Chapter 87: Bottomless Pit (5)
Translator: Kelaude Editor: Milkbiscuit
While Miao Yi and Yan Xiu were still in the midst of their discussion, Zheng Jinlong who had been pacing back and forth anxiously in the courtyard as he awaited news, suddenly stopped in his tracks. He looked towards the sweeping black spot in the sky and reached out his arm to welcome it.
The goshawk messenger he had released two days ago had finally returned. With a cry, it descended onto his arm.
He impatiently took out a narrow jade slip from the cylinder at the goshawk’s feet, and imbued his transcendence energy to examine it.
The words - ‘Wang Zifa and the others have expended much care and thought, we will cooperate!’ were written on it.
This was the School of Blue Jade’s reply. Suddenly, Zheng Jinlong let out a heavy sigh of relief. Without knowing the sect’s attitude on the matter, he had not dared to declare his stance to Wang Zifa and the others to betray his sect’s confidence and sell himself out. He feared that he would be implicated when the time came. If by chance the School of Blue Jade wished to investigate further, he wouldn’t be able to stop it.
Now that he had deceived his sect, Zheng Jinlong finally had confidence. He quickly placed the goshawk back into the hawk nest, turned and entered his residence. After removing the blue robes he was dressed in, he changed into a black outfit.
The Cave Master of East Arrival Cave had deemed the clothes from the School of Blue Jade an eyesore, so he insisted on unifying the dress code of East Arrival Cave.
Dressed all in black, Zheng Jinlong was walking out of the courtyard gate when suddenly, Wang Zifa and his group appeared out of nowhere; once again playing the same old tune, “Senior Brother, have you considered it?”
They were very anxious as well. If Zheng Jinlong really refused to cooperate, then they could only heed Miao Yi and band together to kill off Zheng Jinlong. Although they knew doing this was a supposed remedy that would only make matters worse, they were already out of options and only cared for the present.
“For the sake of all of you pledging your heart and soul to our sect, this time I have indeed racked my brains for you all!” Zheng Jinlong sighed before handing over to the rest, the confidential jade slip report he had just received not too long ago.
After each of them had taken turns imbuing their transcendence energy to examine it, all of them were overwhelmed with joy. Under Wang Zifa’s signal, they stood in a row, cupping their hands together and said, “Senior Brother, thank you for going through so much trouble!”
“It has been a few days since I have seen the Cave Master. I wonder how could I be of help to the Cave Master?”
After Zheng Jinlong said this, everyone knew in their hearts that he had decided to join in on the profits. This was to go and ease the Cave Master’s worries.
Immediately, everyone showered him with praise as they accompanied him forward.
Upon receiving notice from the group, Miao Yi proceeded to lead Qian’Er and Xue’Er to the front hall from the rear hall. He walked up to his high seat and sat down whilst the slightly nervous Qian’Er and Xue’Er stood on either side of his seat. Yan Xiu followed them out and stood at his own place beneath him.
“Summon them in!” Miao Yi voiced out indifferently.
Yan Xiu had already briefed the two young girls on the rules and regulations earlier. Xue’Er as a Little Auntie, trembled slightly for a while before abruptly walking over to the Grand Hall’s entrance. Summoning her courage, she shouted loudly at the crowd waiting outside at the base of the stairs. “Cave Master requests everyone to enter the Grand Hall to discuss the state of affairs!”
Her voice wasn’t tiny, but one could obviously hear the quivering in her voice. Clearly she was still a little nervous. It was understandable as it was her first time displaying such awe-inspiring authority when facing a group of Immortals.
As Zheng Jinlong and the rest entered the Grand Hall, Miao Yi took notice of the black robes they donned on their bodies. He understood that this was Zheng Jinlong’s position. A knowing smile flashed through his eyes as he knew that this bastard had been dragged into the mire as well.
He swept his gaze to Wang Zifa, who comprehended without being told explicitly. Immediately, he transmitted his voice, “It is settled!”
“We have come to pay respects to the Cave Master!” Everyone cupped their hands as they said in unison.
This time, everyone was present at last. In the future, he would no longer need to fear that anyone would be missing in a fight.. Even when going against a White Lotus Fourth Grade cultivator, they could still put up a good fight. Miao Yi smiled, “There’s no need for such formalities!”
Subconsciously, Qian’Er and Xue’Er snuck a furtive glance at Miao Yi as they came to the realization that the Cave Master was very impressive, having so many Immortals obeying his every word. In reality, there were only nine people below them. With the addition of the one guarding the mountain gate outside, there were only ten subordinates in total. East Arrival Cave would not able to feed everyone if there were to be too many people around.
But to the both of them who had just arrived, just one Immortal was already an aloof and remote presence in their mind, let alone ten of them. It was already too much! They had never before seen so many Immortals whom they formerly had revered, suddenly appear before them.
What would they think if they knew that their own master’s cultivation was the worst out of every single Immortal there?
