Chapter 4333 — Something Terrible Has Happened
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 3
The three hurried along at a brisk pace, leaped aboard, and landed together on the outer deck. Then the black-robed man called out, "Second, get out here and get to work! We finally got the reopening—we have to set off right away, or Steward Wei will be waiting impatiently on his end. That old bastard might just go back on his word!"
With that, the black-robed man headed straight for the wheelhouse, while the third and fourth set about lowering the sails. From beginning to end, not a single one of them came to so much as glance at the cabin—much less realize that their second brother had long since become a corpse.
To be that careless and still call themselves pirates? Wei Zhao was caught between laughter and tears. But since they wouldn't come in on their own, he couldn't be bothered to go out either, and simply kept waiting in the cabin.
A short while later, the cargo ship raised sail and put out to sea. Judging that they had left the docks behind, Wei Zhao soon heard the black-robed man's voice again: "What's going on? Has that fool Second had too much to drink and is lying in there slacking off? A bunch of drunks! Third, Fourth, you two go drag him out. When we see Steward Wei, how we're going to squeeze another tidy sum out of that old skinflint—that's something we need to hash out properly!"
"Right away!" The third and fourth answered and strode toward the cabin. But the moment they pushed open the door and took in the sight before them, they froze where they stood, cold sweat breaking out and pouring down despite themselves.
The black-robed man waited in the wheelhouse. Seeing no sign of them for the longest time, he cursed again: "Why aren't you here yet? Dawdling about—is this what you're good for?"
"Boss... something's happened! Something terrible has happened!" The third and fourth came stumbling and scrambling over, ducking into the wheelhouse as if fleeing for their lives, gasping for breath.
"Something's happened to you, is what! Damn you, cursing me!" the black-robed man snapped, utterly baffled.
"No... it's not... Second, Second's been killed—died horribly!" The third and fourth were in a panic, stammering out their explanation again and again.
"What? How could that be!" The black-robed man was startled, plainly unwilling to believe it. Second was, after all, a fine hand at the peak of the late Golden Core stage, and he liked to keep his cards hidden—it was always he who schemed against others. In Zhenduan City he had no blood-sworn enemies; how could he have been killed so easily?
"We're... we're not lying... he's really dead, right there in the cabin!" The third and fourth waved their hands frantically.
The matter was grave. Now the black-robed man could not spare a thought for steering the ship; he hurried to the cabin, with the panicked third and fourth following close at his heels.
Stepping into the cabin and seeing the wretched corpse on the floor, even the black-robed man could not help drawing a sharp breath, a chill crawling up his spine.
"Who's there?!" the black-robed man suddenly bellowed, releasing the full aura of a peak late Golden Core expert without reservation, his tiger's eyes wide as he stared at a corner of the cabin—precisely where Wei Zhao was.
"Heh, so you finally noticed me. The way you lot run a piracy operation, it's truly amateurish beyond words..." Wei Zhao curled his lip and rose to his feet, regarding the three with a half-smile.
At the sight, the third and fourth gave a violent start, and whatever lingering drunkenness they had was scared clean out of them in an instant. They had seen only the corpse before—they had completely failed to notice Wei Zhao!
"Trash!" the black-robed man spat, his face ashen—whether he meant the dead Second on the floor, or the third and fourth behind him, was anyone's guess.