Chapter 4130 — A Letter
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
For a time the atmosphere in the hall turned distinctly strange. To the great majority present, this letter-delivery service offered by the Central Merchants' Guild was utterly meaningless—they had no ties to the mortal realm at all, and naturally no need to write. But for certain special people, it was an unexpected gift from heaven.
Some still had family and kin in the mortal realm, still had relatives and friends; some—like Wei Zhao himself—were cultivators who had come up from the mortal realm outright. Hearing of such a service so suddenly, it would be sheer falsehood to say they were not stirred.
Yet to pay the sky-high price of one hundred thousand spirit jade merely to write a single letter—that was a cost few could bear. Had one hundred thousand spirit jade bought some rare treasure, it might at least aid one's strength; but this letter, apart from easing a little homesickness, what could it do? Could it buy one more chance at life, or raise one's power?
To squander a full hundred thousand spirit jade just to have someone deliver a letter—that was the height of folly. Few possessed such ample means, and in the eyes of most, only a fool with water where his brains should be would do something so absurd.
Yet after a moment of silence in the hall, someone did take the bait after all.
"Count me in." Wei Zhao hesitated only briefly before suddenly speaking up first. He had earned a full three hundred thousand spirit jade from the pill auction this time; one hundred thousand was outrageously dear, but he could still afford it.
Truthfully, over these past six months or more on Cloud Stair Island, Wei Zhao's longing for the mortal realm had grown stronger by the day. Nearly every day he wondered how things stood over there—whether all was well, or whether some unforeseen mishap had arisen. But with no means of contact, he could only crush that worry and yearning deep down in his heart.
And now the Central Merchants' Guild had dropped from the sky, offering this letter-delivery service—to Wei Zhao it was coal in the snow. Even knowing there might be risk in it, he could not help wanting to try. One hundred thousand spirit jade, no more—he could afford the gamble.
At once every gaze in the hall focused once more on the pavilion marked Jia Twelve, amid mocking, suspicion, and a buzz of discussion.
"Just what is this brat's background?" In Wei Shenjin's heart now hung the same question that lingered in everyone else's. He had already resolved to find a chance to do away with this troublesome youth, yet Wei Zhao's conduct still set his heart pounding.
To sit with Cai Zhongxuan, to casually produce the ample means of one hundred thousand spirit jade, and to have ties to the mortal realm—these three halos layered together made Wei Zhao's identity all the more mysterious and unfathomable, setting imaginations racing.
With Wei Zhao leading the way, a scattered few others in the hall went on to bid for the service—three from the Jia section and one from the Yi section, all surely people of deep background. Whether they, like Wei Zhao, were cultivators from the mortal realm, or merely had kin remaining there, one could not say. R1152