Novel Full Chapter 2256 - The Biggest Joke in the World
Chapter 2256 – The Biggest Joke in the World
The atmosphere within the grand hall was stifled and tense. A long time passed, but no one agreed to accept this mission.
This mission was a hot potato; touching it would burn their fingers. None of them wanted to accept it.
The reason for this was simple.
Only a few months had passed since Xiao Jian had joined Qingwu Divine Court, but numerous strange, unsettling deaths had already occurred around him.
When the former Vice Palace Master Huang Changting took Xiao Jian on a mission outside the sect, the Human-Faced Bluebird, Hui Qing, followed them in secret.
In the end, both of them died.
Then, Third Elder Ku Zhen and High Elder Yuan Shan brought Xiao Jian on yet another mission, only for both of them to perish inexplicably, too!
Given the circumstances, the elders saw Xiao Jian as a god of plague. None of them wanted to bring misfortune onto themselves.
When he saw that the sect leader’s expression was increasingly unsightly, a golden-robed old man coughed dryly and broke the silence. “Sect Leader, Xiao Jian has left the sect to carry out a mission, and we don’t know his true goals. If we attack him without sufficient grounds, and if it’s discovered… how could the grand elder possibly let it pass?
The others nodded. It was true. Xiao Jian had accepted a mission properly and openly. On what basis were they supposed to go after him?
Besides, the grand elder was watching them!
Someone sighed, “Besides, if there really is a problem with Xiao Jian’s identity, I’m afraid that with our power, we cannot possibly take him down.”
Ancestor Hui Qing and High Elder Yuan Shan had died. Both of them had been Undying Realm Master Gods! If Xiao Jian really was involved in their deaths, how would attacking him be any different from suicide?
Thus, no one dared volunteer for this mission.
When Sect Leader Liang Lingxu saw this, he couldn’t help but feel frustrated. Who could have imagined this? Xiao Jian was just a Lesser God, yet all of the elders feared him!
But this only increased Liang Lingxu’s determination to get rid of Xiao Jian!
He pondered briefly, then made a decision. “If our people won’t do, have our subordinate factions go after him! At the very least, we need three Master Gods! As for the specifics…” Liang Lingxu paused, then looked at one of the elders. “I’ll leave them up to you, Fourth Elder Jin!”
He’d chosen the fourth elder by name!
Jin Wenbing froze, dumbstruck.
The other elders sighed in relief. They were just glad it wasn’t them!
“What? Do you think that is inappropriate, Fourth Elder?” Liang Lingxu said icily.
Jin Wenbing stiffened, then said hurriedly, “Rest assured, Sect Leader. Just leave it to me!”
He was already settled on his course of action. He’d just act as the man behind the scenes. It would be the experts of their auxiliary factions who took action directly!
As for whether those experts lived or died? He didn’t care in the slightest.
Qingwu Divine Court was one of the peak factions of the Southern Flame Divine Continent, so it had over ten subordinate factions. Some even had Master Gods in residence.
Gathered together, they were a considerable force!
……
A day later.
The Southern Flame Divine Continent, in a vibrant, flourishing city.
“This lofty one has but one request. Do your utmost to kill Xiao Jian! And remember, no word of this is to leak!”
Jin Wenbing sat in a room at the top floor of a tower, issuing orders with a dignified, imposing air.
More than a dozen people were seated there. Three were Master Gods, while the others were Fortune Realm Greater Gods.
They hailed from different factions, all of them were subordinates of Qingwu Divine Court.
“Elder Jin, forgive my boldness, but I have to ask. Xiao Jian is the vice palace master of Wandering Night Palace. Why is the sect leader sending us after him?” an old man couldn’t help but ask.
This was Mo Xiuhuai, a grand elder of Long Cloud Sword Tower and a One-Tribulation Undying Realm Master God!
He had the greatest prestige of everyone present.
“You’ll learn the secrets behind these orders later,” Jin Wenbing said expressionlessly. “For now, you just need to follow orders. You are not to be negligent!”
He paused, then continued, “It hasn’t been long since Xiao Jian left this very city. Given your abilities, if you set off now, you’ll be able to capture him within half a day. Be quick about it!”
The crowd exchanged glances, then rose, one after another, and left the room.
It was only after all of them had left that Jin Wenbing sighed in relief. I’ve already passed this problem on. Whether they live or die, and whether they complete their mission or not, no longer has anything to do with me.
Meanwhile, not long after the group left, High Elder Mo Xiuhuai of Long Cloud Sword Tower silently convened the others for a secret meeting.
“There’s something fishy about this, don’t you think?” he asked.
The others nodded. It was more than just fishy; it was deeply out of the ordinary and suspicious. None of them felt assured.
“What do you think we should do, Daoist Brother Mo?” someone asked.
Mo Xiuhuai sighed. “These are Qingwu Divine Court’s orders. Even if they’re exploiting us, how can we simply disregard them?”
The others’ expressions were instantly complicated.
“Xiao Jian is the vice palace master of Wandering Night Palace, and they say that the grand elder thinks extremely highly of him. If we do as Sect Leader Liang Lingxu says and kill him, how will the grand elder respond?” said Mo Xiuhuai. “But if we don’t, we’ll offend Liang Lingxu. That won’t do, either.”