After the nine of them had separated into two rows and stood still, Zheng Jinlong once again stepped forward, cupping his hands as he said, “Your subordinate, Zheng Jinlong is a newcomer and has yet to perform a meritorious deed for East Arrival Cave. How could I be of service to the Cave Master?”
This was an approach to make it known that he was willing to be at Miao Yi’s disposal.
Miao Yi curled the corner of his mouth and said, “Well..., newcomers must show some display of conduct. How about you guard the mountain gates for a day first? ”
The group below were caught completely off guard. He was making a White Lotus Third Grade cultivator guard the main gates again? Could it be that the Cave Master did not understand their meaning and wanted to lay his murderous hands on Zheng Jinlong?
Zheng Jinlong had also jumped in fright. He had only offered out of courtesy to express his position. He had not expected the other party to actually take it seriously. Only then did he recall that although this bastard before his eyes had a low cultivation base, he had the capability to behead a White Lotus Third Grade cultivator.
However, he swiftly figured out the Cave Master’s intention soon enough. It was to see whether or not he was wholeheartedly willing to accept his assignments. This man did not trust the empty words spoken from his mouth, and wanted him to take action to declare his stance.
“Your subordinate obeys!” Zheng Jinlong cupped his fists in acknowledgement of the order.
It was good that he had agreed as Miao Yi could not be bothered to beat about the bush with him. To him, this was his own domain. It was as simple as that.
“While almost everyone is present here, let me make an introduction to you.” Miao Yi raised his finger and pointed to the handmaidens at his sides. “This is Qian’Er and this is Xue’Er!”
After everyone looked at each other, they cupped their fists and exclaimed one after another. “We greet Elder Auntie and Little Auntie!”
Amidst the feelings of nervousness, Qian’Er and Xue’Er lowered their bodies into a bow to return the greeting.
After everyone was done exchanging conversations and left, Zheng Jinlong went to the mountain gate to relieve the sentry, causing Wang Xiuqin who was currently guarding the mountain gates to be in fear and trepidation. Wang Xiuqin would have never dared to trouble Senior Brother to guard the mountain gates.
After hearing that this was the Mountain Chieftain’s wishes, Wang Xiuqin finally let it be, but still proceeded to warn in a low tone, “Senior Brother, you know what happened to Senior Brother Song. You need to be extra careful.”
Zheng Jinlong nodded his head. On the surface, he appeared to disparage the warning but in fact, his chest had also tightened. He was still slightly worried that the Cave Master would play dirty.
As for the incident when Song Fu had caused the mountain gate to be smashed before, everyone was not stupid. After the incident, they could guess it was Miao Yi who had been using underhanded means in the dark, looking for an excuse to act out violently.
Thus, Zheng Jinlong decided to guard the mountain gates to his death today, without going anywhere else, so as to avoid failing miserably at such a simple task...
The news of Zheng Jinlong bowing his head in submission quickly travelled to Mount Calming Sea. Dressed in a white snowy robe whilst lying on a couch in the loft, Qin Weiwei was looking at the confidential report in her hand, feeling fed up. To her surprise, that brat had again settled the person that the School of Blue Jade had sent over to investigate. Was the entire School of Blue Jade trash?
For the previous incident, Yang Qing knew that Song Fu’s death could not be concealed in the dark for long. It was pointless to hide such matters as well, so he had immediately summoned forth the person-in-charge posted by School of Blue Jade, letting the other party looked over the pile of reports.
The man from the School of Blue Jade hadn’t said anything further and instead, directly denounced Song Fu as being deserving of his death. However, he then requested Yang Qing to make arrangements for another person to be dispatched to atone for his crime by meritorious service.
Anyone would know that atoning for his crime by meritorious service was a lie, and that the desire to go forth and ascertain the facts about the incident was the truth. However, Yang Qing had agreed instantly.
After the incident, Qin Weiwei had asked Yang Qing why he had agreed? What if they found out the truth?
Yang Qing had said, “If they find out then so be it. When the time comes, I will declare my position to protect the kid. I would like to see what kind of approach the School of Blue Jade will take, and test their limit. Secondly, it’s to send some trouble to the kid and see if he can handle it as well as whether he will disappoint me or not!”
The confidential report was very quickly diverted to South Edict Manor.
They were still at that mountain pavilion. Yang Qing, upon receiving the report gave a light chuckle. “He turned another one in. This brat has really managed East Arrival Cave into a bottomless pit, swallowing whoever comes! Seems like School of Blue Jade was nothing more than this, they couldn’t even handle a mere tiny Cave Master under my command. Haha!”
By the sidelines, Qing Mei and Qing Ju shared a glance. That kid once again did not disappoint the Manor Head. They could tell that the Manor Head was growing to admire him more and more. The main point was that the kid had messed with the School of Blue Jade in a manner to the Manor Head’s liking.