Chapter 2589 — Putting on a Show

Although the Elder had been sent down with the intention of protecting Brother Dafeng, the man in charge above clearly did not want the Elder to conceal anything, so he dispatched a Guardian to keep an eye on the Elder and see whether he was playing favorites or bending the rules.

"What is going on here, Dafeng? By any reasonable account, Headquarters has supported you generously enough—we promoted you to Grand Steward and even sent a Heaven-tier expert as your strategist to hold down the fort. So how did you manage this? How did you let Strategist Zhuge march off to his death?" The Elder's words sounded fair and just, but in truth he knew perfectly well what Brother Dafeng's position in the branch was—how could an early Earth-tier expert possibly keep an early Heaven-tier expert in check?

If this early Heaven-tier expert had been a mere hired blade, that would have been one thing, but the crux was that he had been sent down by Headquarters and had originally been Headquarters' own strategist. There was even less chance that Brother Dafeng could have done anything to him.

"Elder Su, I am sorry. I have failed Headquarters' trust!" Brother Dafeng lowered his head, keeping his manner exceedingly humble before outsiders.

"Hmph, Dafeng, do you realize your crime? Strategist Zhuge was a Heaven-tier expert—even at our Headquarters, Heaven-tier experts are an extremely precious existence. We sent one to you to hold the fort, and you went and got him killed? I say your death would not atone for this!" The Guardian leapt out at this point, jabbing a finger at Brother Dafeng in fury. He and Strategist Zhuge had both served under that same Headquarters official, so naturally he had to demand justice for Strategist Zhuge.

"This is not Brother Dafeng's fault!" Little Tongzi flushed red at just the right moment and "could not help" leaping out. "What does this have to do with Brother Dafeng?"

"Little Tongzi, is this a place where you have any right to speak? Shut your mouth!" The Guardian had just been about to rebuke Little Tongzi for his lack of propriety when, to his surprise, Brother Dafeng beat him to it and scolded the boy first, leaving him no pretext to press the matter further.

However, Elder Su narrowed his eyes slightly, a sharp gleam flashing through them, and gave a faint snort. "Dafeng, why will you not let Little Tongzi speak? Surely you are not trying to hide something? Little Tongzi was one of the parties involved at the time—he is the one best placed to speak. Is that not so, Guardian Chen?"

Guardian Chen also knitted his brows. Though he did not know the truth of the matter, he did know that Brother Dafeng could never have commanded Strategist Zhuge, and he also knew Strategist Zhuge's temperament—how could such a man ever have been content to submit to Brother Dafeng?

He had come here merely to vent his anger. Since Brother Dafeng was willing to admit fault, there was no harm in letting him serve as the scapegoat! He had never expected that Little Tongzi, who had come down from Headquarters with Strategist Zhuge, would suddenly leap out like this!

But with Elder Su having spoken thus, what could Guardian Chen say? He could only reply, "Yes, Little Tongzi, tell us everything you know!"

"Yes! Elder Su, Guardian Chen, the truth is that Brother Dafeng has been wronged!" Little Tongzi began by crying injustice. "Though I am only a lowly underling who came down from Headquarters with Strategist Zhuge, the two of you must surely know his temper better than I do. After he arrived here, he paid no heed whatsoever to Brother Dafeng's orders. Relying on his status as a Heaven-tier expert, he simply stripped Brother Dafeng of all authority! Then he began doing all sorts of reckless things without a shred of sense!"

"Little Tongzi, what do you think you are doing? Strategist Zhuge is dead—how can you still slander him?" Once again, just as Guardian Chen was about to start cursing, Brother Dafeng "timely" rebuked Little Tongzi.

"Brother Dafeng, let me speak! I trust that with two such wise and discerning personages as Elder Su and Guardian Chen present, they will surely know whether what I say is right or wrong. Do not try to frighten me—with them backing me up, I am not afraid that you will suppress me later!" Little Tongzi declared with impassioned fervor.

"..." Guardian Chen was speechless for a moment, thinking to himself, Back you up? Back you up my ass. But to object at this point would be as much as to admit that he was not wise and discerning, so he could only remain silent.

Elder Su, meanwhile, glanced at Brother Dafeng with some surprise. He had come in haste and had no chance to contact Brother Dafeng privately beforehand—and he had also feared that a private contact might fall under watchful eyes and create trouble for him when he showed Brother Dafeng favor. But what he had not expected was that Brother Dafeng seemed to have arranged everything already.

"Dafeng, let him finish what he has to say!" Elder Su gave a cold snort. "From this moment on, whoever interrupts Little Tongzi again will be showing that he has a guilty conscience!"

"Yes..." Brother Dafeng answered hurriedly, inwardly wild with joy.

"Thank you, Elder Su." Little Tongzi hastened to give thanks, then continued, "Strategist Zhuge thought himself very capable and wanted to swindle a pharmaceutical company into helping him transport drugs. Brother Dafeng did advise him that he did not understand the situation here—that there were many formidable powers, such as the great families, the secular great families, the ancient sects, and so on, none of them easy to provoke—and told him not to act rashly. But he paid no attention to Brother Dafeng at all and acted on his own, and in the end he ran straight into a brick wall..."

With that, Little Tongzi laid out the whole affair: how Strategist Zhuge had wanted to use Lai Pangzi's Guan Da Pharmaceutical to transport drugs, and how Wei Zhao had come to his door and killed Strategist Zhuge with a single palm strike. In the details he altered nothing, yet he deliberately played up just how utterly extraordinary Wei Zhao was!

"One palm strike—killing a Heaven-tier expert?" This time even Guardian Chen's eyes went wide. He realized that Strategist Zhuge truly had no eye for danger and had provoked a power he should never have touched! He understood a little of the power structure in these parts—a family with a Heaven-tier expert was at the very least a hidden great family, but a Heaven-tier expert who could effortlessly annihilate another Heaven-tier expert was generally someone who had come down from the ancient level!

To have provoked a power of the ancient level—then Strategist Zhuge's death was not unjust in the slightest! Not to mention the Red Conch, even the Fire Wolf Gang could not lightly go to war with an ancient sect; in the end it would only be a case of both sides suffering grievous losses.

"Dafeng, it seems I misjudged you!" Elder Su nodded and settled the matter with a single pronouncement. "It seems Headquarters did not consider things thoroughly at the time and overlooked Strategist Zhuge's personal strength and temperament. We meant to send him to hold the fort for you and assist you, but it turned out this way, and it nearly brought a powerful enemy down on us! Thank goodness this expert had no intention of wiping us out—otherwise we would not even be able to make a living in this country!"

Though Guardian Chen did not wish to see this outcome, the truth of the matter had now come fully to light, and he had no way to say anything more. He could only nod with a dark face. "Elder Su is right. Then let us take Strategist Zhuge's corpse back with us as quickly as possible and report to Headquarters."