Chapter 3608 — All Are Welcome to Watch

And those who had harbored disloyal thoughts before now settled down as well, all of them having grasped the situation clearly. They did not have Wei Zhao's luck. To throw in their lot with Kusuo—would that not leave them even more miserable than Kusuo himself?

Besides, Xu Lingchong's meaning was plain enough between the lines: he would be Meng Jueming's backer. So what was there left for anyone to fear? This was a backer of the highest order!

Meng Jueming cast Xu Lingchong a look of gratitude, and at once felt the stirrings of a man who would die for the one who understood him. If Xu Lingchong said he would shelter him, would he not have an even freer rein in the future? The very thought filled him with delight beyond measure. To follow a leader of this caliber—that was simply **explosive**!

Wei Zhao, meanwhile, regarded Xu Lingchong with a thoughtful glance. This eldest young master Xu was no empty-headed fool. Arrogant and domineering he might appear, carrying himself as though he were the first man under heaven, but in truth his cunning and calculation were far from slight!

Still, Wei Zhao did not take it to heart. These people were all his enemies in any case, and there was no reconciling with them. Let them do as they pleased.

So he unhurriedly followed the handover procedure, and once the weighing was done, he gathered up his spirit jade and queued at the quality inspection office, betraying not the least sign of impatience.

Wei Zhao had the patience to wait, but Xu Lingchong, eager to see him made a laughingstock, had no such forbearance. After a word to someone, he simply had Kang Zhaoming cut Wei Zhao's basket straight to the front of the queue at the inspection office. Xu Lingchong's deep background was plain for all to see, after all, and everyone turned a blind eye to it, daring to seethe but not to speak.

Soon the inspection results came out, and it was still the voice of that Senior Brother Tong of the Mystic Mechanism Pavilion from the day before: "Wei Zhao—ten fine jade, seven waste jade, nineteen garbage jade!"

"T-ten! How is that possible!" Meng Tong was so startled he nearly bit off his own tongue. He had strained every sinew today just to dig out eight fine jade, and that was in Mining Zone Seven! Yet look at Wei Zhao over in the dead Mining Zone Ten—yesterday, his first day, he had dug eight fine jade, and today he had actually outdone himself, climbing to ten!

Not only Meng Tong—Xu Lingchong, Meng Jueming, and the rest all wore expressions as magnificent as though they had eaten shit. One by one their faces flushed crimson, each looking as if he wanted to vomit but could not. This was not merely eating shit; this was being stuffed to death with it!

Yesterday, Wei Zhao digging up eight fine jade could be chalked up to dog-shit luck. But how to account for today's ten? Could this fellow truly be a child of fortune, able to step in dog shit two days running?

"Nothing to be done—I'm just a man of excellent character. When luck comes, there's no holding it back!" Wei Zhao shrugged at the lot of them with feigned helplessness. It was enough to kill a man with sheer fury and not even answer for it.

My heavens! Dead Mining Zone Ten could not produce even a few fine jade in a whole year—how could this thing possibly dig out so many fine jade two days in a row? I damn well refuse to believe such evil!

Xu Lingchong was so enraged by Wei Zhao's expression that smoke seemed to rise from all seven orifices of his head. In a fit of fury he jabbed a finger at the inspection office and roared, "Old man Tong, get out here! Bring out this pile of his waste jade and re-inspect it right in front of me!"

Before a minor steward of the Welcome Pavilion like Meng Jueming, this Senior Brother Tong of the Mystic Mechanism Pavilion could still put on airs. But before a great young master of the Skyward Pavilion like Xu Lingchong, that would not do at all. The Mystic Mechanism Pavilion and the Skyward Pavilion had never gotten along, true enough, but a mere underling like him could not afford to provoke a young master Xu.

At those words Senior Brother Tong hastily assented. He packed the spirit jade Wei Zhao had dug back into the basket, then trotted out carrying it himself, and before everyone's eyes began re-inspecting it piece by piece.

One piece, two pieces, three pieces... When Senior Brother Tong finally set the ten fine jade out before them, everyone was dumbstruck once again. Xu Lingchong, refusing to believe it, picked them up one by one and felt them for himself, and his already overcast face now collapsed completely.

The heaven-and-earth spiritual qi was pure and full, so rich that it surpassed even the spirit jade he ordinarily used for cultivation. Even the most exacting of men would never call this spirit jade waste. On the contrary, even among fine jade, these were of a rare and superior quality!

"So how is it, Senior Brother Xu? These garbage spirit jade I picked from the trash—surely they don't merit the notice of a personage like yourself?" Wei Zhao stood to one side with his arms folded, composed and unhurried, and smiled blandly.

Xu Lingchong's face was the color of iron, yet he was choked speechless for a good long while. In front of all these eyes he could hardly spout nonsense. If he truly steeled himself and declared this spirit jade all waste, where would that leave the Spirit Jade Hall? However solid this young master's backing, before a matter so plainly evident, the men of the Spirit Jade Hall would not dare play blind and babble along with him!

Young Master Xu had been in rather good spirits today. In particular, having earlier scared off Lu Bianren, who had sought to change mining zones for Wei Zhao, he had felt a certain thrill of having everything in the palm of his hand. Though he could not yet deal with Wei Zhao personally for the moment, pinning the man down to rot in dead Mining Zone Ten was a pleasure to behold. And then, in the blink of an eye, this had to happen!

The man had clearly been pinned in dead Mining Zone Ten—anyone else would long since have been unable to stir—yet this Wei Zhao had actually dug out so many fine jade from a dead zone. And it was not the first day; this was the second day running!

Xu Lingchong's mood now was as though he had joyfully prepared himself for a grand imperial banquet, only for the dishes to be carried in and the lids lifted to reveal half-month-rancid pig slop, buzzing with swarms of green-headed flies. And that was not even the worst of it—the real problem was that he had to hold his nose and drink that basin of slop down!

Xu Lingchong's face went green, and Kang Zhaoming's went green as well. Compared with Xu Lingchong, after all, he was the one with a true and bitter feud with Wei Zhao, and if anyone present wished most fervently for Wei Zhao's downfall, he ranked first beyond all doubt. Yet the more desperate that wish, the more slop he had to drink now, and the feeling could be described only in four words: weeping without tears.

Among Xu Lingchong's whole party, the only one still in decent spirits was Zhong Yongliang. Had he not been mindful of his undercover identity, the fellow might have been unable to keep from cheering aloud! As expected of Leader Wei Zhao—Wei Zhao was Wei Zhao. When it looked as though he had been pinned down and could not move, he had quietly handed everyone a grand gift, and the slap across their faces had landed crisp and loud. It was simply too satisfying for words!

Taking in every expression, and especially savoring the splendid looks on Xu Lingchong and the others, Wei Zhao deliberately arched a brow and said, "Heh heh... so I just had two days of dog-shit luck. Tomorrow it surely won't be so good, right? Do come again tomorrow, gentlemen—all are welcome to watch. I don't mind losing face in the least!" (To be continued...)

Fastest updates, ad-free reading, please visit.