Chapter 4454 — Caught Off Guard
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
In the long run, after all, if the Qingtian Escort Agency truly meant to rise, it would have to cross blades in earnest with these old aristocratic houses sooner or later; to do nothing but retreat would leave it forever a pretend power, never the genuine article.
There was also one factor that had to be weighed: the challenge for the agency's helm still to come. Knowing full well that it would work against their own side, they had all the more reason to prepare thoroughly beforehand—the larger their points cushion, the steadier their footing when that hour arrived.
"Brother Ling, what's your plan?" Qi Wenmo turned it over and over and still could not strike the balance; in the end he had no choice but to appeal to Wei Zhao.
"My plan is simple: hold still and let movement answer movement," Wei Zhao said with a faint smile.
"Ah? What do you mean, exactly, hold still and let movement answer movement?" Qi Wenmo pressed at once.
"Heh. The rules don't say a choice must be made within any set time. We can simply sit tight for now and see how the other houses fare before we decide," Wei Zhao said, smiling.
"But what if all the soft persimmons get snapped up by everyone else, and nothing's left but hard bones to gnaw? What then?" Qi Wenmo could not help worrying.
Each agency had only two chances to be challenged. Once the chance to challenge those weak agencies was snatched away by others, the Qingtian Escort Agency could regret it all it liked—it would be too late.
"Brother Qi, in your view, are we of the Qingtian Escort Agency counted among the strong in these thirty-two houses, or the weak?" Wei Zhao glanced at him and answered a question with a question.
"That... the strong, of course," Qi Wenmo said after a moment's hesitation, then set his jaw on it.
"If we are the strong, then we must carry ourselves like the strong. Picking up easy scraps is the privilege of the weak, and it has nothing to do with us. Keep your eyes fixed on the rivals who pose a true threat, then wait for the moment to strike. That is what we ought to be doing," Wei Zhao said mildly.
"Brother Ling's guidance is a thunderclap that wakes the deaf. Your little brother stands corrected!" Only then did it seem to dawn on Qi Wenmo; before everyone present, he bowed deeply to Wei Zhao.
Until that moment, his mindset had still been stuck at the level of a tail-ender among the five great agencies. Facing those old aristocratic houses, he had not had much confidence to speak of—but now, having heard Wei Zhao's words, he came to his senses with belated clarity and broke out in a cold sweat.
Four hundred points ahead of second place, all but assured of the top seat barring malicious targeting—as the young master of such an agency, if he could not even muster that much bearing, how would he ever accomplish anything great?
While the two of them were speaking, Hai Wuliang had already announced to the crowd that the much-anticipated fifth round of the Escort Agency Championship had formally begun!
The instant Hai Wuliang's voice fell, the heads of five agencies rose almost in unison, rushing to issue challenges—and the agency they challenged was, remarkably, one and the same: the Wanli Escort Agency.
Ranked thirty-second. Total points across four rounds: zero!
Of all the agencies, it was the only one that had not scored a single point. If one had to name the weakest of the thirty-two, the Wanli Escort Agency was it, beyond all dispute.
A small agency that had barely qualified to join the Southern Continent Escort Alliance, its fighting strength was already pitifully weak to begin with—and after the third round, the test of escort loyalty, all ten of its competing escorts had defected. Its morale had sunk to freezing point; from the chief escort down to the common runners, every one of them was listless and hollow-eyed.