Chapter 4449 — The Final Duel
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
Cheng Haonan, Wu Baoliang, Long Kuiba—none of them could be called fools. Yet set beside Hai Wuliang, they were exactly the sort who would be sold and still help count the money. Their schemes were simply not on the same plane.
His reason for proposing this special rule was twofold: on one hand, naturally, to deal with Ling Yi and achieve his aim of killing by another's blade; on the other, to clear the field for his own Four Seas Escort Agency.
Judging by the results of past Southern Continent Escort Gatherings, the strongest agency was none other than the Four Seas Escort Agency—and this time they were fighting on home ground. Hai Wuliang had long since regarded the champion's seat as something already in his pocket, within easy reach.
Yet never in his wildest dreams had Hai Wuliang imagined that from the second round onward, the gathering would break entirely from his control, and go on to evolve into the awkward situation it now faced. With the final round looming, it was clear that without a strong dose of medicine, matters could not be set right. And then, conveniently, Cheng Haonan and his two companions had come knocking.
In Hai Wuliang's eyes, the three men of the Dragon Boat Escort Agency were doubtless clowns—but clowns could serve as a ready-made sharp blade. That blade could cut down Wei Zhao, and with him, bring down the suddenly risen Qingtian Escort Agency as well.
And once the Qingtian Escort Agency, that top-tier dark horse, was no longer in the way, which of the remaining agencies could stand against his Four Seas Escort Agency?
As for the Dragon Boat Escort Agency—it might swallow the Qingtian Escort Agency's vast store of points, and for a brief time even sit alone at the pinnacle as the new top dark horse. But what of it?
Hai Wuliang did not worry about that in the slightest. Should matters truly reach that point, he need only expose Wu Baoliang's identity as an evil cultivator, and the Dragon Boat Escort Agency would collapse on the spot. Never mind becoming the new overlord of the escort world—whether it could even survive the siege of the assembled agencies was an open question.
After all, escort agencies were recognized throughout the Southern Continent as a force of the righteous path. Whose righteous force ever made an evil cultivator its trump card? If that was not courting death, what was?
So no matter how things played out, Hai Wuliang considered himself to stand in an unassailable position. As for Cheng Haonan and his two companions, they were simply pitiful creatures who would be sold and still help count the money...
The night passed without a word. When the sun rose the next day, Demon Cold Plaza was once again packed with people. The crowds who had come from every direction to watch were more than double those of the previous two days! Everyone knew that today was the final round of this year's gathering. Who would laugh last and become the new overlord of the escort world—the answer would be revealed today.
This time, as usual, Hai Wuliang took the stage to announce the rules of the round to all present.
The final round, after all, had little room for innovation or change. The judges had agreed on the rules long ago, and even among the spectators, anyone with more than a passing knowledge of the Southern Continent Escort Gathering could have guessed five or six parts of them in advance.
Still, among the many agency heads present, some raised questions. Unlike the others, they had not come for the spectacle—they had to fully grasp the rules beforehand, with not the slightest ambiguity permitted, or it would be the entire agency that paid the price.
"Chief Escort Hai, since each agency has only two chances to challenge and two chances to be challenged, when we are challenged, may we refuse our opponent?" (To be continued...)