Chapter 4331 — Who the Hell Are You!

"That's right—it was his own cargo to begin with. Not only did he eat it back himself, he could even shake down the escort agency for a sky-high compensation, and no one could find a single fault in it. They'd have to bow and scrape and apologize to him besides. To work a no-capital scheme so flawlessly—hell, I'm starting to suspect this fellow might be in the same line of work as us!" The man in black laughed with a sly grin.

All around them were outsiders drinking and eating, yet in a place like this he spoke without the slightest restraint—and the others who heard showed not a flicker of anything odd in their expressions. That alone showed how lawless the Zhenduan sea lanes were: folk there had long since grown inured to such things and took them as a matter of course.

Wei Zhao, however, was utterly stunned by these words. He had never imagined that the mastermind behind it all would turn out to be Wei Zhaotong himself!

He had found it strange all along. Their original escort route had been kept profoundly secret—outsiders could never have known it. Especially with the sea fog so thick, unless the pirates had known the sailing route in advance and lain in wait there, the odds of them spotting the cargo ship in that vast, blinding murk were next to nothing.

Yet the truth was that these pirates had been waiting, fully prepared, like a hunter by a stump for the rabbit to come to him. They had needed neither hesitation nor pursuit—the moment Wei Zhao and his companions "delivered the goods to their door," they simply rushed aboard and took possession. The whole affair could be described in four words: clean and neat.

Never in his wildest dreams had Wei Zhao expected the catch to lie here—that from first to last, this whole farce had been staged by the Hong Merchant Guild itself!

Swallowing one's own cargo, then going to the escort agency to demand compensation—that was already beyond any ordinary inside job. It was nothing less than a pit Wei Zhaotong had dug, baiting the Qingtian Escort Agency into jumping in, and when it was done he could still stand on the side of righteousness. He would have them bow and apologize—and along the way, Wei Zhao and his companions had been buried in the same pit.

Wei Zhao truly never would have imagined that Wei Zhaotong, guild master of the Hong Merchant Guild's branch in the Weihu sea region, could be such a despicable, shameless piece of work!

And this was a longtime friend whom Hong Zhong had solemnly introduced to him. With precedents like Cai Zhongxuan of the Middle Isle before him, Wei Zhao had assumed all of Hong Zhong's friends would be of the same caliber. Never had he thought Wei Zhaotong's character could rot to such a degree. So even a seasoned, prudent figure like Hong Zhong, it seemed, had his moments of misjudgment.

On second thought, though, Hong Zhong had said when making the introduction that although Wei Zhaotong was an old friend, they had not seen each other in quite a number of years. People always change, and given enough time, it was no great wonder that Wei Zhaotong had let profit blind his eyes.

That being so, Wei Zhao saw no reason to spare this creature any face. His original plan had been to wait until the docks were reopened and then take a ship straight back to the Weihu sea region—but now he was going to change his mind.

Had he not run into these two pirates, Wei Zhao would have planned to take a little stroll after his meal—after all, a visit to Zhenduan City was a rare thing. But he had now abandoned that notion. He meant to keep a close watch on the two pirates behind him.

Wei Zhao ate quietly on his own in front, waiting for the pair behind him to make their next move. A full half-hour passed before the two of them finally ate and drank their fill.

"Second Brother, I'm heading up to my room first. You go relieve Third and Fourth on the boat at the docks—let them come out and relax a bit, have a drink and a meal, so they don't grumble behind our backs." Having given his orders, the man in black rose and went straight upstairs.

Wei Zhao could not help but start. By the look of it, this fellow was staying at the very same inn as he was! No wonder they had run into each other here. The old saying was true enough: enemies are bound to meet on a narrow road.

The man in blue was somewhat reluctant, but he did as he was told, rising and heading out the door.

The corner of Wei Zhao's mouth lifted slightly. Quietly he locked onto the man in blue with his spiritual sense, then rose and followed him out. The fellow was an expert at the peak of the late Golden Core stage—but before Wei Zhao, a mid Golden Core, he was hardly an opponent. One could not quite call him an ant, yet he was no more than a weakling to be snuffed out with a casual flick of the hand.

Even though Wei Zhao had him locked with his spiritual sense, the man in blue never noticed a thing from first to last. He made his way all the way to the cordoned docks and vaulted into a cargo ship.

Wei Zhao looked closely—the ship was exceedingly familiar. It was indeed the very one from the escort job, only the distinctive emblem of the Qingtian Escort Agency had been scraped off its bow.

An ordinary cargo ship could simply have been left in a dockyard beside the wharf during the cordon; there would have been no need to deliberately station men aboard to guard it. But these fellows had guilty consciences—the ship itself was plunder taken midway, and they were counting on the goods aboard to turn a fat profit. Naturally they would not rest easy.

Wei Zhao waited from afar outside the docks. With his spiritual sense locked on, he had no fear of them slipping away. After a moment, two men came down from the cargo ship—the other two pirates from the original robbery, the Third and Fourth the man in black had mentioned.

The two chatted and laughed as they walked out of the docks, plainly off to find some place to relax and enjoy themselves. That meant that at this moment, only the man in blue remained aboard the cargo ship.

At the sight, Wei Zhao smiled faintly, strode over to the ship with perfect ease, and with a slight push of his feet leaped up onto the deck.

Then he walked straight toward the cabin. Tracking him by spiritual sense, he knew the man in blue was inside.

"Why are you back? Didn't I tell you two to go eat?" Since Wei Zhao made no effort to conceal himself, his footsteps carried clearly to the man in blue's ears—though he assumed it was Third or Fourth who had turned back.

At that moment the man in blue lay sprawled on a wooden plank bed, one leg crossed over the other, comfortably sipping his wine, thoroughly enjoying himself with his eyes closed in rest.

"No need. I've already eaten—and I ate together with the two of you." A teasing curve lifted the corner of Wei Zhao's mouth.

"Who's there?" The man in blue froze for a moment before it registered, and then his face drained of color. The full aura of his peak late Golden Core cultivation surged out unchecked as he jabbed a finger at Wei Zhao: "Who the hell are you, barging onto my ship like you own it—are you tired of living?"

"Oh? You're sure this ship is yours?" Wei Zhao could not help but laugh, leaning back lazily against the doorway. "But from what I know, this ship doesn't seem to belong to you, does it? This is the Qingtian Escort Agency's... or have you joined the agency?" (To be continued) R655