Chapter 4437 — Wei Zhao Takes the Field

The escorts exchanged glances, but not one of them dared to step forward of his own accord—and it was not entirely for want of a reward, but rather for fear of shaming the agency once he was up there.

Concealing escort goods, and on top of that having to withstand the trials of a "bandit crew"—the difficulty of such a thing was no small matter. Without exceptional skill in this line, without the technique for it, never mind lasting the full three sticks of incense; even one stick was likely a vain hope. Whoever took the field then would not emerge a hero, but would only be left red-faced.

And this was not merely a matter of losing face—his standing in the agency thereafter would suffer for it as well. Who would dare step up rashly without sufficient confidence?

"Then let it be this way: whoever takes the field need only conceal the goods successfully, need only hold out for a full stick of incense, and the agency will reward him with fifty thousand spirit jades!" Helpless, Qi Wenmo at last fell back on the customary lure of fifty thousand spirit jades—and he asked for only one stick of incense, the barest minimum, which truly could not be called a high bar.

Yet even so, the escorts merely looked at one another, and still not a single one dared step forward.

It was not that they did not want those fifty thousand spirit jades—in truth, they would have risked their lives for them—but the trouble was that concealing goods was not a thing that grit alone could accomplish. It came down to skill!

Without the skill, no matter how high your resolve, no matter how desperately you strove, it was all for nothing.

"Hold out longer than one stick of incense, and for every additional stick I'll add thirty thousand more spirit jades!" Seeing this, Qi Wenmo could not help growing anxious. Whatever else happened, they could not go into the round with no one at all.

At once the crowd's breathing grew heavier still. By that reckoning, if a man could last the full three sticks, the reward would come to a full one hundred and ten thousand spirit jades—an astronomical sum from any angle!

And yet, though every man there was drooling, still no one dared step forward. Before this round of concealment, the old maxim that rich rewards breed brave men had suddenly lost all its effect.

There was no help for it: however high the reward, however tempting, if you could not last even a single stick of incense, what use was taking the field? Would that not be making a spectacle of yourself?

Now Qi Wenmo was utterly at a loss. If it truly came to it, he could only grit his teeth and go up himself—except that, young master of the agency though he was, his own experience on the road was hardly rich, and he had never shown the least gift for hiding things. What he might finally manage to conceal, he honestly had not the faintest idea.

Qi Wenmo reckoned that if he really did go up himself, there was at least an eighty percent chance he would not last even one stick of incense. Then he would score nothing at all and be left with a great goose egg.

"How about I give it a try?" At that moment, Wei Zhao, who had been standing to one side, suddenly spoke.

"Brother Ling, you're confident?" Qi Wenmo's spirits surged at once, as though he had caught hold of the last straw. The eyes of everyone else turned to Wei Zhao as well.

"I should manage well enough," Wei Zhao said with a faint smile.

"Splendid! No need for formalities among our own—this round is in your hands, Brother Ling!" Qi Wenmo was overjoyed and settled the matter without a moment's hesitation.

The rest, apart from their surprise, raised no objection. After all, Wei Zhao's marvelous showing in the previous two rounds spoke for itself, proof enough that this honorary chief escort truly had a trick or two. One could only concede.

Before long, all thirty-two agencies had submitted their rosters, and the fourth round, the Hidden Escort in Peril, officially began.

The venue for this round was not the Demonic Cold Plaza, but a rocky stretch of shore where reefs stood thick. Thirty-two sailing ships were drawn up in a line not far from land, of every build and style—though all were the sort the great agencies used on the road.

Without question, these ships were the hiding places for this round. In the South Continent's waters, after all, bandits were mostly pirates, and dangers on the road tended to come at sea; set up this way, the scene came as close to reality as possible, lending the round both credibility and practicality.

Each of the thirty-two ships bore a numbered mark. The contestants drew lots together to determine their respective venues, and then the contest formally began.

Wei Zhao drew lot number thirty—a small cargo vessel. At the sight of that number, Qi Wenmo and the others felt their hearts sink. The smaller the ship, the fewer the places to hide goods, and the easier the "bandit crew" would find them—meaning that, without anyone saying so, his difficulty was a notch above those who had drawn the larger vessels.

Still, since the draw was held openly before everyone with all contestants together, unless someone were caught cheating on the spot, there was nothing to complain of; one could only blame one's own ill luck.

"Brother Ling, set your mind at ease. We hold a huge lead as it is—even if we score nothing in this round, it doesn't matter; we'll fight hard again afterward," Qi Wenmo said by way of comfort.

Such words were, of course, self-deception. With the Four Seas Escort Agency eyeing them like a tiger from behind, until the matter was truly settled, no lead was more than a passing cloud. He said it purely to console Wei Zhao.

"I know," Wei Zhao said with a chuckle. Then he took the standard small strongbox for escort goods from the official's hands and strode toward cargo ship number thirty, while the contestants from the other agencies likewise took their places on the vessels they had drawn.

"Let me repeat myself: you have only one stick of incense to hide your goods. Remember, this is an ordinary short stick, not the long sticks used before, so you had best move quickly. When the time comes, I will call the roll aloud here before everyone; any who are late will be deemed to have failed and will score zero for this round. Also, this is a contest of hiding goods, not of losing them—if anyone tries to be clever and tosses his goods into the sea, that too will count as failure. Is that all clear?" Hai Wuliang swept his gaze across them all and gave the order: "Light the incense, drop the curtains, raise the formation!"

At his word, an official at once lit a short stick of incense before all eyes, and great thick black curtains shot up from the shore, wrapping each of the thirty-two ships separately within them to form thirty-two hidden spaces.

At the same moment, a vast surge of formation energy rolled in from the seaside. The crowd felt the world blur before their eyes, and all was plunged into murky darkness—not only were the thirty-two ships invisible, even the black curtains could not be made out clearly, nor could any divine sense perceive them.

In truth, this was no exquisite or profound formation, merely a common blinding trick. Anywhere else, a cultivator of even modest skill should have been able to pierce it with ease—but this place was different. Just now, the sea mist was at its thickest! (To be continued)