Chapter 3984 — A Dilemma of Retreat and Advance
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
Everyone around them was at the very least an inner disciple of the Soaring Sky Pavilion, each with backing of their own—and yet even they might not be qualified to attend the Shangguan young miss's birthday banquet. To suddenly learn that Wei Zhao, a mere grass-roots newcomer, could walk right in—of course he'd become the target of every eye!
Beyond being gossiped about and looked down upon, there was another, far more lethal problem facing Wei Zhao at this moment: Gongyang Jun, behind him.
Had Xu Lingchong not spoken, Wei Zhao could simply have stepped aside like everyone else, and that would have been the end of it. But after Xu Lingchong's public praise that was really a veiled mockery, the nature of the situation had changed entirely.
To back down now would no longer be a trifling matter of choice, but could only be read as one thing: that in front of Gongyang Jun, under the eyes of the entire assembly, Wei Zhao had voluntarily tucked his tail.
Wei Zhao himself did not much care—but he had come here for Shangguan Lan'er's sake, and if he backed down now, it might leave her looking bad too. And so Wei Zhao found himself caught between a rock and a hard place!
Yet if he did not back down, he would very likely offend the lofty Hall Master of the Law Enforcement Hall behind him, Gongyang Jun.
After all, the man had once made the grand vow that "wherever I pass, no one may bar my path." A single glance at the indomitable spirit he carried even now told plainly what kind of dao-heart he held to—so much so that even the high elders of the Three-Tiered Pavilion's council yielded to him by a margin. How much less, then, a mere grass-roots newcomer like Wei Zhao?
Do not yield, and he offended Gongyang Jun; yield, and he might cause Shangguan Lan'er to lose face. Such was the predicament Wei Zhao now found himself in.
Today's birthday banquet was indeed a den of dragons and tigers—he had barely arrived and already run into a trial of this magnitude!
Under the gaze of the whole hall, Wei Zhao suddenly moved. But what set the entire crowd abuzz was that he truly had the nerve not to back down. Instead he walked straight up to Xu Lingchong and the others, took out his invitation, and said coolly, "Young Master Xu, may I go in now?"
"Huh?" Xu Lingchong was dumbstruck. He had never imagined Wei Zhao would react like this—or rather, he had never imagined Wei Zhao would have that kind of nerve.
Put yourself in his shoes: even he, the deeply backed Young Master Xu, would never dare truly block Gongyang Jun's way. He had said what he said merely to make Wei Zhao thoroughly lose face—never dreaming the fool would be stupid enough to go and pick the most idiotic option available. It was a stupidity so magnificent it made one want to throw a party.
Faced with such an unexpected delight, Xu Lingchong was only too happy to oblige. He exchanged a glance with Lou Tianyou and Kang Jingming beside him, then stole a look at Gongyang Jun's expression.
Then Xu Lingchong promptly changed his expression, put on an air of grave propriety, and said, "Hold on a moment, Young Hero Lin. It's understandable that you're eager, attending such a refined banquet for the first time. But our Three-Tiered Pavilion has always held to proper order and rank. As a newcomer to the Azure Cloud Pavilion, surely someone has taught you at least this much? Behind you stands Hall Master Gongyang—do you really think that because a few people praised you as the strongest newcomer, you're entitled to walk ahead of Hall Master Gongyang? Truly, you don't know the immensity of heaven and earth." R1152