Chapter 4422 — The Inside Story

For any escort agency, such a fate was nothing short of annihilation. Once stripped of the Southern Continent Escort Alliance's protection, they would inevitably become prey for the pirates of the Southern Continent. They would not even know how they died, let alone find firm footing to run an escort business.

Of two evils, choose the lesser. Everyone was driven to desperation, left with no other choice. Since forfeiting was not permitted, they could only grit their teeth and force someone onto the field.

But in this way, for a contest that was so plainly a march to death, the various agencies no longer even bothered to hope for points. Instead, they took the very pragmatic approach of minimizing their losses as much as possible. Naturally, no one was willing to push out their prized agency experts to die, so what many agencies sent out this round was simply a rabble of the old, the weak, the sick, and the crippled.

The vast majority of these people had no real strength and no skills worth boasting of. Many had suffered grave injuries while escorting goods in their youth and still bore severe aftereffects; some were even gravely ill and at death's door. Rather than keep muddling along waiting to die, they might as well seize this chance to earn a bit of spirit jade for their families.

What was more, even if they did not wish to go at such a time, the agency would forcibly throw them out—go they must. If they made trouble now, they would die even more miserably afterward, so they had no choice but to accept their fate.

As with the first round, before the contest began, each agency had to submit its list of contestants to the panel of judges, after which it was publicly posted for all to see.

Thanks to their outstanding performance in the first round, Qi Mingyuan had been in high spirits. But when he took the registration form his son Qi Wenmo handed him and saw Ling Yi's name on it, he was instantly stunned. Without a word, he instinctively raised his hand to slap him—he was ready to fly into a rage on the spot!

"Are you out of your goddamned mind?!" Qi Mingyuan's fury erupted in an instant. He jabbed a finger at Qi Wenmo's nose and cursed. Had it not been for the other five agencies' leaders standing nearby, he would have been tempted to string Qi Wenmo up and give him a thrashing right then and there.

"Calm down first, Father, don't lose your temper." Qi Wenmo had known this would happen. He could only explain with a bitter smile: "No one else was willing to go. I was originally going to go myself, but Ling Yi said he was confident and insisted on taking the job. He even snatched the registration form and filled it out himself—I couldn't stop him."

"Couldn't stop him? You stop him anyway! This is a contest that's plainly a march to death. The man was kind enough to help us out of a tight spot, but we can't screw him over. Don't you understand even that much?" Qi Mingyuan glared at Qi Wenmo in anger, then said: "And you didn't have to go yourself either. Look at how other people do things—can't you learn a thing or two? Just pick some old, weak, sick, or crippled fellow to muddle through?"

"But even if they're old, weak, sick, or crippled, forcing someone out for something like this is far too damaging to morale, and it easily leaves a shadow in everyone's hearts. In the long run, that's terribly bad for the agency. Better that I go myself..." Qi Wenmo said with a frown.

Having received an elite education since childhood, he knew well that the will of the people was the key to any faction's success or failure. Once they lost the people's hearts, never mind that the Qingtian Escort Agency was only one of the newly promoted Five Great Escort Agencies—even a traditional powerhouse like the Four Seas Escort Agency would descend into the nightmare abyss of fragmentation. The price was too great; no one could bear it.

"Who said we have to force anyone? And what's all this about you going yourself—who do you think you are? You're the young master of the Qingtian Escort Agency, and one day you'll be in charge. Can't you use your head when you do things?" Qi Mingyuan wore a look of utter disappointment, and rapped Qi Wenmo hard on the head.

"Then what do you say we do, Father?" Qi Wenmo said helplessly, one hand clutching his head.

"Fool. Hasn't Old Eighth Tang been saying all along that his old injuries torment him so much he doesn't want to live? Just send him!" Qi Mingyuan glared and curled his lip.

Qi Wenmo was taken aback, then remembered this Old Eighth Tang. The man had worked at the Qingtian Escort Agency for many years and counted as a veteran escort of some seniority.

He had heard that in his youth, Old Eighth Tang had made something of a name for himself in the waters of the Southern Continent, and had once been a man who bowed to no one. But those who love bravado and brawling seldom come to a good end, and Old Eighth Tang was no exception. After one failed fight, every major bone in his body had been broken one by one, his own bones piercing his internal organs—he had nearly gone to report to the King of Hell.

In the end, though his life was saved and he barely recovered a little strength, he was left with severe aftereffects ever since. When he first joined the Qingtian Escort Agency, he could still hold on with difficulty, but as time went on—especially after too much sea wind and rain—the aftereffects flared more and more often, each time worse than the last. It was simply worse than death.

Several times he had been so tormented that he saw no point in living, and thought of ending it all—he had even made attempts, but others always stopped him. Now the agency kept him like an idler, and he could only numb himself with drink, getting dead drunk every day, muddled and dazed.

"This time is a good chance for Old Eighth Tang to be released, and he can earn a hefty burial fee for his family besides. It's a good thing for him and for our agency alike—why not do it?" Qi Mingyuan instructed earnestly.

"That's true as far as it goes, but Father, this is the most passive approach—just going through the motions. There's no way we'll score like this," Qi Wenmo said with a frown.

"Score? You're actually hoping to score in this round, you little fool—are you stupid or something?" Qi Mingyuan looked at Qi Wenmo in disbelief, then imperceptibly gestured toward Hai Wuliang not far away and lowered his voice: "Do you know why there's even a second round?"

"Wasn't it something the five of you worked out together?" Qi Wenmo said, puzzled.

"That's only what they say on the surface. In reality, this second round was purely the Four Seas Escort Agency's proposal, pushed through by every kind of coercion and inducement, relying on its position as leader of the jianghu," Qi Mingyuan explained crossly.

Qi Wenmo was speechless for a moment. He truly had not known there was such an inside story behind it.

"Now you understand, don't you? The Demon Cold Sea was always the Four Seas Escort Agency's home ground. This so-called new sea route is unfamiliar to the likes of us, but to them—do you think it's unfamiliar territory too? So this is a contest tailor-made for them. The only ones with any hope of scoring are themselves. The other thirty-one agencies are just there to keep the prince company in his studies. Scoring is nothing but a pipe dream," Qi Mingyuan said with a rueful sigh. (A windfall of an event—a cool phone awaits you! Follow Qi~Dian/official account (WeChat: Add Contacts—Add Official Account—enter qdread) and join right away! Everyone wins a prize—follow the qdread WeChat official account now!) (To be continued)

...R752