Chapter 4557 — Still Not Giving Up

"You think this is simple, kid?" Ghost Thing curled its lip in annoyance at the question. "This sort of thing sounds like no big deal, but actually pulling it off is a real hassle—it burns through a good chunk of the physical essence and true qi I've scraped together over who knows how long. This time I'm only doing it to let you have a look. Unless it's absolutely necessary, I can't afford such extravagance."

"Oh, oh, all right." Wei Zhao nodded and said no more, focusing on borrowing Ghost Thing's divine consciousness to observe the situation on the surface. If it really was the Western Mountain Old Sect holding position up there, that would be trouble indeed.

After a careful sweep, Wei Zhao used Ghost Thing's divine consciousness to lock onto two figures on the surface, stationed not far from the Five-Venom Marsh. To his considerable relief, neither of them was the Western Mountain Old Sect.

Both were burly, vigorous men, their cultivation not especially high—one at the mid Golden Core stage, the other at the peak of mid Golden Core. They sat on the trunk of a great tree several li from the Five-Venom Marsh, keeping distant watch over the marsh's movements.

Why did these two auras feel somewhat familiar? Wei Zhao was secretly puzzled. His memory had always been excellent; even a passerby, once encountered, would leave some impression. And these two men sitting on the tree trunk watching the marsh—he had clearly seen them somewhere before. For the moment he could not place them, so he kept observing.

"Damn it, the two of us are gold-medal escorts, for crying out loud. There's plenty of fat, lucrative work out there, and we don't get any of it. No, we have to be sent to this godforsaken shithole to keep watch, staring at a pile of rotten swamp day in and day out, not even a ghost to be seen. What in the world is there to watch? Are they sick in the head...?" one of them, a bald, hulking fellow, grumbled resentfully as he gnawed on shriveled dry rations.

"Tell me about it. This is the edge of the Southern Island—one spirit beast wanders out and the two of us are done for. Even if we're lucky enough not to run into one, just this stench is more than a person can take. First time I've ever seen such a disgusting swamp. All the colors of the rainbow, and the smell hits you like a wall. Keep this up much longer and my nose is going to be ruined!" the other man, swarthy-faced, chimed in with his own complaints.

"Hey, just grit your teeth. It's only been a month; we have to wait out two full months before the shift changes. Chief Escort Long gave the order himself—we underlings just have to follow it through, even if we pinch our noses till they bleed." The bald man shook his head with a bitter smile.

Chief Escort Long? Long Kuiba? The moment Wei Zhao heard that name, it came back to him—these two were escorts from the Dragon Boat Escort Agency. They had been present at the Southern Continent Escort Gathering, no wonder he remembered them. But why were these two stationed here?

"Our luck's just rotten, that's all—we drew the short straw. Though to be fair, you can't really blame Chief Escort Long for this. He had no choice either. The Western Mountain Old Sect gave the order to watch the Five-Venom Marsh day and night—even our Chief Escort Long wouldn't dare say a word of refusal before that kind of big shot." The swarthy man clicked his tongue and sighed.

"Heh. They open their mouths, and we little grunts have to run our legs off. Where's the justice in that? I just can't figure it out. That Ling Yi jumped into this goddamn swamp—he should've been dead and gone long ago. And it's been three whole months now, not a peep from start to finish. What's the Western Mountain Old Sect still worried about? Why force us to stand guard out here?" The bald man curled his lip in exasperation.

"How are we supposed to guess what goes on in the minds of big shots like that? They say jump, we jump. You'd dare defy an order, brother?" The swarthy man teased with a sidelong glance.

"As if! I wouldn't dare even with ten lives." The bald man shrank his neck and could only console himself: "At least there's only one month of this miserable duty left, and we get paid in spirit jade too, so it's not a total loss. Once the shift changes in a month, the two of us are going back and finding the best tavern for a proper feast. Damn it, my mouth has gone so bland I can taste nothing but birds. Day in, day out, nothing but rotten dry rations, not even a drop of wine. If I'd known, I'd have smuggled a few jugs along."

"You said it. When we get back, we're going straight to the Thousand Drunken Pavilion for a proper feast. Ai yo, brother, look at me—I've gone thin from hunger, and I've even gotten tanned..." The swarthy man poured out his grievances with a woebegone look.

"Bull! You were born a black devil through and through—you, tanned? Quit your nonsense!" The bald man burst out laughing.

………………

Listening to the two men gripe, Wei Zhao, lurking in the Five-Venom Marsh, could not help but start in alarm and curse inwardly. Three whole months had passed, and the Western Mountain Old Sect still refused to give up—actually sending men to stand watch over the marsh. The old monster was far too cautious for words.

By any reasonable standard, ordinary people might not know the perils of the Five-Venom Marsh, but the Western Mountain Old Sect itself certainly knew them through and through. By all logic, no one could possibly come out of the Five-Venom Marsh alive—and three months had passed already. And still he would not give up?

Yet thinking it over carefully, Wei Zhao's past exploits had been extraordinary one after another. The first time the Western Mountain Old Sect hunted him, he had actually escaped into the depths of the Southern Island and gotten away, then slipped out of the Southern Island entirely. That danger had been no less than the Five-Venom Marsh. If he could escape death back then, then it was not so hard to understand that he might manage it again now.

In truth, if it came down to it, the Western Mountain Old Sect did believe Wei Zhao was dead and gone for good. After all, once one jumped into the Five-Venom Marsh, not even he would have the slightest chance of survival—let alone a man of Wei Zhao's paltry strength.

But Wei Zhao's precedent of cheating death was right there before his eyes, and the Western Mountain Old Sect had recently gone out of his way to investigate Wei Zhao's exploits, hearing of all the legendary things that had happened to him. He feared another accident this time.

Even if reason told him the other man was surely dead beyond any doubt, a sliver of unease lingered in his heart. So he had Long Kuiba send men to watch. It was not as though he had to go himself, wasting his own time and energy here for nothing—it was merely a matter of speaking a word, not even lifting a finger, and in the end it was only the escorts and underlings below who suffered for it. (To be continued...) R527