Chapter 4767 — Journey to the Eastern Isle

"Then I suppose I'd better pay old Yama down in the underworld a visit and have a chat with him too?" Weizhao rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Why not? If there really is a Yama, I'm sure the old fellow would look at you with new eyes. You call him 'Grandpa,' and who knows, he might just adopt you as a sworn grandson and send you back to us to strut about as you please!" Qi Wenmo laughed heartily.

"No thanks. I'm a timid sort—I'd be afraid of going down there and never finding my way back." Weizhao curled his lip.

"Ha!" Qi Wenmo gave a hearty laugh, the wild joy and excitement in his face impossible to hide. Feigning composure, he looked at Weizhao and said, "Truly, brother—thank you."

Weizhao glanced at his tightly clenched fists and the look on his face of a man about to leap into the sea from sheer excitement, and could not help but laugh. "If we're brothers, then what's all this talk of thanks?"

"Mm!" Qi Wenmo could only nod hard, his gratitude beyond words. Just as Weizhao had said, these two Thunder Mystery Pills had come to him and Xia Qianqian at exactly the right moment!

With his present strength and background, if he truly made proper preparations and came to propose, reasoning with the Xia family and moving them with sincerity, he'd have some measure of confidence—but not certainty. There was no telling what twists and turns might arise.

After all, though the Skysupport Escort Agency was the new overlord of the Southern Isle's escort trade, compared with the Xia family—a dynasty of ship kings such as the world had rarely seen—it had no foundation worth speaking of. That aside, even if he pooled the entire wealth of the Skysupport Escort Agency to prepare betrothal gifts, it would be hard to catch the Xia family's eye. But with these two Thunder Mystery Pills, everything was utterly different!

The Thunder Mystery Pills were precious in themselves, and rarer still was the meaning they reflected. Once the Xia family learned that the Qi family had such a powerful backer, it would no longer be the Qi family currying favor with them—it would be they who needed to curry favor with the Qi family.

Young as he was, he possessed the terrifying strength to annihilate experts of the Profound Ascension stage across a whole realm with a single blow. At the same time he was the Western Isle's consort, and rarest of all, a seventh-grade alchemist of transcendent standing!

For Qi Wenmo to have such an extraordinary, heaven-defying sworn brother—if the Xia family still put up the slightest obstruction over Xia Qianqian's marriage, that could only mean the brains of every one of the Xia family's higher-ups were waterlogged, and with foot-washing water that had gone rancid for centuries at that.

Qi Wenmo was beside himself with excitement, and Xia Qianqian was so overjoyed she hardly knew what to say. Watching the sweet pair, Weizhao smiled knowingly. "By the way—if anything comes up in the future, remember to have the Hong Merchant Guild relay a message to the Northern Isle. I'll be waiting for your good news."

"Will do. Same to you, Brother Ling—don't forget that the Skysupport Escort Agency is partly yours too. If trouble ever finds you, don't forget us. Our strength may be lacking, but we can at least stand at your back and raise a cheer for you—it's no more than a single message." Qi Wenmo spoke gravely.

By now all the cargo was loaded, and the fleet was already urging Qi Wenmo and his companion to board. Weizhao at once waved farewell with a smile. "Understood. Take care on the road—fair winds all the way!"

"Take care, Brother Ling!" Eyes reddening, Qi Wenmo clapped Weizhao on the shoulder, while Xia Qianqian bowed deeply, then solemnly took her leave of Ning Xuefei and Huo Yudie. Only then did the two of them board the treasure ship amid the urging calls. The magnificent fleet of three treasure ships soon sounded their horns and set sail, leaving only three grand afterimages on the surface of the sea.

Shangguan Lan'er and Han Jingyi had gone; now Qi Wenmo and Xia Qianqian had gone too. Weizhao had no one left he knew well on the Western Isle, and could only pass his days in the company of Ning Xuefei and Huo Yudie. It was a little dull, but the two girls seemed quite content with such a life. To them, so long as Weizhao was there, they were never bored—even a simple chat left them brimming with enthusiasm.

Such days did not last long. Three days later, as the last foreign delegation to visit the Western Isle, the Eastern Isle delegation was finally ready to set sail. But unlike the other delegations, this time they would carry two guests—Ning Xuefei and Weizhao.

Ning Shanghe had already settled on an academy for her daughter. There was no time to lose, and it happened to be convenient to catch a ride on the Eastern Isle delegation's ship; with Liu Ziqi along the whole way to look after them, there was no need to worry about any trouble.

However, since the Western Isle's princess and her consort were traveling to the Eastern Isle, it was a major affair for the entire Western Isle, and a grand, magnificent farewell ceremony was absolutely indispensable.

That day the entire Western Isle docks were packed so tight that not a drop could trickle through. Including Ning Shanghe, the Isle Lord herself, nearly every high-ranking figure of the Western Isle turned out—all to watch Ning Xuefei and Weizhao board the ship.

The spectacle left Weizhao secretly clicking his tongue. Boarding a ship ought to have been a simple, trifling matter, yet now it looked exactly like some ancient rite—stately and solemn.

"This is quite the production. Anyone who didn't know better would think we were marching off on a campaign to war. I've only ever heard of such elaborate sacrificial rites when soldiers set out for battle—today I've had my eyes opened," Weizhao murmured to Ning Xuefei beside him. He had seen plenty of farewell gatherings in his day, but never before one of such scale and such intricate ceremony.

Before Ning Xuefei could reply, Ning Shanghe, not far away, laughed and glanced at Weizhao. "Do you think we're making a fuss over nothing? In truth, this is a rule handed down from the Western Isle's ancestors—a kind of rehearsal for the succession ceremony. Without it, Feifei's accession in the future would seem improper and unjustified, and there would be trouble."

"So every time Feifei travels, it's always this grand a spectacle?" Weizhao was startled to hear it.

"Not at all. Only the first journey to the Eastern Isle has this ceremony, and its purpose is to pray for blessings on the future Isle Lord. At other times there's no such treatment—otherwise, if the girl took it into her head to slip off and play at any moment, we'd never get any proper work done." Ning Shanghe shook her head with an indulgent laugh.

"I never slipped off! I always left you a note!" Ning Xuefei corrected her righteously.

"Oh yes. By the time I found the note in some odd corner, you'd already run off to the Northern Isle—and you still have the nerve to say it." Ning Shanghe drew Ning Xuefei into a doting embrace, then turned to Weizhao and said gravely, "Weizhao, I'm entrusting Feifei to you. Take good care of her for me."

"Rest assured, Aunt Ning. I will." Weizhao nodded firmly.

An hour later, the Western Isle ceremony finally came to an end. Though Ning Xuefei and Weizhao had not yet formally boarded, Ning Shanghe had already withdrawn with the Western Isle's disciples—after all, if they kept blocking the way, none of the Eastern Isle party would be able to get aboard; the crowd was so vast it could not be pushed through.

Weizhao praised her inwardly. From this alone he could see that Ning Shanghe was a person who knew how to adapt! (To be continued.)