Chapter 3637 — Running an Errand for You!

On second thought, today was a public instruction day, and nothing could get past Zhao Hongbo, an elder of Azure Cloud Pavilion. To say nothing of the fact that Meng Jueming, given his standing, could never even get close to the man—in truth, not even a young lord like Xu Lingchong could order Zhao Hongbo to do anything, let alone something as sordid as framing Wei Zhao.

For one thing, their strength and status were utterly unequal. Even if Zhao Hongbo treated Xu Lingchong with special favor out of respect for Xu Yuanzheng, that courtesy would extend no further than the condescension of an elder; there was no chance he would ever truly sit as an equal with him, much less stoop to curry favor.

For another, the higher one's station, the more careful one had to be of appearances. Even granting the wildest possibility—that Zhao Hongbo really did heed Xu Lingchong's words and move against Wei Zhao, a newcomer of his own Azure Cloud Pavilion—he would never dare do so too openly. If word of it got out, after all, the spittle of countless Azure Cloud disciples would drown this Fourth Elder of theirs.

At that, Wei Zhao felt somewhat reassured. Whatever petty tricks Xu Lingchong, Meng Jueming and their lot might be plotting, so long as he got through his question smoothly and received the answer he wanted, all would be well.

What Wei Zhao had not expected, however, was that the very first thing out of Zhao Hongbo's mouth upon entering was aimed straight at him: "Which one of you is Wei Zhao?"

Wei Zhao started, then under the astonished gazes of the Azure Cloud newcomers he rose calmly and answered, "In reply to the Fourth Elder, this disciple is Wei Zhao."

Zhao Hongbo looked him up and down a few times, then asked, "I hear you are on good terms with Lu Bianren?"

Given the lofty station of an Azure Cloud Pavilion Fourth Elder, it was naturally impossible for him to take any interest in a mere third pavilion master of Welcoming Pavilion like Lu Bianren, still less to know of Wei Zhao. Those words had in fact reached his ears through Xu Lingchong's mouth, passed on by Meng Jueming, precisely so that they could be used as ammunition to make an example of Wei Zhao.

Matters had developed far beyond all expectation, yet Wei Zhao remained unhurried. He nodded and said, "You flatter me. Pavilion Master Lu merely gives a lift to those who come after him."

"A fine lift to those who come after him!" Zhao Hongbo gave an ambiguous sniff, then said, "If he is so keen on lifting up the young, then on a day as important as this, why does he not even show his face? It is utterly improper!"

The crowd exchanged glances at once. This Fourth Elder of Azure Cloud Pavilion had opened by naming and censuring Lu Bianren without the slightest concealment—if word of this got out, it would be nothing short of a disaster for a man already thoroughly marginalized in Welcoming Pavilion.

Still, to be fair, Lu Bianren—a third pavilion master of Welcoming Pavilion and a man of Azure Cloud stock—failing to appear on a day like this really was a little hard to justify! Should someone with a mind to make an issue of it take up the matter, his removal from the post of third pavilion master afterward was not at all out of the question.

Wei Zhao and his long-suffering senior brother exchanged a helpless look, and in an instant both knew that Lu Bianren had been played—and that the ones who had played him were most likely Pavilion Master Hu Yunfeng, Vice Pavilion Master Feng Song, and even Xu Lingchong and Meng Jueming, that whole pack joining hands, deliberately or not, to sink him!

Lu Bianren was stationed at the rear cliff for the time being, and within thirty li in any direction there was not so much as a ghost to be seen. And while a public instruction day came every year, no fixed date had ever been set for it—it was left entirely to the will of the pavilion elders. In other words, if Hu Yunfeng and Feng Song did not send word to him, he would have no way of knowing that today was a public instruction day at all!

Not even knowing whether today was the day, and forbidden by daily rule from leaving his post without Pavilion Master Hu Yunfeng's permission, it was only natural that he should fail to appear—and yet, through no fault of his own, he had thereby handed Zhao Hongbo a handle to berate him in public.

"Had I known, I should have sent Senior Brother Lu word yesterday!" his long-suffering senior brother could not help chiding himself inwardly.

It had never crossed his mind that Pavilion Master Hu Yunfeng and his lot would go this far—that they would fail to inform Lu Bianren of something as important as the public instruction day. And yesterday, busy as he was helping Wei Zhao and the others out of their scrape, he had had no time to make a special trip to the rear cliff.

Still, had he known in advance that the elder sent from Azure Cloud Pavilion would be Zhao Hongbo, he would have gone to warn Lu Bianren no matter what, for this Fourth Elder was the sworn rival of the Azure Cloud patron backing both Lu Bianren and himself—once trouble broke out, it was only to be expected that Zhao Hongbo would train his sights on them.

Alas, how could a mere steward like him possibly learn of the elders' arrangements in advance?

At this point his long-suffering senior brother had only grasped that Lu Bianren had been played, but Wei Zhao's thoughts ran further than his. Wei Zhao had already guessed that the trap sprung on Lu Bianren was merely the opening move, and that he himself would certainly be dragged into it.

Sure enough, Zhao Hongbo's very next words laid his intent bare: "Since you are on good terms with Lu Bianren, then I will trouble you to make a trip and fetch him here, so that the elders of the other two pavilions do not get a free laugh at our Azure Cloud Pavilion's expense!"

Just as I thought! Wei Zhao sneered inwardly. Zhao Hongbo's words sounded perfectly reasonable, carrying not the slightest hint of targeting or making things difficult for him—but one had to remember that today was a public instruction day of rare preciousness. Miss it once, and one might never have another chance to make it up in this lifetime.

And Lu Bianren was now far away at the rear cliff, thirty li off. Even without a moment's delay on the road, a round trip would take at least the better part of an hour. By the time Wei Zhao brought Lu Bianren back, it was quite likely that every newcomer here would already have finished asking their questions and the answers would be over and done with.

Seeing Wei Zhao silent and brooding, Zhao Hongbo knit his brows slightly and said, "What? You are not even willing to run an errand and call Lu Bianren here? Is this the standard Azure Cloud Pavilion newcomers have sunk to these days?"

At that, Meng Jueming cut in at just the right moment: "In reply to the Fourth Elder, this Wei Zhao is a newcomer from the secular world, headstrong and unruly, ignorant of the rules. The fault is mine, his steward senior brother's, for failing to discipline him. I beg the Fourth Elder to punish me!"

"So he is from the secular world. That explains it." Though Zhao Hongbo's face betrayed nothing, the displeasure in his words was plain for all to hear.

Toward cultivators who came up from the secular world, the native talents of Cloud Stair Island held one of two attitudes: some were accommodating, others exclusionary. This Fourth Elder clearly belonged to the latter camp, and to its radical wing, which advocated barring every secular-world talent outright. And that, precisely, was the key reason he stood opposed to the patron backing Lu Bianren.