Chapter 3572 — Three Who Objected
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
"Fellow brothers of Qingyun Pavilion, I entrust tomorrow's vote to you all. If I, Kang Jingming, take the seat of novice deacon, I will not treat you shabbily in the days to come!" Kang Jingming seized the moment to pledge solemnly before the crowd.
Of course, his words were nothing but barefaced lies. If he really did become novice deacon, those lowest, filthiest, most exhausting chores would in the end still fall on the heads of Qingyun Pavilion's novices—surely he could not make the second-generation cultivators of Chongtian Pavilion do menial work? And not just the second-generation cultivators of Chongtian Pavilion—even those formidable old fellows of Xuanji Pavilion he would probably rather not offend lightly. The easiest to bully were, after all, the worthless novices of Qingyun Pavilion.
"Heh heh, rest easy, Brother Kang. We novices of Qingyun Pavilion may have no other virtues, but in one respect we are absolute: honest and obedient. Just you wait to become novice deacon—and don't forget your old brother here when you do!" Meng Jueming chimed in with a chuckle.
Though Kang Jingming, like Wei Zhao, was a novice who had come up from the mortal realm, since he had Xu Lingchong—the inner-pavilion young master of Chongtian Pavilion—backing him, his weight in others' eyes was naturally different. He was worth currying favor with.
"Then I'll trouble Brother Meng to keep an eye on things for me. This chance means a great deal to me, little brother—I cannot afford any mishap," Kang Jingming cautioned, still somewhat uneasy. With his personal prospects at stake, he could not help but be careful.
"Heh heh, set your mind a hundred percent at ease, Brother Kang. This is an open, signed vote—if anyone dares disobey, just watch how I deal with them." Meng Jueming spoke aloud without the least concealment, and the novices' expressions shifted at the sound. The threat in those words was far too direct.
Still, the novices had more or less seen through it: they had no hope of being elected anyway, so whose vote they cast made no difference. It was not worth offending Meng Jueming, the managing senior brother at the very top, over a trifle like this.
Seeing the crowd nod obediently one after another, Meng Jueming could not help but jerk his chin at Kang Jingming in smug satisfaction. But when his gaze reached Wei Zhao and his two companions, his expression changed—for the three of them had no intention whatsoever of falling in line. They simply stood there with their arms folded, looking on with cold indifference.
The others feared Meng Jueming because they feared the petty torments he might inflict on them later. But Wei Zhao's trio had already fallen out with him long ago; even if they obeyed him now, there would be no benefit, so they might as well put on a show of backbone.
For Wei Zhao, after all, Meng Jueming was already offended whether he wished it or not, and if Kang Jingming got his way and was elected novice deacon, there would be no end of trouble in the days ahead—at the very least, the filthiest, most exhausting work would surely land on his own head. So this time, he absolutely could not let the man have his way.
In fact, even if Xu Lingchong helped him secure the votes of Chongtian Pavilion, that by no means guaranteed the old fellows of Xuanji Pavilion. And by the rule that a candidate must win more than two-thirds of the votes, so long as Wei Zhao's trio here in Qingyun Pavilion refused to nod, then even if everyone else voted for him, there was still a very good chance he would fail in the end.
He had just been thumping his chest and making grand promises, only to see someone refuse to cooperate the very next moment. Meng Jueming's old face flushed hot at once. Had it been anyone else, he would have cursed them out long ago—but faced with a prickly novice like Wei Zhao, he was somewhat at a loss.