Chapter 3745 — Ambush on the Road
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"Very well, then I'll be counting on you." Wei Zhao nodded and turned to leave.
Wei Zhao knew perfectly well why Hong Zhong was being so attentive to him. Put plainly, the two top-grade Foundation Establishment Breakthrough Pills had stirred the man's doubts, and from those doubts had grown all manner of mysterious conjectures—the old steward wanted to win him over and use him to create even greater profits.
It was what any merchant with an eye for opportunity would do. It was only that this Steward Jin did it with greater finesse and polish, and made one feel more thoroughly at ease while it happened.
Wei Zhao did not resent such things. In fact, having just arrived on Cloudstep Island, this was precisely the moment when he needed business partners of that kind.
After all, of the four great essentials a cultivator holds dear—wealth, method, companions, and terrain—wealth ranks first. Only with deep coffers could one be assured of an unending supply of rare treasures and heavenly materials, and only thus could one rise swiftly, level after level, until one stood at the very summit of the cultivation world.
The wealth in question was, naturally, not the coin of the mortal realm, but hard currency of the cultivation world such as spirit jade.
True, Wei Zhao could now smuggle two or three pieces of spirit jade out of the mines each day, and sometimes add a little more by trading scrap jade for good through Meng Zhou and his lot—but in the end it was all small business, nowhere near the height of true wealth.
To make wealth unleash its full power, one had to think big. Inevitably, Wei Zhao would need to find a reliable business partner, so that all his hidden advantages could be tapped and developed to the fullest and pave the way for his future.
From that brief contact just now, Hong Zhong, old steward of the Hong Merchant Guild, clearly had what it took to be his business partner. If they could truly work closely together, then with Wei Zhao's hidden cards and Hong Zhong's seasoned commercial instincts, carving out something grand in the days to come would be no difficult matter.
Of course, time reveals a man's heart. This matter bore on his future prospects and was of grave importance, so Wei Zhao would have to examine it carefully.
Unless he could truly know a man inside and out, he would never lightly take anyone as a business partner—at most they would use each other. After all, this concerned his very life and fortune; no amount of caution would be excessive.
Leaving the Hong Merchant Guild, Wei Zhao did not hurry back to the Welcome Pavilion. Instead, he took his time and made two more rounds through the Inner Street.
After all, the Inner Street opened only one day a month. Seizing this rare chance, he naturally ought to familiarize himself thoroughly with the place. Even if he did not buy certain things for now, he had to form a clear picture in his mind, so that when he needed them later he could go straight to the mark instead of blundering about like a headless fly and wasting his effort.
Only after finishing his tour of the Inner Street did Wei Zhao leave the market quarter and set out for the Welcome Pavilion. But he had barely reached a deserted little path when the jade pendant suddenly began to warn him—a lethal ambush had struck in an instant.
A blade of sword qi, razor-sharp beyond measure, came from an utterly tricky and bizarre angle, hurtling at Wei Zhao's back from thirty paces behind, so fast that no defense seemed possible.
Relying on the speed boost of his Gale-Chasing Boots, Wei Zhao pushed his Butterfly Microstep to its very limit in an instant. Only then did he twist his body and narrowly evade that ferocious, lethal blow—yet even so, a chill of belated dread ran through him.