Chapter 3894 — The Tragedy of Kang Jingming
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 3
"Junior Brother Lin, I had Senior Brother Lu ask around for me. I'm afraid this business of charging Meng Jueming is going to come to nothing. Ai…" The aggrieved senior brother wore a worried frown as he spoke to Wei Zhao and the others.
Honest to a fault though he was—a rarity in a thousand years—he had been oppressed by Meng Jueming for far too long. If anyone among them harbored the deepest grudge against the man, it was surely him.
Now that he had finally caught his opponent red-handed, the aggrieved senior brother had truly hoped to give Meng Jueming a proper drubbing, even to grind him underfoot. But the news that had come down from above these past two days had made his heart sink.
Of the three copies of the complaint, the one with Hu Yunfeng had never been cause for hope—mere formality. But the Law Enforcement Hall and the Qingyun Pavilion had now likewise adopted a posture of shelving the matter, and that was jaw-dropping.
"There's really nothing to be disappointed about. This was all within expectations," Wei Zhao said with an indifferent shake of his head.
Unlike the aggrieved senior brother, he had never counted on Meng Jueming being severely punished from above. After all, the man had Xu Lingchong's protection, and out of regard for Xu Yuanzheng, third elder of the Soaring Heavens Pavilion, they would grant some face as long as the matter was not grave.
There was no help for it. Where there are people, there is a jianghu—and this was the jianghu of Yunjie Island.
So Wei Zhao's true purpose in having the aggrieved senior brother file three complaints had been simply to strike the mountain and startle the tiger—to give Meng Jueming and his underlings a lesson they would remember, so they would not dare act so recklessly again.
After all, favors always run dry in the end. Xu Lingchong could shield him this once—but would he shield him a second time, a third?
Never mind whether the man would even grant him such face; if Meng Jueming were truly foolish enough to push that far, the young master Xu would probably have kicked this worthless creature aside long ago. What would be the point of saving him then?
"Boss, look—the way Meng Jueming's looking at you now, his eyes are practically green with envy. He'd love nothing more than to swallow you whole!" Qiao Hongcai chuckled.
Wei Zhao laughed heartily. "Let him stew. But the man's no fool—a fall into a pit, a gain in his wit. After taking a beating like this from me, I doubt he'll dare come looking for trouble so openly again. At most he'll go back to his old tricks—striking from the shadows."
"Striking from the shadows? Before our boss, Meng Jueming is a walking tragedy—when has he ever gotten the better of you? A hand comes, the hand breaks; a foot comes, the foot breaks; a head comes, and he gets it smashed to a pulp!" Qiao Hongcai scoffed with a curl of his lip.
The aggrieved senior brother and Xiao Che couldn't help laughing. Crude as the words were, the reasoning was sound—those quips of Qiao Hongcai's fit Meng Jueming to a T. A tragedy indeed.
"Still, the next stage of the assessment takes place on the outer edge of the rear mountain, the same as the last newcomer trial. The three of you would do well to be careful, or someone may seize the chance to take advantage," the aggrieved senior brother could not resist warning them.
"Let them come looking for trouble—all the better. We haven't settled the score from last time. This time we're bound to get our revenge!" Qiao Hongcai clenched his fist and snorted coldly.
In the last newcomer trial, he had been the worst off among them. Had Wei Zhao not appeared in the nick of time, he and Xiao Che might well not have survived.
Xiao Che at least had his Shadow-Step to struggle free and save his life, but Qiao Hongcai would surely have died without question.