Chapter 4999 — A Resounding Slap
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
Yet the moment he opened the document and read it, Wu Che's expression turned astonishingly vivid—it was hard to imagine one face could cycle through so many shades at once. He looked so ghastly he might as well have been a dyer's vat.
"Investigation has shown that the pills sold at Tian Pill Pavilion were not smuggled goods but came through normal commercial channels from beyond the Eastern Continent. Effective immediately, Tian Pill Pavilion's reputation is restored, and Executive Deputy Island Lord Wu Che hereby offers his solemn apology for the earlier misjudgment."
Staring at those few lines on the island lord's document, Wu Che choked on his words and could not produce a single syllable for the longest time. That scene at Tian Pill Pavilion the day before had already humiliated him deeply, and now this island lord's document had dealt him yet another vicious slap across the face. Oda Zhou had even specifically named him to read it aloud at Tian Pill Pavilion—surely even a slap to the face need not be delivered with such merciless cruelty!
"Just an acting island lord, and what a grand air he puts on!" Wu Che cursed viciously once he had waved his trusted aide away. Of course, he only dared say such things in private; he would not have dared utter even this much grumbling before his own trusted subordinates, let alone to Oda Zhou's face.
Not only did he lack the courage to curse him openly, Wu Che did not even have the nerve to go argue the matter with Oda Zhou. Rank crushes the man beneath it, and this superior was a personage with connections reaching to the heavens. Even if he ground his teeth in fury, what could he possibly do?
Though he dared not confront Oda Zhou, Wu Che was hardly about to resign himself to his fate. Slinking off to Tian Pill Pavilion to read the document aloud would be worse than death—he would absolutely not do it. After turning it over and over, he saw only one choice: go to Famous Pills Sect and find Zheng Dongyang.
"Deputy Island Lord Wu, how did the matter go?" Zheng Dongyang asked the moment they met.
Besides him, Zheng Dongjue, Nan Tian Liuguang, and Tong Yangxi were all present as well. These men were birds of a feather, now banded together for the sake of shared interests. Naturally they meant to strike while the iron was hot and cement their bonds, and they had to use this chance to sound out one another's true depths—otherwise, how could they ever cooperate with confidence in the future?
Wu Che could not help but flush with shame. Earlier he had sworn up and down that it was a trifling matter, yet it had come to this pass—not only had Wei Zhao slapped him down in public, but now, pressed by Oda Zhou, he had lost all face. He truly had no nerve left to face Zheng Dongyang and the others.
But there was no help for it; he had to come. If he told the truth, at least everyone could put their heads together for a solution. If he simply threw up his hands and quit, he would not only disgrace himself but also earn the resentment of Zheng Dongyang and the rest—and that loss would be truly immeasurable. He was still counting on Zheng Dongyang to refine pills for him, after all.
"This..." Wu Che hesitated for a moment in shame, and in the end could only brace himself and say, "This Tian Pill Pavilion is unfathomably deep."
"Unfathomably deep?" Zheng Dongyang and the others were stunned speechless at once. They had kept men watching Tian Pill Pavilion all along and knew exactly what had happened the day before. Rather than calling Tian Pill Pavilion unfathomably deep, it would be more apt to say Wei Zhao himself was unfathomably deep. A formidable early Mystic Ascension expert who could not even be bested by Wu Che—truly a terrifying thing to hear!