Chapter 3564 — Who Dares to Challenge?
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
Behind him, Wei Zhao patted his shoulder in consolation. The Miserable Senior Brother was a decent man, but there was no help for it—honest folk are always the ones who get trampled, wherever they go.
Turning to look at the newcomer who had stepped forward, Wei Zhao did have some slight impression of him. Among the chorus of voices at the welcome assembly that had questioned Hu Yunfeng's unfair handling of matters, this Qiao Hongcai had been the loudest of them all.
"Cousin Jiu, don't forget about me!" Meng Zhou grew anxious at once in the crowd. With a backer like Meng Jueming standing right there, he had been utterly convinced that the first-ranking cave was already his; the last thing he expected was that the first name Meng Jueming called would not be his at all, but that of this Qiao Hongcai, who had never even met Meng Jueming before.
"What's the rush!" Meng Jueming shot him a displeased glance, then turned to look at the Qiao Hongcai who had stepped forward, a cold sneer playing over his face.
Just before he had left the Welcome Pavilion earlier, he had been specifically summoned by the Pavilion Master, Hu Yunfeng, and given instructions—and those instructions had been aimed squarely at this Qiao Hongcai. Who told the fool to have been the loudest one just now? A rootless rogue cultivator who was not worth a fart, and you dared to clamor about something as ridiculous as fairness? Had no one ever taught you that in this world of cultivation, the fist is the only fairness there is?
Being stared at like that by Meng Jueming, Qiao Hongcai felt at once that something was wrong. At first he had assumed he had made a deep impression on this Senior Brother Steward, and that was why he was being attended to first. Looking back on it now, deep was one thing—but it might not be a good thing! As the saying went, the bird that sticks its head out gets shot.
Sure enough, Meng Jueming looked at him and laughed coldly. "Congratulations, Junior Brother Qiao. From this moment on, Cave No. 15 at the foot of the mountain is yours."
Cave No. 15 at the foot of the mountain! The worst cave in history—scarcely better than sleeping out in the open!
Qiao Hongcai's head swam. Listening to the gloating laughter of the other newcomers around him, he finally came back to his senses, clenched his fists, and with veins starting on his forehead, said in a voice that could not quite accept it: "On what grounds do I have to take the worst cave? Senior Brother Meng, I have not offended you! Aren't the caves supposed to be allocated according to ability? Since Chongtian Pavilion and Xuanji Pavilion are the strongest and occupy the best, then even though we are the weakest, we too should have ours allocated according to ability, shouldn't we? I am at any rate a fine hand at the peak of the late Heaven rank—not Grand Perfection, to be sure, but still a middling sort. How is it that I am assigned to Cave No. 15?"
"You haven't offended me, true enough—but the people you have offended are people I cannot afford to offend!" Meng Jueming smiled coldly. "What's this, Junior Brother Qiao is dissatisfied with my arrangements? Then you can lodge a complaint against me—go to the Great Pavilion Master at the Welcome Pavilion and lodge your complaint against me there!"
This order had clearly been passed down on Hu Yunfeng's hint, so Meng Jueming was not the least bit afraid of Qiao Hongcai kicking up a fuss!