Chapter 495: Games Of Bureaucracy
Wang Xiong pondered on the matter for a bit before finally speaking again.
“I understand now,” Wang Xiong replied and thought for a bit.
“Very well… can you do something for me?” Wang Xiong asked them.
“Of course, senior!” They replied hurriedly.
“I want you to sell information about me.” Wang Xiong stated.
“Huh? WHAT?!” They were shocked to hear and didn’t know why Wang Xiong would ask something like this of them.
“Senior, we can’t do that! We won’t betray you.” The second junior disciples said quickly.
“No, no… you won’t be betraying me. If anything, you will be helping me.” Wang Xiong stated.
“Helping you? How?” They asked.
“Now listen carefully…” Wang Xiong said before starting to explain to them what he wanted them to do.
Wang Xiong was basically trying to bait all the people who were going after him. He wanted to see how many were truly snakes and fishermen waiting for the right time. He even wanted to see if some elder would be tempted enough to leave the sect for that.
The one thing that Wang Xiong lacked right now was the fact that he was in a state of uncertainty when it came to the people of the sect. There were very few that he could truly trust and it could be said to be the same for even the patriarch.
Despite being strong, his position had become compromised in the recent years. His seclusion earlier had not helped with it at all, and several elders had gotten ambitious enough to start their own plans.
They wanted to make use of the sect to gain more resources and assets for themselves. Overall, it went against the guidelines and tenets of the sect, and thus it could be punished. But this very situation could be flipped very easily and the elders could avoid suspicion by simply giving whatever they were caught with to the sect and say that it was for the sect’s benefit.
If it were up to Wang Xiong and the patriarch, they would have simply killed such individuals, but doing that in a sect like that was not possible. After all, if they really killed the elders, even the neutral elders would get agitated.
This may cause more troubles and perhaps, even get the enter sect to rebel against them. One must know, the human psyche was such that it proffered being in groups. Thus, whatever the mob mentality was, many liked to follow it.
Thus they needed to tread on a fine line and deal with all the matters a bit more pragmatically. After all, the threat wasn’t just from within the sect, but outside too. There was no lack of cultivation sects looking for a piece of the pie.
And whenever a sect was under internal conflict, the ones happiest were pragmatics and the ones on the outside. The former were often the cause of the conflict, while the latter benefited from the weakening of the sect.
As long as Wang Xiong had enough proof, and it was presented to the patriarch, he would be able to take concrete action against those that were looking to sow chaos or betray the sect. But until then, they needed to bide their time and do their tasks.
If Lin Wu was here and had the same power as the patriarch though, he might have taken the direct approach. After all, Lin Wu didn’t need to get acquainted with all the elders and walk on eggshells around them.
He could rule them with an iron fist… or rather, a crystal tail.
It took Wang Xiong about half an hour to explain of what he wanted the junior disciples to sell. He ensured to add a few pieces of spice to make the story more catchy yet believable. After he was done, the five junior disciples looked at each other with strange expressions.
They then turned to Wang Xiong and asked, “Is this really fine, senior?” one of them asked.
“Yes, do it as I say. Oh, and don’t forget to get your rewards too… I want to check something.” Wang Xiong answered.
“Very well, senior brother Wang Xiong. We shall do as you asked.” The five disciples said.
“Good, take this and you can leave then.” Wang Xiong said as he tossed five pill bottles to them.
Seeing the pills in the bottles, the five junior disciples were pleased.
“Thank you senior, we shall not forget this.” The first one said before taking his leaves.
The others joined behind them, and soon the courtyard was empty. Once they were gone though, Wang Xiong narrowed his eyes and spoke, “I reckon you heard everything?”
“I did indeed,” A man’s voice could be heard coming from one of the statues in the garden.
After the voice came, the statue turned into fog and a man clothed in pure white clothes appeared. He was covered from head to toe in white clothes and even on his face there was a white fox mask.
“So what do you think?” Wang Xiong questioned the man.
“Hmm… disciple Wang Xiong has certainly played his cards right. Though I do not trust those disciples to do this properly. After all, they are against elders who have been alive for several centuries.” The white clothes man answered. “Besides, the elders are unlikely to fall for such obvious tricks.” He added.
“I know… and I want them to know that this is a trick.” Wang Xiong said with a smile.
“Oho? The chief disciple is already learning to play the games of bureaucracy?” the White clothed man asked.
“So what if I do want that… there are few ways to reach the point I want to. Only those at the peak can go ahead using pure cultivation base. For the rest, other such methods are the only blade they have.” Wang Xiong replied.
The man went silent for a minute after hearing it, but then nodded his head.
“I see, but what will you do if it goes wrong?” The man asked.
“Well, don’t I have you for that, Guardian Yun?” Wang Xiong asked with a smirk.
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Grand_Void_Daoist
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