Chapter 3854 — Intrigued
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 3
At this Nan Tianguan's face flushed with embarrassment, but fortunately he was deep in cunning and could still force himself to composure. He continued: "Reporting to the Pavilion Master, Yu Jiang, an inner disciple of our Tri-Stack Pavilion, witnessed with his own eyes that the man who killed this disciple's third brother, Nan Tianyong, was a rogue cultivator who called himself Lin Er. And the only man who knows the truth of this rogue cultivator's identity is Hong Zhong, steward of the Hong Merchant Guild."
Lin Er? Shangguan Lan'er, who was nearby keeping little Curly Curly Bear company, pricked up her ears at once at the sound of that familiar name.
Though Wei Zhao had never told her that he himself was Lin Er, and Shangguan Lan'er had always been innocent and artless, her wits were by no means dull. From the errand Wei Zhao had asked her to run last time, it was easy enough to work out the connection between Wei Zhao and Lin Er.
Even if she had been somewhat puzzled that Yu Jiang had failed to recognize Wei Zhao to his face back then, she could still guess the general shape of things—she had simply never spoken of it.
Lin Er had killed Nan Tianyong? After hearing Nan Tianguan's words, Shangguan Lan'er was struck dumb with amazement. Because she had been under Shangguan Tianxia's supervision in her cultivation these past days, the uproar in the outside world had never reached her ears. Hearing this news all at once, she was stunned from head to toe.
Shangguan Lan'er's own strength was modest, but from childhood she had lived amid such things, and she knew exactly what sort of power an inspection deacon of the Tri-Stack Pavilion commanded—at the very least a peak late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, no less! And her little junior brother had actually been able to kill him?
Shangguan Lan'er's curiosity was instantly roused. She cared nothing for whether Nan Tianyong lived or died; by comparison, she was closer to this little junior brother of hers, Wei Zhao, and so naturally her sympathies leaned toward him.
Nan Tianyong and Yu Jiang had been hunting for this so-called Lin Er all along. Since master and disciple had schemed so deliberately against her little junior brother Wei Zhao, they were certainly no good. It must be that old wretch Nan Tianyong had pushed him too far, and only then had her little junior brother been forced to strike back and kill him—it must be so!
Shangguan Lan'er had never been interested in the conversation between her grandfather and Nan Tianguan, but now she perked up—not for any other reason than that she wanted to gather some intelligence for her little junior brother Wei Zhao, so that whatever happened, he could be prepared in advance and not be thrown into a panic when the time came.
"Hong Zhong?" Shangguan Tianxia murmured a moment at the name, then looked at Nan Tianguan with a meaning-laden gaze. "You went to see him?"
Seeing that Shangguan Tianxia seemed, for once, to have taken an interest, Nan Tianguan's spirits rose sharply. "The Pavilion Master sees all. From what this disciple has learned, this Steward Hong not only is on intimate terms with Lin Er, but has been fanning the flames from behind throughout the feud between Lin Er and my third brother Nan Tianyong—his intentions can only be called sinister! Today this disciple went to Steward Hong to inquire into Lin Er's identity, only to find that the steward not only refused to cooperate, but most rudely had several skilled retained cultivators throw this disciple out. He does not regard our Tri-Stack Pavilion as worth a thought. This is beyond bearing—Pavilion Master, I beg you to see justice done for this disciple!"
By the end of his speech Nan Tianguan was seething with righteous indignation—and this time it was no pretense. At the memory of being flung from the second floor into the street before all eyes, his face burned with shame!