Unjust Treatment

In Elder Nie’s eyes, the Cabinet Elders were just a bunch of hypocrites. So he had chosen a greener pasture for himself, what was wrong with that?

They were the ones who hogged all the resources instead of sharing them equally among everyone!

The Cabinet Elders were in a state of disbelief. How could Elder Nie betray them over something so trivial?

They couldn’t grasp his reasoning at all.

Mostly because they had never heard of a place where a prestigious circle like theirs distributed the resources equally. In the first place, these resources were all based on the members’ individual efforts and merits.

The perfect example of this would be Elder Xu. By all rights, his aptitude was fairly average, and he wasn’t recognized as a particularly outstanding elder in the Cabinet.

And yet, he often obtained the most resources out of all of them.

This is because Elder Xu was constantly training his commanding skills, and was the most diligent when it came to his duties. He never failed to make the top three on the merit list every month, so he naturally received more resources.

The logic behind this was that the more resources one had, the quicker he would progress in his learning.

Elder Xu might not have been as proficient as Elder Nie when they had first entered the Cabinet, but he had managed to become the First Elder and raise disciples who were now capable enough to take charge of their own areas.

All of these were a testament to Elder Xu’s efforts.

“Elder Nie, do you still remember?” Elder Xu said in a wistful tone. “Back when we first entered the Cabinet, I wasn’t even as good as you.

“I’ve worked hard since, and earned my current place through hard work. It’s not that the Cabinet is unjust in its treatment, you simply didn’t work hard enough. You cannot fault others for your shortcomings.”

For decades, the distribution process had always been open and transparent. They would even post an audit report on the exhibition board in the hall. No one had ever raised an objection.

But here Elder Nie was, claiming that their long-held practices were unfair to him. Even the disciples who stood at the side could not understand his way of thinking.

“No! That’s not it at all!” Elder Nie roared and shook his head like a madman.

“You know I’m talented and that’s why you ignored me! None of the senior brothers were even speaking to me. You were all against me! You bastards are so used to sucking up to the strong while stepping on the weak, and now you’re making this my fault!

“Well, it isn’t my fault! You’re the ones who are unjust!

“Let me tell you, the Green Cloud Pavilion is different. They recognized my skills and made me the Grand Elder. I have endless resources at my disposal, and I can even choose my own disciples. They respect me and allow me to do whatever I want.”

Elder Nie’s crazed eyes drifted from one elder to another. “If you had only given me what I deserve, I would never have joined the Green Cloud Pavilion! You can’t blame me for betraying you, you did this to me! You were the ones who forced my hand!”

He was clearly having a meltdown. His defeat had really dealt a great blow to him, and he was having a hard time accepting it.

How could he fall by a young girl’s hands?

When he came to his senses, he found that everyone was still staring at him like he was a piece of scum.

“Stop looking at me like that! It’s not my fault, I tell you!”

The Cabinet Elders couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pain at the sight of Elder Nie. Perhaps he was right, and they bore some fault, too. For so many years, they had only paid attention to their own growth and never cared about their peers’ struggles.

If they had extended a guiding hand toward Elder Nie, he might have not ended up like this.

Elder Xu’s heart ached when he thought about this, but they still had another matter to settle. Yao Tang had told them that the Green Cloud Pavilion had agreed to exchange hostages.

But the Elder Nie in front of him was just a weak, sorry excuse for an elder, whereas Elder Chen was one of the five Great Elders in the Cabinet.

The Green Cloud Pavilion was a cunning force that always put their interests above others, so how could they be willing to give up Elder Chen and his disciple for the sake of Elder Nie?

It didn’t make any sense.

“Can this be another scheme that the Green Cloud Pavilion has concocted?” Elder Li thought aloud. “Maybe they’re planning something else.”

“I believe they will set up another ambush,” Elder Wang remarked in a cold voice. “The exchange is probably just a distraction so that their men can attack us when our guards are down. This is how they usually do things, after all.”

The Green Cloud Pavilion was not to be trusted.

They had proven this time and time again, by resorting to dirty tricks and underhanded attacks.

“In that case,” Yao Tang spoke up, “we should be the ones to decide the location of the exchange.”