Chapter 3894 — The Tragedy of Kang Jingming
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
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.