Chapter 4454 — Caught Off Guard

In the long run, after all, if the Qingtian Escort Agency truly meant to rise, it would have to cross blades in earnest with these old aristocratic houses sooner or later; to do nothing but retreat would leave it forever a pretend power, never the genuine article.

There was also one factor that had to be weighed: the challenge for the agency's helm still to come. Knowing full well that it would work against their own side, they had all the more reason to prepare thoroughly beforehand—the larger their points cushion, the steadier their footing when that hour arrived.

"Brother Ling, what's your plan?" Qi Wenmo turned it over and over and still could not strike the balance; in the end he had no choice but to appeal to Wei Zhao.

"My plan is simple: hold still and let movement answer movement," Wei Zhao said with a faint smile.

"Ah? What do you mean, exactly, hold still and let movement answer movement?" Qi Wenmo pressed at once.

"Heh. The rules don't say a choice must be made within any set time. We can simply sit tight for now and see how the other houses fare before we decide," Wei Zhao said, smiling.

"But what if all the soft persimmons get snapped up by everyone else, and nothing's left but hard bones to gnaw? What then?" Qi Wenmo could not help worrying.

Each agency had only two chances to be challenged. Once the chance to challenge those weak agencies was snatched away by others, the Qingtian Escort Agency could regret it all it liked—it would be too late.

"Brother Qi, in your view, are we of the Qingtian Escort Agency counted among the strong in these thirty-two houses, or the weak?" Wei Zhao glanced at him and answered a question with a question.

"That... the strong, of course," Qi Wenmo said after a moment's hesitation, then set his jaw on it.

"If we are the strong, then we must carry ourselves like the strong. Picking up easy scraps is the privilege of the weak, and it has nothing to do with us. Keep your eyes fixed on the rivals who pose a true threat, then wait for the moment to strike. That is what we ought to be doing," Wei Zhao said mildly.

"Brother Ling's guidance is a thunderclap that wakes the deaf. Your little brother stands corrected!" Only then did it seem to dawn on Qi Wenmo; before everyone present, he bowed deeply to Wei Zhao.

Until that moment, his mindset had still been stuck at the level of a tail-ender among the five great agencies. Facing those old aristocratic houses, he had not had much confidence to speak of—but now, having heard Wei Zhao's words, he came to his senses with belated clarity and broke out in a cold sweat.

Four hundred points ahead of second place, all but assured of the top seat barring malicious targeting—as the young master of such an agency, if he could not even muster that much bearing, how would he ever accomplish anything great?

While the two of them were speaking, Hai Wuliang had already announced to the crowd that the much-anticipated fifth round of the Escort Agency Championship had formally begun!

The instant Hai Wuliang's voice fell, the heads of five agencies rose almost in unison, rushing to issue challenges—and the agency they challenged was, remarkably, one and the same: the Wanli Escort Agency.

Ranked thirty-second. Total points across four rounds: zero!

Of all the agencies, it was the only one that had not scored a single point. If one had to name the weakest of the thirty-two, the Wanli Escort Agency was it, beyond all dispute.

A small agency that had barely qualified to join the Southern Continent Escort Alliance, its fighting strength was already pitifully weak to begin with—and after the third round, the test of escort loyalty, all ten of its competing escorts had defected. Its morale had sunk to freezing point; from the chief escort down to the common runners, every one of them was listless and hollow-eyed.

Any passerby could see that the Wanli Escort Agency was nothing but a fat piece of meat—anyone at all could snap it up in one bite, without the least difficulty.

The others had none of the Qingtian Escort Agency's high-minded resolve. A hundred points lying there for the taking—only a fool would not grab them!

"It's like a pack of starving dogs fighting over scraps. They might at least spare the man a little face," Wei Zhao said, watching from afar the chief escort of the Wanli Escort Agency's glum expression, and could not help laughing.

"Small wonder they're so frantic. Every agency gets two chances to be challenged, but in the Wanli Escort Agency's case there's plainly only one—miss this village and there's no other inn," Qi Wenmo said with a nod.

By the rules of the Southern Continent Escort Gathering, any agency whose points fell into the negative would have its run cut short on the spot and be judged eliminated.

The Wanli Escort Agency stood at zero now and could still be challenged by others, but the moment it dropped to minus one hundred it would be out outright—and no other agency would ever get to farm points off it again.

To be named and challenged by five agencies at once, to be thrust instantly into the center of the stage with every finger pointing at you—the feeling was enough to make a man want to die of sheer gloom. The Wanli Escort Agency agonized for a long while before finally selecting one of them, the one that looked slightly weaker, and the two sides took the field.

Of course, not one of those five agencies rushing to challenge the Wanli Escort Agency belonged to the five great houses. They were all aristocratic agencies, after all, and to show such ugly greed would earn them the mockery of the crowd.

Watching this, Qi Wenmo cast Wei Zhao a grateful look. Had it not been for Wei Zhao's guidance, he might well have been one of those leaping out—and whether or not he won the chance, his own Qingtian Escort Agency would surely have become the laughingstock of the assembly.

The result of this opening bout of the Escort Agency Championship came quickly. The Wanli Escort Agency had no stomach for the fight at all; before a foe like a wolf or a tiger, it had no strength to resist, and having handed over its hundred points without protest, it was eliminated as expected.

Right after that, the eyes of the many agencies turned at once to the next soft persimmon. To the great majority of agency heads, points ready to be had were the only thing that was real; everything else was empty air.

This time the five great houses again did not stir. Not that joining in would have done them any good—unless they had gone mad, those "hot" agencies would never have picked them as opponents. Joining in would have won them no opportunity and merely earned them ridicule. These were all old aristocratic houses steeped in calculation; they were not fools...

Just as Wei Zhao had foreseen, through the early part of the fifth round the arena was contested only by agencies at the bottom of the rankings; not until a full hour had passed did the much-watched five great houses finally appear—and the first to take the stage was none other than the Qingtian Escort Agency, at the very height of its fortunes.

It was not an attack they had launched of their own accord, but a challenge they had been named in—from an old opponent of the first round's escort-defense battle, the Wuma Escort Agency.

This time it truly caught the Qingtian Escort Agency off guard. After all, Wei Zhao's strategy had been to hold still and let movement answer movement, waiting for the other rivals to make the first move—but now, with things as they were, there was no declining the fight even if they wanted to. (To be continued) R655