Chapter 4017 — A Failed Reunion
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 3
Meanwhile, in another quarter—Wei Zhao had already made roughly a circuit of the Island of the Far North, and after several turns he soon arrived before the gates of the Gathering Talents Hall. There, however, he was stopped.
"This is a place for honored guests. Idlers are not admitted." Barring Wei Zhao's way were guards in black armor—the Northguard Garrison, the Island of the Far North's signature force.
"I have a friend staying inside. I only wish to speak with him a moment. Might you brothers make an exception?" Wei Zhao asked tentatively.
The Northguard Garrison responded without expression: "Unless you have a passage token, or someone inside comes out to receive you, I suggest you turn back. Do not make trouble for yourself."
As he spoke, several nearby Northguard Garrison soldiers let loose an aggressive, razor-edged aura, as though at the slightest misstep they were ready to cut Wei Zhao down on the spot.
Wei Zhao's eyelid twitched. His cultivation was only that of a mid-stage Foundation Establishment expert, and every one of these Northguard Garrison soldiers before him was his superior. To truly cross blades would be plain suicide, so he could only nod and retreat.
Afterward, Wei Zhao made another circuit around the Gathering Talents Hall and found sentries at every five paces and pickets at every ten—not a single flaw to be found. Only then did he give up his notion of slipping in at the first opportunity.
Casting one last look at the Gathering Talents Hall from afar, Wei Zhao could only shake his head and sigh inwardly. It seemed that if he wished to meet Tian Chan again, he would have to wait for tomorrow's auction.
Early the next morning, the Island of the Far North was a hubbub of voices, festooned with lanterns and streamers from top to bottom—a scene of festival and grand banquet.
Had it been the customary North Island auction, held but once every half year, it would not have been cause for such excitement. But this time it was the rare Four Island Auction Exposition, an event that might not come around even once in several decades.
Following the flow of the crowd, Wei Zhao and Hong Zhong came to the vast, enormous pavilion—the most spacious place on the Island of the Far North. This was the ultimate venue of the auction; here every lot would face the contention of all parties, and here the final answer of whose hands it would fall into would be revealed.
At the sight of Hong Zhong and his companion appearing, a wave of commotion rippled uniformly through every corner of the hall. The matter of the Hong Clan Merchant Guild suddenly producing more than a hundred top-grade pills the previous evening had by now spread across the entire Island of the Far North; there was no one who did not know of it.
Manager Hao, Wang Tong, and the others, who had arrived early, all went black in the face at once. This time they had schemed with all their might against the Hong Clan Merchant Guild, only for the auction—which had not even begun—to see their plot go up in smoke before its time.
Neither early nor late, but right at the final juncture of the three-day exhibition, more than a full hundred top-grade pills had suddenly appeared. Even with their toes, anyone could figure it out: they had been thoroughly and roundly played by that old reprobate Hong Zhong!
And not only them—even Steward Song, who had sold the medicinal ingredients to Hong Zhong, had been stunned for a good long while when he first heard the news.
Like everyone else, Steward Song simply did not believe anyone could refine so many top-grade pills in such a short time. There was only one reasonable explanation: Hong Zhong had in fact been hoarding them all along, holding them back until the very last moment to slap these men in the face. His earlier purchase of ingredients had been nothing but a blind.