Chapter 4436 — A Hidden Escort in Peril
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
With that comparison set before them, the three men's hearts were instantly thrown out of balance—though by now it was far too late for regret. The road was one they had chosen themselves; even if they had to crawl it on their knees, they could only keep going.
"Brilliant," Wei Zhao said, watching it all unfold, and could not help but give Qi Wenmo a thumbs-up. This young master of the agency was truly a man of nerve.
It was only one short sentence, yet it cost a full three hundred and fifty thousand spirit jades—but look at the faces of those escorts, look at the shock of the outsiders around them, and it was plain that not a single one of those jades had been spent in vain.
From this day on, the escorts under his command would trust the agency all the more, would serve it with redoubled loyalty; and once word of this got out, the outside world too would learn that the Skysupport Escort Agency treated its people generously and acted with uncommon boldness. Who could possibly worry about entrusting their goods to an agency like that?
For a mere three hundred and fifty thousand spirit jades, he had bought back the escorts' loyalty, bought back the agency's good name, and dissolved the shadow of defeat in this round into nothing. By any measure, that was a bargain that could not lose.
Perhaps when Qi Wenmo spoke those words, it was only out of a moment's anger—but in the days to come, he would realize just how wise, how sagacious, the decision he made today had been.
※6, ⊕. In the distance, Qi Mingyuan watched the scene, and far from faulting Qi Wenmo for acting on his own, he laughed aloud in glad approval; while at his side, Hai Wuliang and the others all changed countenance at once, and the little triumph they had just regained was wiped away in an instant.
Three rounds were done. The Skysupport Escort Agency had suffered a small setback, but it did not affect the larger picture—they still held the top of the rankings with three hundred and seventy points, while the Four Seas Escort Agency stood at two hundred and seventy, still second. As for the rest, none could pose any threat to Skysupport at all.
"For the fourth round, the event is the Hidden Escort in Peril," Hai Wuliang announced in a clear, ringing voice. "As they say, he who walks often by the river will sooner or later wet his shoes—on the road, one meets every kind of danger imaginable. But whatever the danger, guarding the escort goods comes first. Faced with robbers of overwhelming strength, if it is plain you cannot win by force, the first thing to do is hide the valuables so they cannot be found. That is a basic skill every escort ought to possess."
The crowd reacted variously to this—some nodded, some shook their heads. It was not that they objected to hiding the goods when danger came; the crux was that such a thing was easy to learn but hard to master. Nine times out of ten, hiding did no good at all.
Who cannot hide a thing? Even a three-year-old can manage it. But the question was this: once a thing was hidden, how many could keep it from being found by a Golden Core expert—or even a Nascent Soul one?
"The rules for this round are as follows: each agency sends one contestant, and they are given the time of one stick of incense. Each is placed in a sealed, perilous terrain, where they must use the surroundings to conceal their escort goods. Then a 'robber band' formed of the five great agencies and the various merchant guilds will search for them together. Conceal it successfully, and the round is won," Hai Wuliang continued.
"Conceal it successfully? However well it is hidden, it will be found sooner or later—so what counts as success?" someone called out loudly.