Chapter 4348 — Show Our Guests Out
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
"You—" Qi Wenmo was choked into momentary silence, while Wei Zhao, standing to one side, could only shrug helplessly. He had not laid a finger on the pirate chief the entire journey; the only time he had struck was at the docks of Weihu City, where he had knocked the man unconscious purely to save trouble. Who would have thought the fellow would turn around and use that against him?
"Heh, as for this so-called material evidence—forgive my poor eyesight, Young Master Qi, but where exactly is this evidence you speak of? Why, I don't see a thing." Wei Zhaotong continued his sneering mockery. The pirate chief's capture had indeed given him a start, but how could such an affair possibly leave behind any evidence at all?
To be safe, every meeting he had ever held with these pirates had been conducted secretly on the open waters of the Far Star Sea. Not a single note had ever passed between them. Where in the world would evidence come from?
"This is the evidence!" Qi Wenmo produced the escort document Wei Zhao had handed him earlier and said coldly, "Since you refuse to acknowledge this witness, Shopkeeper Wei, we'll set him aside for now. The Fang Family Manor has already signed for receipt of the goods. If you don't believe it, I'll gladly accompany you to call on the manor lord, Fang Biwu, and verify it face to face!"
"Oh?" A flicker passed through Wei Zhaotong's eyes. He glanced at the writing on the escort document and found it to be indeed Fang Biwu's hand—he and Fang Biwu had been friends for decades and knew the man's brushwork well. Otherwise, Fang Biwu would never have entrusted so vital a life-saving supply as the Miasma-Resolving Pill to him to procure on his behalf.
Wei Zhaotong looked Wei Zhao up and down. Even without being told, he could guess this was the young man's doing. To have wrested the cargo back from the pirates and then gone ahead and delivered it to its destination anyway—such a thing had never once crossed his mind.
Were he, Wei Zhaotong, in Wei Zhao's position, his first thought would surely have been to pocket the goods for himself. After all, they were worth a full three hundred thousand spirit jades. Who would be fool enough to hand that over?
"Shopkeeper Wei, you can insist all you like that we grabbed some random man off the street and beat a confession out of him, but this escort document—surely you cannot deny it?" Qi Wenmo said, his eyes fixed intently on Wei Zhaotong's expression.
Since Fang Biwu could be called upon to verify it, there was no fear of the man denying the truth. And if Wei Zhaotong refused to acknowledge it, it would do him no good at all—on the contrary, it would only make him look more clearly in the wrong, and the pressure of public opinion outside would grow all the heavier. In the end, he would have only one outcome: he would choke on what he could not swallow.
"And what of it? This only proves that after such a long delay, you barely managed to deliver the goods. Surely you cannot claim on that basis that I have anything to do with the pirates?" Wei Zhaotong said, still unhurried.
At this, Qi Wenmo and Wei Zhao exchanged a glance. This old fox truly was no easy opponent—from the moment they walked through the door until now, he had not shown a single crack. To call him sly and cunning was no exaggeration at all.
"Very well, then. In that case, Shopkeeper Wei, ought you not to return that three hundred thousand spirit jades in compensation to us?" Qi Wenmo said in a low voice.
"Return it?" Wei Zhaotong's brows rose. A mocking curve tugged at the corner of his mouth. "In business, one speaks of business. Surely Young Master Qi is not treating matters of commerce as a children's game?"
"What do you mean by that?" Qi Wenmo's heart sank at once.