Chapter 4030 — The Departure of Tianchan
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
"Zheng Tianjie? So that great crash yesterday was that fellow's pill furnace blowing up?" Ning Xuefei was taken aback for a moment, then shook her head. "No—I thought it was an earthquake. I was even thinking it was strange that it only shook once and stopped."
In private, though, Ning Xuefei could not help secretly speculating: this business with Zheng Tianjie might well have something to do with that young clerk from the Hong Chamber of Commerce. She might be thick-skinned and scatterbrained, but when it came to connecting dots, her imagination was second to none.
Ning Xuefei was only speculating in private, but at that very moment, in the Assembly Hall, Tianchan heard the news from her master Lianxin's own lips—and was struck dumb on the spot.
When the incident had occurred the night before, the scene had been swiftly cordoned off by the Town-North Guard, and Tianchan had no way of knowing the particulars. She had tossed and turned all night, worrying about how she ought to deal with Zheng Tianjie's pestering, and whether Zheng Tianjie might move against Wei Zhao.
Yet who would have thought that, now that the night had passed, Zheng Tianjie was actually dead? And dead because his pill furnace had exploded and blown him apart?
Was not such a death exactly the same as that of the junior brother of the Pill Hall whom he had framed and killed before?
In that instant, a figure flashed violently through Tianchan's mind—none other than Wei Zhao, whom she had only just met the night before!
"Chan'er, what's the matter?" Seeing Tianchan stare blankly into space after hearing the news, Lianxin could not help asking in puzzlement.
"N-nothing... nothing at all. Your disciple merely finds that this matter came far too suddenly." Tianchan hastily covered for herself. Recalling the circumstances of her meeting with Wei Zhao the night before, she found it hard to believe, yet she was almost certain that Wei Zhao's shadow must lie behind this affair.
After all, for an expert of Zheng Tianjie's caliber—an early Golden Core cultivator—to die because his pill furnace exploded was, however one looked at it, deeply suspicious. Especially since he had a prior record of making people "die in furnace explosions"—it was hard not to be suspicious.
Lianxin nodded and sighed. "Indeed. Yesterday all was well, and in the blink of an eye such a thing has happened. One can only say that fate is fickle and fortune makes fools of us all! Still, Zheng Tianjie's death may not be such a bad thing for you, Chan'er. Your master knows you did not like him, and the man's character was vile—truly no fit match for you. This way, you are spared a great deal of trouble."
"Master, is it already settled that Zheng Tianjie died because his pill furnace exploded?" Tianchan probed cautiously.
"That is so. It is the unanimous conclusion of Steward Song and the heads of the other factions, and the scene indeed bears the marks of a furnace explosion. Zheng Tianjie's corpse is covered in great scorch marks from pill fire—this your master and your fellow senior and junior uncles who accompanied us can all confirm. The possibility of foul play can be ruled out," Lianxin said with a confident nod.
If that was so, could it really be that Zheng Tianjie had brought retribution upon himself, and that it truly had nothing to do with Wei Zhao?
With so many great personages present—among them Pill Hall experts of her master Lianxin's caliber—for all of them to be deceived at once would be no small feat!
Tianchan could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. Yet deep down she still could not quite shake the suspicion that Wei Zhao was connected to this affair. Still, this was for the best: at least no one would dig any deeper into the killer behind the scenes, and she need not worry about Wei Zhao.