Chapter 1039: Fell for That Old Demon Monkey's Trick

Huang Ban had the people from the various sects escorted back, then followed Ding Wei away.

After returning to his room at Shouque Villa, Ding Wei walked to the main seat and sat down. "Huang Ban, you and Xuan Yao discuss how to divide the sect people among the various departments. The Sacred Venerables are waiting for an answer. Move quickly. I want to see the final arrangements before evening."

"Yes!" Huang Ban accepted the order.

Xuan Yao joked from the side, "If we'd known this was how those fellows were going to choose, we should have handled the assignments ourselves from the beginning and saved all that wasted time."

Huang Ban sighed. "Mr. Ding had no choice. The time may have been wasted, but at least there's an explanation for those above. The sects made a mess of things themselves, leaving us no choice but to arrange the assignments. That proves we had no ulterior motive."

Xuan Yao nodded faintly, then asked Ding Wei, "Sir, is there anything we should pay particular attention to when dividing up the sect personnel?"

Ding Wei was silent for a moment. "Keep one point in mind. As much as possible, don't assign anyone to a place that overlaps with his own sect's sphere of influence."

The two understood and cupped their hands together. "Yes!"

"One more thing. Hong Gaitian and Qi Bisang genuinely drew the Money House, so let them go there. We can't let honest people suffer for it." Ding Wei could not help laughing as he finished. The predicament those two had faced was simply too amusing.

Xuan Yao and Huang Ban laughed as well, both shaking their heads. Huang Ban sighed. "I've never heard of a drawing of lots turning into something like this. It's absurd."

Xuan Yao said, "Sir, those two may not actually be honest. They only happened to draw the right lots. If they hadn't, I suspect their choices wouldn't have been any better. Nine times out of ten, they would have tampered with their lots just like everyone else."

Ding Wei asked, "Do you have some other consideration regarding who goes to the Money House?"

Xuan Yao hurriedly waved a hand. "No. I was only saying it. We'll do as you said. We may as well help fulfill their wishes, and at least it demonstrates your fairness. I support that arrangement."

Huang Ban gave a sound of agreement and nodded as well.

...

"All of you, stop right there!" Back in the courtyard, Hong Gaitian roared at the group preparing to scatter to their rooms.

While Misty Pavilion personnel were escorting them back, it had been inappropriate to make a scene. Otherwise they might have been accused of causing trouble. Now that they had returned, his eagerness to settle accounts was easy to imagine.

No one paid him the slightest attention. They glanced back, then simply went their separate ways. They were in the wrong and had nothing to explain, so who wanted to stand there listening to him complain?

"You..." Hong Gaitian looked around, uncertain whom to grab first. He could hardly start a fight here, and he did not dare.

The two South Sea cultivators beside him looked equally aggrieved.

Unable to catch anyone else, Hong Gaitian could only go after his own side. The thought that even his own people had cheated him made him angrier still. Seething, he chased straight into Fuhua's room, pointed at her nose, and cursed, "Fuhua, why didn't you honor what we agreed? We both belong to the Four Seas. We should be cooperating here. Why did you cheat me?"

Fuhua twisted at the waist and spread both hands. "What could I do? Think about it. Everyone chose the All-Under-Heaven Money House. If I honestly followed the agreement, wouldn't I be guaranteed to get singled out? When I go back and face my Demon King, how am I supposed to explain myself? Ah, you're a grown man. Why argue with an ignorant woman like me?" Talking as she pushed, she shamelessly made full use of being a woman and shoved Hong Gaitian straight out the door.

Bang!

The door slammed shut and refused to open no matter what.

Hong Gaitian pounded on it several times, but he did not dare imitate Myriad Beasts Sect and smash the door down. After cursing for a while, he left.

...

"Elder, the independent-cultivator department would've been fine too. Why did you have to alter your lot?" Qin Guan sighed after following Niu Youdao into the room, wearing the look of a man thinking that if only they had known, they would never have done it.

Niu Youdao threw his head back with a long sigh. "Who knew it would turn into something like this?"

"Elder, the South Sea's Third Master is coming." Ke Dingjie, who had been watching from the doorway, suddenly turned and warned them.

"Uh..." Niu Youdao froze, then hurriedly waved both hands. "Close the door. Close it. Quickly!"

Ke Dingjie immediately flashed back inside and pulled the door shut. Unexpectedly, a foot shot in from outside.

Smack!

Someone jammed a foot into the closing gap, preventing the door from shutting. Ke Dingjie could hardly chop the foot off.

Niu Youdao stared at the foot wedged in the doorway, his expression twitching. Then he abruptly barked, "Ke Dingjie, why are you shutting a perfectly good door? Is that any way to treat a guest? Hurry up and open it!"

Ke Dingjie had no objection to carrying the blame. He understood Elder Niu's predicament.

Before he could even loosen his grip, however, the person outside shoved hard and forced the door open. Hong Gaitian barged his way inside.

Ke Dingjie hurriedly retreated and stood beside Qin Guan. The two exchanged sidelong glances. They knew Elder Niu was about to face an awkward scene.

Both men sighed inwardly. Elder Niu and this man were sworn brothers. Anyone else cheating Hong Gaitian was one thing. Elder Niu doing it was rather hard to justify.

"Big Brother, what brings you here?" Niu Youdao stepped forward to welcome him warmly. Thick-skinned as he was, even he could not fully hide the awkwardness in his smile. Being caught in the act did not feel good.

Hong Gaitian slapped aside Niu Youdao's outstretched hand and pointed at his face, full of grief and indignation. "Little Brother, Little Brother! I always thought you were a man who valued loyalty and friendship. I never imagined you were this kind of person!"

