Chapter 4849 — Still One Short

Against the East Sea Divine Nun, Bao Zuoliang was helpless even if he hauled out his own father, Bao Fala. A city lord nominally on par with Ling Yuanqing, perhaps—but he had no authority over the East Sea Divine Nun. At most he could rein in the deputy city lord. As for the nun, vice chancellor of the Academy, she had no need to give him the slightest regard.

Had that been all, it would have been nothing much. Bao Zuoliang had time enough to wear her down, drop by drop, stone worn through by water—given long enough, he would find his opening. So long as Wang Xinyan remained a day at Morning Star Academy, she could never escape his grasp.

But now everything had changed. Out of nowhere had appeared this Wei Zhao, a fellow of startling origins, and at the sight of him so intimate, so inseparable from Wang Xinyan, Bao Zuoliang's rage exploded on the instant. In his eyes Wang Xinyan was already his woman—how could he suffer an outsider to lay a finger on her!

Fortunately his henchman Su Kesheng was at his side, pleading and reasoning with him until he was calmed. Otherwise Bao Zuoliang in his fury would truly have struck at Wei Zhao, and the consequences were unthinkable.

"Young Master Bao, you mustn't be rash! Only wait till this fellow surnamed Lin is gone—won't Wang Xinyan still be yours to hold in the palm of your hand? You mustn't bring disaster on yourself in a moment of rage." Su Kesheng dragged Bao Zuoliang with all his might into a deserted corner and urged him in a low voice: "This fellow surnamed Lin is a disciple of North Island, and from the look of him he won't be joining our Academy. He can't stay here long. Young Master Bao, endure a while and the storm will pass."

"Hmph! What do you know! That boy has always been in Wang Xinyan's heart—that's why she refused me so stubbornly before. One way or another, this boy must be disposed of, or I'll never have Wang Xinyan in this life!" Bao Zuoliang raged.

"Ah? So that's how it is. Then how are we to dispose of him? Even Qing Xuanzi is his disciple now. One careless move and we bring calamity down on ourselves—and when that happens, not even City Lord Bao may be able to smooth it over." Su Kesheng frowned.

"That's a question for you! You're the chief strategist I rely on most, and you must think me up a flawless plan—one that deals with this fellow surnamed Lin and leaves no aftermath." Bao Zuoliang fixed him with a look. In the past, dirty work of this sort had always been left to Su Kesheng, and every time he had handled it cleanly, hence the deep trust.

"This... I'll have to think it over carefully..." Su Kesheng rolled his eyes, pondering aloud: "The main difficulty is that this fellow surnamed Lin is a cut above us in rank. The tricks we've used before against Academy disciples would hardly work on him. He's Qing Xuanzi's master and honorary vice president of the Hong Merchant Guild—his connections run deep on every side..."

"Indeed." Bao Zuoliang was somewhat cowed by this himself. He was no brainless dandy of a son; he knew well how to weigh relative strength. Those he could bully he bullied to death, and those too tough to crack he simply kept his distance from—and Wei Zhao plainly belonged to the latter sort.

"Still, when you come down to it, this fellow surnamed Lin may have formidable backing and be a top-tier alchemist such as one rarely sees, but his actual strength is truly nothing to speak of—only the late Nascent Soul stage. If we could but fight him fair and square, Young Master Bao, you'd finish him in a single move. Tsk tsk." Su Kesheng analyzed.

"True, that's the only angle we can exploit. But I can't very well go running off to challenge him, can I? For me, a fine Nascent Soul perfection expert, to challenge a late Nascent Soul—wouldn't that make me a laughingstock? And Wang Xinyan might well look down on me for it!" Bao Zuoliang frowned.

"A direct challenge is out of the question. Never mind whether the fellow surnamed Lin would dare accept—even if he did, the Academy higher-ups would surely step in to stop it. We'd gain nothing." Su Kesheng shook his head.

"Then think fast—what other way is there?" Bao Zuoliang pressed him.

Su Kesheng pondered a long while, then suddenly clapped his hands. "I have it! Since it's inconvenient for us to move against the fellow surnamed Lin ourselves, we can only contrive to borrow another's blade. The grand auction is on right now—let's see if we can work through the auction. We must find a way to make him offend some powerful figure!"

"Mm, that makes sense. Get to planning at once—the next auction session is nearly upon us." Bao Zuoliang nodded again and again.

"Young Master Bao, how is one to plan for this? We can only wait and act as the moment serves at the auction itself!" Su Kesheng smiled wryly and shook his head, then scratched at his scalp. "Though there is some groundwork we can lay beforehand—it might come in useful."

"Good. Do as you say." Bao Zuoliang nodded at once.

Wei Zhao and the two women had no notion that someone had already fixed their eyes on them from behind. These past days their only business had been to roam and make merry. One thing worth noting: along the way Wei Zhao recalled Jiang Yuechuan's charge and asked Wang Xinyan to inquire after the female cultivator named Qin Chan—only to learn in return that the woman was in secluded cultivation. So he set the matter aside for the time being, meaning to deliver the Gestation-Infant Golden Elixir into her hands once she emerged; there was no hurry.

The guild's special auction session stirred up wind and waves, becoming the talk of the whole city over meals and tea, and Wei Zhao, its pivotal figure, had become the most talked-of man in all Morning Star City. Three days on, the Morning Star Grand Auction at last welcomed its crowning event: the long-awaited solo auction session had formally begun.

Wei Zhao came to Morning Star's First Tower with Wang Xinyan and Huang Xiaotao. As one of the Academy's three giants, the East Sea Divine Nun needed no qualification or quota whatsoever to attend such an auction—yet she showed no inclination to come.

In fact it was not only she; Ling Yuanqing, Wei Hebei, Qing Xuanzi, and nearly all the Academy higher-ups were absent. Such was the established custom.

To appear there would have seemed too petty. When it came to wealth, after all, none could match them. If they took part, the solo auction session would end up like the guild's earlier session—degraded into a war fought solely between the VIP boxes—and the grand auction would then have been a dismal failure indeed.

"My apologies, Young Master Lin. You three are still one entry slot short." A staff member suddenly barred the way of Wei Zhao and his companions, drawing a great crowd of onlookers at once. After all, whether Wei Zhao, Wang Xinyan, or Huang Xiaotao, all were figures of intense scrutiny—especially Wei Zhao, who had cut such a figure three days ago that there was now no one in Morning Star City who did not know his name.

"Is that so?" Wei Zhao and the two women exchanged a glance.

"That's right. Your Hong Merchant Guild has two slots, but Miss Wang and Miss Huang have none of their own. So of the three of you, only two may enter. My apologies." The staff member wore a look of apology.