Chapter 4493 — Tears Without Tears

Cheng Haonan was no fool. He knew the situation had reached a point of no return—there was no talking his way out of this day's ordeal. Once his identity as a demonic cultivator was confirmed, his fate would be to be surrounded and cut down by everyone present.

Never mind that Cheng Haonan was now utterly spent; even at his peak, facing the pursuit of so many Nascent Soul experts would have meant certain death with no burial ground—not a single thread of hope.

So the only way out left to him was to slip away before the crowd's killing intent fully materialized. As long as a top-tier expert like Hai Wuliang did not give chase, he still had the faintest sliver of a chance to survive.

Long Kuiba stood frozen as he watched Cheng Haonan burst out of the crowd, shoot clear of the Demon Cold Plaza in an instant, and vanish from everyone's sight. The whole crowd was frozen too, needing a moment before they grasped it—damn it, the man was fleeing in fear of punishment!

A few cultivators on the periphery hurriedly gave chase, but the vast majority of those present responded with indifference. After all, Cheng Haonan's strength spoke for itself; spent as he was, the astonishing speed of his flight made it clear the man still had room for a desperate death struggle.

Given the strength of most people present, they could not catch Cheng Haonan's pace to begin with, and even if they did, they could never beat him. In his ordinary state Cheng Haonan could have thrashed them effortlessly—let alone now, blackened all over and wild as a madman.

Demonic cultivators certainly deserved killing, but no one present was a fool; none would throw away their own life chasing one down. Had they not seen that even a top expert like Hai Wuliang showed not the slightest intention of lifting a hand?

With Hai Wuliang's strength he could of course beat Cheng Haonan, but now was the crucial moment for consolidating the fruits of victory. How could he possibly chase after him? What if Zhao Bufan and the others took advantage and reaped the spoils for nothing? By the time he returned from the kill, the daylily would have gone stone cold…

If Hai Wuliang would not chase, then Zhao Bufan and the others certainly would not either. Hai Wuliang did not trust them, and they did not trust Hai Wuliang.

The only one present who could truly pose a lethal threat to Cheng Haonan—and who had the mind to go after him—was probably Wei Zhao alone. But Wei Zhao frowned, and in the end suppressed the impulse.

There was no help for it. The moment he set out in pursuit, whether or not he caught the man, Hai Wuliang would inevitably kick him while he was down and drive the final nail in—seizing the chance to declare that Wei Zhao too was a demonic cultivator who had fled alongside Cheng Haonan!

Such nonsense would have convinced no one before, but now that Cheng Haonan had exposed himself by fleeing, if Wei Zhao could not clear himself to their faces, it would truly be a case of mud dropped down his trousers—if it is not shit, it might as well be.

Wei Zhao himself did not much care. With his various connections, a little time was all he needed to clear his name—but doing so would inevitably drag Qingtian Escort Agency down with him. Whether or not its reputation could be restored afterward, at the very least this session's hard-won title of top escort agency was certainly down the drain.

Perhaps Hai Wuliang had deliberately bound Qingtian Escort Agency and Longzhou Escort Agency together with exactly this calculation in mind. Naturally, Wei Zhao could not let him have his way.

Though he had decided to hold his ground, Wei Zhao could not help feeling a trace of regret. Against a demonic cultivator of Cheng Haonan's caliber, even he was not entirely confident. This time the man was not only exhausted but wounded as well—a perfect opportunity for a killing blow—and yet he could only watch it slip away. A pity…

At that very moment, every eye in the hall fell upon Long Kuiba. Cheng Haonan's sudden flight had thrust the head escort of Longzhou Escort Agency squarely into the teeth of the storm. It was as if Hai Wuliang had set a cauldron of boiling oil on the fire, and Cheng Haonan had casually shoved him in.

Helpless and at a loss, wanting to weep but unable to shed a tear—such was the portrait of Long Kuiba at this moment.

He had barely climbed to the seat of the second-ranked escort agency, and before his backside had even warmed it, before he had a chance to savor the triumph, that seat had been swapped for a tiger bench—and he was being held down to sit on it. The way Long Kuiba felt just then, he could not even cry if he wanted to…

Under all those watching eyes, Long Kuiba slumped to the ground like one bereaved of his parents. Anything he said now was useless; he could not simply flee as Cheng Haonan had, for the whole of Longzhou Escort Agency stood behind him—the enterprise he had built with his own hands through bitter toil. He could never abandon it. So he could only remain here and await Hai Wuliang's verdict.

"It is clear to everyone now—Cheng Haonan is a demonic cultivator, beyond any doubt. Longzhou Escort Agency dared to enter a demonic cultivator in the competition—what does that make of our entire South Continent Escort Alliance? Has our South Continent Escort Alliance truly sunk so low, fallen so far as to nest with demonic cultivators?" Hai Wuliang had seized the moral high ground in one stroke, and for a fleeting moment he seemed to have become once more the spirited, commanding overlord of the escort world.

In the chaotic waters of the South Continent, morality was worth less than nothing—yet on certain special occasions it could hold everyone hostage and become a weapon no one could contend with. Hai Wuliang clearly knew this art well.

At a time like this, even Zhao Bufan and the others could not get a word in. To follow Hai Wuliang's lead would make them mere parroting lackeys; to oppose him would be open sheltering of a demonic cultivator. They could not bear such a damning label, so they could only turn a blind eye.

Among the assembled judges and referees, only Qi Mingyuan still regarded Hai Wuliang with open hostility. Yet even he did not rashly speak up—after all, the matter at hand concerned Longzhou Escort Agency, and there was no need for him to step forward of his own accord; it would only look like a guilty cover-up. Better to wait until the other side made his move, then strike back.

Facing the righteous, indignant Hai Wuliang, Long Kuiba could not utter a single word. The one thing he regretted most now was not the alliance with the Poison Eye Mercenary Corps, nor sending Wu Baoliang and Cheng Haonan out to fight—it was going to visit Hai Wuliang at Four Seas Escort Agency that night!

Had he not handed them the handle himself, then even without a chance to move against Qingtian Escort Agency and Ling Yi, even without a place in the top five, he could at least have withdrawn unscathed—far better than being carved up at others' mercy as he was now. Unfortunately, there has never been a medicine for regret in this world… (To be continued…)