Chapter 3585 — Framed and Set Up

"Is there anyone else?" Meng Jueming bellowed again with great fanfare.

The newcomers who had finished their inspections and come back out all shook their heads; the restrictive spells on their caves were still intact, and nothing inside had gone missing. Relieved, they now wore the relaxed expressions of spectators taking in a show.

Such was the way of the cultivation world: draw the curtain on others' troubles and hang them high; it's the fellow cultivator who dies, not the poor monk. Whoever loses out is simply unlucky—so long as it isn't you.

Not only that, but though Meng Zhou and Li Zhengming had not shown off quite as conspicuously as Wei Zhao, they had nonetheless been the special beneficiaries of Meng Jueming's favor. Watching those fine caves and spirit jades fall into their hands, it would have been a lie to say the other newcomers felt not the slightest envy or jealousy. Just now, every one of them was secretly gloating.

Gloating over what, you fools? A pack of idiots being played in the palm of someone's hand and not even knowing it!

Meng Zhou cursed inwardly, resolving that once Wei Zhao was dealt with this time, he would settle accounts with this bunch of blind, clueless creatures as well, and make them see clearly just who the leader here really was!

"It seems no one else has been robbed, correct?" Meng Jueming let his gaze sweep deliberately over the crowd, and seeing that no one spoke, raised his voice aloud: "The theft of spirit jade is no small matter! By the rules of our Welcome Pavilion, this affair must be investigated from the very beginning, the culprit seized, and punishment meted out without mercy!"

"Senior Brother Meng is wise indeed—you must drag this damned thief out and give us justice!" Meng Zhou and Li Zhengming immediately cried out in chorus, playing along with great cooperation.

"Hmph. Beneath my very eyes, Meng Jueming's, no petty scoundrel has ever yet slipped through!" Meng Jueming curled his lip and snorted coldly, then turned to face the crowd: "First, one thing can be certain. Since the thief stole spirit jade, and moreover singled out Meng Zhou and Li Zhengming to strike at, it is clear he is rather familiar with you people."

The newcomers exchanged bewildered glances. After a moment they came to a sudden realization and nodded one after another.

Of all the newcomers, Meng Zhou and Li Zhengming had the largest spirit jades—this was something every newcomer present knew. Yet outsiders beyond their number could scarcely have been aware of it. To say it was purely a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse, sheer luck landing on those two caves in particular, would be stretching coincidence far too thin!

Could it be that the true thief of the spirit jade was hiding among these very newcomers?

The thought sprang up in every newcomer's mind at once, and the more they dwelled on it, the more plausible it seemed. After all, only their own number knew who held the largest spirit jades, and only they—newcomers desperately short of cultivation resources—would risk everything for a spirit jade or two, would they not?

Having successfully sown suspicion among them, Meng Jueming smiled smugly, then put on a show of impartiality: "As the senior brother who oversees you, in my heart of hearts I absolutely believe every one of you is a man of upright conduct, a good fellow who would never disgrace the good name of our Azure Cloud Pavilion. But since this affair has occurred, before we go hunting for outsiders we must first see that our own conduct is straight and our footing square. Only when there is no problem on our side can we have the confidence to investigate outsiders. You would all agree this is the proper reasoning, would you not?"

"Senior Brother Meng speaks absolute truth!" the newcomers answered in unison. He who does no wrong fears no ghost at the door; since they were not the ones who had done it, Meng Jueming could investigate however he pleased—and perhaps there would even be a fine show to enjoy.

"Very good, then we shall begin the investigation with our own people!" Meng Jueming smiled as though his scheme had borne fruit, and deliberately laid out his analysis: "In theory, the restrictive spells on your caves are enough to withstand the full-force attack of a peak late-stage Heavenly Rank expert. That is to say, to break easily the restrictive spells on the caves of Meng Zhou and Li Zhengming, one must be at least a Heavenly Rank great-perfection expert—and moreover the most formidable kind of peak late-stage Heavenly Rank great-perfection expert at that!"

At these words, the newcomers' suspicious gazes instantly fell upon Wei Zhao, who stood at that moment before the gate of Cave No. 14 at the foot of the mountain. Of the fifteen newcomers of the Azure Cloud Pavilion, there were in total only three Heavenly Rank great-perfection experts: apart from Meng Zhou, only Wei Zhao and Xiao Che, both risen from the mortal world.

Xiao Che had always kept quiet and unobtrusive; the crowd paid him little attention. Wei Zhao, however, had become the focus of all eyes on his very first day and had moreover incurred a deeper enmity with Meng Zhou. Now that trouble had arisen, he was naturally the first suspect.

"Junior Brother Lin, this is not your senior brother deliberately targeting you—there is cause behind it, and I trust you can understand that," said Meng Jueming, walking with his followers to stand before Wei Zhao, a smile on his lips but none in his eyes. "Besides, your cave is the nearest to Meng Zhou's. That we start our suspicions with you is therefore pardonable."

Brother Kubi, Xiao Che, Qiao Hongcai and the others sensed something amiss and hurriedly wanted to intervene, but they were hard pressed to know how to help. They could hardly stop Meng Jueming from searching with his men—that would not be helping Wei Zhao but harming him! It would be little short of hanging out a sign reading "three hundred taels of silver buried here!"

Fortunately, at that moment Wei Zhao gave them a reassuring look, which set their hearts somewhat at ease.

Given Wei Zhao's character, he ought not to do anything so shameless and witless as this!

"Of course I understand," Wei Zhao nodded faintly, then said: "But Senior Brother Meng, I did not have the chance to say earlier—the restrictive spell on my cave has also been broken."

At this the crowd broke into an uproar once more. Even Wei Zhao's cave had been hit; this affair was growing rather complicated.

"The restrictive spell on your cave has also been broken?" Meng Jueming raised an eyebrow and said with a mocking laugh: "Then I wonder, has Junior Brother Lin also lost something?"

"That I have not. There is nothing of value here worth stealing, and unlike Meng Zhou and the others, my spirit jade is so small that it is quite convenient to carry on my person."

Wei Zhao's tone was flat and ordinary as ever, but the mockery in his words was plain for all to hear—and on this point the newcomers felt a deep sympathy. After all, in the matter of distributing spirit jades, Meng Jueming's favoritism had been all too blatant. The victim was not only Wei Zhao; even they felt their discontent.

We are all newcomers alike—by what right are Meng Zhou and the others given the largest spirit jades, while what is allotted to us must be smaller!

The prestige he had so painstakingly built up just moments before was left tottering on the verge of collapse by a single sentence from Wei Zhao! Meng Jueming's expression stiffened, and with a cold snort he said: "Luck always has its good and bad turns. But if Junior Brother Lin, feeling that the spirit jade allotted to him is too small, has gone so far as to risk everything, then do not blame your senior brother for showing no mercy! What are you two standing there dazed for—do you not want to recover the spirit jade? Search at once!"RS