Chapter 3847 — Ill Intent

If the killer was a disciple from within the Tri-Stack Pavilion, then a bit of investigation would make flushing out the true culprit far from difficult. But if it was a rootless rogue cultivator, then dragging them into the light would be considerably harder!

Yet what was surprising was this: for a key figure in such a vital position as Nan Tianyong to be killed on the Tri-Stack Pavilion's own turf, the crowd did no more than idle away their time gossiping about it. No strong outcry arose, and no one made a point of manufacturing public pressure to force the Pavilion's higher-ups into quickly rooting out the true killer and bringing them to justice.

Just how poor Nan Tianyong's standing was—this illustrious inspection deacon of the Soaring Sky Pavilion—was plain for all to see.

Because the matter had drawn such widespread attention, someone among the Soaring Sky Pavilion's higher-ups had already stepped forward to declare that it would be investigated rigorously. The nature of this affair could hardly be called anything but vile; if even a man of Nan Tianyong's not-inconsiderable status could be murdered on his own home ground and no one so much as raised a question, where would the Soaring Sky Pavilion's dignity be? How could it command the allegiance of the masses hereafter?

Yet although the Law Enforcement Hall had entered the case into its records, it took no major targeted action. The implication was plain enough: keep it cool for a while, and once the crowd had put it out of their minds, shelve it indefinitely.

In a cultivation world of ceaseless bloodshed, a single death was a common trifle—unless it was a massacre on the scale of the Qiu Waters Manor, where a thousand souls perished at once and certain people's interests were touched, that anyone would stir up such a fuss.

This time, had it not been for the slight sensitivity attached to Nan Tianyong's identity as an inspection deacon of the Soaring Sky Pavilion, the affair likely would never have caught the higher-ups' eyes at all. Dead was dead; nothing worth making a fuss over.

But absent any particular word from on high, the Law Enforcement Hall merely went through the motions. In the words of Gongyang Jie, its current hall master, the Hall had not sunk so low as to go championing justice for the weak. Only the great powers and the great personages—those were the targets truly worth keeping a close eye on.

In the eyes of the vast majority of ordinary cultivators, Nan Tianyong was already a lofty personage. But to Gongyang Jie he was no different from the common rabble at the bottom—a mere lowly ant, not worth expending a shred of energy upon.

"Just as I thought. To give the leader a satisfactory account, it seems I'll have to go in person after all." Nan Tianguan had long foreseen this turn of events. Having mixed in the Soaring Sky Pavilion for so long, if he could not even see through the true nature of those higher-ups and the Law Enforcement Hall, then all his years there would have been wasted.

Still, these three days had not been spent in vain. Beyond observing the situation, if he meant to pay the Hong Clan Trading Company a personal visit, he had to prepare a few trump cards—and now, he had waited until that trump card was in his hand.

Summoning Yu Zhe, Nan Tianguan set off at once for the market. Today was not an open day for the inner street, but unlike Nan Tianyong, he possessed a Spirit Jade Card of his own, so bringing Yu Zhe in was no trouble at all.

Arriving before the gates of the Hong Clan Trading Company, Nan Tianguan wasted no words. With a cold face he strode straight in, Yu Zhe following close behind.

Ill intent preceded them, and the servant boy at the Company's entrance sensed something amiss at once. Then he glanced at Yu Zhe, and understanding dawned immediately.

He did not recognize Nan Tianguan, but Yu Zhe had been a frequent visitor to the Hong Clan Trading Company of late—and the recent disturbances had all arisen because of him. If the boy could not recognize that, then the Company's careful training would have been utterly wasted.

"Where's your steward?" Nan Tianguan did not so much as glance at the servant, curling his lip with an air of supreme disdain.

The Three Heroes of the Nan Clan had always been accustomed to arrogance, and even he—the clever one—was not exempt. He never deigned to give a pleasant look to underlings of this sort. And besides, even judging purely by the purpose of today's visit, he had to come on with an overbearing swagger.

Putting all else aside, he had to overpower them in presence first. Otherwise, given these merchants' fox-cunning nature, there would be no prying a word of truth out of them.

Truth be told, seeing Nan Tianguan carry on in this fashion, Yu Zhe, trailing behind him, felt somewhat uneasy at heart.

How terrifying the expert retainers of the Hong Clan Trading Company were—not only had his so-called master Nan Tianyong been given a hard lesson, but he himself had experienced it firsthand. It had lasted only a brief instant, yet that pressure alone had been enough to leave him trembling with fright.

Nan Tianguan was strong, a notch above even Nan Tianyong at the peak of the late Foundation Establishment stage. But Yu Zhe did not believe he could gain any advantage over the Company's expert retainers. Even if he might hold his own against one of them in single combat, they had more than one expert retainer!

Uneasy as he was, Yu Zhe knew well that before Nan Tianguan he had no right to be giving orders. And Nan Tianguan was no simple man—if he had no backing to rely on, he surely would not be doing something so brainless.

A short while later, the two were ushered by the servant into a private room on the second floor. And this time, beyond Yu Zhe's expectations, the steward Hong Zhong—ever courteous to one and all—for the first time ever did not rise to greet them.

"What instruction might the two of you have come to impart?" Hong Zhong sat upright in his grand armchair, sipping fine tea as he lifted his eyes to the two of them and said blandly, "The Hong Clan Trading Company welcomes any guest with all sincerity. But if you have come to pick a quarrel, then forgive us for not seeing you out—do not make things unpleasant for yourselves."

As a man of business, Hong Zhong had always greeted the world's guests with a smiling face. Yet when faced with certain ill-intentioned customers who made their hostile purpose plain, he never gave them a kindly look either.

The Hong Clan Trading Company, as a top-tier firm among the five great islands of the Heaven Rank, would be accused of abusing its size to mistreat customers if it were too haughty. But Hong Zhong knew well that there were times when one had to be firm—that every so often one had to strike the mountain to startle the tiger, and put on a show of might.

Otherwise, if one knew only forbearance, certain petty scoundrels would take it for weakness and push further and further, bringing endless trouble—and even tarnishing other customers' impression of the Company, until business became hard to conduct.

In Hong Zhong's eyes, since these two had clearly come with ill intent, there was naturally no need for courtesy. Serving tea was already a signal of dismissal, and a most courteous one at that. If the two still failed to read the room, then what followed could only be killing the chicken to warn the monkey.

"Unpleasant for ourselves?" Nan Tianguan glanced at Hong Zhong. That a mere merchant slave should dare be so discourteous to him sent a wicked fire surging in his breast. He sneered at once: "The Hong Clan Trading Company has a grand name indeed. But I am most curious—is this how you customarily receive your guests?"