Chapter 3854 — Intrigued
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
And indeed it was just as Nan Tianguan had thought: Shangguan Tianxia had no intention of bringing any pressure to bear on the Law Enforcement Hall—or, strictly speaking, on Gongyang Jun—over a trifle like Nan Tianyong's death.
Gongyang Jun was a favored general whom Shangguan Tianxia had personally promoted back in the day, and he had always held him in high regard. Though there had been no small amount of criticism in the streets these past years, Gongyang Jun's ability and achievements were plain for all to see.
Every man had his own way of doing things. Since Shangguan Tianxia valued Gongyang Jun, he would not rashly interfere in matters that fell within his purview. To meddle too much and reach too far would not only do no good, but could easily open cracks in their relationship—and with his wisdom, Shangguan Tianxia would hardly commit such a crude blunder.
What was more, though Nan Tianyong's death counted as a matter in Shangguan Tianxia's eyes, it was in the end a minor one. His private intelligence network had long since reported to him the scene that day, when Nan Tianyong publicly hunted Lin Er down in the market and was ultimately killed instead.
In keeping with Shangguan Tianxia's consistent style, even as master of the Tri-Stack Pavilion he would not blindly shield his own people. Cultivators slaughtering one another was the most ordinary thing in the world; so long as the killing was not done through some underhanded scheme, then even if the dead man were a core disciple of the Tri-Stack Pavilion, Shangguan Tianxia generally disdained to make a fuss over it.
Vendettas in the jianghu inevitably cost lives. If a man's skills were simply inferior, what was there left to say? If he died, he deserved to die.
Such words, of course, Shangguan Tianxia could not say outright to the disciples beneath him; he could only express his stance through the method of cold indifference.
Nan Tianguan had originally thought he had a chance to win this pavilion master over to speak for him. A single casual word from him would have been enough to pressure the Law Enforcement Hall, and that Lin Er would then have had nowhere to hide. Yet he had never expected Shangguan Tianxia to take such an aloof attitude.
Before a top-tier magnate like Shangguan Tianxia, Nan Tianguan was, after all, only an insignificant nobody. Since the magnate had made his attitude clear, the nobody, no matter how dissatisfied, dared not keep pestering him on the matter; otherwise, once he provoked the magnate's displeasure, his fate would be hard to predict.
"Pavilion Master, this disciple knows well that the Law Enforcement Hall has its own rules of conduct, which permit no interference from outside forces, and this disciple bears no complaint about that. But this disciple and Nan Tianyong were brothers born of the same mother. Now that my brother has been cruelly slain, this disciple cannot sit by and do nothing. Even if I must rely on my own strength alone, I will have my revenge for him!" Nan Tianguan said righteously, tears welling in his eyes.
This display of hot-blooded loyalty was of course feigned, yet Nan Tianguan was not afraid of being seen through by Shangguan Tianxia—because even if the sentiment was false, the substance of his words was true.
Whether for the reputation of the Three Heroes of the Nan Clan, or to give a satisfactory account to Nan Tianxiong, their leader, given Nan Tianguan's present circumstances he had no choice but to drag Lin Er into the light and avenge his third brother, Nan Tianyong.
"That you have such resolve is a good thing." Shangguan Tianxia nodded blandly, but said nothing more on account of it.
By Shangguan Tianxia's former temperament, he had always been generous in his praise of hot-blooded, upright men, highborn or low. Now he was so cold, plainly because he had seen through Nan Tianguan's affected little schemes.