Chapter 4406 — Passing the Letter Around

By every measure of feeling and of reason, the letter had to be opened in everyone's presence. Qiu Lingshan felt as though a hundred claws were scrabbling at her heart, yet she could endure a little waiting.

When they got Wu Chengtian's call and learned that a courier parcel had arrived from Wei Zhao on Cloud Terrace Island, everyone's first reaction was that the thing was either an idle prank played by someone with too much time on their hands, or the work of a madman. Not one of them believed it.

But disbelief notwithstanding, in less than two hours every last one of them had assembled at the Gu family villa...

Han Xiaohu, Lai the Fatso, Kang Xiaofeng, Chen Yuxuan, Cheng Yiyi, Xu Shilan, Zhao Qilei, Zhao Qiwu, Pi Zhifeng, Pi Zhitao, Yu Bing, Ying Ziyu and all the rest—apart from Lin Dongfang and Aunt Qing, who had remained in West Star Mountain Village, every member of Wei Zhao's circle was present, not a single one missing.

That they could gather so swiftly was due in part to the sheer strength of their cohesion, but in part also to the lingering aftereffects of the previous incident. He Dantou and his lot had given them all a proper fright with that sudden raid; last time they had been saved only by Lin Dongfang stepping in. Otherwise the consequences did not bear thinking about.

Wei Zhao had led the expedition to Cloud Terrace Island and entrusted these sisters-in-law to their care. If anything were to go wrong, how could they ever face Wei Zhao again?

A fall into the pit, a gain in the wit. After the last incident everyone had learned their lesson. They still kept watch in rotating pairs, but unless it was absolutely necessary, no one strayed far. At the first sign of trouble, they could all reach the villa within two hours—as they had now.

The moment everyone arrived at the villa, the first order of business was to drag Wu Chengtian out and give a thrashing to the bored wretch who had started this rumor. But when they saw the parcel in Qiu Lingshan's hands—and above all Wei Zhao's signature on the waybill—the whole crowd drew a sharp, collective breath.

"This... this is real?" They could not help exchanging glances, every face a study in disbelief, as though they had seen a ghost.

"It might be real, it might be fake—but either way, this Central Courier company is thoroughly suspect and must be investigated properly!" Wu Chengtian declared with an air of injured righteousness.

The others frowned and considered. Then, one after another, they nodded. He had a point. Real or fake, this Central Courier that had appeared out of nowhere warranted a close look.

If the parcel was a forgery, then someone behind it had an agenda, using a letter in imitation of Wei Zhao's hand to make trouble. If it was genuine, then all the more reason to find out just who or what Central Courier was, that it could travel freely between Cloud Terrace Island and the mundane world.

"In that case, we shall have to trouble Sister-in-law Lingshan to handle it." Everyone turned to Qiu Lingshan. A parcel from Cloud Terrace Island was plainly a supernatural occurrence, and the Mystery Investigation Bureau had by its very nature the authority to investigate such things. She was the obvious choice.

"Mm. I will contact the Bureau's people at once and have them look into it." Qiu Lingshan nodded. She cared more about Wei Zhao's safety than anyone alive; this was no task to be shirked.

"Then what about the parcel? Do we open it?" they asked, looking at one another. Nearly every one of them was a peak Heaven-rank master; in the mundane world, by rights, they had nothing to fear. But this parcel's arrival was truly bizarre, and anyone—however thick-skinned—would have to harbor some misgivings.

"Of course we open it," said Qiu Lingshan, Cheng Yiyi, Xu Shilan and Ying Ziyu all at once, as though by prior agreement. On this matter it was the women who proved the bolder, for a simple reason: their concern for Wei Zhao ran deepest of all.

The parcel might well be a trap—but what if it was not?

Even if the chance were one in ten thousand, none of them could bear to simply set it aside.

After all, a letter sent home by Wei Zhao was the sort of thing that, though hardly likely in reality, they had often imagined in their dreams. And now the dream had truly come true—how could they shut the door on it over a trifling worry?

"Very well. But before we open it, we take precautions," said Chen Yuxuan and the others, exchanging looks. As men, they could hardly be less brave than a few women—and besides, they were eager to know what the parcel contained.

With their peak Heaven-rank strength, bombs and the like posed no threat to them whatsoever; and the parcel was flat and thin, hardly the shape for concealing a bomb. Barring the unexpected, it should hold nothing but a letter.

That did not mean it was free of danger, however. If this was someone's snare, the letter might well be laced with a colorless, odorless poison. Peak Heaven-rank masters they might be, but against a poison of truly legendary potency, they could not necessarily count on pulling through.

Out of caution, Qiu Lingshan donned a pair of gloves with excellent insulating properties—standard-issue Mystery Investigation Bureau equipment—and only then, under everyone's watching eyes, slowly opened the parcel.

The crowd unconsciously held its breath. Sure enough, what met their eyes was no dangerous device but a sheet of letter paper—an ordinary sheet of letter paper, and if it differed from any other at all, it was only that it was rather more refined and elegantly plain.

"This is Wei Zhao's handwriting too, and the way it talks is his usual style. There is no mistaking it—this really is a letter written in Wei Zhao's own hand!" Qiu Lingshan had scarcely glanced at it twice before she cried out in delighted surprise.

If this were some plot, imitating Wei Zhao's handwriting was one thing—that was at least possible. But to imitate his manner of speech as well? That was not plausible. Which meant this letter was one hundred percent from Wei Zhao's own hand!

Which meant that this Central Courier, appearing out of nowhere, really could travel between Cloud Terrace Island and the mundane world. That was simply unbelievable!

"Truly?" At these words the others' eyes lit up, their faces alight with joy, and they pressed him eagerly: "What does Leader Wei Zhao say in it? How is he now?"

"Patience—I have not finished reading it myself. You shall have it in a moment!" Afraid that the crowd would lose patience and snatch it from her, and with no time for a careful reading, Qiu Lingshan raced through the letter at a glance, then handed it over for them to pass around one by one.

They passed the letter around among themselves. Those too impatient to wait crowded in to read along, or pestered Qiu Lingshan to tell them what it said, listening all the while and clucking in admiration. (To be continued...)