Chapter 4385 — A Misunderstanding!
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
And that one lone clerk left behind had been summoned away by Qi Wenmo for questioning, which was precisely why Wei Zhao had made his way up unimpeded, straight to the third floor where the idly curious were barred from entry.
Seeing no one about, Wei Zhao felt a flicker of surprise, though he had no intention of lingering. He was just turning to head back downstairs when his ears suddenly pricked up—someone was actually talking inside one of the private rooms not far off.
Wei Zhao was startled on the spot. He had swept the third floor with his divine sense just moments ago and detected no one at all. Granted, it had been only a cursory pass, nothing thorough—but anyone who could slip past his divine perception had to be a rare hand indeed.
Holding a conversation in a private room, and deliberately concealing their auras besides—who on earth was being so secretive?
Wei Zhao's curiosity stirred, though only mildly; he had no wish to intrude on another's talk. But then a single sentence drifted out of the room, and he halted in his tracks.
"These sundries have been in terribly short supply lately. We must find a way to get headquarters to send more over from the mortal realm, or we may well run dry in a couple of days."
"Indeed. Our stock was already running desperate yesterday. If we don't hurry them along with the shipments, we're bound to be cleaned out on our end—and then we'll be in real trouble!"
"Mm, I'll think of some way to press them again. Lucky for us the teleportation lands close by, so our branch gets first pick. Otherwise, even if the goods came through, they'd never reach us—we might not even get a taste of the broth..."
"True enough. Headquarters' strategy is masterful—stirring up a mortal-realm craze across the five Cloud-Tier Isles, turning these ordinary goods into a fashion, a symbol of status and standing. Everyone's forced to scramble to buy them; refuse, and you lose face, you can't hold your head up among friends!"
"Heh heh. Even counting the teleportation costs, the expense works out to a few dozen spirit jade per item at most, and yet a turn of the hand sells them for thousands, even tens of thousands—an astronomical price. Is there any more profitable trade under heaven?"
"In the mortal realm's phrasing, that's called a monopoly. Who else has these goods but us? No matter how high we set the price, they've no choice but to hand over their spirit jade meekly. Hahaha!"
Wei Zhao's heart stirred at these words, and he crept cautiously closer. Ever since the Central Merchant Guild had burst onto the scene, he had been intensely curious about it—above all, about the means by which goods were brought from the mortal realm to Tianji Island. From the sound of it, these two were insiders of the guild; perhaps he might catch a telltale hint or two.
He held his breath and gathered his focus, reining in his aura with all his might, striving to blend into his surroundings. Lurking and concealment—the most essential discipline of any assassin. Wei Zhao had always been a master of the art; even adepts a full realm above him would find him hard to detect, let alone those of his own level.
Yet before Wei Zhao could draw near, the two inside the room suddenly fell silent—cutting off mid-sentence. Wei Zhao jolted as if struck by lightning. Blast it!
This was no place to linger! With no time for any other response, no time even to think, Wei Zhao acted on the instant, swiftly pulling on the Thousand-Silk Mask to change his face, and made to turn and flee.
Alas, he was still too slow. Two figures, appearing as if from nowhere, had already blocked his path of retreat.
Wei Zhao was shaken to the core. What caliber of adept were these two, that he had concealed himself so carefully and still been caught with such ease!