Chapter 4454 — Caught Off Guard
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
Any passerby could see that the Wanli Escort Agency was nothing but a fat piece of meat—anyone at all could snap it up in one bite, without the least difficulty.
The others had none of the Qingtian Escort Agency's high-minded resolve. A hundred points lying there for the taking—only a fool would not grab them!
"It's like a pack of starving dogs fighting over scraps. They might at least spare the man a little face," Wei Zhao said, watching from afar the chief escort of the Wanli Escort Agency's glum expression, and could not help laughing.
"Small wonder they're so frantic. Every agency gets two chances to be challenged, but in the Wanli Escort Agency's case there's plainly only one—miss this village and there's no other inn," Qi Wenmo said with a nod.
By the rules of the Southern Continent Escort Gathering, any agency whose points fell into the negative would have its run cut short on the spot and be judged eliminated.
The Wanli Escort Agency stood at zero now and could still be challenged by others, but the moment it dropped to minus one hundred it would be out outright—and no other agency would ever get to farm points off it again.
To be named and challenged by five agencies at once, to be thrust instantly into the center of the stage with every finger pointing at you—the feeling was enough to make a man want to die of sheer gloom. The Wanli Escort Agency agonized for a long while before finally selecting one of them, the one that looked slightly weaker, and the two sides took the field.
Of course, not one of those five agencies rushing to challenge the Wanli Escort Agency belonged to the five great houses. They were all aristocratic agencies, after all, and to show such ugly greed would earn them the mockery of the crowd.
Watching this, Qi Wenmo cast Wei Zhao a grateful look. Had it not been for Wei Zhao's guidance, he might well have been one of those leaping out—and whether or not he won the chance, his own Qingtian Escort Agency would surely have become the laughingstock of the assembly.
The result of this opening bout of the Escort Agency Championship came quickly. The Wanli Escort Agency had no stomach for the fight at all; before a foe like a wolf or a tiger, it had no strength to resist, and having handed over its hundred points without protest, it was eliminated as expected.
Right after that, the eyes of the many agencies turned at once to the next soft persimmon. To the great majority of agency heads, points ready to be had were the only thing that was real; everything else was empty air.
This time the five great houses again did not stir. Not that joining in would have done them any good—unless they had gone mad, those "hot" agencies would never have picked them as opponents. Joining in would have won them no opportunity and merely earned them ridicule. These were all old aristocratic houses steeped in calculation; they were not fools...
Just as Wei Zhao had foreseen, through the early part of the fifth round the arena was contested only by agencies at the bottom of the rankings; not until a full hour had passed did the much-watched five great houses finally appear—and the first to take the stage was none other than the Qingtian Escort Agency, at the very height of its fortunes.
It was not an attack they had launched of their own accord, but a challenge they had been named in—from an old opponent of the first round's escort-defense battle, the Wuma Escort Agency.
This time it truly caught the Qingtian Escort Agency off guard. After all, Wei Zhao's strategy had been to hold still and let movement answer movement, waiting for the other rivals to make the first move—but now, with things as they were, there was no declining the fight even if they wanted to. (To be continued) R655