Chapter 3596 — A Slap in the Face
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"And what if the difference is more than five taels? What happens then?" Wei Zhao thought for a moment and asked again.
"Then you get taken aside for inspection, and stripped bare for a body search!" The guard gave a chuckle, then looked at Wei Zhao with a teasing grin. "Young brother, asking about all this—don't tell me you've secretly stashed away some spirit jades?"
"You joke, senior brother. With searches that strict going in and out, there's nowhere on a man to hide anything even if he wanted to! And if you don't hide it on yourself but in the mine instead, what's the difference from not hiding it at all? You still can't carry it out!" Wei Zhao laughed easily. "Besides, with two guard brothers as diligent and dutiful as you standing watch here, I'd never get the chance anyway!"
"That's right! Heh heh, young brother, you've got the truth of it. Our Spirit Jade Hall's rules are strict as can be—ordinary folk haven't the slightest chance of sneaking spirit jades out, and newcomers like you with no backing at all shouldn't even dream of it! Only those with connections reaching to the heavens and a network thick as roots might have a sliver of a chance. Tsk tsk, the way of the world!" The guard sighed, half envious, half resentful.
Hearing this, Wei Zhao found himself thinking of someone—Meng Jueming! From what he had seen so far, that fellow seemed to have things well in hand throughout the Spirit Jade Hall. He must be one of those "thick-rooted connections" the guard was talking about!
With a character like Meng Jueming's, the senior steward brother might well risk it all on a venture! Wei Zhao's heart stirred, though the thought passed in a flash. The pressing matter was still to learn the ins and outs of the Spirit Jade Hall's rules first.
Through a roundabout line of questioning, Wei Zhao managed to draw quite a bit of information from this talkative guard. It might not prove especially useful, but at least he now had some idea of what he might face ahead.
Half an hour later, Wei Zhao followed the two guards out of Mine Shaft Ten—and to his surprise, there stood Meng Jueming and his group, right at the hand-in point by the storeroom door.
Mine Zone Ten was the most remote of the zones; Zones Seven and Eight, where those men worked, were much closer, so it was no wonder they had returned before Wei Zhao. But from the look of them, they had already handed in and weighed their haul. Yet they were still waiting here—that was puzzling.
But once he made out the gleeful malice written plainly across every face in the group, Wei Zhao understood at once what these bastards were after. Damn them—they had gathered here as a pack to watch him make a fool of himself!
"Well now, our strongest newcomer finally emerges. I thought you'd found no spirit jades and been so ashamed you wanted to die, and in a fit of rage bashed your brains out against a dead mine wall!" The moment Wei Zhao appeared, Meng Zhou leapt out to mock him.
"Meng Zhou, what kind of talk is that!" Meng Jueming scolded with feigned severity, then went on: "Our strongest newcomer here has truly inherited the mantle of our Miserable Junior Brother. Even if he were ashamed to death, he'd at most hide inside and play the shrinking turtle—how could he possibly bash his brains out? Really, such a way with words! Can't you see Miserable Junior Brother is still alive and well? That whole faction of theirs, what is it they like to be? Something from that little picture book someone brought over from the mortal world... ah yes, the Ninja Turtles!"
"Oh, right right, Ninja Turtles! Ninth Cousin sees people true as always! But this posturing newcomer has a thick hide—maybe he'll only learn what shame to death means when the weighing comes!" Meng Zhou cackled in chorus, and the crowd around them burst into laughter. After a hard day's labor, they were only too glad to find a little superiority by taking the ever-showy Wei Zhao down a peg.