Chapter 4061 — Seeking Refuge
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"Good, then. But how do we solve this problem now?" Wei Zhao asked. The forging process could not be halted midway, and in its present lukewarm state, that lump inside was not even a half-finished product—there was certainly no taking it out now.
"In this state, the forging pool should, barring the unexpected, keep going indefinitely. But to be on the safe side, I had best stay here and keep watch. That means I must trouble you, Brother Lin, to find a way to procure some supplementary materials—only then can the forging continue." As he spoke, the Scrap King fetched paper and brush and at once listed out a whole series of forging materials, handing it to Wei Zhao.
Wei Zhao took it and glanced it over, then asked, "Are these materials all common?"
"Most are fairly common and should be available for direct purchase, but two of them will require some luck. Fortunately, there is no great urgency here, and I will find a way to keep it under control—even if time drags on a while, it should not be a major problem! This lukewarm state is itself a stage of forging; a longer duration is not necessarily a bad thing." So the Scrap King analyzed.
"Very well, then. Leave the matter of the supplementary materials to me—I will find a way. And I entrust this place to you, Brother Wang." Wei Zhao set off at once.
At the Hong Merchant Guild, ever since Hong Zhongyuan had departed for his post on the Middle Isle, the place had become territory where Si Haitao's word alone decided matters. And now, in the private room, two familiar faces had unexpectedly appeared—none other than the two brothers Nan Tianxiong and Nan Tianguan.
"Steward Si, we have an unreasonable request—we hope you can help us find someone." Nan Tianguan and Nan Tianxiong exchanged a glance, then spoke up in entreaty.
"Oh? Find whom? Surely not still that matter of Lin Er? There is no news yet, though I have already had people looking into it." Si Haitao sipped his fine spirit tea at his ease, answering with casual perfunctoriness.
"Actually, we already know Lin Er's true identity, and we know where he is. That fellow is none other than the Wei Zhao we mentioned to you before! But what we want to find now is a different person—someone you have met once before as well: my unworthy martial nephew, Yu Jiang." Nan Tianguan spoke with a hint of embarrassment.
He and Nan Tianxiong had already searched every place that could be searched, yet had never managed to find a trace of Yu Jiang. Coming now to beg Si Haitao for help was a move born of helplessness—after all, this man came from the Inspectorate, and borrowing the intelligence network of the Hong Shadow Group to probe for Yu Jiang's whereabouts would surely be far better than the two of them blundering about on their own.
"Inquire about Yu Jiang? You do not know the whereabouts of your own martial nephew?" Si Haitao could not help but start. "Since you now know that Wei Zhao is Lin Er, all the more reason to think of a way to get at this Wei Zhao first. What is the point of expending effort to find Yu Jiang?"
"Alas, Steward Si, you are not aware—we only recently learned that the one who killed our third brother was not Wei Zhao at all, but that utterly unfilial disciple Yu Jiang!" Nan Tianguan then recounted to Si Haitao, in rough outline, the events that had recently transpired.
Such a convoluted inside story left Si Haitao clicking his tongue in wonder. Though the matter of Yu Jiang murdering his master had recently caused a great uproar, it was chiefly confined to the Tri-Stack Pavilion and had not spread widely in the market district. Moreover, he had lately been busy straightening out the Hong Merchant Guild, erasing the traces left by Hong Zhong's years of management, and had simply no time to pay heed to such rumors.