"Elder Cai flatters me. I have long been in Elder Hong's debt for his many kindnesses—I am ashamed to say." Wei Zhao was secretly delighted. From the way this man spoke, his friendship with Hong Zhong was clearly no mere nodding acquaintance.

"Young hero Lin, you are too modest. That fellow Hong Zhong is a merchant to the bone—if he was willing to look after you, it means you have the means to look after him in turn. It all cuts both ways." Cai Zhongyang knew Hong Zhong's character well, and his appraisal struck straight to the bone. He chuckled and said, "By the way, how did you and Hong Zhong come to know each other? The fellow has been on the North Island all this while—he only came back a few days ago, and then off he went back to the North Island again, leaving me no chance even to find him for a game of chess..."

"To speak frankly, I am a disciple of the Sandie Pavilion on the North Island, and I first met Elder Hong there as well. Recently I came out on a trial mission, but something went awry along the way, and by a strange twist of fate I ended up drifting to the Middle Island. It was Elder Hong who instructed me before that I might come to the Five Elements Merchant Guild and seek your help, Elder Cai." Wei Zhao explained.

"So that is how it is. Well and good, well and good. That fellow Hong Zhong has never stood on ceremony with me. And this young lady beside you is...?" Cai Zhongyang asked, turning to her.

Xueli exchanged a glance with Wei Zhao, then answered without concealment, "This humble girl is Xueli. I pay my respects to Elder Cai."

"Xueli? Why does that name sound somewhat familiar?" Cai Zhongyang was briefly taken aback. Then he looked her up and down carefully, and at last it came to him. "If I am not mistaken, the person the Snow Sword Sect has been hunting all over the streets just now must be..."

"Indeed. It is the two of us." Matters had come to this point; further concealment or denial would plainly be useless. The only course was to admit it outright. The one thing Wei Zhao now needed to concern himself with was whether this Cai Zhongyang's character could truly be relied upon.

At this, Cai Zhongyang merely gave an understanding nod, his expression showing nothing out of the ordinary. He said to the two of them, "Have no fear. Since you are friends of that old fellow Hong Zhong, you are friends of Cai Zhongyang. The Snow Sword Sect may wield no small power, but my Five Elements Merchant Guild has never taken them seriously—and moreover, I am a registered disciple under the great Master Zhang Liju. Even if you lent them ten times their courage, they would not dare come in here to search. Rest easy and stay."

"Then we thank you, Elder Cai." Wei Zhao was momentarily stunned, then hastily led Xueli in voicing their thanks again and again. He had not expected this man to be so loyal, taking the whole matter onto his shoulders without a second thought. And from the look in his eyes, it did not seem feigned.

What surprised Wei Zhao even more, however, was that he was a registered disciple of Zhang Liju? Did that make him a senior or a junior fellow disciple of his own?

"Ha ha, young hero Lin, you are too polite. This little matter is no more than lifting a finger—hardly worth mentioning. Come, I will have a room prepared for you. You both look rather worn; rest well first, and we will talk later." Cai Zhongyang promptly had the finest guest room in the establishment prepared for the two of them. Escorting them to the room, he said, "I still have a few matters to see to. You two rest for now; we shall dine together this evening."

Watching Cai Zhongyang depart, Wei Zhao and Xueli finally turned and entered the room. Though a thread of worry still lingered in their hearts, for the moment it seemed this friend introduced by Hong Zhong could indeed be trusted—though of course, it was not yet time to let down their guard entirely.

If what Cai Zhongyang said was true, and he could shelter the two of them with ease, then half the trouble of being hunted throughout the city by the Snow Sword Sect could be considered resolved.

They had barely sat down in the room when a clamor of noise rose from below. Even with Xueli's cultivation at the great consummation of the Heaven Tier, she could clearly sense what was happening downstairs—the Snow Sword Sect disciples had indeed come looking for them!

Holding the wanted portraits, the leading Snow Sword Sect disciple addressed the many guests and attendants of the Five Elements Merchant Guild in a loud voice: "Whoever knows the whereabouts of these two need only report it and shall be rewarded with a thousand spirit jades. Has anyone here seen them?"

The whole hall gradually fell silent. Though the Five Elements Merchant Guild was the leading guild ranked first among the merchant alliances, those who came here to buy pills were not necessarily all wealthy magnates. To earn a thousand spirit jades simply by reporting a sighting—for the vast majority, the temptation was considerable.

Yet temptation was temptation. Without solid, firsthand eyewitness information, no one was willing to speak up rashly for the moment. After all, the Snow Sword Sect was no small, obscure faction; ordinary folk had not the nerve to play them false.

"No one has seen them? A full thousand spirit jades, you know. With so many people here, can it be that not a single one has laid eyes on them?" the leading Snow Sword Sect disciple called out again.

Just then, Cai Zhongyang's voice came suddenly from the top of the stairs: "The Snow Sword Sect certainly cuts a fine figure! You have come to arrest people right here in my Five Elements Merchant Guild. I should like to ask—just who gave you the audacity to openly disrupt the business of my Five Elements Merchant Guild?"

With such a heavy accusation clapped upon their heads, the Snow Sword Sect disciples all shrank back, and their leader was badly startled, stammering, "N-no... that is not... Deputy Manager Cai, please do not be angry. We were only asking casually..."

"Are you done asking? Then why aren't you scramming? Or do you need me to see you out personally?" Cai Zhongyang rebuked them with a cold face. Ordinarily he would never concern himself with such matters, but now that Wei Zhao and Xueli were involved, it was naturally a different story.

"Yes, yes, we will scram right now, right now." The Snow Sword Sect disciples bowed and scraped, not daring to so much as squeak, and slunk away in disgrace.

They had never been willing to take on this errand in the first place. These top-tier merchant guilds were all formidable in their own right—especially a colossus like the Five Elements Merchant Guild, backed by the Middle Island Pill Hall, which would never take their Snow Sword Sect seriously. This time their leader had merely gritted his teeth and gone through the motions to give his sect an accounting; otherwise he would never have come asking for trouble.

Moreover, they had never imagined they could actually find the two in a place like the Five Elements Merchant Guild, and so naturally they dared not—and would not—lock horns with Cai Zhongyang over it.

What happened downstairs was imprinted clearly in Wei Zhao's perception. Only then did he finally set his mind at ease. Cai Zhongyang, this friend of Hong Zhong's, was indeed a trustworthy man of his word. For the time being, at least, they could stay here in peace without having to hide this way and that.

"Xueli, adjust your condition now. I will help you break through to the Foundation Establishment stage," Wei Zhao said to Xueli. R1152

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