Chapter 3958 — Wei Zhao Under Investigation

As for casualties, the final tally was also extremely small: only one dead and thirteen injured.

The dead, of course, was Meng Jueming. Aside from Wei Zhao and the two guards of Mining Zone Ten, ten others in the mining zone were injured, mostly from brawling with one another during the escape.

Even so, this mine collapse drew enormous attention. After all, the one who died was Meng Jueming, whose appointment as Third Pavilion Master of the Welcome New Pavilion had already been drafted—he had without question entered the upper ranks of the Welcome New Pavilion. He could well be called the highest-ranking casualty in the entire history of the Spirit Jade Hall's mine collapses.

At Meng Jueming's level, there was no need at all for him to mine in person; even his trips down the shaft were few and far between. Never stationed at the front line, he naturally would never appear on a list of casualties. Only this once was Meng Jueming the sole exception.

Meng Jueming's death instantly caused a sensation on every side. Of the Welcome New Pavilion, needless to say, from the Pavilion Master Hu Yunfeng on high down to the ordinary novices of the Azure Cloud Pavilion, all were stunned and thrown into disorder.

To the Welcome New Pavilion, Meng Jueming's death was almost on par with a reshuffling of power. Both he and Lu Bianren had stood in the position of Third Pavilion Master, yet Meng Jueming's death and Lu Bianren's departure were two entirely different matters.

Lu Bianren, as the former Third Pavilion Master, had been driven out with little real change to the Welcome New Pavilion, for Meng Jueming had long since locked down the succession. That choice morsel was already in his mouth, and no one could snatch it away. Thus Lu Bianren's departure stirred up little confusion.

Meng Jueming was different. He had only just been about to take up his post, and had not even received his letter of appointment as Third Pavilion Master. His death came with undeniable suddenness, all but carving out a blank in the Welcome New Pavilion's hierarchy of power that no one could have foreseen.

Without question, this was a choice morsel—yet it had been flung before everyone when none was mentally prepared, and with a pack of dogs fighting over the food, chaos was inevitable.

Beyond that, the position Meng Jueming's death left vacant was not only that of Third Pavilion Master of the Welcome New Pavilion. He had also occupied the seat of Senior Disciple and Steward of the Azure Cloud Pavilion's novices, which now likewise stood empty.

For a time, the Azure Cloud Pavilion novices were in a state of panic. Those with strength and cunning naturally wished to seize the chance to rise a step higher. Even if they could not yet aspire to the Third Pavilion Master's seat, the post of Senior Disciple and Steward of the Azure Cloud Pavilion novices—unremarkable though it seemed, yet utterly crucial—was enough to make mouths water.

But most of the Azure Cloud Pavilion novices were not yet weighing this question at all. They lacked the strength to compete, and the one thing they wanted now was simply to protect themselves.

When Meng Jueming was alive, they had attached themselves to his banner without issue. Even though Wei Zhao's repeated shows of force had left Meng Jueming's faction at a passive disadvantage, that was no great problem. After all, an arm can never twist a thigh, and once Meng Jueming ascended to the Third Pavilion Master's seat, everything could be smoothed over.

Now, however, with Meng Jueming—their backing and their mountain—crumbling thunderously along with the mine collapse, where to go next was a question of their prospects, even of life and death.

If they did not make a wise choice soon, there was no guaranteeing that Wei Zhao and his lot would not move against them afterward. By then, even if they played the shrinking turtle, mere ostracism alone would be enough to make them suffer.

Yet no matter what they thought or what choice they made, they now had to read one man's face—and that man, of course, was Wei Zhao.

Even when Meng Jueming was alive, he had been pressed back step by step by Wei Zhao. Now that Meng Jueming was dead, Wei Zhao stood alone above them all—an unstoppable reality.

Whatever any Azure Cloud Pavilion novice wished to do, none could go around the great mountain that was Wei Zhao. They must therefore keep their eyes peeled and see clearly just where Wei Zhao stood.

Unfortunately, they could not reach Wei Zhao at all just now, for Wei Zhao was under investigation by the Law Enforcement Hall.

In the interrogation room of the Law Enforcement Hall, Wei Zhao looked at this fine operative of the Hall before him and shook his head in silent exasperation. The saying that enemies are bound to meet on a narrow road could not have been more apt—the one in charge of the interrogation was in fact a familiar face: Ma Jian.

Wei Zhao remembered clearly that Ma Jian, though belonging to the Law Enforcement Hall, was in truth one of Xu Lingchong's men. During the earlier novice assessment, in both the pressure-resistance and the impact-resistance trials, Ma Jian had secretly struck at him. Fortunately, Wei Zhao's hidden reserves ran deep enough to handle it with composure; otherwise, had it been any other novice, it was not at all impossible that he would have died outright under this man's schemes.

Strictly speaking, he and Ma Jian were total strangers, with no old grudge or recent feud, no personal grievance between them. It was only because of the man's ties to Xu Lingchong that they had ended up on opposite sides—and this time, he feared, would be no exception.

"Name, status—confess them honestly!" Ma Jian sat with legs crossed in careless arrogance, glancing sidelong at Wei Zhao with a cold smirk.

As Wei Zhao had expected, this time Ma Jian had indeed received orders from Xu Lingchong: not only to give Wei Zhao a thorough hard time, but if possible to pin every crime on Wei Zhao's head and seize the chance to do away with him.

Meng Jueming's death was a tremendous loss to the young master Xu Lingchong. Meng Jueming's abilities had won Xu Lingchong's recognition and were gradually being brought into his core circle, where he would have been of great use in the future.

Otherwise, Xu Lingchong could never have poured such vast cultivation resources into Meng Jueming—all manner of rare pills and elixirs—and even gone so far as to have his grandfather Xu Yuanzheng step forward personally to secure the Third Pavilion Master's seat for him.

In the young master Xu Lingchong's plans for the future, Meng Jueming had been the very image of his right hand. Now that Meng Jueming was dead, it was as if an arm had been severed—not only had his future wings been clipped, but all his prior investments had gone down the drain.

Yet the one stroke of fortune amid misfortune was that when the collapse struck, Wei Zhao and Meng Jueming had been in the same place, at the very point where the collapse began. Whatever the truth of the matter, this gave Xu Lingchong ample room to make a fuss.

If he could use the occasion to bury Wei Zhao, that would be a neat trick indeed. Only, just now he was at a critical juncture in his contest with Nantian Pass for the post of Senior Disciple and Steward of the Soaring Heaven Pavilion, and had no energy to handle the affair in person; he could only leave it to Ma Jian. Ma Jian, after all, had the convenience of his office, and was well versed in such matters—a veteran of the trade. R1152

For the fastest updates, read with no pop-ups, please.