Chapter 4998 — The Island Lord's Document
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 3
Seeing the unshakable resolve in his eyes, Oda Zhou hesitated for a moment, then at last stopped trying to persuade him. He nodded and said, "I'll be waiting for the day you come home."
"Just you wait." Oda Ba laughed heartily. Then he abruptly changed the subject. "By the way, from what you were saying earlier, Second Brother—has Brother Wei Zhao run into some kind of trouble?"
"Mm, you could say so. But it's only a small matter—a word or two and it's settled. I'll handle it." Oda Zhou nodded.
"Second Brother, there's something I must warn you about. This young man is no ordinary figure. Even from the standpoint of the clan, he is worth cultivating a friendship with. Whatever you do, do not rashly make an enemy of him." Oda Ba's expression turned grave.
"Don't worry. I know how to weigh these things." Oda Zhou nodded. Oda Ba was, after all, a son of the Oda clan who had roamed the seas for three hundred years; his judgment was naturally beyond question. If even he held this man in such high regard, then this was certainly someone worth befriending properly.
The two brothers, reunited after so long apart, drank from dawn till dusk, and then from dusk till dawn again, before Oda Ba, thoroughly drunk, finally saw Oda Zhou off. What they had been drinking was a century-old vintage steeped in the finest spiritual herbs, and its delayed kick was beyond imagining. Only because they had cheated and neutralized most of the alcohol's effect were they still standing; otherwise ten Oda Bas would long since have collapsed.
By contrast, Oda Zhou looked perfectly at ease when he left. His cultivation was far above Oda Ba's, and even without cheating he could have effortlessly dispersed this much alcohol with the true qi circulating of its own accord within him. That was what it truly meant to drink a thousand cups without getting drunk.
Ever since his humiliation at the Tian Dan Pavilion the day before, Wu Che had been keeping watch in the Island Lord's Pavilion. He would have loved nothing more than to have Wei Zhao thrown into a dungeon and subjected to every torture and extreme punishment in turn—but that was a thought he could only entertain.
To say nothing of the fact that he simply did not have the strength to do it—even if he did find someone capable of dealing with Wei Zhao, he would not dare act rashly before Oda Zhou reached his conclusion. Offending Wei Zhao was one thing, but if he offended Oda Zhou as well, his good days would be over for good.
Wu Che paced back and forth in Hall Two, the hall reserved for the Executive Vice Island Lord. Every so often he would send someone to Hall One to scout out the situation. Oda Zhou's stance the day before had left him uneasy. Rationally, he did not believe Oda Zhou would offend him—the Executive Vice Island Lord—for the sake of a stranger like Wei Zhao, whom he had never even met. But what if he would?
Oda Zhou had not returned all night, and Wu Che had spent the whole night on tenterhooks along with him. It was not until morning, when a subordinate reported that Oda Zhou was back, that Wu Che could no longer contain himself and made ready to go ask Oda Zhou what was going on.
But before he had even left Hall Two, Wu Che turned back. If he went running over to ask about this himself, would it not look as though he were itching to move against Wei Zhao?
That was indeed what he wanted, but as the number two figure in the official hierarchy, he could not afford to show it so plainly—otherwise Oda Zhou would certainly think less of him.
After turning it over and over in his mind, Wu Che had no choice but to send one of his trusted subordinates to sound out the situation. Yet the man was back in less than half an incense stick's time, carrying with him an Island Lord's document.
"How did it go?" Wu Che asked hurriedly.