Chapter 3887 — An Unexpected Message

Xiao Che had done well too, earning seventy-five points, while Wei Zhao had gotten only two chances to fight over two whole months—one against Zha Wu, and today against Murong Zhen—for a total of eighteen points.

Meng Zhou, meanwhile, full of ambition, ended up with only fifty-four points thanks to the sudden rise of Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai—not even half of what he had expected, and he had not managed to overtake Wei Zhao, his most basic goal. A complete and utter failure.

Setting aside the elixir test, which had yet to be finally settled, the cumulative rankings across the three stages put Wei Zhao and Qiao Hongcai tied for first with a hundred and thirty-eight points apiece.

Meng Zhou held third with a hundred and twenty-six points, Xiao Che fourth with a hundred and eighteen, and Li Zhengming fifth with seventy-three.

This result truly caught everyone off guard. No one had ever imagined that Qiao Hongcai—that thing they called trash—would rise out of nowhere as a dark horse in the truest sense and take the top seat, blinding the eyes of all who beheld it.

Looking at the rankings, Meng Jueming's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot. Word had already come down from above: so long as he could break through to mid Foundation Establishment in the near term, his seat as third pavilion master of the Welcome New Pavilion was all but assured.

That ought to have been cause for great rejoicing, but the rankings before his eyes seemed to slap him across the face. He had poured in vast resources, and in the end his new recruits could not even take second place—how would he have the nerve to call himself third pavilion master in the days to come?

Just as Meng Jueming sat stewing in his fury, someone suddenly delivered a finely made invitation. At the name of its sender, his eyes lit up at once.

Early the next morning, someone triggered the restriction on the cave dwelling. Wei Zhao looked at the man before him and could not help but pause slightly.

The visitor was none other than Zha Wu—the acknowledged dead-last weakling among the Welcome New Pavilion's newcomers.

"What do you want with me?" Wei Zhao studied Zha Wu up and down with some surprise. Since the fellow had stepped up to challenge him in the very first round of the challenge tournament, he had left a fairly deep impression.

Mediocre in strength, fond of shortcuts, yet possessing no great wisdom—only a petty cleverness too shabby to show anyone. He would never amount to anything. That was the sum of the impression Zha Wu had left on Wei Zhao.

From what Wei Zhao understood, the man had been among the earlier batch to attach himself to Meng Jueming, though he had never been favored. His circumstances now seemed rather grim; his pitiful new-recruit assessment points were nearly in the negative.

What would a creature like this come to him for?

On seeing Wei Zhao, Zha Wu put on a fawning smile. "Leader Wei Zhao, I beg your pardon for disturbing your cultivation. I truly feel awful about it, but there is a piece of news I thought might interest you, so I wished to report it to you."

"What news?" Wei Zhao's expression betrayed nothing, though he had already guessed a good part of it. Could this creature no longer stand it over on Meng Jueming's side and wish to turn coat, serving as his mole the way Li Zhengming did?

Given Zha Wu's opportunistic nature, it was quite likely. After all, in his present circumstances, if he kept trailing behind Meng Jueming's lot eating their dust, he was doomed never to rise.

If, on the other hand, Wei Zhao's side would take him in, he might not receive much regard, but the key was that Wei Zhao had few people under him. Even if he could not get meat, he would at least get a taste of the broth.

What was more, there was an old saying: spend a thousand gold on a horse's bones. So long as Wei Zhao harbored even a little ambition, he could not afford to treat Zha Wu—this pioneer and exemplar—too shabbily. In fact, he could not be shabby at all; he would have to treat him generously. Only thus could he attract more people to defect to his banner.

The trouble was that once this business came to light, Meng Jueming's side would never let him off. A creature like Zha Wu surely lacked that kind of nerve. Most likely he meant only to play the mole and pass along intelligence—with a little care, he could reap the benefits without taking much risk.

What surprised Wei Zhao, though, was this: could a marginal figure like Zha Wu really get his hands on anything of value?

Zha Wu glanced carefully left and right, and only when he saw no one about did he lean close to Wei Zhao and whisper, "Leader Wei Zhao, last night I saw Meng Jueming sneak stealthily into the little wooden hut. He did not slip away until the sky was nearly light this morning. I doubt I need to spell out what that means."

"Is this true?" Wei Zhao's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Absolutely true. I had my eye on that little hut the whole night. If there's a single word of a lie in this, may the heavens strike me down with thunder!" Zha Wu hastily swore.

At that, Wei Zhao gave him an odd look. The creature clearly had too much idle time—instead of cultivating properly, what was he doing watching someone else's little hut? His motives were plain at a glance. Most likely he had meant to take advantage of Murong Zhen, but lacked the nerve and the strength alike, and could only peep night after night to satisfy his sordid urges.

That this creature should rank dead last in strength among all the newcomers was no injustice at all—he had brought it entirely on himself.

Under Wei Zhao's gaze, Zha Wu's old face flushed red, and he shrank his neck timidly. Then he heard Wei Zhao say, "Anything else besides this? If not, I won't see you out."

"Uh—very well, Leader Wei Zhao. Then this humble one shall take his leave." Zha Wu could only turn and depart in disappointment, having fully expected some token of gratitude for volunteering this intelligence. In the end he had gained nothing—a wasted trip.

Watching Zha Wu's receding back, Wei Zhao shook his head with a smile. To think a scrap of intelligence like that would win him recognition—Zha Wu truly overestimated himself. Petty cleverness, just as expected, and nothing that could ever stand in the light.

Still, the intelligence Zha Wu had brought was, to Wei Zhao, quite valuable indeed.

Wanton woman though Murong Zhen undeniably was, since coming here she had never once kept anyone overnight. Even the so-called tea gatherings at the wooden hut were merely a feast for the eyes, with no substantive favors on offer.

Yet Meng Jueming had been able to spend a whole night in the little wooden hut. Given Murong Zhen's wanton nature, what might happen when a lone man and a lone woman shared a room needed no elaboration.

And the backdrop to this was yesterday's closing round of the newcomer challenge tournament: Murong Zhen slapped off the stage by Wei Zhao, and Meng Zhou beaten half to death by Qiao Hongcai.

Put the pieces together, and the conclusion was obvious. That woman Murong Zhen was preparing to throw in her lot with Meng Jueming so the two could huddle together for warmth.

Had the three-way division of power turned into an alliance with Wu against Wei? Wei Zhao had expected as much, though he had not anticipated the two would react so swiftly, getting together last night of all times.

So eager to fall into each other's arms and tumble into bed—truly a match of lightning and dry tinder, a fine pair of scoundrels! RS