Chapter 3854 — Intrigued

And indeed it was just as Nan Tianguan had thought: Shangguan Tianxia had no intention of bringing any pressure to bear on the Law Enforcement Hall—or, strictly speaking, on Gongyang Jun—over a trifle like Nan Tianyong's death.

Gongyang Jun was a favored general whom Shangguan Tianxia had personally promoted back in the day, and he had always held him in high regard. Though there had been no small amount of criticism in the streets these past years, Gongyang Jun's ability and achievements were plain for all to see.

Every man had his own way of doing things. Since Shangguan Tianxia valued Gongyang Jun, he would not rashly interfere in matters that fell within his purview. To meddle too much and reach too far would not only do no good, but could easily open cracks in their relationship—and with his wisdom, Shangguan Tianxia would hardly commit such a crude blunder.

What was more, though Nan Tianyong's death counted as a matter in Shangguan Tianxia's eyes, it was in the end a minor one. His private intelligence network had long since reported to him the scene that day, when Nan Tianyong publicly hunted Lin Er down in the market and was ultimately killed instead.

In keeping with Shangguan Tianxia's consistent style, even as master of the Tri-Stack Pavilion he would not blindly shield his own people. Cultivators slaughtering one another was the most ordinary thing in the world; so long as the killing was not done through some underhanded scheme, then even if the dead man were a core disciple of the Tri-Stack Pavilion, Shangguan Tianxia generally disdained to make a fuss over it.

Vendettas in the jianghu inevitably cost lives. If a man's skills were simply inferior, what was there left to say? If he died, he deserved to die.

Such words, of course, Shangguan Tianxia could not say outright to the disciples beneath him; he could only express his stance through the method of cold indifference.

Nan Tianguan had originally thought he had a chance to win this pavilion master over to speak for him. A single casual word from him would have been enough to pressure the Law Enforcement Hall, and that Lin Er would then have had nowhere to hide. Yet he had never expected Shangguan Tianxia to take such an aloof attitude.

Before a top-tier magnate like Shangguan Tianxia, Nan Tianguan was, after all, only an insignificant nobody. Since the magnate had made his attitude clear, the nobody, no matter how dissatisfied, dared not keep pestering him on the matter; otherwise, once he provoked the magnate's displeasure, his fate would be hard to predict.

"Pavilion Master, this disciple knows well that the Law Enforcement Hall has its own rules of conduct, which permit no interference from outside forces, and this disciple bears no complaint about that. But this disciple and Nan Tianyong were brothers born of the same mother. Now that my brother has been cruelly slain, this disciple cannot sit by and do nothing. Even if I must rely on my own strength alone, I will have my revenge for him!" Nan Tianguan said righteously, tears welling in his eyes.

This display of hot-blooded loyalty was of course feigned, yet Nan Tianguan was not afraid of being seen through by Shangguan Tianxia—because even if the sentiment was false, the substance of his words was true.

Whether for the reputation of the Three Heroes of the Nan Clan, or to give a satisfactory account to Nan Tianxiong, their leader, given Nan Tianguan's present circumstances he had no choice but to drag Lin Er into the light and avenge his third brother, Nan Tianyong.

"That you have such resolve is a good thing." Shangguan Tianxia nodded blandly, but said nothing more on account of it.

By Shangguan Tianxia's former temperament, he had always been generous in his praise of hot-blooded, upright men, highborn or low. Now he was so cold, plainly because he had seen through Nan Tianguan's affected little schemes.

At this Nan Tianguan's face flushed with embarrassment, but fortunately he was deep in cunning and could still force himself to composure. He continued: "Reporting to the Pavilion Master, Yu Jiang, an inner disciple of our Tri-Stack Pavilion, witnessed with his own eyes that the man who killed this disciple's third brother, Nan Tianyong, was a rogue cultivator who called himself Lin Er. And the only man who knows the truth of this rogue cultivator's identity is Hong Zhong, steward of the Hong Merchant Guild."

Lin Er? Shangguan Lan'er, who was nearby keeping little Curly Curly Bear company, pricked up her ears at once at the sound of that familiar name.

Though Wei Zhao had never told her that he himself was Lin Er, and Shangguan Lan'er had always been innocent and artless, her wits were by no means dull. From the errand Wei Zhao had asked her to run last time, it was easy enough to work out the connection between Wei Zhao and Lin Er.

Even if she had been somewhat puzzled that Yu Jiang had failed to recognize Wei Zhao to his face back then, she could still guess the general shape of things—she had simply never spoken of it.

Lin Er had killed Nan Tianyong? After hearing Nan Tianguan's words, Shangguan Lan'er was struck dumb with amazement. Because she had been under Shangguan Tianxia's supervision in her cultivation these past days, the uproar in the outside world had never reached her ears. Hearing this news all at once, she was stunned from head to toe.

Shangguan Lan'er's own strength was modest, but from childhood she had lived amid such things, and she knew exactly what sort of power an inspection deacon of the Tri-Stack Pavilion commanded—at the very least a peak late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, no less! And her little junior brother had actually been able to kill him?

Shangguan Lan'er's curiosity was instantly roused. She cared nothing for whether Nan Tianyong lived or died; by comparison, she was closer to this little junior brother of hers, Wei Zhao, and so naturally her sympathies leaned toward him.

Nan Tianyong and Yu Jiang had been hunting for this so-called Lin Er all along. Since master and disciple had schemed so deliberately against her little junior brother Wei Zhao, they were certainly no good. It must be that old wretch Nan Tianyong had pushed him too far, and only then had her little junior brother been forced to strike back and kill him—it must be so!

Shangguan Lan'er had never been interested in the conversation between her grandfather and Nan Tianguan, but now she perked up—not for any other reason than that she wanted to gather some intelligence for her little junior brother Wei Zhao, so that whatever happened, he could be prepared in advance and not be thrown into a panic when the time came.

"Hong Zhong?" Shangguan Tianxia murmured a moment at the name, then looked at Nan Tianguan with a meaning-laden gaze. "You went to see him?"

Seeing that Shangguan Tianxia seemed, for once, to have taken an interest, Nan Tianguan's spirits rose sharply. "The Pavilion Master sees all. From what this disciple has learned, this Steward Hong not only is on intimate terms with Lin Er, but has been fanning the flames from behind throughout the feud between Lin Er and my third brother Nan Tianyong—his intentions can only be called sinister! Today this disciple went to Steward Hong to inquire into Lin Er's identity, only to find that the steward not only refused to cooperate, but most rudely had several skilled retained cultivators throw this disciple out. He does not regard our Tri-Stack Pavilion as worth a thought. This is beyond bearing—Pavilion Master, I beg you to see justice done for this disciple!"

By the end of his speech Nan Tianguan was seething with righteous indignation—and this time it was no pretense. At the memory of being flung from the second floor into the street before all eyes, his face burned with shame!