Chapter 1048: Lan Ming Comes to Investigate

Long Fanhai hurriedly asked, "Sir, what do we do now?"

He was hoping something might still change.

Ding Wei gave him a sidelong glance. What else could they do? Wait. Watch how the situation developed. For now, it was best not to make any unnecessary move.

Of course, Ding Wei understood Long Fanhai's state of mind. But the two of them stood at different levels, and the weight of what might fall upon each of them was not the same. Ding Wei did not want the matter to grow any larger. Still less did he want to become, in certain people's eyes, the scheming leader behind it all.

So he waited.

At present, Ding Wei still could not be completely certain Niu Youdao's report concerned Long Fanhai. Part of him still hoped they were thinking too much.

He knew that if something truly was wrong, the response should arrive today.

The door had remained open all night. At first light, one of his subordinates entered directly and reported to Ding Wei, who was sitting cross-legged in meditation. "Sir, people from Tianlan Sacred Land have arrived. Lan Ming personally brought a group with him."

"Tianlan Sacred Land. So what's coming has finally come..." Ding Wei murmured from the couch.

Others might not know which Sacred Venerable each sect's inspectors reported to, but Ding Wei knew perfectly well. The various factions had handed their messenger Goldenwings to him, and he had personally arranged their destinations. How could he not know?

He rose and walked straight out.

When he reached the main hall, he saw more than a dozen men in blue standing in orderly ranks. The man at their head held his chin slightly raised, giving the impression that he was looking down his nose at everyone.

Ding Wei knew him.

It was Lan Daolin's son, Lan Ming.

Seeing Ding Wei, Lan Ming raised his hands in greeting. Two flood dragons were embroidered along the outer sides of his sleeves. He smiled. "Brother Ding, it's been some time."

Ding Wei walked up to him, glanced over the group he had brought, and asked without warmth, "What are you doing here?"

Lan Ming smiled. "Does Brother Ding truly not know, or are you pretending not to understand something you know perfectly well?"

Ding Wei said, "I don't have time to play games with you. If you have no business here, excuse me."

Lan Ming gave him a half-smile. One hand slipped into the opposite sleeve and withdrew a token identical to the Misty Pavilion command token held by Ding Wei.

Each of the Nine Saints possessed such a token. They represented the authority each of the nine held to command Misty Pavilion. During the rotational periods of control, whichever Sacred Land's turn it was, that Sacred Venerable would hand the token to the person appointed to take office and preside over Misty Pavilion.

Lan Ming displayed the token to Ding Wei. "By decree of the Sacred Venerable of Tianlan, I've come to investigate a case. Brother Ding, would you like to inspect the token and make sure it isn't fake?"

Ding Wei studied the token. "Investigate what?"

Lan Ming said, "Has there been any result in the matter of Xuan Yao using public office for a private vendetta and retaliating against an inspector personally appointed by a Sacred Venerable?"

Ding Wei replied, "Since you're here holding that token, you can inspect the investigation process and its results whenever you like. There's no need to ask me."

"Thank you for the reminder." Lan Ming looked down and turned the token over in his hand. Then he suddenly asked, "Is Demon Fox Bureau Deacon Long Fanhai here?"

Ding Wei immediately understood.

So it really was that matter.

But aloud he asked, "What do you want with him?"

"I need to verify something with him. Trouble Brother Ding to have him brought here."

"What matter?"

Lan Ming said, "Brother Ding is presiding over Misty Pavilion. I imagine there are some things no one can hide from your eyes. Why circle around the point? Someone reported that Long Fanhai attempted to pry into correspondence with a Sacred Venerable."

Ding Wei said, "Such a thing happened? Brother Lan, rest here for the moment. It's only a minor matter. Misty Pavilion will investigate it and give the Sacred Venerable an explanation."

Lan Ming's gaze turned cold, and so did his smile. "No need to trouble Misty Pavilion. He had enough nerve to pry into correspondence with a Sacred Venerable, and Brother Ding calls that a minor matter?"

He raised the token again and displayed it before Ding Wei. "The Sacred Venerable ordered me to investigate this personally. If Brother Ding thinks the Sacred Venerable's decision is inappropriate, you may refuse."

