Chapter 3610 — Not That Foolish?
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
"Not at all... Senior Brother Lu flatters me!" Wei Zhao waved his hand hastily. Confident as he was in his own abilities, being praised to his face like this still left him a little embarrassed. After all, however he might have bestrode the mortal world, here he was merely a newcomer, and men stronger than he could be found everywhere.
"Ha, these are not empty words to curry favor," Lu Bianren said with an easy laugh. "Junior Brother Lin, you must have heard of my present situation here at the Welcome Pavilion—idle all day with nothing to do but leaf through old texts and scriptures for consolation. Yet from them I have gleaned a little art of reading men. In both countenance and bearing, Junior Brother Lin, you are no ordinary sort."
Hearing this, Wei Zhao found his opinion of this thwarted third pavilion master rising a notch—not because the man had praised him, but out of admiration for his calm and open-minded acceptance of his present awkward circumstances.
Anyone else in Lu Bianren's position would surely have made some effort to preserve the lofty image of a pavilion master before a newcomer like Wei Zhao—at the very least, would have found some way to gloss things over. But to face it all so squarely, and even make light of it and joke at his own expense as Lu Bianren did—such breadth of mind was truly rare and commendable.
After a few polite exchanges, they came to the point. The reason the two had sat waiting for Wei Zhao here was in fact Lu Bianren's idea. For one thing, he wanted to see this newcomer from the mortal world whom Miserable Senior Brother had described as nothing short of stunning; for another, their outing that day having gone badly, the two felt it necessary to find a chance to comfort Wei Zhao—otherwise, if Wei Zhao really did lose heart over being stuck in Number Ten, the dead mining zone, for three months, that would be a matter for deep regret.
After hearing Miserable Senior Brother recount their encounter with Xu Lingchong that day, Wei Zhao was surprised, and at the same time rather moved.
To run about trying to get his mining zone changed, even to the point of risking his own face to beg favors of others—this Miserable Senior Brother was a truly earnest man who gave his whole heart. And Lu Bianren, the third pavilion master, was a good sort as well. In his present circumstances, to leave Reflection Cliff without permission and go running about on Wei Zhao's behalf was to take no small risk. If the grand pavilion master, Hu Yunfeng, got wind of it, he would surely pin on him the charge of dereliction of duty for abandoning his post—and for Lu Bianren, that would be adding frost to snow.
"Junior Brother Lin, Xu Lingchong's threats may not come to anything, but for the sake of our Azure Cloud Pavilion, I cannot take that risk on your account alone. As your senior brother, I am ashamed of this, but I hope you can understand," Lu Bianren explained earnestly. Beside him, Miserable Senior Brother too wore a look of shame, bitterly resenting his own helplessness.
"Senior Brother Lu, you make too much of it. Going to Number Ten was my own choice in the first place. If you were to bring disaster down on the Azure Cloud Pavilion just to change my mining zone, then it is I who would be uneasy in my heart," Wei Zhao said, waving his hand hastily.
"That Junior Brother Lin can be so sensible is a blessing for our Azure Cloud Pavilion!" Lu Bianren's admiration for Wei Zhao grew at once. He paused, then said, "With my abilities, I fear it will be very hard to get your mining zone changed. But your main task during this year at the Welcome Pavilion is to build your foundation. Even if these three months are wasted, so long as you cultivate diligently afterward, with your strength and aptitude you should still have good prospects. When the time comes, Junior Brother Ku and I will find a way to gather some cultivation resources for you and lend you a hand!"