Chapter 3874 — Truly Inexplicable

At first glance, it really did look rather like what Kang Jingming had been doing when he used his elixir-fire bomb.

"Are you certain?" Nan Tianguan's brows knitted at once.

"Your disciple is certain!" Yu Jiang spoke with absolute finality. Kang Jingming's elixir-fire bomb really was strikingly similar to that move he had witnessed before; even if there were slight differences, he would insist on it now beyond any doubt, lest Nan Tianguan force him to go probe someone else next. Doing that sort of thing too often carried enormous risk!

Seeing Yu Jiang so adamant, Nan Tianguan had no further doubts, and fury surged in his eyes. "So that means this brat Kang Jingming is very likely that Lin Er? He dares make a fool of me - has he eaten a bear's heart and a leopard's gall, thinking I won't kill?"

"Your disciple wouldn't claim absolute certainty, but judging by this elixir-fire bomb and the cunning way the brat deliberately diverted our attention earlier, it's eight parts out of ten!" Yu Jiang was seething as well. He was, after all, an inner disciple of Chongtian Pavilion, yet he had been toyed with by a mere newcomer like Kang Jingming. He simply could not show his face after that.

Boom! Before Yu Jiang's voice had even faded, a boulder beside Nan Tianguan crumbled to powder in an instant, drawing a crowd of curious Chongtian Pavilion newcomers who pointed and whispered among themselves.

That boulder had been shattered by Nan Tianguan in a fit of rage. At this moment he wished he could tear that brat Kang Jingming to pieces before everyone's eyes, but he was no reckless fool. However fierce his anger, he knew he absolutely could not strike at Kang Jingming in public, and so could only vent his fury on the boulder nearby.

Pinned by the gloomy stares of Nan Tianguan and Yu Jiang, Kang Jingming felt a chill crawl up his spine despite the broad daylight and the crowd around them, and he wondered inwardly what on earth was going on.

What the hell was wrong with these two? Instead of going off to finish Wei Zhao, why had they come over here glaring at him like murderous demons?

With everyone watching, Kang Jingming had no choice but to steel himself and walk over, asking of his own accord, "Eldest Senior Brother, is there something you need?"

Nan Tianguan was the managing eldest senior brother of Chongtian Pavilion. In principle, any disciple of Chongtian Pavilion, newcomers included, had to address him as eldest senior brother. Kang Jingming's use of the title might smack of self-aggrandizement, but strictly speaking it was not wrong.

Nan Tianguan gave him a cold look and said without expression, "I have already looked into Wei Zhao's side. This time I truly must thank Steward Kang for his guidance. Rest assured, I will keep it in mind, and I will repay it in due course."

Kang Jingming assumed the two of them had already finished off Wei Zhao, and was overjoyed. "Not at all, not at all! Serving Eldest Senior Brother is a junior brother's duty - what repayment could there be? Eldest Senior Brother is far too kind!"

He assumed the repayment Nan Tianguan spoke of would be some great boon, and his heart swelled with happy anticipation. Nan Tianguan was, after all, the managing eldest senior brother of Chongtian Pavilion, and surely would not be stingy. Little did he know that the repayment Nan Tianguan meant was nothing at all like what he imagined!

"Rest assured, I won't be polite." Nan Tianguan gave a cold smile and turned away with Yu Jiang.

Watching the two figures recede, Kang Jingming, joyful as he was, could not help feeling somewhat baffled. Why did the way those two had looked at him just now seem so... cold and sinister?

"Martial Uncle, what do we do next?" Yu Jiang could not help asking along the way.

Though they had now narrowed the suspicion onto Kang Jingming, and by all logic the target was clear and the next step obvious - with anyone else they would have seized him without a second word - this one was Xu Lingchong's underling. Even Nan Tianguan dared not move against him rashly.

Nan Tianguan suddenly halted and, with a cold face, looked Yu Jiang up and down until Yu Jiang was thoroughly unnerved. Only then did he say, "Martial Nephew, how exactly did you come to fall out with Lin Er?"

Nan Tianguan was not clear on the matter between Yu Jiang and Lin Er. He only knew that Nan Tianyong had been killed by Lin Er while standing up for this disciple of his, but he had never carefully asked what the root of it was.

"Uh..." Yu Jiang hemmed and hawed for a moment, then answered vaguely, "Reporting to Martial Uncle, your disciple first came to feud with this Lin Er over competing to buy a certain item at the Hong Merchant Guild."

The words "Star Ink Stone" - Yu Jiang would never let Nan Tianguan learn of them unless there was absolutely no other way. Nan Tianguan was now a master at the great perfection of Foundation Establishment, on the verge of assailing the Golden Core stage, and so the Star Ink Stone tempted him even more than it did Yu Jiang.

Once Nan Tianguan knew of the Star Ink Stone's existence, then even if they managed to wrest it back from Lin Er, there would be no share in it for Yu Jiang. Making a wedding dress for someone else - Yu Jiang was certainly not about to do such a foolish thing.

"What item?" Nan Tianguan was no ordinary man either; fooling him was no easy task, and he caught the crux of it in an instant.

Yu Jiang's heart tightened, but he forced himself to stay calm. "An ordinary treasure for assisting cultivation. Its value isn't very high - it's simply not often seen."

"An ordinary treasure?" Nan Tianguan frowned, then said with a suspicious look, "Truly just an ordinary treasure? Then if Kang Jingming is this Lin Er, as Xu Lingchong's underling who has concealed such formidable strength, would he compete with you over a mere ordinary treasure?"

"Uh..." Yu Jiang was speechless now. In his earlier panic he had blurted out a lie, forgetting that the man before him was likewise a most astute master, who had caught the flaw at once.

Seeing Yu Jiang stammer and fall silent, Nan Tianguan's expression turned even colder, and he said in a low voice, "I have just thought it over carefully. This Kang Jingming - Xu Lingchong was the one who sent us to seek his help, and he is Xu Lingchong's underling. If he is Lin Er, I suspect Xu Lingchong may have ordered it!"

Nan Tianguan paused, glanced at the somewhat flustered Yu Jiang, and his tone turned more severe than ever before: "Now that Xu Lingchong casts a covetous eye on my position as managing eldest senior brother, I will not let slip even the slightest hidden danger. If necessary, I would not mind using some insidious means even on you, Martial Nephew. You should have heard your master say before that I am skilled in the Minor Formless Art and have incorporated a few heterodox techniques into it as well - so I know a Soul-Searching Art that can directly read another's consciousness and memories, do I not?"

At these words, Yu Jiang broke out in a cold sweat down his back. Had he not been pinned by Nan Tianguan's powerful aura at that moment, he would likely have been frightened into turning and running on the spot!