Chapter 3600 — The Third Pavilion Master of the Welcome Pavilion
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
Of course, however weak Third Pavilion Master Lu Bianren might be, he was still a figure of vice-pavilion-master rank, his standing a notch above the steward brothers; and crucially, he had risen from within Qingyun Pavilion itself. If he chose to speak, then however arrogant and overbearing Meng Jueming might be, he would have to show him some deference. Otherwise, if Lu Bianren's temper flared and he stripped Meng Jueming of his post, acting first and reporting afterward, there would be nothing Meng Jueming could do—though he might later work his connections to claw back some position in Qingyun Pavilion, his face would be lost beyond recovery.
Because their temperaments were so alike, Lu Bianren was the only one among all the Welcome Pavilion's high-ranking figures to regard Kusheng Le with special favor, and the only one with whom Kusheng Le could get a word in. Kusheng Le knew well that with the Third Pavilion Master's present awkward position, any grand gesture was out of the question, but a word spoken for a newcomer within Qingyun Pavilion's own affairs should still be no problem at all.
Lu Bianren was not in his No. 3 cave dwelling. Kusheng Le traipsed through several places before he finally learned his whereabouts: the dignified Third Pavilion Master of the Welcome Pavilion did not ordinarily stay in the pavilion at all, but had been packed off to the Rear Cliff, thirty li from the Welcome Pavilion's main hall.
The Rear Cliff—known in the Welcome Pavilion as the Cliff of Reflection—was where disciples who had committed offenses were ordinarily banished to sit facing the wall in penitence. Remote of situation, thin in spiritual energy, and devoid of any cultivation resources, it was a place no one would willingly go, not even green newcomers.
Lu Bianren, of course, had not been banished there for any offense. In truth, if a Third Pavilion Master did commit an offense, even First Pavilion Master Hu Yunfeng would have no authority to deal with him; the matter would have to be handed to the Enforcement Hall.
The reason he was here now was that some days earlier, First Pavilion Master Hu Yunfeng and Vice Pavilion Master Feng Song had jointly proposed that he be sent to take charge of the Cliff of Reflection, to show the Welcome Pavilion's regard for discipline among newcomers. Few indeed ever came to the Cliff of Reflection in the course of a year, but the two had put the proposal so plausibly that Lu Bianren, in his weak position as Third Pavilion Master, had no means of resistance and in the end could only agree.
Now he was stationed here permanently, nominally in charge of the Cliff of Reflection but in truth jointly exiled by Hu Yunfeng and Feng Song. Feeble as his voice in the Welcome Pavilion had been, a Third Pavilion Master had at least possessed some power; but now, to say nothing of power, he could scarcely learn what went on in the pavilion—he had been thoroughly hollowed out.
Anyone else in Lu Bianren's place would likely have been stamping with fury, yet Lu Bianren showed not the slightest displeasure. Instead he had his old hoard of cultivation classics and scriptures carted over, and spent his days reading the ancients and contemplating the Way of Heaven, content in poverty and at peace with his lot.
When Kusheng Le came calling, Lu Bianren happened to be sitting before the Cliff of Reflection with a book. At the sight of Kusheng Le he could not help laughing. "What joy, to have a friend come from afar! I thought someone had been exiled here—so it is you, Kusheng Le!"