Chapter 3995 — The Origin of the Pills

At this, even Steward Linghua had nothing left to say.

The doubt Xu Lingchong had raised was one that everyone present secretly shared; they had merely reckoned it likely concerned private matters, and since it was none of their own affair, there was naturally no need to play the villain and make enemies.

But now that Xu Lingchong had asked outright, they were only too glad to hear Wei Zhao's explanation.

In truth, with Steward Linghua as witness, the authenticity of the two top-grade Foundation Establishment golden pills was beyond doubt; the only question Wei Zhao now faced was where the pills had come from.

Xu Lingchong had said it before as well: Wei Zhao, like Kang Jingming, was a pill refiner. So the one remaining question on everyone's mind was simply this—had these two top-grade Foundation Establishment golden pills actually been refined by Wei Zhao's own hand?

To be sure, a mere newcomer of the Azure Cloud Pavilion refining top-grade Foundation Establishment golden pills sounded like a tale from the Arabian Nights, but after all, there was the precedent of Zhang Lifeng; however slim the possibility, it still existed.

What was more, quite apart from refining them himself, it was equally far-fetched for a mere newcomer of the Azure Cloud Pavilion even to produce two top-grade Foundation Establishment golden pills. Yet the facts now lay before their eyes, and they had no choice but to believe.

"Wei Zhao, don't you mean to give everyone a proper explanation? If you can't offer a fitting account, we are fully entitled to suspect these are stolen goods—that you took plunder and gave it to Junior Sister Lan'er as a birthday gift. This is no laughing matter; what the consequences would be, I need hardly spell out." Xu Lingchong, thinking he had seized Wei Zhao's fatal weakness, sneered again and again.

With every eye in the hall upon him, Wei Zhao was taken aback for a moment and could not help falling into hesitant silence.

By his original reckoning, Wei Zhao had not wished anyone to know he could refine top-grade Foundation Establishment golden pills. After all, an innocent man is guilty for possessing a jewel; once word of this spread, it would surely stir up a monstrous storm and could well bring consequences beyond all reckoning.

With his present paltry strength, he might very well be seized outright by those with ulterior motives and turned into a pill-refining machine. This, too, was why he had never had dealings with the Dan Hall. His strength was simply too low—had he been at the Golden Core stage, things would not have come to this.

That was why he had deliberately handed the gift to Shangguan Lan'er in private today: to avoid prying eyes and keep the matter from being spread abroad by the ill-intentioned.

His choice to give Shangguan Lan'er top-grade Foundation Establishment golden pills had been purely out of goodwill. With a woman like Murong Zhen eyeing her covetously, it was safer for Shangguan Lan'er, even as the eldest young miss, to raise her own strength as quickly as possible.

And for one like Shangguan Lan'er, who had no love of cultivation, a Foundation Establishment golden pill—an experience pill free of any side effects—was simply the perfect gift.

Moreover, since the Devouring-Heart Luminous Grass was already secured, Wei Zhao himself had no worry of lacking Foundation Establishment golden pills for the time being; so giving these two ready-made ones to Shangguan Lan'er was hardly improper.

What he had never in his wildest dreams expected was that through a freak twist of circumstance these two top-grade Foundation Establishment golden pills would be exposed before the crowd. This truly caught Wei Zhao off guard. Had he known, he would never have given any Foundation Establishment golden pills at all.

But matters had already come to this pass; it was too late for regret.

There were two answers—either he had refined them himself, or they had come by some other means—and each had its own advantages and perils. This was a matter of life and death for the future; before answering, Wei Zhao had to think it through clearly.

If he simply admitted to refining them himself, the risk would be enormous. At the very least, even if he were not seized and made into a pill-refining machine, he would surely incur even deeper hatred from Xu Lingchong, and his troubles hereafter would only multiply. Linghua could shelter him, but there would always be times when Linghua could not watch over him.

If, on the other hand, he chose the other answer and said the two top-grade Foundation Establishment golden pills were not of his own refining, then at first glance this would indeed let him dodge the peril of becoming the target of all. Yet with his identity as a newcomer of the Azure Cloud Pavilion, how easy would it be to fabricate on the spot a plausible and legitimate origin?

Everyone here was a personage of wide experience and keen judgment. However Wei Zhao racked his brains, any lie concocted on the spot stood a chance of at least ninety percent of being exposed then and there—no less than that.

That risk was simply too great. And once a lie was exposed before the crowd, he would be thrown entirely onto the back foot; should Xu Lingchong then fan the flames and cast doubt on the provenance of his two top-grade Foundation Establishment golden pills, the trouble would truly be enormous.

It was not impossible that Gongyang Jun, the hall master of the Law Enforcement Hall, might personally take action and subject Wei Zhao to the soul-search technique.

Advance and it was hard; retreat and it was hard. Whichever choice he made carried enormous risk. At this moment Wei Zhao was like a man bound to the rack and roasted over fire, enduring torment beyond measure.

At last, Wei Zhao gritted his teeth in secret and made ready to confess that he had refined them with his own hands. Though this too was fraught with danger, it was better than the second outcome. As a top-tier rising star watched by many great figures, so long as he trod carefully in all things hereafter, there would still be hope of carving out a thread of survival.

Yet just as Wei Zhao was about to lay his cards on the table with a sigh, Hong Zhong, seated in the master's chair, suddenly spoke: "Everyone, as to the origin of Young Hero Lin's two top-grade Foundation Establishment golden pills, this old man can serve as a witness—for these two pills came precisely from my Hong Merchant Guild."

At these words the whole hall erupted in an uproar, and even Wei Zhao himself was momentarily stunned. He did not let it show, however, and quickly buried the astonishment deep in his heart.

Wei Zhao had never imagined that, without any prior communication, Hong Zhong would suddenly step forward to extricate him. The risk Hong Zhong had to shoulder in doing so was no small matter at all.

After all, Wei Zhao now appeared in his true face; in theory Hong Zhong should never have laid eyes on him. Even if he had judged by build and bearing and suspected that this was Lin Er, with whom he had dealt several times, that could at most be suspicion—it should not amount to a hundred-percent certainty.

Unable to confirm his identity, Hong Zhong had still rashly stepped forward to smooth things over for Wei Zhao—a course wildly at odds with his long-standing style of steady, seasoned dealing. And yet it was precisely this that revealed the remarkable and singular side of the man.

One who knows only steadiness may become a great steward, but can never become a great merchant. Rare goods are worth hoarding; once the moment comes, one must stake heavily—that is the essence of a merchant. (To be continued...) R752