Chapter 3894 — The Tragedy of Kang Jingming

True, he had a towering backer like Xu Lingchong behind him, but his ambition was to enter the Pill Hall one day, and this Spirit Flower Steward was, after all, a mid-level figure in the Pill Hall, and rumored to have deep connections. If he could cultivate a good relationship with the man in advance, so much the better—a stroke of luck he could only dream of.

Inviting the steward here today had served a dual purpose: besides conspiring with Meng Jueming on how to deal with Wei Zhao, he had wanted to curry a little favor. Now that the primary aim had collapsed, the remaining one had to be seized all the more firmly, lest he reap nothing at all.

Before Kang Jingming could even put on his fawning display, however, the Spirit Flower Steward had already pursed his lips and gestured toward the four cultivation trays Wei Zhao had set out. "Then I'll trouble Junior Brother Kang to carry these back to the spirit herb garden for me. Mind you, come alone. I have a bit of urgent business, so I'll be on my way first."

With that, the Spirit Flower Steward swayed his hips and swept off, leaving Kang Jingming alone to stare blankly at the four enormous cultivation trays. When the realization hit him, he was on the verge of tears, and could only cast a pleading look at Zhong Yongliang, who had come with him.

"The steward said only you can go. I'm afraid your brother here is powerless to help," Zhong Yongliang said with a shrug, secretly gloating.

At the sight, Wei Zhao and the others all burst out laughing. Effeminate the Spirit Flower Steward might be, but he was a clever one all the same—to wash his hands of Kang Jingming and prove his own innocence, he had stooped to such a petty trick to disgust him. Only he could have dreamed it up.

The cultivation trays were not heavy, but they were bulky and brooked no jostling—the young spirit herbs inside would be damaged at the slightest knock. To have one man carry four all the way to the spirit herb garden twenty li away—even for a skilled early-Foundation Establishment cultivator like Kang Jingming, it would be a thoroughly wretched ordeal.

Serves him right! That's exactly how a wretch like that ought to be treated!

The Spirit Flower Steward departed, and Kang Jingming staggered off hauling the four cultivation trays in utter disarray, while Meng Jueming, the star of the show, was left to eat a face full of dust—and to wait in dread for the settling of accounts that was sure to come.

A fine drama, and Wei Zhao had defused it with the lightest of touches. It left the onlookers with a profound appreciation of what it meant to be the number one newcomer.

Yet the matter was not over. With the help of the aggrieved senior brother, Wei Zhao split his written complaint into three copies and delivered them simultaneously to the higher authorities in three places: the Welcome Pavilion, the Law Enforcement Hall, and the Qingyun Pavilion.

Now, at last, it was Meng Jueming's turn to sit on pins and needles. Framing a junior under his charge and resorting to violence without cause—these were charges no laughing matter!

If the complaint had gone only to Hu Yunfeng, there would have been little to worry about, since Hu Yunfeng was one of his own and would surely step in to shield him. But the higher-ups of the Law Enforcement Hall and the Qingyun Pavilion were beyond the reach of a man of Meng Jueming's station.

Add to that the Spirit Flower Steward coming forward to testify on Wei Zhao's behalf, and if the matter were truly handled by the book, Meng Jueming would be lucky to escape with his skin intact.

Three days later, all the newcomers of the Welcome Pavilion assembled at the rear mountain hall. The fifth stage of the newcomer assessment was about to begin here.

Before Pavilion Master Hu Yunfeng formally declared it open, the newcomers stood about in twos and threes, chatting among themselves.

"Junior Brother Lin, I had Senior Brother Lu ask around for me. I'm afraid this business of charging Meng Jueming is going to come to nothing. Ai…" The aggrieved senior brother wore a worried frown as he spoke to Wei Zhao and the others.

Honest to a fault though he was—a rarity in a thousand years—he had been oppressed by Meng Jueming for far too long. If anyone among them harbored the deepest grudge against the man, it was surely him.

Now that he had finally caught his opponent red-handed, the aggrieved senior brother had truly hoped to give Meng Jueming a proper drubbing, even to grind him underfoot. But the news that had come down from above these past two days had made his heart sink.

Of the three copies of the complaint, the one with Hu Yunfeng had never been cause for hope—mere formality. But the Law Enforcement Hall and the Qingyun Pavilion had now likewise adopted a posture of shelving the matter, and that was jaw-dropping.

"There's really nothing to be disappointed about. This was all within expectations," Wei Zhao said with an indifferent shake of his head.

Unlike the aggrieved senior brother, he had never counted on Meng Jueming being severely punished from above. After all, the man had Xu Lingchong's protection, and out of regard for Xu Yuanzheng, third elder of the Soaring Heavens Pavilion, they would grant some face as long as the matter was not grave.

There was no help for it. Where there are people, there is a jianghu—and this was the jianghu of Yunjie Island.

So Wei Zhao's true purpose in having the aggrieved senior brother file three complaints had been simply to strike the mountain and startle the tiger—to give Meng Jueming and his underlings a lesson they would remember, so they would not dare act so recklessly again.

After all, favors always run dry in the end. Xu Lingchong could shield him this once—but would he shield him a second time, a third?

Never mind whether the man would even grant him such face; if Meng Jueming were truly foolish enough to push that far, the young master Xu would probably have kicked this worthless creature aside long ago. What would be the point of saving him then?

"Boss, look—the way Meng Jueming's looking at you now, his eyes are practically green with envy. He'd love nothing more than to swallow you whole!" Qiao Hongcai chuckled.

Wei Zhao laughed heartily. "Let him stew. But the man's no fool—a fall into a pit, a gain in his wit. After taking a beating like this from me, I doubt he'll dare come looking for trouble so openly again. At most he'll go back to his old tricks—striking from the shadows."

"Striking from the shadows? Before our boss, Meng Jueming is a walking tragedy—when has he ever gotten the better of you? A hand comes, the hand breaks; a foot comes, the foot breaks; a head comes, and he gets it smashed to a pulp!" Qiao Hongcai scoffed with a curl of his lip.

The aggrieved senior brother and Xiao Che couldn't help laughing. Crude as the words were, the reasoning was sound—those quips of Qiao Hongcai's fit Meng Jueming to a T. A tragedy indeed.

"Still, the next stage of the assessment takes place on the outer edge of the rear mountain, the same as the last newcomer trial. The three of you would do well to be careful, or someone may seize the chance to take advantage," the aggrieved senior brother could not resist warning them.

"Let them come looking for trouble—all the better. We haven't settled the score from last time. This time we're bound to get our revenge!" Qiao Hongcai clenched his fist and snorted coldly.

In the last newcomer trial, he had been the worst off among them. Had Wei Zhao not appeared in the nick of time, he and Xiao Che might well not have survived.

Xiao Che at least had his Shadow-Step to struggle free and save his life, but Qiao Hongcai would surely have died without question.

And now, the newcomer trial had become the newcomer assessment, the venue once again the outer edge of the rear mountain—but the balance of strength between friend and foe had been completely reversed.