Chapter 3587 — The Vanished Spirit Jades

Meng Jueming could never in a thousand years have guessed that Wei Zhao carried on his person a jade pendant space capable of storing objects, and that at this very moment the two spirit jades lay quietly within it.

"Senior Brother Meng, do we need to keep searching? I don't mind at all—search away, all of you, so long as in the end my innocence is cleared!" Wei Zhao said, still wearing that innocent look as he regarded Meng Jueming's ashen face.

Could it be that this brat had never laid eyes on those two spirit jades at all, and that was why he was so utterly unruffled?

Meng Jueming eyed Wei Zhao with suspicion, then suddenly jolted as a far likelier possibility struck him. Two spirit jades that size certainly would not simply vanish into thin air. Since they could not be found on Wei Zhao, they must have been taken by someone else!

"No need. Junior Brother Lin, you are clean—you are an upright man. Don't be angry; I was merely doing my duty. We'll go search the other grottoes!" Looking at Wei Zhao's unruffled expression, Meng Jueming felt as though he had swallowed a fly—and not just any fly, but one of those oversized ones that buzz around a cow pat all day long.

"Huh? Search the other grottoes?" Meng Zhou and Li Zhengming exchanged glances. This step had not been part of the plan at all. But seeing the unspeakably foul look on Meng Jueming's face, neither dared say a word. They hurriedly assented and went out.

Searching every last one of their grottoes, one after another, was a helpless move on Meng Jueming's part. After all, he had already declared that they would first screen their own people. Now that nothing had turned up on Wei Zhao, then to show fairness he would have to search the others as well, even if it was only for appearances' sake.

What was more, having entertained that thought just now, Meng Jueming genuinely harbored suspicions about the other newcomers present. When Meng Zhou had gone to plant the spirit jades in Wei Zhao's grotto earlier, someone might have spotted him and secretly made off with the two jades. Such a possibility was not at all out of the question!

Yet after searching every other newcomer, both person and grotto, with particular attention paid to Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai, those two cronies of Wei Zhao's, the two spirit jades remained utterly without a trace—not the faintest sign of them could be found.

At this, Meng Jueming was well and truly in a fix. Damn it, he had schemed with all his might to set Wei Zhao up and failed, and instead had lost Meng Zhou's and Li Zhengming's spirit jades into the bargain. This was truly a case of going out to steal a chicken and losing the rice you baited it with.

Yet foul as his mood was, the proper words still had to be said. Meng Jueming could only force himself to say, "Very well. We have finished screening our own people and found no problems. As the managing senior brother, I am gratified. I will report the theft of the spirit jades to the Pavilion Master for further investigation. All of you, disperse and get on with your business!"

At this, the crowd had no choice but to scatter, one after another. They had not witnessed the spectacle they had imagined, and now each wore a look of lingering disappointment.

"Wretched Junior Brother, patch up the sealing wards on the three of their grottoes," Meng Jueming ordered offhandedly. Then, his face darkening, he drew Meng Zhou and Li Zhengming aside. In his view, this day's affair was ten parts out of ten the fault of his own people!

The two followed Meng Jueming to a deserted corner, where Meng Zhou said with a miserable look, "Cousin Ninth, what are we to do now? We failed to trap Wei Zhao, and instead our own two spirit jades are gone. How are we supposed to cultivate from here on?"

At this, Meng Jueming fixed Meng Zhou with a cold stare and said with a savage look, "Meng Zhou, I'll give you one chance to come clean. Did you pocket the two spirit jades for yourself? You never actually planted the spirit jades in Wei Zhao's grotto in the first place, did you?"

"Huh?" Meng Zhou, who had been thoroughly dejected, was startled by these words and hastily waved his hands. "Cousin Ninth, what are you saying? Do I look like that sort of person to you?"

"You may not look it, but now the two spirit jades have vanished into thin air. That Wei Zhao boy doesn't have them, and neither does anyone else. So the only possibility I can think of is that you tampered with things in the middle and pocketed them for yourself!" Meng Jueming said in a harsh, stern voice.

Granted, Li Zhengming was also a participant in this scheme to do Wei Zhao in, but from first to last he had merely supplied one spirit jade. As for Meng Jueming himself, he had taken advantage of Wei Zhao's having left first to secretly disable the sealing ward on Wei Zhao's grotto. In the end, the one actually responsible for planting the spirit jades to frame him was Meng Zhou. If there truly was a traitor in their midst, Meng Zhou was the likeliest candidate!

Meng Zhou was so frightened he was on the verge of tears. "Cousin Ninth, you can't wrong me like this! I really didn't steal and hide the spirit jades! If you don't believe me, search me!"

Meng Jueming shot Li Zhengming a glance, and Li Zhengming at once understood and searched Meng Zhou on his behalf. He searched him from top to bottom, but no spirit jades were found.

Seeing this, Meng Jueming's gaze softened somewhat, and Meng Zhou finally let out a breath of relief—only to hear Li Zhengming ask, still unwilling to let the matter drop, "Could he have hidden them somewhere else outside?"

"Li Zhengming, what do you mean by that? You dare suspect me too?" Meng Zhou flew into a rage, seized Li Zhengming by the collar, and roared, "You little wretch, are you trying to set me against Cousin Ninth so you can reap the profits while the fisherman watches the cranes fight?"

"No, no, Brother Tong, hear me out—I'm just bitter about losing my spirit jade, that was truly not meant as a jab at you!" Li Zhengming hurriedly protested. But as for what he really thought in his heart, no one could know except himself.

Sure enough, after hearing Li Zhengming's words, the look Meng Jueming turned on Meng Zhou sharpened once more. Seeing this was bad, Meng Zhou quickly shoved Li Zhengming away and explained, "Cousin Ninth, one of those two spirit jades was my own! Do you really think I'd betray you just to covet this half-used jade of Li Zhengming's? Even if I were a fool, I would never do something so idiotic!"

"That is true enough," Meng Jueming said with a thoughtful nod. He did not trust Meng Zhou's character, but to betray him merely for the sake of half a spirit jade was far too poor a bargain. After all, given Meng Zhou's relationship with him, more spirit jades would come his way easily enough in the future; there was simply no need to take such a risk.

"So you see, I think it's very likely that while we were away at the market, an outsider slipped in. After all, the sealing ward on the grotto was gone—stealing those two spirit jades would have taken no effort at all!" Meng Zhou pressed his advantage, anxious that Meng Jueming might keep suspecting him.

"That... does have some possibility," Meng Jueming admitted, stroking his chin and nodding. But if that were truly the case, the matter would be very difficult to investigate, and the odds of recovering the two spirit jades were exceedingly slim—negligible, in fact.