Mo Xiuhuai scanned the group, then said, “We’re in a tough spot, but I have a suggestion.”
The others’ spirits soared, and all of them pressed for further information. “Please, speak directly, Daoist Brother Mo.”
“We old-timers will hide in the shadows and watch. We’ll leave the mission to others in our sects,” said Mo Xiuhuai. “Whether they succeed or fail, we can at least report in to Elder Jin and Sect Leader Liang Lingxu, and even if Grand Elder Wei Zhong wants to blame someone, he won’t pin the blame on us. After all, we won’t have been the ones who attacked Jiao Jian.”
Who could miss that Mo Xiuhuai wanted to make scapegoats of the subordinates they sent on this mission?
But there was no denying that this was a wondrous play!
The group quickly agreed, and the atmosphere was instantly relaxed and harmonious. Better them than us!
The most unpleasant of tasks were always foisted onto those lower on the hierarchy. Blame, too, was foisted onto one’s inferiors.
Mo Xiuhuai and the others’ subordinates quickly experienced that firsthand.
Thus, they quickly chose to spare themselves, too. They sent those of even lower status and even weaker cultivations in their stead.
And so on and so forth.
By the time anyone actually went after Su Yi, the force consisted of merely a dozen or so Lesser Gods…
“Dammit! We’ve been made into scapegoats!”
“There’s nothing for it. We can’t push this any further down the ranks, as immortal cultivators couldn’t possibly bear the weight of this mission.”
“Ugh. They say that when gods and immortals fight, it’s the general populace that suffers. The sect leader and grand elder of Qingwu Divine Court are the ones fighting, yet we’re the ones who have to die in their stead. How is that fair? Is there no justice in this world?”
“What do all of you think? What should we do?”
The Lesser Gods were all fraught with worry.
So what if they’d achieved divinity? Within the Divine Dao, Lesser Gods like them were the weakest of the weak. They might have been able to throw their weight around in front of those yet to achieve divinity, but the moment anything big happened, they’d be reduced to cannon fodder!
“How about we just go meet with His Excellency Xiao Jian, explain our situation, and request his forgiveness? Then, we can manufacture a failed mission and report to our superiors?” someone suggested.
Many of the others’ eyes lit up. That would most likely work!
Who could possibly believe that Lesser Gods like them were a match for Vice Palace Master Xiao? It was to be expected that they’d fail their mission.
It would… have been stranger if they’d succeeded!
“But what if His Excellency Xiao doesn’t understand our situation?” someone sighed.
“Don’t worry about it. His Excellency Xiao won’t make trouble for small fries like us. We’re going there to beg for mercy! Not to seek out our own demises by fighting him!” someone said with staunch conviction.
“It’s settled, then!”
All of them agreed. None of them were stupid; they knew they were being made scapegoats, and none of them would risk their lives over this.
When the Lesser Gods came looking for Su Yi, for a moment, he found it hard to believe. Some time passed before he sighed, “I wonder what the sect leader would think if he knew about this.”
It really was absurd. The lofty sect leader’s orders had been delegated and redelegated over and over again. No one dared accept responsibility for this!
Those with no one to delegate the mission to could only seek him out and beg for his understanding. That was their only hope of survival! How ridiculous was that?
But this also made it clear that Liang Lingxu’s camp was severely divided when it came to how to handle him.
Liang Lingxu’s biggest mistake was targeting him without just cause. He couldn’t justify his actions, so it was inevitable that others would suspect there was a problem with his orders and refuse to let him use them as weapons!
And everyone was cautious of the Grand Elder, too. That was why all of them were foisting his orders onto other people!
“Please give us a few bumps and bruises, Your Excellency Xiao. That will help us report back to our superiors!” someone said respectfully.
It was ridiculous. They were actually begging him to injure them…
Su Yi couldn’t help but sigh in amazement, but in the end, he magnanimously injured every last one of the Lesser Gods.
All of them were overcome with delight, and they bade farewell with smiles on their faces.
Su Yi shook his head and continued his journey to the Feng Family estate.
Meanwhile, word of the failed attempt on Xiao Jian’s life traveled up the ranks. Everyone was outwardly enraged, but in truth, they were relieved. This way, they at least had something to report to their superiors.
When word reached Fourth Elder Jin Wenbing, his face was ashen with anger, and he cursed the experts of their subordinate factions out for mishandling the situation. He said he’d get even with them all later.
But that was just on the surface. In truth, all he was thinking was, I can finally report to the sect leader.
He’d even planned his excuse. “It’s not that I’m inept, but that our subordinates bungled things!”
When word reached Liang Lingxu, he pondered the matter and quickly realized that things had gone awry. He was so angry that he almost coughed up blood on the spot.
“They say that an emperor’s influence doesn’t extend beyond his palace. I wouldn’t have thought the same thing would happen to me!” Liang Lingxu struck his armrests in fury. “All I wanted was to kill Xiao Jian. How could something so ridiculous have happened? Dammit! Every last one of them… deserves to die for this!”