Chapter 3603 — Xu Lingchong Arrives
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Granted, the Spirit Jade Hall did have rules on the books forbidding anyone from switching mining zones at will, but in practice this was hardly an ironclad law; exceptions were permitted in any number of cases, especially where Number Ten, the dead mining zone, was concerned.
After all, everyone knew that nothing but dross could be dug out of Number Ten; ordinarily only some wretch who had offended the higher-ups was banished to that dead zone. Yet from the standpoint of the Spirit Jade Hall's own extraction of spirit jade, they had no wish to see precious labor squandered in such a place—and so whenever a transfer touched upon Number Ten, it was as a rule allowed as a special exception.
"Er... Pavilion Master Lu, do not be hasty! This matter is not entirely beyond discussion!" Dai Wuchang was instantly flustered. He could afford to pay Lu Bianren no mind, but he could not afford to pay Tong Fei, vice-pavilion-master of the Spirit Jade Hall, no mind—that man was his direct superior, one whose single word could strip the rice bowl from his hands!
"Oh? I was told the checks were very strict—so how is it now up for discussion?" Lu Bianren's smile was not quite a smile, and he shot the other a glance not untouched by contempt.
"Er..." Dai Wuchang's old face flushed crimson in an instant, and he hemmed and hawed for a long while without managing a word.
To speak plainly, what he feared was not that Lu Bianren would go to Tong Fei to have Wei Zhao's mining zone changed, but that the man would let slip, in passing, the business between himself and Meng Jueming! Vice-pavilion-master Tong Fei was famed throughout the Spirit Jade Hall for his iron-faced impartiality; should Lu Bianren breathe a few words against him before the man, or even set Tong Fei to investigating him, it would be his finish. The little matter between him and Meng Jueming could not withstand scrutiny at all!
And once that business came to light, never mind losing his rice bowl—by the Spirit Jade Hall's rules, the venal were to have their cultivation stripped outright. In grave cases, they were even to be beheaded on the spot!
Seeing Dai Wuchang in this state, like a beaten rooster, the put-upon senior brother could not help but laugh to himself. Last time this creature had faced him all high and mighty, laying down the law with perfect assurance; now, at a single fright from the third pavilion master, he had wilted at once. Truly, every man has his master—coming to the third pavilion master for help this trip had been no mistake at all!
Mindful that the other was, after all, a fellow disciple out of Azure Cloud Pavilion, Lu Bianren, though angered at heart, had no intention of making things hard for him. He said directly, "I will say no more of other matters. Now be so good, Brother Dai, as to transfer Wei Zhao to Number Seven mining zone!"
"This... very well." Dai Wuchang hesitated a moment, and in the end could only grit his teeth and agree.
To plunge himself into danger over the affair of a nobody like Wei Zhao—even if the odds were slim that Tong Fei would come down to investigate him afterward, Dai Wuchang still could not run that risk. Nor was there any need to. At worst, he would explain things properly to Meng Jueming afterward, and surely the man would understand!
Done! The put-upon senior brother's heart eased at once—the third pavilion master had stepped forth, and success had followed as surely as could be. Now at last Junior Brother Lin could escape his sea of bitterness!
Yet before the put-upon senior brother could draw breath, a voice came drifting from afar, and every face changed at once: "I would like to see just who has the gall to move Wei Zhao out of Number Ten, the dead mining zone!"