yet he could not be hidden, for he blazed like the sun. This was Gongyang Jun, the foremost of North Island's new generation.

Besides Gongyang Jun, there was another man in that empty circle, robed voluminously in blue from head to toe. By his looks he too was a youth of under thirty, though the air about his brow was far gentler than Gongyang Jun's. If Gongyang Jun was cold and aloof, keeping all comers a thousand li at bay, this man was nowhere near so forbidding. Yet what others felt from him was less gentleness than plainness—the sort of face that is hard to pick out of a crowd.

Even so, the people around him had still consciously cleared a wide berth, and the deference shown him was in no way inferior to Gongyang Jun's. This was the senior disciple and steward of the Chongtian Pavilion's inner court—Lan Tieshan.

The post of senior disciple and steward of the Chongtian Pavilion's inner court marked, by and large, the highest standard among the Sandie Pavilion's disciples; there could not be much difference.

While Wei Zhao was sizing up Gongyang Jun and Lan Tieshan, the two in turn glanced his way, though they withdrew their eyes at once, wearing the same unsmiling, silent look, as if none of this had anything to do with them. A moment later they had melted into the crowd without a trace.

"Weren't they supposed to be guarding us in secret? Why are they showing themselves so openly?" Wei Zhao muttered. By their own conduct the two were indeed anything but showy, yet the behavior of those around them made it plain that their boarding the ship was already known to all and had long since caught the eyes of the attentive.

"Hee hee, those two have always been like that. Even if you told them to act in secret, they would never make a point of hiding their tracks—sneaking about simply isn't their style. Little Junior Brother, don't think Senior Brother Lan is any less proud than Senior Brother Gongyang just because he isn't as icy; his pride is not one whit inferior. My grandfather said so, you know." Shangguan Lan'er explained from the side.

"I see." Wei Zhao could not help a laugh at that, though it was not hard to understand. Gongyang Jun and Lan Tieshan alike were dragons among men; their pride came from their formidable self-assurance, so such airs were only natural.

As he was pondering Gongyang Jun and Lan Tieshan, Wei Zhao's peripheral vision suddenly caught two familiar figures. When he saw them clearly, he curled his lip at once—Xu Lingchong, that idiot, with Kang Jingming, his sycophantic little sidekick, trailing along.

"What are those two doing here? Don't tell me they're going to Ning Xuefei's birthday banquet too?" Wei Zhao knitted his brows slightly. (To be continued.)