Chapter 3698 — Acceptance

Li Zhengming smiled bitterly. "You must know, Chief Wei, that back then this case stirred the entire Law Enforcement Hall's strongest lineup, and in the end it simply fizzled out. A case that big—with the Law Enforcement Hall's capability, do you really think they could have failed to find the mastermind behind it?"

"Go on," Wei Zhao said, betraying nothing.

When he had first heard it from that hard-luck senior brother of his, he had harbored the same doubt. To wipe out all one thousand five hundred and forty souls of Qiu Shui Manor, high and low alike, was an undertaking of such scale that it could not possibly have left no trace at all. If the Law Enforcement Hall had truly meant to dig, finding the culprit should not have been difficult.

Yet in the end, after several months of investigation, the whole affair simply died. An outcome like that was truly thought-provoking.

"It wasn't that they couldn't keep investigating—it's that they didn't dare to. Because the greatest mastermind behind it all was a top-tier bigwig on the Council of Elders of Sandie Pavilion!"

Li Zhengming ground his teeth, glanced at Wei Zhao, and said, "You must be wondering too, Chief Wei, why I would take a false name with the surname Li. The reason is simple: that greatest mastermind behind the scenes is surnamed Li. I use this false name to remind myself at every moment that I carry on my shoulders a sea of blood debt owed for one thousand five hundred and forty lives!"

Only then did Wei Zhao understand. If that was how things stood, then the moment Li Zhengming's identity tablet was exposed, he truly would have nowhere to be buried—for that giant of the Council of Elders surnamed Li would never suffer a fish like Li Zhengming to slip through the net and live at ease out in the world.

In other words, if all of this was true, then by handing over this identity tablet Li Zhengming was handing his life into Wei Zhao's keeping. At the faintest sign of disloyalty, Wei Zhao could crush him dead with a single thought, and no protection from the likes of Meng Jueming would do him any good.

"Fine. I believe you." Wei Zhao nodded at last. If Li Zhengming had gone this far and he still remained unmoved, that would be going too far—unless he had never wanted Li Zhengming as his inside man from the very beginning.

But the reality was that he did need Li Zhengming as his inside man, and Li Zhengming had shown sincerity enough. Things having come this far, the two of them naturally struck it off at once.

Li Zhengming was overjoyed—yet before he could savor the joy of having survived a disaster, Wei Zhao casually tossed the identity tablet back to him, and his heart gave a lurch. "Chief Wei, what is the meaning of this?"

Wei Zhao smiled and said carelessly, "Since I already believe you are sincerely throwing in your lot with me, I have no need of such a cumbersome pledge. After all, if you truly set your heart on betraying me one day, holding this identity tablet would be meaningless to me."

That was the truth. Though the identity tablet was a lethal threat to Li Zhengming, if he truly set his mind to it, there was still a chance he could shake off its constraints.

Even so, Wei Zhao's gesture still left Li Zhengming overwhelmed with favor. He rushed to declare his loyalty: "Thank you for your trust, Chief Wei. I, Li Zhengming, swear to heaven that whatever may come hereafter, I will never harbor one shred of disloyalty. Should I break this oath, may heaven and earth destroy me!"

"Heh... I don't believe in oaths. I believe only in my own strength. Let me be blunt with you first: if you ever turn against me hereafter, taking your life will be as easy as turning my hand, and no one will be able to save you then. Understand?" As he spoke, Wei Zhao unleashed the full aura of a peak early-stage Foundation Establishment expert, so oppressive that the whole cave dwelling trembled faintly with it.

Li Zhengming hastily prostrated himself on the ground. "This one understands."

"All right, get up." Wei Zhao nodded faintly.

"Yes." Li Zhengming promptly scrambled to his feet. His injuries were not light, but Wei Zhao had used no martial technique when beating him, so he was not so far gone that he could not even stand.

Wei Zhao thought for a moment, then instructed, "After you go back, report to Meng Jueming that I am currently only at early-stage Foundation Establishment. You understand what I mean?"

Li Zhengming blinked, ran the connections through his mind, and quickly grasped Wei Zhao's meaning. He nodded. "I understand."

If he went back this time and reported to Meng Jueming that Wei Zhao was still merely at Heaven Rank Great Perfection and had not succeeded in Foundation Establishment, that would, in the short run, best suit the trick of playing the pig to devour the tiger and concealing one's strength—but at the ranking tournament to come, it would very easily give the game away.

Better, then, to reveal a little of Wei Zhao's strength to Meng Jueming in advance. That way he would neither expose Wei Zhao's hidden cards nor fail to win people's trust—only so could he play the inside man long and comfortably.

"Then... Chief Wei, I will take my leave." Li Zhengming glanced at Wei Zhao. He had already been in the cave dwelling for some time, and lingering too long would easily rouse suspicion.

"Wait." Wei Zhao suddenly called him back and held out a spirit jade. "Didn't you say you wanted to trade spirit jade with me? You came in on that pretext, after all. If you go back empty-handed like this, Meng Jueming and the others will still have questions, won't they?"

"This..." Li Zhengming looked somewhat abashed. He stewed over it for a long while before stammering out, "Chief Wei, there is something I must tell you. Brace yourself first—whatever happens, you must hold up."

One look at his expression and Wei Zhao had already guessed what he was going to say. He could not help but find it amusing. "Enough. If you have something to say, say it straight."

"Th-that... a while back, didn't a lot of people come to trade spirit jade with you? The truth is, Meng Jueming gave us a pile of junk jade and had us use it to cheat you out of your good jade. Which is to say, you traded a dozen-odd pieces of fine jade for a heap of worthless scraps—Meng Jueming played you..." Li Zhengming said, his face full of embarrassment.

In truth, this was something that had always puzzled him.

In his view, with Wei Zhao's shrewdness, how could he possibly fail to tell good jade from junk? And to be fooled again and again by the lot of them using the same pretext—he had even deliberately left several openings back then, yet Wei Zhao had shown not the slightest reaction!

Wei Zhao chuckled. "I know. I knew it was a scam from the very start."

"Huh? Then why did you still..." Li Zhengming was struck dumb. Who on earth, knowing full well it was a scam, would cooperate so obligingly and let himself be swindled?

Wei Zhao smiled faintly. "I collect junk jade for a special purpose. Compared with that, I actually do not depend much on good jade, so I was happy to play along with you all. I would even welcome you bringing me more junk jade!"

"So that's it! No wonder I always felt something was off!" Only then did Li Zhengming understand, and he let out a breath. "I said it all along—with Chief Wei's shrewdness, how could you fail to see through such a simple scam! Then from now on I will goad Meng Jueming into trading jade with you all the more!"