幹事找絕 Thorough In Everything He Does
小妖大驚道：「我們都叫做個小鑽風，偏你又叫做個甚麼『總鑽風』。」行者幹事找絕，說話合宜，就道：「你實不知。小妖大惊道：「我们都叫做个小钻风，偏你又叫做个甚么『总钻风』。」行者干事找绝，说话合宜，就道：「你实不知。
逐句解 Line by line
The little demon was greatly startled. "We are all called Little Borer of the Wind. How is it that you alone are called some sort of Chief Borer of the Wind?"
偏你 is you of all people, you specially — the word carries a shade of resentment. He is not doubting the tally now; he is objecting to the rank. 甚麼 takes 甚 as shén, and the dismissiveness of some sort of is entirely in that word.
Pilgrim was thorough in whatever he did and apt in whatever he said, and answered at once, "You really do not know.
幹事找絕 is to do a thing right to the last detail — to run it to the end. 說話合宜 is to say what fits the occasion. The narrator is paying Pilgrim a compliment in the middle of a lie, which is this novel's habitual position on its own hero.
The forgery works completely, and the proof is in what the little demon objects to. He does not question the tally. He questions the promotion.
That is the moment the con becomes safe. Once the mark is arguing about rank he has conceded that the badge is real, and rank is a thing that can be explained.
The narrator's aside is worth keeping. Thorough in what he does and apt in what he says — offered admiringly, about a monkey standing on a mountain with a fake identity card made out of his own tail.