Translator: Myuu Editor: Myuu
Wang Hui’s face turned pale and his hands holding the Yanling Saber were shaking. Yan Liqiang sighed as he extended a finger and pressed on the saber against his neck, “I never fought, and I never wanted one. I kept quiet simply because I wanted to. It doesn’t mean we are going to take whatever sh*t you give us. All three of us are on a team to complete the Tianqiao Hall’s mission. This mission has nothing to do with the Four Seas Courtyard. So, who do you think you are to yell at us? Put your sword down, please. If you accidentally hurt us, I don’t think you would be ready for the consequences…”
“You are only a nobody from Tianqiao Hall, how dare you disrespect us? I swear, once we arrive home, I’m going to complain about you to the Commandment Courtyard. Let’s see how well you can take the consequences!” Wang Hui yelled at Yan Liqiang loudly, but he had already taken the saber away from Yan Liqiang’s neck unconsciously.
“Haha! Complain if you want to, but first, do you think you will be able to go home?” Yan Liqiang stared at Wang Hui calmly.
“What do you mean?” Wang Hui stared back at Yan Liqiang.
“We have been following the escort agency party throughout the journey, with only one mission — to complete the trade safely and call it a day. Then we will head back home to report ourselves. Now, Escort Leader Feng is gone, and we are in the midst of a disaster. Judging from what you are doing now, you were actually hoping to create a bigger mess and endanger every one of us. You want to go home? I don’t think anyone here would be able to go home alive!”
“I was only ordering everyone to retrieve the goods from the mess, what is wrong with that?” Wang Hui clenched his fist as he took a step closer to Yan Liqiang, “I, Wang Hui, have been serving the agency for decades! Everyone knows what kind of person I am. Everything I do is for the agency! You are trying to provoke us and ruin my reputation! Explain yourself, or else I will teach you a lesson even if I have to die!”
“Fine. You want me to explain myself then let me speak. Let me tell you how you have been endangering everyone’s lives!” Yan Liqiang said with a stern face, “We are now in the middle of a disaster, and we have no news of Escort Leader Feng until now, so it is very unlikely for him to return safely. Other than him, only less than a third of those from the agency have been able to return alive. Do you think we will be able to deliver the goods to the Storm Army even if we retrieve the goods? In this situation, the most important thing for us to do is to dispatch someone to Jinling City and find out the situation there. Then, we won’t be doing things blindly, and we can plan from there. And yet, here you are, asking us to retrieve the goods while doing absolutely nothing about the situation. Obviously, this is your first mistake.”
“Who can say for certain that Escort Leader Feng is dead for sure? What if he comes back?” Wang Hui’s face turned red, probably out of shame. Yet, he defended his stance.
“Fine. Let’s just say that he returns. You have been in the agency for such a long time, don’t you know that the agency only lives with its men?” Yan Liqiang’s tone turned icy, “At this time, Jinling City and the surrounding towns in must be in chaos, and the situation is unclear. The agency must have lost many of its men yesterday. Now, we are clearly short of manpower. Don’t you think it is more important for us to figure out the way to survive? The escort mission will only be successful if our men survive. Let me ask you this. Now that Jinling City is a mess, with no accessible roads, and the fact that we are running out of food, why do you think we should retrieve the goods first? Can we even eat the goods? Do you expect us to just stay here with no food and water, and somehow be able to survive? This is your second mistake…”
“Well…” Wang Hui had never been good with words, but upon hearing Yan Liqiang’s speech, he was now at a loss for words. Everything Yan Liqiang said made perfect sense. The agency would be nothing if all its men were gone. After last night’s event, the agency had lost many of its men, and now they were deprived of manpower. The manpower it possessed now would not be good enough to secure the goods. If these remaining men were lost, then the goods would be as good as gone.
Everyone in the agency had been busy retrieving the goods, but upon hearing what Yan Liqiang said, they silently stared at each other and stopped whatever they were doing. They couldn’t help but silently agree to what Yan Liqiang had said. Indeed, the most important thing for them now, was survival. There was no way they would be able to guard the goods while starving themselves half-dead.
