Chapter 3808 — Could He Have Been Mistaken?

Given the way this master and disciple had been scouring the world for the man, the only possibility was that he was their sworn, irreconcilable enemy. If it really did turn out to be Wei Zhao, then Xu Lingchong would not have to lift a finger—the two of them would rush to deal with Wei Zhao themselves. Killing with a borrowed blade, without the slightest effort on his part. Why wouldn't he?

More to the point, this was a rare instance of Shangguan Lan'er making the request in person. Quite apart from the fact that it stood to benefit Xu Lingchong, even if it did not, he would surely have agreed just to please his little junior sister Lan'er—there was no question of refusing her to her face.

Having worked out the ins and outs of it, Xu Lingchong said at once to Shangguan Lan'er, "I'll speak to them in the next day or two, and we'll go to Yingxin Pavilion together and see whether the man they're looking for is really Wei Zhao. If you've nothing else on, little junior sister Lan'er, why not come along and enjoy the show?"

"All right," Shangguan Lan'er agreed without a moment's hesitation.

The letter Wei Zhao had sent back to her gave no account of causes or consequences, nor any mention of his other identity as Lin Er; it merely asked her to do him a favor as set out in the letter. And so Shangguan Lan'er was rather curious to see just what trick Wei Zhao was playing this time.

Another chance to cultivate his bond with little junior sister Lan'er! Xu Lingchong was overjoyed at the sight—but the moment he turned his head and saw what the little Curly Bear beside him had been up to, his face fell in an instant, and he looked fit to weep without a single tear to show for it.

For while the two of them had been talking, the little Curly Bear at his side had been anything but idle: it had secretly drained both pots of spirit tea set out on the table—and those two pots were priced at a full five hundred spirit jade!

In other words, in that brief little span of time, the creature had briskly squandered five hundred spirit jade for this young master Xu. No matter how lofty one's family background, it could not long withstand such ruinous extravagance.

"Well then… this young lady will be off," said Shangguan Lan'er, caught between laughter and tears at the sight. She had no choice but to drag the little Curly Bear away and make herself scarce—for if she stayed any longer, she feared Xu Lingchong would lose his reason entirely and fly into a rage at the little creature.

Time slipped by in a flash, and the fifth round of the Yingxin Pavilion newcomers' challenge tournament opened on schedule. As always, all the newcomers had gathered early beside their respective arenas, waiting for the contest to begin.

This time, however, there was one difference from the previous four rounds: several uninvited guests had appeared on the Qingyun Pavilion newcomers' side. It was Xu Lingchong and his party.

The newcomers immediately fell to whispering among themselves, for apart from Xu Lingchong and Shangguan Lan'er, there was another unfamiliar face in the group—and by his attire, unquestionably an inner sect disciple of Chongtian Pavilion.

So it really was this one!

The very first instant Wei Zhao saw Yu Jiang appear behind Xu Lingchong, his eyelid could not help twitching. This time he owed a debt to Shangguan Lan'er for passing on the warning—and to his own quick reflexes. Otherwise, had he let this creature go on poking about, the danger would have been very real indeed.

"Young Master Xu! We've been waiting for you," Meng Jueming said, hurrying over the moment he saw Hu Yunfeng escorting Xu Lingchong's party in, greeting each of them in turn with an obsequious smile.

Xu Lingchong nodded to him, then made the introductions. "This is Yu Jiang of our Chongtian Pavilion. And this is Meng Jueming, steward of the Qingyun Pavilion newcomers, whom I told you about on the way. Get acquainted, you two."

Yu Jiang had come alone with Xu Lingchong this time. His master, Nan Tianyong, had wanted to come as well, but had been seconded by the Law Enforcement Hall to assist with a mission along the way, so the plan had had to be shelved.

"Ah, so you're Senior Brother Yu—I've long heard of you, long heard of you," said Meng Jueming, knowing no better. He took the man for one of Xu Lingchong's underlings, and seeing that his strength was above his own, he hastened to ingratiate himself.

Yu Jiang nearly rolled his eyes. After three quiet, unremarkable years buried in the Scriptural Library, hardly an inner sect disciple of Chongtian Pavilion had even heard of him—yet here was Meng Jueming, a steward of Yingxin Pavilion newcomers with no connection to him whatsoever, greeting him with "long heard of you" at the first breath. It was enough to make a man laugh and cry at once.

Still, these were mere pleasantries, and Yu Jiang naturally would not call him out on it. He replied at once, "Not at all, not at all. Brother Meng is a favorite in Young Master Xu's circle—it's I who should be saying I've long heard of you."

Meng Jueming felt a private glow of satisfaction at this. This Yu Jiang, he thought, certainly knows how to talk. A favorite in Young Master Xu's circle—now that was precisely the direction he meant to strive in hereafter. So long as he clung tightly to this thick thigh of Young Master Xu's, wealth and rank were well within his grasp!

The two exchanged a round of pleasantries, and only when the newcomers' challenge tournament was plainly about to begin did Xu Lingchong clear his throat and cut in, "All right, the two of you can stop being so courteous with each other. Get to the point."

Yu Jiang nodded and came to the matter at hand. "Brother Meng, I hear there's a newcomer named Lin in your Qingyun Pavilion whose strength is quite exceptional. I wonder if he's here today—could you point him out to me?"

"A newcomer named Lin? Exceptional strength?" Meng Jueming frowned. There was no question, surely, that this referred to Wei Zhao—but what did this Yu Jiang mean by asking after Wei Zhao?

Puzzled as he was, Meng Jueming at once pointed the man out for him. "There—that's Wei Zhao. Among the newcomers his strength is nothing much, but he's always putting on airs. His reputation is all bluster and hype. He has no friends to speak of, and his brains are a bit wanting—"

Meng Jueming assumed that some good fortune was about to descend on the head of the strongest newcomer, and so he laid into Wei Zhao without pause, intending to push Meng Zhou forward instead!

Following the direction of Meng Jueming's finger, Yu Jiang studied Wei Zhao from afar for a moment. In build, the man was quite similar to the Lin Er of his memory—but when he looked closely at Wei Zhao's features, he immediately concluded that this Wei Zhao and the Lin Er he sought were two entirely different people. They did not look alike at all.

Yu Jiang looked for a long while, then at last shook his head at Xu Lingchong and the others. "His figure is a little like the man's at first glance, but his face is completely different. This isn't the one I'm looking for," he said, disappointed.

"Are you sure? Look again—could you have been mistaken?" Xu Lingchong said with a frown.

He was desperately hoping that Wei Zhao would turn out to be the Lin Er this creature sought, for then he would have an extra hatchet man to wield against Wei Zhao, sparing himself the trouble of giving such a trifling matter too much thought.

And yet, when it came to sheer urgency, Xu Lingchong could never hope to match Yu Jiang, the man himself.