Chapter 3846 — The Confidence of Nan Tianguan

What remained for Nan Tianguan to do was simple enough: he had only to test whether Yu Jiang was sufficiently loyal, and then decide whether to take him into the fold.

"Is that so? Then, Martial Nephew, go and have someone post a notice in the market square. As for whether the thing can actually be recovered—well, we will leave that headache to the leader himself once he returns." Nan Tianguan was not much troubled by the matter; after all, even if it were recovered at great expense, there would be no benefit in it for him. He had merely mentioned it in passing.

"Yes, this disciple obeys." Yu Jiang nodded hurriedly. Nan Tianguan's words suited him perfectly; otherwise, if the man had truly set his mind on digging out the spirit-jade card, things could well have gone badly for him.

Nan Tianguan paused, then said, "The matter of the spirit-jade card is settled thus. As for that Lin Er—since you, Martial Nephew, are certain he may be connected to Hong Zhong, then it seems this seat must pay a visit to the Hong Clan Merchant Guild."

Nan Tianguan cared nothing for the trifling business of Nan Tianyong being humiliated at the Hong Clan Merchant Guild, but since they were, after all, the Three Heroes of the Nan Clan, such tidings naturally found their way to his ears through the mouths of the sycophants who clustered about him.

Nan Tianguan's attitude toward it was sheer contempt, and in his eyes the third brother, Nan Tianyong, only further confirmed his title of utter fool. A mere peak late-Foundation Establishment cultivator, and the man dared to go provoke the Hong Clan Merchant Guild to its face—if that was not the act of a fool, what was?

Nan Tianyong aside, even Nan Tianguan himself, who surpassed him in both strength and standing, did not dare to treat a colossus like the Hong Clan Merchant Guild with the slightest contempt.

Nan Tianyong pressuring the Hong Clan Merchant Guild with force and status? Simply laughable. To call him ignorant and fearless was already flattering the man; that his head was stuffed with holes was the plain truth.

Nan Tianguan knew well the vast power of the Hong Clan Merchant Guild and feared it profoundly—yet not so profoundly that he dared not scheme against it at all.

After all, he was still the second of the Three Heroes of the Nan Clan. With the leader absent, if he were to turn a deaf ear to the murder of the third brother, Nan Tianyong, his reputation would suffer grievously.

Nan Tianguan was a hundred times, a thousand times shrewder than a simpleton like Nan Tianyong, yet he too could not escape convention; reputation was a thing he had always held most dear. Even though he had not the slightest interest in avenging a fool like Nan Tianyong, for the sake of reputation alone he was compelled to step forward.

Moreover, unlike his own cold and thin-blooded nature, the leader of the Three Heroes of the Nan Clan, Nan Tianxiong, was fiercely protective of his own—otherwise he would not have lent so precious a thing as the spirit-jade card to Nan Tianyong without a second word.

When Nan Tianxiong returned and learned that his younger brother had turned a deaf ear to the death of the third brother, Nan Tianyong, Nan Tianguan could scarcely imagine what wrath would descend upon him.

A clever man like Nan Tianguan would never be so foolish as to threaten and bluster as Nan Tianyong had done last time. The root of his confidence in visiting the Hong Clan Merchant Guild lay in a single detail of what Yu Jiang had said: Lin Er was not valued by the entire Hong Clan Merchant Guild—he was valued only by Hong Zhong, the steward of the guild's North Island branch, and by no one else.

Though it differed by only a few words, the meaning conveyed was altogether two different concepts.

If this Lin Er were a valued client of the entire Hong Clan Merchant Guild, then even if he lent Nan Tianguan ten times the courage, he would never dare go to their door and threaten them into handing over Lin Er's particulars.

As the renowned second-ranked merchant guild among the five great islands of the Heaven Tier, the Hong Clan Merchant Guild had always defended its clients—especially those it valued—with the utmost resolve.

If Lin Er were such a client, then never mind Nan Tianguan—even if the entire Threefold Pavilion of the North Island came forward to pressure the Hong Clan Merchant Guild, it would be useless. Merchants may chase profit and may even stoop to any means, but what had made the Hong Clan Merchant Guild the colossus it was today was, more than anything, its reputation.

Without formidable reputation, it could never have become a top-tier merchant guild; and to build such reputation required painstaking, year-after-year cultivation—a process exceedingly long and arduous. Yet to destroy such formidable reputation was exceedingly simple.

They need only betray a client's information once—even the simplest particulars of identity—and if word of it spread, the mighty reputation accumulated over a thousand years would be ruined in a single day.

Every person who joined the Hong Clan Merchant Guild, down to the lowest menial, underwent all manner of indoctrination morning and evening, and among it the most fundamental and most important tenet was this: defend the guild's reputation unto death.

But if Lin Er was valued by Hong Zhong alone, then matters became far easier.

Where there are people, there is a jianghu; even within the Hong Clan Merchant Guild, all was not one solid block. If word came down from the higher-ups at the guild's Central Island headquarters, then Hong Zhong's status as the guild's North Island representative would naturally cease to exist.

Nan Tianguan understood well that to pry Lin Er's identity from Hong Zhong, the first step was to separate Hong Zhong from the Hong Clan Merchant Guild. Nan Tianguan dared not challenge the guild itself, but if it were merely Hong Zhong alone, there was still a chance to apply some pressure.

"May I ask, Martial Uncle, when shall we set out for the Hong Clan Merchant Guild?" Yu Jiang did not know what Nan Tianguan was scheming, but since the man dared speak of visiting the guild even knowing that Nan Tianyong had been humiliated there before, he must surely have his own backing and confidence.

"No hurry in that. We will wait a couple of days. For now, Martial Nephew, go and post the notice seeking the leader's spirit-jade card. This seat must prepare a few things—and, while I am at it, observe how the situation develops." Nan Tianguan wore an air of unfathomable profundity, then waved a hand at Yu Jiang, signaling that he might withdraw.

"This disciple shall obey Martial Uncle's command." Yu Jiang said nothing more; he respectfully kowtowed, and, facing Nan Tianguan, retreated cautiously all the way to the door before turning to leave.

Watching Yu Jiang's departing figure, Nan Tianguan thoughtfully stroked his chin and laughed softly to himself. "The boy plays the obedient one well enough—but if he thinks to win this seat's favor, he is far from it yet."

Three days passed in a flash. The matter of the supervising deacon Nan Tianyong being slain in a single strike near the market square had, after three days of ferment, become known to all. Not only the disciples of the Soaring Heavens Pavilion—even the disciples of the other Threefold Pavilion branches discussed it over tea and meals without exception.

And the question on everyone's mind was but one: who was the killer? (Next Tuesday, WeChat yuren22 will distribute game gift-pack activation codes, reusable—no need to scramble for them.) (To be continued...)

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