Chapter 4399 — Secret Investigation
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
As the young master of the Qingtian Escort Agency, Qi Wenmo had picked up a certain young-lord air, yet he was at heart a steady man who understood the larger picture. Since Wei Zhao had gone out of his way to warn him, he simply shut himself away in seclusion, devoting himself to studying the files on every rival house, determined to lay out his forces well at the coming South Isle Escort Gathering and seize a good ranking.
Wei Zhao had likewise withdrawn with the utmost care, believing his identity sufficiently concealed that none would take notice. Yet it never once crossed his mind that the Central Chamber of Commerce understood him far more deeply than he could ever have imagined.
At this moment, on the third and topmost floor of the Central Chamber of Commerce—closed to all idlers—stood the black-clad man and Ma Tianlang as before, except that neither of them was entitled to the seat of honor any longer. Instead they stood to one side, trembling with dread, cold sweat breaking out down their backs.
Seated now in the seat of honor was a woman, and behind her stood a mysterious figure wholly shrouded beneath a black wide-brimmed hat.
"Wang Dayuan, you are the shopkeeper of the Moleng branch and the one responsible for this whole district. What happened here this time—explain it to me clearly, and properly." The woman's voice was utterly calm, seemingly devoid of any emotion, yet the air in the room abruptly froze solid.
This was no true suppression by force of cultivation, but simply the aura of a superior born of authority alone. Even a Xuan Ascension expert—one whose strength men like Wei Zhao could never dream of approaching—could not help drawing his neck in, scarcely daring to breathe too loudly, for fear of provoking the woman's displeasure.
The Wang Dayuan of whom the woman spoke was Ma Tianlang's superior, and at her words the black-clad man grew more terrified still, until he could not even stop himself from shivering and shaking.
"This... this... your subordinate..." Wang Dayuan stammered, unable for the longest time to get out a coherent word.
"Is it that you do not know? Or that you do not wish to say?" The woman's brow furrowed slightly, and killing intent flickered in her gaze. "It seems you no longer wish to keep this shopkeeper's post. Very well. My laboratory happens to be short of volunteers. Xuan Ascension experts have not yet been included in the scope of my research, but that is only a matter of time. Why not let you have a taste of it first?"
"No, no—your subordinate would not dare, would not dare." Wang Dayuan dropped to his knees in fright. The success rate of human experiments was abysmally low; once one was marked as a test subject, nine and a half out of ten were dead. And he still wanted to live long and enjoy himself.
"Then speak, and be quick about it. After a disaster of this magnitude, do you still mean to shirk responsibility?" the woman rebuked him coldly.
Given her rank and standing within the organization, trifles of this sort should never have required her attention at all. Even if some branch of the Central Chamber of Commerce were razed to the ground, she need not have appeared in person. But this incident had seen several dozen test samples escape at a single stroke—an enormous blow to experiments that had just reached their critical stage. Even she could not help but fret and fume over it.
"This..." To this day, Wang Dayuan had still not fully grasped what had happened. But if he could not produce a proper account now, his fate was plainly grim. He could only brace himself and say, "Your subordinate has heard that it was a martial artist brought in recently. He seems to have used some remarkably powerful great technique and blown the dungeon wide open..."