Ding Wei fell silent for a moment.

He knew the matter had touched Lan Daolin's reverse scale and truly angered him. Lan Daolin no longer trusted Misty Pavilion to investigate its own people without protection or concealment, which was why he had sent someone from his own side.

After a brief consideration, Ding Wei slowly turned his head and ordered, "Bring Long Fanhai here."

"Yes!" someone answered and left.

Lan Ming smiled faintly and slowly returned the token to his sleeve.

Ding Wei stepped forward until he stood beside him. One faced ahead while the other faced behind.

Tilting his head, Ding Wei spoke softly by Lan Ming's ear. "Boundless Pavilion may be desolate and dull, but at least it's a place where you call the shots. The Sacred Venerable of Tianlan stationed you there and kept you at some distance for your own good. Instead of staying honestly at Boundless Pavilion, you keep lingering in Sacred Realm. That not only disappoints the Sacred Venerable's intention, it does you no good either."

Lan Ming's cheek tightened. "Thank you for Brother Ding's kind reminder. Aren't you meddling a little too much?"

"Don't push things too far. Heavenly might is hard to fathom." Ding Wei raised a hand and patted Lan Ming's shoulder, his manner suggesting he had said all there was to say.

Then he turned and left, abandoning the group where it stood and leaving only one subordinate behind to cooperate.

Long Fanhai was brought over before long.

The moment he saw Lan Ming staring at him coldly, a chill ran through his entire body and his expression turned ugly.

"Seize him!" Lan Ming jerked his chin.

Several blue-robed men immediately stepped forward and restrained Long Fanhai on the spot.

Long Fanhai did not dare resist. Panic filled his voice. "Mr. Lan, what is the meaning of this?"

Lan Ming ignored the question and spoke to the Misty Pavilion man Ding Wei had left behind. "Find us a place for interrogation."

"Yes!" The man accepted the order and gestured for them to follow, leading the entire group toward Wentian City's prison.

They had not been inside the prison long when several blue-robed men, accompanied by Misty Pavilion personnel, moved out in all directions. They located Niu Youdao, Qin Guan, Ke Dingjie, and the four men who had accompanied Long Fanhai that day.

Not one was missed.

Every one of them was brought to the prison.

Taishu Shanhai and the others personally witnessed Niu Youdao being taken away.

They had come to visit him again. Before they could even knock open Niu Youdao's courtyard gate, however, they were driven aside and watched the blue-robed men and Misty Pavilion personnel force their way into the compound. Then they saw the three from Zijin Cave escorted away.

What had happened?

No one knew.

They followed at a distance, only to be stopped outside the prison.

At first, they did not even know the guarded entrance led to a prison. They only knew they were not allowed inside. After questioning the guards at the entrance, they learned this was the place Wentian City used to confine prisoners.

Niu Youdao had been taken into prison?

Everyone was startled and uncertain.

Only yesterday they had seen him behaving with such arrogance. How had things changed this completely overnight?

"What happened?" Blood God Hall Elder Mei Changhong asked, looking from one person to another.

Staring at the prison entrance, Taishu Shanhai gave a cold snort. "Who knows? In any case, it can't be anything good. That fellow is usually so arrogant. Isn't it perfectly normal for retribution to catch up with him?"

The group waited outside for a while and tried asking the jailers, but learned nothing.

They could not stand there indefinitely.

In the end, they left disciples behind to keep watch while the rest returned first.

At noon, Niu Youdao, Ke Dingjie, and Qin Guan emerged from the prison.

None of the three looked as though anything had happened to them. They went directly back to their lodging at the Demon Fox Bureau.

The disciples left behind by the various factions saw them come out and immediately hurried back to report.

Ding Wei, standing silently beneath the eaves elsewhere, learned the same news.

From the moment Lan Ming arrived, Ding Wei had known Long Fanhai's fate was already sealed, whether he confessed or not.

Some things were simply that cruel.

Ding Wei could even imagine exactly what would happen. Since Lan Ming had been personally sent here, he would eventually have to face his father's scrutiny. That meant Lan Ming would use every method available to obtain the result he needed. He could not possibly return empty-handed. He had to give his father an explanation.

