Chapter 3851 — He Still Threw Them Down

"Oh? Is that not so? Do you truly dare utter even half a word of refusal to my face?" Nan Tianguan sneered coldly, not taking Hong Zhong's counter-question to heart in the slightest.

He knew all too well just how much weight a Four-Direction Inspector of the Hong Shadow Division carried within the Hong Clan Merchant Guild—he had learned it plainly enough back when he first made contact with that senior figure from the Central Island, who, amid casual conversation, had cast a branch steward down into the dust; the man had not only been utterly powerless to resist, but to save his own skin had even had to kneel in public and beg for mercy!

With this letter standing as his guarantee, even if Hong Zhong, that old codger, were lent a few extra spines, he would never dare breathe a single word of refusal.

"Half a word of refusal?" Hong Zhong raised an eyebrow, then shook his head. "Then I fear I must disappoint you, sir. This old man has never been one to speak only half a word. Still, I can tell you plainly enough right now: you may leave."

"Hm?" In an instant the atmosphere inside the Hong Clan Merchant Guild turned to ice, and Nan Tianguan, so certain that everything lay within his grasp, felt his expression turn subtly, and then almost incredulous.

"Do you not understand this old man's words?" Watching Nan Tianguan's expression, a note of mockery and cold severity entered Hong Zhong's gaze. "Then allow me to put it even more plainly. You—can get out."

"Ha? Have you gone senile, you old codger?" Nan Tianguan's face flushed crimson in an instant, and he sputtered in fury, "Have you even read what is written on this letter? You dare disregard the word of a Four-Direction Inspector of your own Hong Shadow Division—dare pretend you never saw it?"

Nan Tianguan had assumed that once he deliberately invoked that title of such weight within the Hong Clan Merchant Guild, the other man might not be as fearful as he had imagined, but surely would not simply turn a blind eye and dismiss it altogether.

Yet Hong Zhong, hearing these words, still regarded him with the look one gives an idiot, and said mildly, "What he says, I have naturally seen. But so what? As steward of the North Island branch, this old man holds full authority over every affair of the Hong Clan Merchant Guild on the North Island. Does your honor perhaps imagine that a mere Four-Direction Inspector can dictate terms to me?"

"My god!" Nan Tianguan was struck dumb, and seasoned and prudent though he ordinarily was, even he could not help but curse aloud—and even the others present in the Hong Clan Merchant Guild, down to those four guest retainers who came and went like dragons glimpsed through clouds, could plainly feel their aura falter for a beat. They had clearly been stunned.

There was not a single flaw in the logic of Hong Zhong's words. A so-called Four-Direction Inspector of the Hong Shadow Division held only the power to inspect the four branches; he had no direct authority over them. So in theory, whatever the steward of the North Island branch wished to do, this Four-Direction Inspector truly had no say over it.

But even without that authority, the man was still someone who could strangle a career in its cradle. Offend him in earnest, and Hong Zhong would surely have no easy path ahead either!

Even the lowest errand boys of the Hong Clan Merchant Guild could see this calculus of interests plainly enough—so how could Hong Zhong, a veteran steward who had held the North Island branch for decades, possibly fail to see it?

Yet he had done it anyway, and that was truly beyond comprehension. Could Steward Hong be so lacking in tact as to let mere pique over one Lin Er drive him to defy a Four-Direction Inspector to his face? That was simply too unreasonable!

"You linger here and will not leave—it seems soft words are wasted on you, and you mean to have the hard ones?" Hong Zhong's expression was unchanged as he lifted his teacup again and smiled faintly. "Four guest retainers, would you be so good as to see these two troublesome guests out for me?"

At these words, Nan Tianguan and Yu Jiang's expressions shifted sharply, and once he had grasped what was said, Nan Tianguan hurriedly threatened, "This old codger has gone mad! I should like to see which of you will go mad along with him!"

In Nan Tianguan's view, even if Hong Zhong himself had lost his senses and no longer cared about the threat of a Four-Direction Inspector, the others—including those four formidable guest retainers—would never lose their minds alongside him. After all, once vital interests were at stake, cultivators had always been the most pragmatic breed of people.

To his surprise, after only a brief pause, those four powerful auras settled over his head once more without hesitation. Clearly, between Hong Zhong and Nan Tianguan, these four formidable guest retainers had already made their choice.

The four appeared at once, giving Nan Tianguan no chance to resist or speak, and surrounded him and Yu Jiang completely. Following the same method used on Nan Tianyong last time, they pitched the two of them out of the second-floor window without another word.

Since it was not an open day for the inner street, there were not many pedestrians about, but two grown men suddenly flung down from above—one of them a man of Nan Tianguan's hotly sought-after standing—set the inner street of the market district instantly abuzz.

Pointed at and discussed by all around them, subjected to a fierce gauntlet of jeering and mocking stares, not only did a personage like Nan Tianguan feel humiliated—even a nobody like Yu Jiang felt his face utterly lost, too ashamed to show himself.

This time the two of them had gotten a genuine taste of what Nan Tianyong had felt back then. The only difference was that Nan Tianyong had been alone, whereas the two of them had come as a team to lose face together!

"Damned old codger!" Nan Tianguan glared at Hong Zhong, calm and composed in the second-floor window, grinding his teeth in hatred, his face burning with shame.

Back when he had learned that his third brother Nan Tianyong had been thrown down from the Hong Clan Merchant Guild, he had poured scorn and contempt upon the man. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that now it was his turn—and that despite making thorough preparations in advance, he still could not escape the same humiliating fate. How was he supposed to bear it?

The managing senior disciple of the Soaring Sky Pavilion, flung from the second floor into the street before all eyes, utterly powerless to resist, mocked and gaped at by so many passersby—on this trip today, Nan Tianguan had thrown away a lifetime's worth of face!

And Yu Jiang, that nobody, was at this moment cursing inwardly as well: this martial uncle of his had been so high and mighty, bearing down on Hong Zhong and his people from the very first moment until they could scarcely breathe—and yet he had still come to such an awkward end!

Not only had they failed to dig up the truth about Lin Er, they had lost face alongside him for nothing. Truly, a case of going for wool and coming home shorn!

The Three Heroes of the Nan Clan—what a name they had! Yet pitted against a colossus like the Hong Clan Merchant Guild, the third and then the second had been flung one after another into the street to be humiliated and laughed at. Yu Jiang had seen it clearly enough now: the two sides had never been on the same level at all!

Amid the stares and jeers of the passersby, Nan Tianguan and Yu Jiang had no time for rage or venting; they scrambled to their feet and made to cover their faces and flee. RS