Chapter 4440 — Slapping His Own Face
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"Heh, that's hard to say—after all, you can never know what's in another man's heart. What do you think, Chief Escort Hai?" Wei Zhao smiled, unimpressed. "Since you insist I threw the cargo into the sea, then why not just fish it out and show everyone? That would be solid proof. It's not deep here anyway—a quick dive should settle it fast enough."
"Fine. Since you proposed it yourself, we'll let you die with your eyes open." Hai Wuliang nodded with a cold laugh.
The demand was entirely reasonable, and he had no way to refute it. Nor did he think refutation was needed—this scrap of sealed space was small, and the only places cargo could be hidden were aboard the ship and among the reefs. Both had now been ruled out. If the cargo was not in the sea, was it supposed to be up in the sky?
At his command, the four attendants dove straight into the water without a word and began searching. Because of the black curtain, even if Wei Zhao had thrown something, he could only have thrown it into his own patch of sea; an area that small could be measured out with their feet. The job was laughably easy.
Hai Wuliang stared at Wei Zhao with a cold smile, awaiting news from the four. A stick of incense later, they returned.
"Well? Time to give up, isn't it?" So confident was Hai Wuliang that he did not even glance at the four; he merely curled his lip at Wei Zhao in triumph.
"Before you say that, Chief Escort Hai, perhaps you should first ask the four of them what they found?" Wei Zhao looked at him as though he were an idiot.
"Hm? Impossible!" Hai Wuliang turned his head—and only then saw that all four stood empty-handed, spreading their arms at him in helpless resignation. There was no cargo at all where he had expected it.
"You kept saying I threw the cargo into the sea. Now the seabed has been trampled end to end—and what's the result?" Wei Zhao's expression was calm. "What do you have to say now, Chief Escort Hai?"
"Exactly. If this contest is fair and just, and we broke no rules, then Chief Escort Hai, you owe everyone an explanation. Otherwise this business won't end cleanly today!" Beside him, Qi Mingyuan and his son Qi Wenmo chimed in to press the attack.
The gazes of everyone present grew several shades more amused, and even Zhao Bufan and the others quietly edged a little to the side. They had merely thrown stones after a man already down; the one leading it all had been Hai Wuliang. Now that trouble had turned and latched onto someone, that someone could only be Hai Wuliang.
At this South Continent escort-guild grand gathering, watched by all, if he truly earned a reputation for settling private scores under public cover, then even a traditional powerhouse like the Four Seas Escort Agency would inevitably suffer a grievous blow to its standing—perhaps even lose for good its overlord's place in the South Continent's escort world, the one whose call drew a hundred answers. The consequences were unthinkable.
"Explanation? What explanation?" Yet Hai Wuliang showed not the slightest inclination to bow his head. Matters had come to this; he could only stiffen his neck and tough it out. To lower his head now would be to hand them a real grip against him.
"Chief Escort Hai, you are a man of face and standing—surely you won't play the rogue in front of everyone?" Qi Mingyuan laughed in fury. "I'll ask you one thing: was the cargo thrown into the sea?"
"No." Hai Wuliang admitted it on the spot; after all, this was not something he could deny. One word from them about dredging up the proof would have shut him down flat. Yet he was still unwilling to yield, and forced out a cold laugh. "But just because the cargo wasn't thrown into the sea doesn't mean there was no foul play!"