Ding Wei only hoped the oblique warning he had given Lan Ming earlier had been understood and that Lan Ming would not push matters too far.

He wanted Lan Ming to understand that Ding Wei was not without the ability to strike back.

You can do the first; I can do the fifteenth.

He still hoped to preserve Xuan Yao's life.

As for the final outcome, he was not especially worried. Even if Long Fanhai broke and implicated Xuan Yao, Xuan Yao would definitely know when to keep his mouth shut. He would not drag Ding Wei into the matter.

Ding Wei had enough confidence in Xuan Yao to use him as a trusted subordinate.

What worried him most now was Niu Youdao's third report.

He had no idea what the man had submitted this time.

Because Ding Wei stood inside the matter himself, he could feel its contours with unusual clarity.

He knew Xuan Yao had made a mistake.

Xuan Yao had looked down on Niu Youdao too much.

Even if he intended to retaliate, he should never have openly threatened him. He should never have let Niu Youdao know that sooner or later Xuan Yao intended to settle accounts with him.

Niu Youdao had no intention of sitting still and waiting for death.

This was his counterattack.

The first report had not been enough to put Xuan Yao to death. The second report had increased the pressure again and, indirectly, was forcing Xuan Yao toward a dead end.

Ding Wei knew that.

But would the Sacred Venerable necessarily see it the same way?

Was Ding Wei supposed to submit a report explaining the full chain of cause and effect, thereby proving that Xuan Yao had indeed threatened Niu Youdao?

Would that not amount to confirming that Xuan Yao had been retaliating against him?

And if Ding Wei did that, what would it mean that he had known the truth, failed to report it, and still somehow produced no result from the investigation?

What, exactly, would Ding Wei appear to be trying to do?

What was in the third report?

Ding Wei could not find even the slightest clue from which to infer it.

For the first time, he felt as though events had suddenly slipped beyond the control of the man currently holding Misty Pavilion's command authority.

The unknown was what frightened people most.

He had no idea what might come next.

Yet he could do nothing to Niu Youdao now.

It was not even appropriate for him to go see the man.

He needed to maintain the appearance that he stood outside the matter.

What had Niu Youdao put in that third report?

Ding Wei considered it again and again.

Judging by the timing, he estimated Lan Ming did not know either. While Lan Ming had been traveling here, the third report should itself have been in transit.

One report after another.

Ding Wei could feel it now.

This had been carefully designed.

A mere Elder of Zijin Cave had actually dared manipulate the situation inside Misty Pavilion and directly drag a Sacred Venerable into the game.

How much nerve did that require?

Ding Wei could not understand it.

Did Niu Youdao truly not know the consequences of doing this?

The man was still in Ding Wei's hands. Killing him would not be difficult. Sooner or later, there would be an opportunity.

And yet Niu Youdao still dared offend Ding Wei this thoroughly?

The problem was that Niu Youdao's point of entry had been too precise.

Ding Wei now found himself in a position where striking back was wrong, yet failing to strike back was also wrong. Niu Youdao had pressed directly against a vulnerable point and left him unable to exert force.

Why did Niu Youdao dare do this?

Did he have some hidden contingency?

The third report made him even harder to read.

A faint unease had begun to rise in Ding Wei's heart.

Having personally experienced how difficult Niu Youdao was to deal with, Ding Wei was beginning to regret everything.

Luo Fangfei had already gotten the bastard out of Sacred Realm.

Why had Ding Wei insisted on fighting Luo Fangfei over face and dragging him back?

If Luo Fangfei had caused trouble, he could simply have let Luo Fangfei bear the consequences.

Why had he insisted on bringing that bastard back?

Ding Wei understood perfectly well that many events were linked by cause and effect.

If he had not brought Niu Youdao back, Taishu Shancheng would not have clashed with Chao Jing.

Taishu Shancheng would not have exposed the secret dealings between Niu Youdao and Chao Jing.

Ding Wei would not have gone digging into whatever lay behind those secrets.

He would never have sent Xuan Yao to investigate Niu Youdao.

And none of the present trouble would have happened.

But there was no medicine for regret in this world.

Things had already come this far.

Regret was useless.

[End of Chapter 1048]