Chapter 3952 — Meng Jueming's Summons
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
In the aftermath, Wei Zhao's conduct and Kang Jingming's wretched fate—above all, the question of who would ultimately lay claim to the Mountain Summit No. 1 Cave Dwelling—inevitably became the focus of every new disciple's gossip.
Wei Zhao himself paid it no mind at all, cultivating as usual day after day; yet in private he had still issued Li Zhengming an order: do whatever it took to keep watch over Meng Jueming's every move in the days to come.
Given who they each were, there was virtually no chance Wei Zhao could face Meng Jueming in open combat. If he meant to strangle the threat in the cradle, the only path left to him was to risk everything and assassinate the man.
The risks involved in such a course were only too easy to imagine. He would have to find a perfect opportunity before striking, and the blow would have to land without fail; a single mishap at any stage could very well bring down utter ruin upon his head.
After all, this was not the same as when he had dealt with Nan Tianyong. That time he had been Lin Er, a lone cultivator whose background no one could trace. But now the target was Meng Jueming; drag the Law Enforcement Hall into it, and when the trail led back to him, that was as good as carved in stone.
Once suspicion fell on him, it would be simplicity itself for the Law Enforcement Hall to dig up something with their methods—and the fate awaiting Wei Zhao was only too easy to picture.
So Wei Zhao had to hold his nerve. Knowing full well that time was against him, he had to summon a killer's patience and wait for his chance.
What left him rather disappointed was that after the cross-pavilion challenge, Li Zhengming had schemed and scoured, openly and covertly, watching Meng Jueming for five full days on end—and had simply failed to turn up a single opportunity to strike.
As a rule, Meng Jueming was never alone when out and about, and when he was alone, he was usually on his own turf in the Welcome Pavilion. None of it made for a good opportunity.
Just as Wei Zhao had resigned himself to a long, drawn-out wait and was steeling himself for a war of attrition, a slip of paper suddenly appeared at the entrance to his cave dwelling: Lin Er, noon today, Mine No. 10—be there without fail!
There was no signature, but the author of that note was beyond all doubt Meng Jueming.
"So he's finally ready to lay his cards on the table with me?" Wei Zhao rubbed his chin thoughtfully. The other man had not said what would happen if he failed to show, but even a fool could work it out: his identity exposed, and then a death with no place to be buried.
After weighing it carefully for a moment, Wei Zhao decided in the end to go. It was a choice forced upon him—the initiative still lay in the other man's hands, and being led around by the nose left him no alternative. Besides, if he played this right, it might well prove a rare opportunity. How could Wei Zhao let it slip by?
Gathering his wits and settling his state of mind, Wei Zhao set off for the Spirit Jade Hall the moment his decision was made. There was still a good deal of time before noon, but arriving early never hurt in matters like this—who knew, it might even win him a bit of the initiative.
Reaching the Spirit Jade Hall, Wei Zhao made his way to Mine No. 10 by familiar paths. By his reckoning, it had been some time since he last came here.
The three-month term of the Welcome Pavilion newcomers' first contracts had already passed, but that did not mean one could no longer come to the Spirit Jade Hall to mine once it expired. The three months amounted to a probationary period: so long as a newcomer performed adequately during it, he could thereafter freely arrange his own time to come and mine; as for the slackers, they were politely shown the door.
Walking the familiar passages of Mine No. 10, Wei Zhao could not help privately speculating: what exactly did Meng Jueming intend by summoning him to this particular place?