Yan Liqiang noticed the silence in the room, so he calmly continued, “According to history, chaos ensues after a catastrophic disaster. The disaster had just taken place, so chaos will follow very soon, though it hasn’t happened yet. We all know what kind of goods we are delivering. Think about it. We can waste all our energy retrieving the goods, but what will happen if the chaos breaks out? Those ill-intended persons will take the opportunity and rob the hell out of us. This is why retrieving the goods now is like digging our own graves. Once anyone knows what kind of items we have with us, I don’t think anyone here will be able to live…”
Everyone’s countenance contorted as soon as they heard Yan Liqiang, including Wang Hui who immediately broke out in cold sweat.
Everyone in the agency knew that the goods they were delivering to the Storm Army, were weapons made by Tianqiao Hall using Pear Blossom Steel. These were not extraordinary weapons and could be easily bought in the market. However, with the disaster which just broke out, the city would be in disorder. Everyone would want to get their hands on a weapon. The goods they had with them were as eye-catching as a burning torch in complete darkness — everyone would be tempted to steal them. Thinking about all the ill-intended people that would flock over to them to rob their weapons sent a shiver down everyone’s spines.
They had not thought much when Wang Hui gave the order to retrieve the goods. However, now that Yan Liqiang had reminded them, they realized what a stupid idea it was. It was suicidal.
Wang Hui was overcome with shame. He suddenly raised his hand and gave himself two tight slaps on the face. He then cupped his fist to Yan Liqiang with a shameful look on his face, “Brother Liqiang, I, Wang Hui, am a brute who is only good at fighting. I apologize for what I did to you just now, please forgive me. The escort agency party is blind without our leader, and I have run out of ideas. I gave stupid orders and almost got everyone killed. Brother Liqiang, you are a smart person… Please, tell us, what should we do now?”
Everyone else from the escort agency had their hopeful eyes on Yan Liqiang now. Most of them were also brutes that only knew how to fight. They might be good when facing enemies, however, in such a critical situation, they were just as panicked and clueless as Wang Hui.
“Do you trust me?” Yan Liqiang asked everyone in a low volume.
“Brother Liqiang, you are a disciple of the Divine Sword Sect. We trust you. You would not do anything to harm the sect or the Four Seas Escort Agency. Give us your orders, we will trust and follow you…” Wang Hui was the first to declare his trust, and everyone else nodded.
“Since everyone trust me, well, I suggest that we can start with a drama, and talk about the rest later…”
“A drama?” Wang Hui was confused, and so was everyone else. Nobody knew what Yan Liqiang meant.
However, they immediately realized what Yan Liqiang was trying to do when he suddenly started to yell at Wang Hui with a loud voice while stamping his feet…
“Fine! Kill me if you dare! Chop me into few pieces! These exquisite porcelain jars were custom-made goods that we ordered from the Gan Province, and they are worth thousands! We had already made it clear to you guys that the Four Seas Escort Agency will be be held responsible if there are any damages to the goods! Now, there are so many jars which are broken, and you are trying to blame the earthquake yesterday! Is that how you want to do business? You think just because your leader is not here, you don’t need to pay the price? If your agency does not compensate in complete amount for the broken porcelain jars, we, Dechang Trading, will give you guys trouble!”
The courtyard where the escort party stayed for the night was relatively quiet. There had not been anyone around when they were arguing just now. However, with Yan Liqiang raising his voice like that, everyone in the depot would be able to hear it…
The escort party had only arrived since yesterday, and nobody in the depot knew what they were delivering yet. With Yan Liqiang yelling at the top of the lungs, everyone in the depot knew that the escort agency had been delivering ‘exquisite, custom-made porcelain jars from Gan Province’. With a simple drama, Yan Liqiang had resolved a potential risk.
At this time, nobody would be interested in a few broken porcelain jars.
“Yeah! Our Young Master is right! No matter what, you guys need to compensate! The jars were in perfect condition when we handed it to you, so it is your responsibility to make sure they are in such condition! Why else would we pay you? You think you can bully us just because we have less people? Justice will prevail!” Gu Zexuan, who had been standing beside Yan Liqiang, helped with the drama.
“We didn’t say we are not going to compensate, had we? It was just a few sh*tty pieces of jars! We lost many of our men too, so we need time to arrange about the compensation! Our leader is not here, it is not up to a mere escort like me to negotiate compensation!” Wang Hui was not too simple with his head after all, he quickly understood Yan Liqiang’s intentions after he winked at him and started retorting loudly.
