Chapter 4437 — Wei Zhao Takes the Field
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
The venue for this round was not the Demonic Cold Plaza, but a rocky stretch of shore where reefs stood thick. Thirty-two sailing ships were drawn up in a line not far from land, of every build and style—though all were the sort the great agencies used on the road.
Without question, these ships were the hiding places for this round. In the South Continent's waters, after all, bandits were mostly pirates, and dangers on the road tended to come at sea; set up this way, the scene came as close to reality as possible, lending the round both credibility and practicality.
Each of the thirty-two ships bore a numbered mark. The contestants drew lots together to determine their respective venues, and then the contest formally began.
Wei Zhao drew lot number thirty—a small cargo vessel. At the sight of that number, Qi Wenmo and the others felt their hearts sink. The smaller the ship, the fewer the places to hide goods, and the easier the "bandit crew" would find them—meaning that, without anyone saying so, his difficulty was a notch above those who had drawn the larger vessels.
Still, since the draw was held openly before everyone with all contestants together, unless someone were caught cheating on the spot, there was nothing to complain of; one could only blame one's own ill luck.
"Brother Ling, set your mind at ease. We hold a huge lead as it is—even if we score nothing in this round, it doesn't matter; we'll fight hard again afterward," Qi Wenmo said by way of comfort.
Such words were, of course, self-deception. With the Four Seas Escort Agency eyeing them like a tiger from behind, until the matter was truly settled, no lead was more than a passing cloud. He said it purely to console Wei Zhao.
"I know," Wei Zhao said with a chuckle. Then he took the standard small strongbox for escort goods from the official's hands and strode toward cargo ship number thirty, while the contestants from the other agencies likewise took their places on the vessels they had drawn.
"Let me repeat myself: you have only one stick of incense to hide your goods. Remember, this is an ordinary short stick, not the long sticks used before, so you had best move quickly. When the time comes, I will call the roll aloud here before everyone; any who are late will be deemed to have failed and will score zero for this round. Also, this is a contest of hiding goods, not of losing them—if anyone tries to be clever and tosses his goods into the sea, that too will count as failure. Is that all clear?" Hai Wuliang swept his gaze across them all and gave the order: "Light the incense, drop the curtains, raise the formation!"
At his word, an official at once lit a short stick of incense before all eyes, and great thick black curtains shot up from the shore, wrapping each of the thirty-two ships separately within them to form thirty-two hidden spaces.
At the same moment, a vast surge of formation energy rolled in from the seaside. The crowd felt the world blur before their eyes, and all was plunged into murky darkness—not only were the thirty-two ships invisible, even the black curtains could not be made out clearly, nor could any divine sense perceive them.
In truth, this was no exquisite or profound formation, merely a common blinding trick. Anywhere else, a cultivator of even modest skill should have been able to pierce it with ease—but this place was different. Just now, the sea mist was at its thickest! (To be continued)