Chapter 4947 — To the Banquet

Better to stay far away and watch the tigers fight from the mountaintop. After all, they could afford to offend neither Wei Zhao nor, still less, Chang Minghui. If they went leaping and scurrying about and drew the eye of either one, both of them would be in for bloody misfortune. If they kept their heads down, grabbed good seats, and watched the show, they might very well witness a scene to gladden the heart.

"You're wrong, Young Master Bao. If we do nothing at all, there's a good chance we won't see any show worth watching," Su Kesheng said with a shake of his head.

"How could that be? There's no way that Life-Debt Ghost would let the man named Lin off!" Bao Zuoliang leapt to his feet at once.

"True enough, he certainly won't let Wei Zhao off. But if he can't charge over at the first moment, Wei Zhao will very likely slip away and vanish," Su Kesheng said with a helpless smile.

Just as he had said before, the most rational choice at present was in fact to stop here. Otherwise, whatever move the two of them made, they would more or less be taking on risk. Then again, if they did nothing at all and hoped to watch the tigers fight from the sidelines as Bao Zuoliang imagined, that was probably unrealistic.

"Slip away and vanish?" Bao Zuoliang was momentarily stunned, then it dawned on him that from Wei Zhao's standpoint, the best choice right now really was to get out fast before Chang Minghui reacted. So long as he fled back to North Island, Chang Minghui would have no way to touch him at all—surely the man couldn't chase him all those tens of thousands of miles to North Island to kill him?

Never mind whether he would go; even if he did, it would be useless. North Island was no soft touch. With a top-tier figure like Shangguan Tianxia holding the fort, would he dare come knocking for trouble? He'd be asking for a beating, more like!

"Exactly. Wei Zhao is no fool. Since he dared strike at Zang Zili and Chang Laiting, he must have factored in Life-Debt Ghost's retaliation. So he has only two choices left: either find powerful outside help to shield him, or take the thirty-sixth stratagem and run!" Su Kesheng analyzed.

"Now that you mention it, running really is his only option left. Life-Debt Ghost is not someone to trifle with—if the man named Lin ran into him himself, it'd be death, plain and simple. And though Zhuang Yifan and the Three Giants of Morning Star could handle Life-Debt Ghost, how close are they really to the man named Lin? On the surface all is harmony, but the moment something this deadly comes up, every one of them will surely stand by with folded arms. So the man named Lin can only run!" Bao Zuoliang, prompted by this reminder, caught on at once.

"Precisely. I dare assert that if Life-Debt Ghost wants revenge on Wei Zhao, his only chance is here on Thunder Plain Island. Otherwise, once Wei Zhao is back at Morning Star Academy, even if the Three Giants won't fight Life-Debt Ghost to the death for his sake, they can still stall things a little and let him escape—and then he'll have slipped through the net," Su Kesheng said, his face full of deep calculation.

"But even so, that doesn't necessarily mean we need to rush off to Dingcheng Town to lodge a complaint. With something this big, Life-Debt Ghost will surely charge over at the first moment to demand an accounting. Surely he can't be patient even now, slowly going through official channels to negotiate?" Bao Zuoliang said dismissively.

"No—quite the opposite. We must go, and we must go at once!" Su Kesheng shook his head and said with certainty.

"Why?" Bao Zuoliang was taken aback.

"Heh heh, if we don't go, who's going to carry word to Life-Debt Ghost? Right now everyone on the Dingcheng Academy ship who could take charge is of unknown fate—Zang Zili, Chang Laiting, and the two lead officiants, every last one of them is down. Their ship must be in utter chaos at this moment, and at a time like this absolutely no one will dare step forward to report to Life-Debt Ghost. Whoever sticks his neck out is the one who gets it cut!" Su Kesheng gave a cold chuckle and curled his lip. "I reckon by the time Life-Debt Ghost finally gets the news, Wei Zhao will long since have fled back to North Island. What use would it be then?"

"Quite so, quite so. Your head really does work well, lad—if not for your reminder, I'd never have thought of all this!" Bao Zuoliang praised, his eyes shining.

"Young Master Bao flatters me. I just think a bit too much, that's all," Su Kesheng said modestly, though his expression showed he was enjoying it thoroughly.

"In that case, we can't waste another moment. We must hurry and borrow a flying spirit beast to get to Dingcheng Town. It's not too far from here, but we'll probably have to put in some effort to see Life-Debt Ghost, and we can't drag this out too long—if the man named Lin escapes back to Morning Star Academy, all our efforts will be wasted," Bao Zuoliang said impatiently.

"Right, right, no time to lose—the sooner the better," Su Kesheng nodded again and again.

The two of them found the Alliance branch, and with Bao Zuoliang making the request, they smoothly borrowed a flying spirit beast and set off at once for Dingcheng Town. From first to last, no one in Morning Star Academy noticed the pair slipping quietly away—everyone up and down the ship was talking about Wei Zhao. Who had the spare attention for the two of them?

By the time the sky began to darken, Wei Zhao appeared before the others looking thoroughly relaxed and said with a faint smile, "Let's go, time to eat."

Wang Xinyan and the others exchanged smiles. One look at Wei Zhao's expression and they knew the great task was accomplished. They asked no further questions and happily crowded around him toward the Alliance branch.

Li Ren led the crowd of Morning Star Academy disciples behind them, while Liu Ziqi went back to call the Morning Splendor Academy disciples—because of Huo Yudie, she was leading the team this time in the capacity of vice-director.

By now the Alliance had sent down word: the victory banquet would be held ahead of schedule at the Alliance branch on Thunder Plain Island, and all academy disciples were welcome to attend.

Though this was somewhat irregular—not only could those academy disciples still in the trials not attend, but even the few academies that had left early would miss this banquet—who was to blame when Zhuang Yifan was the Alliance Chairman? With his status and strength, he could do as he pleased in such matters and need not consult anyone at all.

If you couldn't attend, you had only your own bad luck to blame—would you dare come complain to Zhuang Yifan? Besides, though the banquet was arranged in haste, the vast majority of academies were still present, so it wasn't too outrageous.

The Alliance branch was not far from the docks: a rather grand and imposing complex of buildings. Though far from luxurious, the exteriors all looked extremely solid, enough to withstand any natural disaster. The feel of the place was less like an Alliance branch and more like some tightly guarded secret base.

Wei Zhao and the others came to the grandest structure at the very center, inside which was an exceedingly vast hall. It did not appear to have been built specifically for banquets; judging by the defensive installations around it, it was most likely a place for secluded cultivation. But the space inside was large enough, and converting it temporarily into a banquet hall was quite fitting. (To be continued.)