"Heh, Big Brother, let's sit down and talk it over slowly. Come, come, have a seat." Niu Youdao caught his arm and warmly tried to lead him toward the tea table.

Hong Gaitian flung his arm away, refusing to follow. He turned, walked straight to the couch, and dropped heavily onto Niu Youdao's bed. Pointing at Niu Youdao again, he demanded angrily, "If other people cheat me, I can understand it. You're my sworn brother. You do this to me—can you face your own conscience?"

Niu Youdao stood nearby with an awkward smile, genuinely unsure how to explain. He had grievances he could not voice.

He truly had not expected every single person to choose the Money House. Even if only half had done so, Ding Wei would not have exposed the whole affair on the spot. At least the unaltered lots would have provided some cover. But everyone had chosen the same destination, leaving him nowhere to hide. He could not even deny that he had altered his own lot.

He honestly had never meant to cheat Hong Gaitian, and he did not make a habit of cheating his own brothers. But the true reason was something he could not tell Hong Gaitian. He was like a mute who had eaten bitter coptis, suffering bitterness he could not explain, so all he could do was let the man vent.

"Little Brother, you've truly disappointed me."

"Little Brother, tell me yourself. Wasn't drawing lots your idea? You came up with the idea, then refused to honor it yourself and cheated me. Can you justify that?"

"Tell me honestly. Did you plan from the beginning to use us? Was the drawing only a smokescreen, meant to keep everyone else pinned down while you secretly fished in muddy waters? Then once Misty Pavilion adjusted the assignments, you could achieve your goal without anyone knowing. You didn't expect it, did you? You didn't expect not one of those bastards to be decent, and all of them ended up exposing you too!"

"If other people cheat me, fine. We're sworn brothers. Where's your conscience? Where did your conscience go?"

Niu Youdao stood there and listened. At first, he still kept a smile on his face. Gradually, the smile disappeared. He realized this fellow had no intention of stopping.

He endured it a while longer. By the end, he finally saw what was happening. Hong Gaitian could do nothing to anyone else, so he had dumped every last complaint onto Niu Youdao.

When the man still showed no sign of finishing, Niu Youdao's brow twitched. "Hong Gaitian, are you done yet?"

Hong Gaitian shot to his feet, eyes wide, looking scandalized. "What are you doing? You did something unconscionable and now your elder brother isn't even allowed to say a few words?"

Niu Youdao immediately met him head-on. "Don't mistake my courtesy for weakness. Conscience? You have the nerve to accuse me of having no conscience? Fine, say I was wrong this time. So what? You didn't actually lose anything. At worst, you failed to get what you wanted. No one knows what comes next. Who can guarantee the Money House is definitely a good place? Why don't you put your hand on your conscience and think about what you did to me? In the Desolate Marsh Deadlands, you sold me out and nearly got me killed. Did I say anything to you? You merely failed to get your wish. Compared with almost costing me my life, which of us went too far?"

With that, he grabbed Hong Gaitian by the arm and started dragging him outside. "Come on. Let's go find Fuhua and the others and ask them to judge this. Let's see which of us went further!"

Hong Gaitian dug in his heels. "At a time like this, of course they'll side with you!"

Niu Youdao pulled again. "Sounds to me like you're the one without a leg to stand on."

Hong Gaitian resisted. "Fine! I won't bring this up anymore, all right? I was in the wrong before. You were in the wrong today. From now on, neither of us owes the other anything. We wipe the slate clean and never mention either matter again. Fine?"

Only then did Niu Youdao release him. "Good! The account is settled."

"Ah!" Hong Gaitian threw his head back with a long sigh, looking like a man who had badly misjudged someone. He flung his sleeves and left.

At last the room was quiet again. Niu Youdao muttered, "What kind of damned freakish business is this? Just my rotten luck."

He truly had not meant to cheat Hong Gaitian. He had only wanted to go wherever the greatest number of people went because he knew that, after offending Misty Pavilion, he was nine times out of ten going to be one of the people whose assignment was adjusted. Volunteering for the Money House would have been useless. By sheer bad luck, he had collided with the entire group doing the same thing. And because he happened to be Hong Gaitian's sworn brother, Hong Gaitian had singled him out and nagged him senseless.

The thought had barely crossed his mind when his expression abruptly changed. "Not good!"

Qin Guan and Ke Dingjie asked in unison, "What is it?"

Niu Youdao whipped around and stared toward the doorway, his expression twitching.

He had suddenly recalled Hong Gaitian's endless tirade. Hong Gaitian knew perfectly well there was no way to argue this matter cleanly, yet he had nagged like an old woman without stopping, accusing Niu Youdao again and again of having no conscience until Niu Youdao finally brought up what happened in the Desolate Marsh Deadlands.

Hong Gaitian knew he could gain nothing from the argument, yet he had kept at it precisely to seize the chance to wipe away the debt from selling Niu Youdao out in the Desolate Marsh Deadlands.

No wonder the man had immediately taken the offered way down and agreed so readily to wipe the slate clean!

Niu Youdao did not explain any of this to Qin Guan or Ke Dingjie. He merely clenched his teeth and cursed, "I got played! Damn it, I fell for that old demon monkey's trick!"

...

The next morning, the people from the various sects were summoned once more to the spacious hall.

Ding Wei did not appear this time. After reviewing and finalizing the assignments the previous day, he had already left. Today Huang Ban personally announced which Misty Pavilion department each faction would enter.

Once the list had been read, Huang Ban closed the booklet in his hands and swept his gaze across the hall. "Everyone remember where you're going? If there are no special objections, then this is settled."

Most people remained silent. What special objections could they possibly raise?

Hong Gaitian laughed loudly. "No objections, no objections!"

Qi Bisang smiled as well. "Mr. Ding is wise!"

[End of Chapter 1039]