Chapter 4017 — A Failed Reunion

"Indeed. Not only are they from the Middle Island, but their backing runs remarkably deep." Hong Zhong paused, then went on: "Did you notice the five-colored emblem on their cuffs, Young Hero Lin? That is the mark of the Five Luminaries Sect—that is to say, the Five Elements Apothecary Guild, the pill hall of the Middle Island."

"The Five Elements Apothecary Guild?" Wei Zhao's eyes brightened a little, and he fell into thought.

"Though it calls itself an apothecary guild, it is the top-ranked merchant guild in the entire Merchant Alliance, a guild under the jurisdiction of the Pill Hall. And I daresay you already know well enough who steers the Pill Hall, Young Hero Lin—none other than the Divine Physician and Pill Sage, Zhang Lifeng!" Hong Zhong spoke with unmistakable reverence.

At these words Wei Zhao was struck all the more dumb. If that was so, then Tian Chan was one of the Five Elements Apothecary Guild—did that not mean she had already taken Zhang Lifeng as her master? Had she truly been transported straight to the Middle Island?

That different people from the mortal realm were transported to different places was a perfectly ordinary conjecture, yet Wei Zhao had always assumed that a woman like Tian Chan would have been sent to the West Island, where the female cultivators gathered. Never had he expected this outcome.

Still, even if Tian Chan had been transported to the Middle Island and become one of the Five Elements Apothecary Guild, surely that was no reason to treat him like a total stranger. What was the meaning of this?

"Steward Hong, these people's lodgings—might you have some way of finding out where they are staying?" Wei Zhao thought for a moment, then lowered his voice and asked.

Wei Zhao refused to believe that Tian Chan had simply ceased to recognize him. How long had they been parted? Such a thing was utterly absurd! He had to find a way to get to the bottom of it. Besides, the relationship between him and Hong Zhong was now far closer than it had been before he came here; they were, so to speak, grasshoppers bound to the same rope, and there was no need to be overly guarded. He could simply ask such a question outright.

Sure enough, though Hong Zhong was somewhat surprised, he did not pry or press. He simply answered in a low voice, "This old man does not know for certain. But by long-standing custom, the Island of the Far North always lodges its important guests in the Gathering Talents Hall at its very core. Since these people are from the Five Elements Apothecary Guild, that is likely where they are staying."

"The Gathering Talents Hall. Very well, I have noted it. My thanks!" Wei Zhao nodded. Things here were more or less in hand, so he simply slipped away. He could scarcely wait to find Tian Chan and demand a clear accounting of the situation.

Watching Wei Zhao depart, Hong Zhong smiled faintly, as though he had expected no less, and murmured to himself: "This Young Hero Lin truly does seem to have some connection with the Five Elements Apothecary Guild—he is unfathomable indeed. Still, to refine over a hundred top-grade pills in less than three days—such ability, even across the whole of the Five Elements Apothecary Guild, likely has no equal save the Pill Sage Zhang Lifeng himself."

Shaking his head with a sigh, Hong Zhong did not dwell on it further. He turned to deal with Manager Hao, Wang Tong, and the rest. These men had nearly driven him to his wit's end, and he must seize this chance to slap them soundly in the face.

As for Wei Zhao, every man had his secrets. A seasoned hand like Hong Zhong knew well that knowing too much was not necessarily a good thing. The pressing task was simply to court Wei Zhao properly and find a way to draw him onto one's own side; beyond that, anything else was superfluous.

Meanwhile, in another quarter—Wei Zhao had already made roughly a circuit of the Island of the Far North, and after several turns he soon arrived before the gates of the Gathering Talents Hall. There, however, he was stopped.

"This is a place for honored guests. Idlers are not admitted." Barring Wei Zhao's way were guards in black armor—the Northguard Garrison, the Island of the Far North's signature force.

"I have a friend staying inside. I only wish to speak with him a moment. Might you brothers make an exception?" Wei Zhao asked tentatively.

The Northguard Garrison responded without expression: "Unless you have a passage token, or someone inside comes out to receive you, I suggest you turn back. Do not make trouble for yourself."

As he spoke, several nearby Northguard Garrison soldiers let loose an aggressive, razor-edged aura, as though at the slightest misstep they were ready to cut Wei Zhao down on the spot.

Wei Zhao's eyelid twitched. His cultivation was only that of a mid-stage Foundation Establishment expert, and every one of these Northguard Garrison soldiers before him was his superior. To truly cross blades would be plain suicide, so he could only nod and retreat.

Afterward, Wei Zhao made another circuit around the Gathering Talents Hall and found sentries at every five paces and pickets at every ten—not a single flaw to be found. Only then did he give up his notion of slipping in at the first opportunity.

Casting one last look at the Gathering Talents Hall from afar, Wei Zhao could only shake his head and sigh inwardly. It seemed that if he wished to meet Tian Chan again, he would have to wait for tomorrow's auction.

Early the next morning, the Island of the Far North was a hubbub of voices, festooned with lanterns and streamers from top to bottom—a scene of festival and grand banquet.

Had it been the customary North Island auction, held but once every half year, it would not have been cause for such excitement. But this time it was the rare Four Island Auction Exposition, an event that might not come around even once in several decades.

Following the flow of the crowd, Wei Zhao and Hong Zhong came to the vast, enormous pavilion—the most spacious place on the Island of the Far North. This was the ultimate venue of the auction; here every lot would face the contention of all parties, and here the final answer of whose hands it would fall into would be revealed.

At the sight of Hong Zhong and his companion appearing, a wave of commotion rippled uniformly through every corner of the hall. The matter of the Hong Clan Merchant Guild suddenly producing more than a hundred top-grade pills the previous evening had by now spread across the entire Island of the Far North; there was no one who did not know of it.

Manager Hao, Wang Tong, and the others, who had arrived early, all went black in the face at once. This time they had schemed with all their might against the Hong Clan Merchant Guild, only for the auction—which had not even begun—to see their plot go up in smoke before its time.

Neither early nor late, but right at the final juncture of the three-day exhibition, more than a full hundred top-grade pills had suddenly appeared. Even with their toes, anyone could figure it out: they had been thoroughly and roundly played by that old reprobate Hong Zhong!

And not only them—even Steward Song, who had sold the medicinal ingredients to Hong Zhong, had been stunned for a good long while when he first heard the news.

Like everyone else, Steward Song simply did not believe anyone could refine so many top-grade pills in such a short time. There was only one reasonable explanation: Hong Zhong had in fact been hoarding them all along, holding them back until the very last moment to slap these men in the face. His earlier purchase of ingredients had been nothing but a blind.