Chapter 4030 — The Departure of Tianchan

"Zheng Tianjie? So that great crash yesterday was that fellow's pill furnace blowing up?" Ning Xuefei was taken aback for a moment, then shook her head. "No—I thought it was an earthquake. I was even thinking it was strange that it only shook once and stopped."

In private, though, Ning Xuefei could not help secretly speculating: this business with Zheng Tianjie might well have something to do with that young clerk from the Hong Chamber of Commerce. She might be thick-skinned and scatterbrained, but when it came to connecting dots, her imagination was second to none.

Ning Xuefei was only speculating in private, but at that very moment, in the Assembly Hall, Tianchan heard the news from her master Lianxin's own lips—and was struck dumb on the spot.

When the incident had occurred the night before, the scene had been swiftly cordoned off by the Town-North Guard, and Tianchan had no way of knowing the particulars. She had tossed and turned all night, worrying about how she ought to deal with Zheng Tianjie's pestering, and whether Zheng Tianjie might move against Wei Zhao.

Yet who would have thought that, now that the night had passed, Zheng Tianjie was actually dead? And dead because his pill furnace had exploded and blown him apart?

Was not such a death exactly the same as that of the junior brother of the Pill Hall whom he had framed and killed before?

In that instant, a figure flashed violently through Tianchan's mind—none other than Wei Zhao, whom she had only just met the night before!

"Chan'er, what's the matter?" Seeing Tianchan stare blankly into space after hearing the news, Lianxin could not help asking in puzzlement.

"N-nothing... nothing at all. Your disciple merely finds that this matter came far too suddenly." Tianchan hastily covered for herself. Recalling the circumstances of her meeting with Wei Zhao the night before, she found it hard to believe, yet she was almost certain that Wei Zhao's shadow must lie behind this affair.

After all, for an expert of Zheng Tianjie's caliber—an early Golden Core cultivator—to die because his pill furnace exploded was, however one looked at it, deeply suspicious. Especially since he had a prior record of making people "die in furnace explosions"—it was hard not to be suspicious.

Lianxin nodded and sighed. "Indeed. Yesterday all was well, and in the blink of an eye such a thing has happened. One can only say that fate is fickle and fortune makes fools of us all! Still, Zheng Tianjie's death may not be such a bad thing for you, Chan'er. Your master knows you did not like him, and the man's character was vile—truly no fit match for you. This way, you are spared a great deal of trouble."

"Master, is it already settled that Zheng Tianjie died because his pill furnace exploded?" Tianchan probed cautiously.

"That is so. It is the unanimous conclusion of Steward Song and the heads of the other factions, and the scene indeed bears the marks of a furnace explosion. Zheng Tianjie's corpse is covered in great scorch marks from pill fire—this your master and your fellow senior and junior uncles who accompanied us can all confirm. The possibility of foul play can be ruled out," Lianxin said with a confident nod.

If that was so, could it really be that Zheng Tianjie had brought retribution upon himself, and that it truly had nothing to do with Wei Zhao?

With so many great personages present—among them Pill Hall experts of her master Lianxin's caliber—for all of them to be deceived at once would be no small feat!

Tianchan could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. Yet deep down she still could not quite shake the suspicion that Wei Zhao was connected to this affair. Still, this was for the best: at least no one would dig any deeper into the killer behind the scenes, and she need not worry about Wei Zhao.

But Lianxin's next words left Tianchan's heart hanging in midair once more: "Of course, these are only our preliminary conclusions. The matter can only be truly settled once we return to the Pill Hall. Who knows—there may yet be unexpected discoveries."

Tianchan was instantly on tenterhooks. The Pill Hall, as a top-tier power of the Middle Island, truly had experts as numerous as the clouds. If Wei Zhao really had done this, then even if he could hoodwink the people of the Far North Island, there was no way he could deceive so many Pill Hall experts. Once the truth came to light, Wei Zhao would be bringing disaster upon himself...

"Very well. This incident came without warning, and we cannot possibly continue attending the auction. Chan'er, hurry and pack your things—we set out for the Middle Island at once." Lianxin gave these hurried instructions and turned to go.

"Yes." Tianchan answered as though her soul had left her body, her mind filled entirely with the image of Wei Zhao. If circumstances had permitted, she truly wished to find Wei Zhao and ask him to his face whether he had done it, so that she might be spared this endless anxiety.

Half an hour later, the entire Pill Hall party assembled at the main gate of the Assembly Hall and set out for the Middle Island, bearing Zheng Tianjie's charred corpse.

Watching the Pill Hall group soar far into the distance, Wei Zhao felt little worry in his heart. Even knowing full well that the Pill Hall had experts as numerous as the clouds, he remained utterly confident in his methods for fabricating a scene.

After all, he had been a divine physician back in the mortal world, and had afterward received the true transmission of Zhang Lifeng's notes on his experiences. So as for the condition of Zheng Tianjie's corpse, while he would not claim the forgery was seamless, very few could see through the trick—unless that person were his unearned master Zhang Lifeng himself, or unless Old Man Wei had also come up from the mortal world to the island.

Compared with Zheng Tianjie's death, Wei Zhao was now more worried about Tianchan's situation. Although Zheng Tianjie, that **trouble, was gone, judging from the past conduct of his grandfather, the Pill Hall's vice-elder, the old man was likely no good sort either. That he might vent his wrath on Tianchan was not at all out of the question.

Everyone knew, after all, that Zheng Tianjie had fired up his furnace to refine Beauty Pills to please Tianchan, and that he had "died in a furnace explosion" in the attempt. That the Pill Hall vice-elder would vent his anger on Tianchan was all but obvious.

Still, given Wei Zhao's present strength and background, he could not even set foot on the Middle Island. However much he worried, it was futile; for the time being he could only hope that Tianchan would handle things herself.

Just as Wei Zhao was looking up and watching Tianchan and the others recede into the distance, Hong Zhong appeared behind him, his face alight with joy. "Young Hero Lin, your letter of appointment has already been sent back to the Middle Island headquarters—they have formally entered it into the rolls!"

"So fast?" Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback. From last night to now, six hours at most had passed. The reaction speed of the Hong Chamber of Commerce headquarters was truly astonishing.

"Ha, that is hardly surprising. We of the Hong Chamber of Commerce are, after all, the second-ranked top-tier chamber in the Merchant Alliance. This auction is a matter of great consequence—if our response were slow, would we not be sitting ducks? To be frank with you, Young Hero Lin, I hear that even our chairman himself stationed himself by the teleportation array waiting for news, and he was the first to see this triumphant report." Hong Zhong laughed.

Wei Zhao broke into a smile. "Seeing how radiant Master Hong looks, I take it all has gone as you wished. It seems from now on I must address you as Chairman Hong. Congratulations, congratulations!" R1152