Chapter 57: Hong Family’s Attraction
The next day, Zhao Ya came to the escort agency early as usual, intending to take a look around and meet the chief escort. If there was nothing else, he would go home to practice.
But today, as soon as he entered the backyard, he heard someone talking in the house.
"Chief Escort Meng, the fact that our Hong family can offer you this condition is enough to prove our sincerity, so I hope you will make a decision as soon as possible. After all, the situation is getting more and more chaotic, and there are bandits rampant outside the city."
"Even if your Changlong Escort Agency has some reputation, it is difficult to stay out of trouble. It is better to join our Hong family camp directly, and you can also win a hope in this chaotic world."
The person who spoke was obviously very eloquent, talking eloquently and quite tempting.
Zhao Ya, who was standing in the yard, was moved when he heard the words.
As one of the three major families in the inner city, the Hong family is very powerful and used to be the largest customer of the Changlong Escort Agency.
And from what he said now, the Hong family obviously hopes that the Changlong Escort Agency can join their camp.
This matter concerns the future of the entire escort agency, and is closely related to himself, so Zhao Ya pricked up his ears and listened, wanting to know what the chief escort's attitude was.
After a moment of silence, Meng Lei said.
"Thank you for the kind invitation from the Hong family, but our Changlong Escort Agency has no intention of joining any camp. We just want to make a living with our own abilities, so... please forgive us!"
"Well, since Chief Escort Meng insists on not agreeing, we will no longer make things difficult for him. Goodbye!"
Seeing that the attempt to win him over failed, the tone of the person who spoke became cold and hard, and he stood up and said goodbye directly.
Zhao Ya walked under the eaves to watch and saw three people walking out of the house.
The leader was a middle-aged man with a long robe and large sleeves, a goatee under his chin, and a scholar's dress.
But Zhao Ya noticed that this man had a steady pace and a bright look in his eyes, at least a second-level warrior.
As for the two people following behind him, their palms were red and their fingers were short and thick. They should be masters of practicing iron sand palm.
Zhao Ya watched the three people go away before turning around and going into the house.
Meng Lei was sitting on a chair drinking tea at this time. Seeing Zhao Ya come in, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.
"Did you hear everything outside just now?"
Zhao Ya nodded.
Meng Lei sighed, "Alas, over the years, I have relied on my strength as a third-level warrior to mediate between various forces in order to avoid being too involved with one party. Relying on this strategy, our Changlong Escort Agency has been developing peacefully until now."
"But I didn't expect that the Hong family would eventually target us. Although I rejected them now, the troubled times have begun, and our escort agency will have a hard time in the future."
Zhao Ya was silent.
Because he knew that what Meng Lei said was from the bottom of his heart.
In this world, strength is respected. Even Meng Lei, a third-level warrior, cannot be free. He has to carefully maneuver between various forces to seek a balance.
This method may have worked well in the past, but the increasingly chaotic world has broken this fragile balance.
"Will the Hong family give up?" Zhao Ya asked.
Meng Lei shook his head, "I don't know, but no matter what, they still have to give face to me, a third-level warrior, so I guess they will be quiet for a while after this incident."
Zhao Ya nodded and stood up to say goodbye.
At this time, Meng Lei suddenly asked, "How have you progressed recently?"
Zhao Ya didn't dare to say that he had made some progress, but he was still far from being promoted to the third level.
After listening, Meng Lei sighed slightly.
"Actually, I expected this to happen. After all, the supply of Qi and Blood Pills has been cut off, and there is no more blood and flesh from the exotic beasts. The little bit of remaining tonic soup is definitely not enough for your cultivation. It's great that you can still make some progress under such circumstances."
"It's a pity that the situation has deteriorated too quickly. If it's a year later, the supply of Qi and Blood Pills is sufficient. With your talent, you may really have a chance to impact the third realm. Once you succeed in the promotion, there will be two third-realm warriors in charge. Even if the Hong family wants to move the escort agency, they will have to think twice."
"What a pity..." Meng Lei sighed again.
Zhao Ya also felt a little heavy in his heart.
Even if he is at his current level, if everything goes well, he may only be able to impact the third realm once before the New Year.
It's not known whether it will succeed or not.
Once the impact fails, you have to accumulate Qi and Blood again, which will take at least one more month.
This is because Zhao Ya has the talent of Shuigu Jingwei, so he can be so fast.
If it were an ordinary person, he would have to prepare Qi and Blood for at least another year after a failed impact.
Moreover, the success rate of the second impact is much lower than the first, and the success rate after the third is even smaller.
Therefore, practitioners are very cautious about the breakthrough, and many people will prepare for three to five years before the breakthrough.
This also shows how powerful the talent of water and valley that Zhao Ya has obtained is.
After staying for a while, Zhao Ya got up and said goodbye, went to the front yard to chat with the porters, and then went home.
The next few days, Wuxiang City was calm, except that the price of grain rose a lot, everything was normal.
Zhao Ya's strength was also growing slowly and steadily.
Until this day, the escort agency suddenly received a dart, and it was this dart that caused an uproar in the entire Changlong Escort Agency.
The dart was commissioned by the Hong family to escort a batch of goods back from outside the city.
This was a very normal thing, but the key was that the escorted goods and the destination were very sensitive.
The cargo to be escorted was a batch of weapons, and the destination was the Forged Iron Villa.
"I think there is something fishy about this escort. No one else knows about us and the Forged Iron Villa. Doesn't the Hong family know about it? And why do they suddenly escort a batch of weapons at this sensitive time?" Lin Sheng said first.
Luo Qiang, who was sitting beside him, also nodded in agreement.
"That's right, I heard that there is complete chaos outside the city. The previously unknown Qingzhuling has become a huge bandit, and the official roads are almost abandoned. Now when we go out of the city to escort the escorts, they are escorting a group of priceless people. Weapon, this is indeed a bit risky.”
Meng Lei said nothing and listened quietly. He didn't look at Zhao Ya until Lin Sheng and Luo Qiang finished speaking.
"Xiaoya, what do you think of this matter?"
Zhao Ya sighed, "It's obvious that the Hong family is trying to test this matter, so I mean not to accept it."
Zhao Ya directly expressed his inner thoughts.
Meng Lei couldn't help but sigh when he heard this, "Why don't I know that this is the Hong family's test? But if we really don't answer, then the Changlong Escort Agency's brand will be useless, and then the Hong family can be more... They openly forced me to join them.”
"But the chief escort..." Lin Sheng was about to speak.
Meng Lei waved his hand, and then said in a deep voice: "I know what you want to say, but now the escort agency has not had a single transaction for several months and has already been unable to make ends meet, so we have to take over this escort. As for what you are worried about …….”
"This time the escort will be escorted by me personally. Although the owner of the Forged Iron Villa is a warrior of the Four Realms, we are the escorts entrusted by others to escort the goods, and we are not here to fight, let alone Wei Yu. It's also the fault of Forged Iron Villa, so it should be fine. As for the bandits along the way..."