Chapter 4237 — Pirate Encounter
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"What is it?" Huang Xiaotao asked, at a loss.
"Listen to the water. Something about it feels off," Wei Zhao said with a frown.
Though nothing could be seen with the naked eye, from a moment ago the steady, monotonous sound of the water had plainly grown more disordered, giving Wei Zhao the feeling that another ship was fast approaching.
The moment the thought took shape it hardened into conviction; Wei Zhao's heart gave a leap, and at once he meant to warn Li Yanji and Guan Zhiyuan—better safe than sorry.
Yet before he could get the words out, four powerful auras suddenly shot skyward not far off, sweeping toward them without the least attempt at concealment. Wei Zhao was startled—all four were peak late-Golden Core experts!
There was no time to wonder why four such men should suddenly appear on a vast sea shrouded in so thick a fog; Wei Zhao hurriedly drew Huang Xiaotao back several steps while signaling a warning to Li and Guan.
In the blink of an eye the four peak late-Golden Core experts had alighted on the deck, each of them fierce in bearing and ill of countenance.
Meanwhile, having caught the warning, Li and Guan likewise hurried onto the deck. The two exchanged a glance, then looked at Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao, and only then turned to regard the four uninvited guests bearing down on them.
Veterans of the escort trade, though—most men would likely have collapsed in fright at such a sudden turn, yet on the faces of Li Yanji and Guan Zhiyuan there was no great sign of alarm.
"Four gentlemen, I am Li Yanji of the Qingtian Escort Agency. We are but passing through your waters, and I beg you to grant us passage. You will be repaid for it afterward," Li Yanji said, cupping his hands to the four and drawing a deep breath.
To invoke the name of the Qingtian Escort Agency—elsewhere one might not boast of it, but here at least in the Weihu Sea, it was known to all and carried a certain weight. Ordinary bandits, even when they robbed an escort, would make a point of avoiding a great agency like Qingtian, lest they be hunted to the ends of the earth thereafter and leave trouble behind them.
Wei Zhao nodded inwardly. Li Yanji had not seemed much before, but when it truly came to the crunch he could keep such composure—that was rare enough. Had he instead begun trembling with fear at the first, betraying himself as a soft persimmon anyone might squeeze, there would have been no room left for maneuver at all.
"The Qingtian Escort Agency? Heh. You think a name like that can frighten me?" The leader curled his lip in contempt, and the other three peak late-Golden Core experts behind him joined in with grating laughs, plainly not regarding the Qingtian Escort Agency as worth a thought.
At that, Li Yanji's expression faltered. He and Guan Zhiyuan looked at each other, and for the moment neither knew what to do.
Both were seasoned escorts who had weathered several robberies before, but each time, once the name of the Qingtian Escort Agency was raised and a few fair words spoken, they had generally passed through without trouble—after all, the Qingtian Escort Agency was the local power in the Weihu Sea, its influence deeply rooted. Both the black and the white paths of the world had to give it some face.
Even the most difficult bandits would harbor some misgiving, and as a rule, a little extra profit for them was enough to settle the matter.
Yet these four peak late-Golden Core experts, sprung from nowhere, were wholly unlike the bandits they had met before. On hearing the four words "Qingtian Escort Agency," they showed not fear but disdain—and that feeling was plainly that they had come for the Qingtian Escort Agency itself.
"This..." Li Yanji hesitated, exchanging a look with Guan Zhiyuan. They were, after all, resident escorts kept on the Qingtian Escort Agency's lavish payroll, and now was precisely the moment their worth was called for; to simply yield on the spot would be hard to justify.