Chapter 4996 — The Oda Brothers
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
So this approach was utterly unworkable. Wei Zhao was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke: "At the Middle Island docks I have an elder brother. His warship has just come over from the Eastern Continent, and it ought to still be moored there. Ask the Island Lord and you will know at once."
"Since he is your elder brother, how much weight can his word carry? Who knows whether he is in league with you, helping you deceive us all?" Wu Che was quick to challenge.
But Oda Zhou paid him no heed. Hearing Wei Zhao's words, he was instead slightly taken aback. "Oh? What warship?"
"My elder brother is named Oda Ba. Oddly enough, his name is not far from Island Lord Oda's. I am the honorary vice-captain of that warship, and he knows everything I did in the Eastern Continent," Wei Zhao answered.
"Hmph. Since you are the vice-captain of his ship, of course he will speak in your favor. Round and round it comes to the same thing: no substantive evidence, only this sort of sham witness to muddle us. Would Island Lord Oda be so easily taken in?" Wu Che snorted with contempt, then turned to Oda Zhou. "Island Lord Oda, he cannot produce a reliable witness, but I have one right here. Zheng Dongyang, the seventh-rank alchemist the Famous Pill Sect engaged—he is the second alchemist of the Morning Star Academy, and he has never heard of any Wei Zhao. From this it is plain that everything this whelp says is nonsense, unworthy of belief!"
Yet Oda Zhou merely gave him a cold glance. He had shown no inclination either way before, and now he was suddenly visibly displeased with him. "Put the pills down this instant and get back with me. As for whether his words are true or false, I will go and ask, and know at once!"
"Wha—?!" Wu Che was struck dumb, staring at Oda Zhou in utter bewilderment. What was this? Had this acting island lord not come to stand up for him? Why had he suddenly turned toward Wei Zhao? The whelp had already admitted plainly that the captain was close to him—how could the word of such a witness be trusted?
Wu Che's face flushed crimson, yet he dared not raise the slightest objection to Oda Zhou's words. True, he was the standing vice island lord and the other merely acting island lord, and in real authority they seemed not far apart—but the man came from a top-tier clan, a personage of consequence, stronger than himself in both power and background by a factor beyond counting. Lend him ten gallbladders and he still would not dare challenge him to his face!
Under Wei Zhao's half-smile, half-sneer just then, Wu Che wished he could find a crack in the floor and crawl into it. But beneath Oda Zhou's imposing aura, he had to screw up his courage and hand the pills back into Wei Zhao's hands. It was only because his hide was thick; anyone else would likely have covered his face and fled long ago.
Wei Zhao took the pills and passed them straight to Tian Chan at his side, saying deliberately, "Check them. See whether these are our five pills. If some light-fingered soul has swapped in ordinary-quality seventh-rank Great Return Pills, we shall be at a great loss."
Hearing this, Wu Che nearly spat a mouthful of old blood. If looks could kill, Wei Zhao would have died a hundred times over by now!
Yet Oda Zhou stood right behind him. Unless Wei Zhao nodded and accepted the goods, Wu Che truly had no choice but to stand there stiffly, thick-skinned—otherwise, if Wei Zhao turned and bit back at him, he could jump into the Yellow River and never wash himself clean.
Of course, had Oda Zhou not spoken, he really had been planning to quietly pocket those five seventh-rank Great Return Pills once this affair was settled. After all, top-quality pills like these could not be bought on the market at any price. So Wei Zhao's words were not altogether unjust—only, he had not yet had the chance to do it.