Chapter 4336 — Overwhelmed with Gratitude
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"A ship! A ship! We're saved! We're saved!" Before the freighter had even come alongside, Wei Zhao could already hear the children's shouts from afar, and soon a crowd had gathered on the dock—men and women, old and young, every face lit with delighted smiles.
What was going on here? Wei Zhao could not help but feel puzzled. The crowd on the dock was not large, a hundred or so at most, and they all looked like ordinary folk; forget Golden Core experts—there were scarcely a few Heaven-tier cultivators among them, and those at Foundation Establishment were even fewer.
Whether in the Zhenduan Sea or the Weihu Sea, these were chaotic, masterless waters where the strong devoured the weak. Wei Zhao had always assumed that anyone able to live here must be a formidable cultivator, at the very least a Foundation Establishment expert; he had never expected to find only ordinary people, no more than a small cultivator tribe at best.
This was truly far beyond Wei Zhao's expectations. After the freighter slowly came alongside, a middle-aged man of dignified bearing stepped out from the crowd below and, raising his hands in salute to Wei Zhao on the deck, asked, "I am Fang Biwu, master of the Fang Family Estate on Xianpeng Island. Might I ask whether this honored vessel belongs to the Qingtian Escort Agency?"
Wei Zhao's gaze sharpened slightly. This Fang Biwu's aura was gathered and hidden; even his own golden finger could not see through the man's strength—he was unmistakably an early Nascent Soul expert!
So this was how one gained a foothold in these chaotic waters. Even a cultivator tribe as small as this was absolutely not to be taken lightly. Wei Zhao's instinct told him that this man's strength, even among Nascent Soul experts, must be considered no common thing.
"Indeed it is. I am Ling Yi, an escort of the Qingtian Escort Agency. Greetings, Master Fang!" Wei Zhao leaped down from the ship and saluted with clasped hands.
"The road has been long, and you have had a hard journey, Young Hero Ling. Might I trouble you to invite the other escorts down as well, so that I may thank them in person?" Fang Biwu said with a courteous smile.
"Master Fang, to tell you the truth, I am the only escort." Wei Zhao shook his head with a bitter smile.
"Oh? But there is clearly another man aboard?" Fang Biwu was puzzled at once. He was a Nascent Soul expert; no one on the ship could escape his perception. Besides, this consignment was worth a fortune—how could the Qingtian Escort Agency send only one escort?
"Ha, Master Fang misunderstands. That fellow is a pirate I captured along the way to do hard labor—hardly an escort." Wei Zhao explained with a smile.
"A pirate?" Fang Biwu was taken aback, then comprehension dawned. "No wonder the shipment, which should have been sent a month ago, has only arrived now. Was it set upon by pirates?"
"Exactly so. It should indeed have arrived long ago, but these pirates seized it midway, and there was nothing we could do at the time. Then there was a delay in Zhenduan City. I had already resolved to return to Weihu City, never expecting to run into them again—so I simply took it back by force. I hope I have not delayed Master Fang's affairs." In a few brief sentences, Wei Zhao explained the causes and consequences of it all.
Though he did not go into detail, Fang Biwu could sense from those few simple words how difficult the affair had been. At once he bowed deeply to Wei Zhao. "Young Hero Ling, on behalf of the five hundred souls of my Fang Family Estate, I thank you for your great kindness!"
"You speak too seriously, Master Fang. As an escort of the Qingtian Escort Agency, this is all part of my duty. What great kindness is there in that? Why must you be so, Master Fang?" Wei Zhao waved his hand hastily.