Chapter 4348 — Show Our Guests Out

"You—" Qi Wenmo was choked into momentary silence, while Wei Zhao, standing to one side, could only shrug helplessly. He had not laid a finger on the pirate chief the entire journey; the only time he had struck was at the docks of Weihu City, where he had knocked the man unconscious purely to save trouble. Who would have thought the fellow would turn around and use that against him?

"Heh, as for this so-called material evidence—forgive my poor eyesight, Young Master Qi, but where exactly is this evidence you speak of? Why, I don't see a thing." Wei Zhaotong continued his sneering mockery. The pirate chief's capture had indeed given him a start, but how could such an affair possibly leave behind any evidence at all?

To be safe, every meeting he had ever held with these pirates had been conducted secretly on the open waters of the Far Star Sea. Not a single note had ever passed between them. Where in the world would evidence come from?

"This is the evidence!" Qi Wenmo produced the escort document Wei Zhao had handed him earlier and said coldly, "Since you refuse to acknowledge this witness, Shopkeeper Wei, we'll set him aside for now. The Fang Family Manor has already signed for receipt of the goods. If you don't believe it, I'll gladly accompany you to call on the manor lord, Fang Biwu, and verify it face to face!"

"Oh?" A flicker passed through Wei Zhaotong's eyes. He glanced at the writing on the escort document and found it to be indeed Fang Biwu's hand—he and Fang Biwu had been friends for decades and knew the man's brushwork well. Otherwise, Fang Biwu would never have entrusted so vital a life-saving supply as the Miasma-Resolving Pill to him to procure on his behalf.

Wei Zhaotong looked Wei Zhao up and down. Even without being told, he could guess this was the young man's doing. To have wrested the cargo back from the pirates and then gone ahead and delivered it to its destination anyway—such a thing had never once crossed his mind.

Were he, Wei Zhaotong, in Wei Zhao's position, his first thought would surely have been to pocket the goods for himself. After all, they were worth a full three hundred thousand spirit jades. Who would be fool enough to hand that over?

"Shopkeeper Wei, you can insist all you like that we grabbed some random man off the street and beat a confession out of him, but this escort document—surely you cannot deny it?" Qi Wenmo said, his eyes fixed intently on Wei Zhaotong's expression.

Since Fang Biwu could be called upon to verify it, there was no fear of the man denying the truth. And if Wei Zhaotong refused to acknowledge it, it would do him no good at all—on the contrary, it would only make him look more clearly in the wrong, and the pressure of public opinion outside would grow all the heavier. In the end, he would have only one outcome: he would choke on what he could not swallow.

"And what of it? This only proves that after such a long delay, you barely managed to deliver the goods. Surely you cannot claim on that basis that I have anything to do with the pirates?" Wei Zhaotong said, still unhurried.

At this, Qi Wenmo and Wei Zhao exchanged a glance. This old fox truly was no easy opponent—from the moment they walked through the door until now, he had not shown a single crack. To call him sly and cunning was no exaggeration at all.

"Very well, then. In that case, Shopkeeper Wei, ought you not to return that three hundred thousand spirit jades in compensation to us?" Qi Wenmo said in a low voice.

"Return it?" Wei Zhaotong's brows rose. A mocking curve tugged at the corner of his mouth. "In business, one speaks of business. Surely Young Master Qi is not treating matters of commerce as a children's game?"

"What do you mean by that?" Qi Wenmo's heart sank at once.

"Simple. Your escort agency delayed a full month before delivering the goods to the Fang Family Manor, inflicting tremendous damage on the reputation of our Hong Chamber of Commerce. Out of regard for our old friendship, I have not even settled that account with you yet. And you still have the nerve to come claim your compensation?" Wei Zhaotong curled his lip and sneered, "The contract stated in black and white that in the event of any mishap, compensation would be paid at the original price. Surely Young Master Qi is not about to treat that contract as a trifling joke?"

Every word landed with such an air of perfect reasonableness that it seemed the matter could only ever have been thus. Even Wei Zhao, standing by, was struck speechless—let alone Qi Wenmo, the man at the center of it all.

"Fine. Since you insist on putting it that way, I won't bandy other words with you. The contract states that if the escorted goods cannot be delivered, compensation is paid at the original price. But our agency has now delivered them—merely a little late, that is all—and Fang Biwu has raised no objection. For you to still be demanding compensation at the original price, Shopkeeper Wei, is simply beyond reason, is it not?" Qi Wenmo said with righteous indignation. "The delay did cause losses, but the losses are not great. By any measure of feeling or fairness, Shopkeeper Wei, you cannot cling to those three hundred thousand spirit jades. If word of this gets out, it may sound fine in the telling but it will not sound fine in the hearing."

At this, Wei Zhaotong's expression finally shifted ever so slightly. Qi Wenmo's threat was no idle shot in the dark—once such a thing spread, Wei Zhaotong would be firmly branded a man of greed.

There was nothing reproachable about a merchant pursuing profit, but for a man of his standing—a regional shopkeeper of the great Hong Chamber of Commerce—it would also stain the reputation of the Chamber itself. If the Hong Shadow Group were to learn of it, they would surely conduct a thorough investigation, and what the situation might then become was truly impossible to say.

Yet the spirit jades had already been swallowed into Wei Zhaotong's belly, and to expect him to spit them out now would be harder than climbing to the heavens. Had he truly cherished his good name so dearly, he would never have stooped to such dealings in the first place.

"My apologies. I have already handed your agency's three hundred thousand spirit jades in compensation over to the Central Island headquarters. Even if I wished to return it now, I cannot. Young Master Qi had best give up that hope," Wei Zhaotong said at last, fobbing them off with a fabricated excuse.

"What? You—" Qi Wenmo nearly lost his breath, so furious that his hair seemed to stand on end. He had only gathered the three hundred thousand spirit jades in compensation and delivered them yesterday, and today Wei Zhaotong claimed they had already been sent up to the Central Island headquarters. Damn it, did the Hong Chamber of Commerce really possess such heaven-defying efficiency?

"Show our guests out," Wei Zhaotong said with a cold smile. He lifted his teacup at once to signal the dismissal, giving Qi Wenmo no further chance to speak, and turned and walked away.

"Yes, sir." The servant posted outside the door came running at once and, with the utmost deference, addressed Qi Wenmo and Wei Zhao's party of three, "Gentlemen, please see yourselves out."

"You people—" Though Qi Wenmo was no simpleton, even he was so enraged that he nearly could not restrain himself from striking. With both witness and evidence in hand, he had come in full fury to settle accounts with Wei Zhaotong, only to find the man utterly unimpressed—and to swallow a bellyful of anger for his pains. Such a cruel gap between expectation and outcome was more than anyone could bear!

"Fine! Very well! We're leaving!" Furious as he was, Qi Wenmo had not entirely lost his reason. He could only force down the wrath in his heart, seize the trembling pirate chief by the arm, and lead the way out the door.