Chapter 3856 — Curly Bear Delivers the Message
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 3
Shangguan Tianxia smiled noncommittally. "That won't be necessary. This Nan Tianguan is not the sort to give up so easily. Since things have come to nothing here with me, he will surely think of some other way once he returns. But that is no longer my concern."
At this point Shangguan Tianxia paused abruptly, then turned to look at Shangguan Lan'er with a strange expression. "Little Lan'er, in the past you never had the slightest interest in these games of intrigue and scheming. Why are you suddenly so eager today? Could it be that you, too, have taken an interest in that loose cultivator Lin Er?"
"Not at all! I was clearly standing up for Grandfather Hong!" Shangguan Lan'er hastily denied it, waving her hands. She would never dare let Shangguan Tianxia learn the truth about Wei Zhao.
In her flustered haste, however, she failed to notice something: when Shangguan Tianxia spoke of taking an interest in the loose cultivator Lin Er, he had used the word "too"!
In all the Threefold Pavilion, the figures capable of arousing the interest of this master of the Skyward Pavilion could be counted on the fingers of one hand—and every one of them had proven to be no creature of the common pond. Take, for instance, the current Hall Master of the Law Enforcement Hall, Gongyang Jun.
Knowing Hong Zhong's character, Shangguan Tianxia was confident he would not deliberately help that Lin Er move against Nan Tianyong. Yet the fact remained that Lin Er had slain Nan Tianyong in a single strike. A peak early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator crossing four entire tiers to annihilate his opponent in one blow—whatever method he had employed, this was nothing short of an out-and-out miracle!
No wonder Shangguan Tianxia, a top-tier titan of the Northern Isle, had taken an interest in Lin Er.
The next day, at the Young Lady's behest, Curly Bear the little bear took the intelligence and, all stealth and furtiveness, once more stole its way to the foot of Wei Zhao's mountain, to Cave Dwelling No. 1.
"Nan Tianguan, second of the Three Heroes of the Nan Clan, and the senior disciple in charge of affairs at the Skyward Pavilion?" Wei Zhao glanced over the situation described in Shangguan Lan'er's letter and could not help but start slightly, inwardly cursing that fellow Yu Jiang for his unkillable thieving heart—no sooner had one Nan Tianyong died than he had immediately dragged in a far more formidable Nan Tianguan!
Using a true-qi bomb to kill the wholly unguarded Nan Tianyong had already been the limit of Wei Zhao's abilities. Against a more powerful Nan Tianguan, one who came prepared—he would have no recourse but to hide far away; he truly had not a single trick left to play.
Yet one thing that moved Wei Zhao deeply was this: he and Hong Zhong had met only twice, yet Hong Zhong defended him so staunchly, without a second thought trampling two of the Three Heroes of the Nan Clan in succession—Nan Tianyong and Nan Tianguan both—and even bringing himself to the brink of having Shangguan Tianxia, master of the Skyward Pavilion, come down on him with pressure. Such a favor was truly stirring.
Wei Zhao well knew that Hong Zhong must have acted chiefly out of his own considerations, and that Hong Zhong certainly did not know the truth of his identity. But be that as it may, this was a debt of gratitude he must acknowledge—it seemed he would have to look after Hong Zhong's business all the more in the days to come.
To Wei Zhao, if he could establish a stable partnership with a seasoned, reliable commercial titan like Hong Zhong, that would be a mutually beneficial, win-win arrangement.
Besides Nan Tianguan's visit the night before, in her letter Shangguan Lan'er also laid out for Wei Zhao, one by one, an analysis of the reactions from the Skyward Pavilion's upper echelons and from every quarter of the Law Enforcement Hall.