Chapter 4333 — Something Terrible Has Happened

Even if the other three came at him together at the peak of the late Golden Core stage, they would pose no threat whatsoever to Wei Zhao as he was now. If these men had any sense, Wei Zhao might still consider sparing their miserable lives; but if they proved obstinate, then he would simply have to reluctantly send them to follow in the blue-robed man's footsteps. They were all cut from the same cloth anyway—a pack of cutthroats who stopped at nothing, and killing pirates like these was a service to the people.

Wei Zhao sat in the cabin with his eyes closed, resting. The wait stretched a full day, until noon the next day, when a sudden commotion broke out outside. It was not the pirates returning, but rather a stir from beyond the docks.

"Damn it, the lockdown's dragged on so long, and now it's finally lifted—we can put out to sea again. This stretch has really done us in; I'd say we've lost at least ten thousand spirit jade!" Someone nearby was cursing and grumbling even as he counted his blessings.

"Oh, give it a rest. That passenger boat of yours is small and broken—it can't carry more than a handful of people, and one good swell and who knows when it'll capsize. Lost tens of thousands in spirit jade, my foot. You'd be better off switching trades and turning pirate to go rob people..." A bystander cackled with unconcealed disdain.

"Bah, I can't be bothered wasting words on you. Your big brother here is heading out to sea right now—give me a few days, and I'll bring back some fine goods to open your eyes, then you'll know how much I'm raking in!" The man wasted no more breath, immediately shouting orders at his crew and hands, making ready to set sail.

All around, the din was much the same—men rubbing their hands and limbering up, eager to hoist sail at once and hurry to earn back all the spirit jade they'd lost during the shutdown.

So the lockdown really had been lifted! Wei Zhao stirred slightly at heart, yet his feet did not move; he remained seated in the cabin with the calm air of an old hand. At this rate, those pirates should be returning before long.

Sure enough, less than half an hour later, the black-robed man who led the pirates came striding in from the dock entrance, his face livid as iron, followed by the other two—the third and fourth—their heads hung low with shame.

"Good-for-nothing wretches! What time do you think this is, and you're still off chasing women in the brothel, even getting into a brawl with people? Couldn't you hold yourselves together for a mere two days? Damn it, if I hadn't run into you, the state you two were in—dead drunk—you'd have been chopped up and fed to the dogs!" the black-robed man raged.

"But boss, didn't you go there yourself too? Otherwise how would you have found us..." The third and fourth exchanged a glance and weakly talked back. Both were soaked head to toe in cold water, like a pair of drowned rats, yet even so they could not mask the thick reek of liquor clinging to them.

"Damn you, still talking back!" The black-robed man flushed to the ears, then flew into a rage out of sheer embarrassment. "If I hadn't been looking for you two idiots, would I be going to a place like that at a time like this? You think I can't tell what matters from what doesn't, same as you two? I went there because the docks were reopening, to haul you two back—now is the time for proper business, understand? Don't you damn well pull any more stunts on me!"

"But boss, didn't you also hear about the docks reopening from someone at the brothel..." The third and fourth looked at each other. They dared not say another word, and could only hang their heads and shrink back in silence.

The three hurried along at a brisk pace, leaped aboard, and landed together on the outer deck. Then the black-robed man called out, "Second, get out here and get to work! We finally got the reopening—we have to set off right away, or Steward Wei will be waiting impatiently on his end. That old bastard might just go back on his word!"

With that, the black-robed man headed straight for the wheelhouse, while the third and fourth set about lowering the sails. From beginning to end, not a single one of them came to so much as glance at the cabin—much less realize that their second brother had long since become a corpse.

To be that careless and still call themselves pirates? Wei Zhao was caught between laughter and tears. But since they wouldn't come in on their own, he couldn't be bothered to go out either, and simply kept waiting in the cabin.

A short while later, the cargo ship raised sail and put out to sea. Judging that they had left the docks behind, Wei Zhao soon heard the black-robed man's voice again: "What's going on? Has that fool Second had too much to drink and is lying in there slacking off? A bunch of drunks! Third, Fourth, you two go drag him out. When we see Steward Wei, how we're going to squeeze another tidy sum out of that old skinflint—that's something we need to hash out properly!"

"Right away!" The third and fourth answered and strode toward the cabin. But the moment they pushed open the door and took in the sight before them, they froze where they stood, cold sweat breaking out and pouring down despite themselves.

The black-robed man waited in the wheelhouse. Seeing no sign of them for the longest time, he cursed again: "Why aren't you here yet? Dawdling about—is this what you're good for?"

"Boss... something's happened! Something terrible has happened!" The third and fourth came stumbling and scrambling over, ducking into the wheelhouse as if fleeing for their lives, gasping for breath.

"Something's happened to you, is what! Damn you, cursing me!" the black-robed man snapped, utterly baffled.

"No... it's not... Second, Second's been killed—died horribly!" The third and fourth were in a panic, stammering out their explanation again and again.

"What? How could that be!" The black-robed man was startled, plainly unwilling to believe it. Second was, after all, a fine hand at the peak of the late Golden Core stage, and he liked to keep his cards hidden—it was always he who schemed against others. In Zhenduan City he had no blood-sworn enemies; how could he have been killed so easily?

"We're... we're not lying... he's really dead, right there in the cabin!" The third and fourth waved their hands frantically.

The matter was grave. Now the black-robed man could not spare a thought for steering the ship; he hurried to the cabin, with the panicked third and fourth following close at his heels.

Stepping into the cabin and seeing the wretched corpse on the floor, even the black-robed man could not help drawing a sharp breath, a chill crawling up his spine.

"Who's there?!" the black-robed man suddenly bellowed, releasing the full aura of a peak late Golden Core expert without reservation, his tiger's eyes wide as he stared at a corner of the cabin—precisely where Wei Zhao was.

"Heh, so you finally noticed me. The way you lot run a piracy operation, it's truly amateurish beyond words..." Wei Zhao curled his lip and rose to his feet, regarding the three with a half-smile.

At the sight, the third and fourth gave a violent start, and whatever lingering drunkenness they had was scared clean out of them in an instant. They had seen only the corpse before—they had completely failed to notice Wei Zhao!

"Trash!" the black-robed man spat, his face ashen—whether he meant the dead Second on the floor, or the third and fourth behind him, was anyone's guess.

In any case, from Wei Zhao's point of view, that single word summed things up rather aptly. If Second weren't trash, how could he have been killed by Wei Zhao so effortlessly?