Chapter 115: Targeting the Murderer to Overcome Calamity

He Chunhua seemed to read his mind and continued to advise, "Even if we take a step back and assume the Water Spirit has some power, it can't be right every time."

He Yue heard this as he emerged and quickly added, "Exactly. The shrine keeper just said the Water Spirit sometimes makes mistakes. Perhaps it's facing its own great disaster and can't even predict good or bad fortune?"

"That makes sense," He Lingchuan said, taking a long breath. "No need to persuade me further, I understand."

"Big brother..."

"I said no more persuasion!" He Lingchuan snapped, cutting him off. "Don't bother me!"

This fit the eldest son's temperament, so He Chunhua wasn't surprised. But Madam Ying, who had just walked out, admonished him, "How can you speak like that? Yue'er was only trying to advise you kindly!"

He Lingchuan turned and walked away.

He Chunhua waved his hand, acting as a peacemaker. "All right, all right," he said. "He's in a bad mood, don't mind him."

He Lingchuan's mind was also in a tangled mess.

He recalled Nian Songyu's words before he died: "You're not long for this world!"

At the time, the so-called "Heavenly God" had possessed Nian Songyu and spoken that final sentence through him. He Lingchuan had always dismissed it as Nian Songyu's dying curse and hadn't taken it seriously.

But what if the "Heavenly God" had foreseen something?

The Heavenly God had originally tried to possess He Lingchuan, but was knocked out during the illusion in his sea of consciousness.

That altered illusion, the street corner within it, and the glowing mark inside the broken plaster on the corner wall...

He hadn't forgotten that scene: even the so-called "Heavenly God" had been driven out of his sea of consciousness by an unknown force!

Was this the power of calamity?

Could all these past events, coupled with the two ominous divination slips from the Water Spirit today, be connected?

A sense of urgency, unlike anything he had felt since arriving in this world, suddenly arose, leaving He Lingchuan's mind in utter chaos.

Just then, a guard ran over and reported to He Chunhua.

After listening, He Chunhua immediately called out to his eldest son: "The information has been extracted! Chuan'er, come here."

He Lingchuan had no choice but to walk back.

"Look at your surroundings," He Chunhua continued. "The big picture is what matters now; annihilating these fierce bandits is paramount! Besides, if you truly face a disaster, it might happen tonight. Evil bandits coming for our lives—isn't that a major misfortune? As long as we successfully leave Immortal Lake, your doubts will resolve themselves!"

He Chunhua placed a hand on his shoulder and added, "Chuan'er, you must trust me, and you must trust the Great Shaman, understand?"

He Lingchuan looked at him, took a deep breath, and said, "Your son understands."

If only it were that simple.

"That Water Spirit is merely playing tricks; it must have an agenda," He Chunhua said gravely. "It wouldn't do these things for no reason. Believing it would just be needlessly worrying yourself."

He Lingchuan nodded.

So He Chunhua motioned for everyone to return to the main house.

On the way back, He Lingchuan's mind was preoccupied with the thought: if the "great misfortune" divination from the Water Spirit still proved true, would it mean he would suffer the same fate as Nian Songyu, dying horribly in a foreign land?

If there was still a sliver of hope for survival, how could he grasp it?

From this day forward, he would have to be constantly vigilant about his own life and find a way to unravel the misfortune clinging to him—if it truly existed.

The most terrifying aspect of the Water Spirit's prophecy was that it warned the nighttime traveler of a chasm ahead, but didn't say how far away it was.

This meant he would have to walk every step forward with trepidation.

Alas, before leaving Blackwater City, he should have visited Zhaomandu, the Great Shaman; perhaps he could have gained something.

But at the time, as a transmigrator, he had felt guilty and wanted to stay as far away as possible from this mysterious old man.

...

From the kitchen, muffled groans and grunts could be heard. The village houses had poor sound insulation, so even with his mouth gagged, everyone could hear Wang Pangzi's pained whimpers.

This fatty was truly down on his luck.

Not long after, the sound of water being splashed came from the kitchen.

Soon after, Zhao Qinghe, a trusted guard, walked out of the kitchen and said, "My lord, the situation is not good."

He Chunhua found a chair and sat down. "Speak," he said.

"Two days ago, this group of bandits did indeed capture a town nearby, but it wasn't Qianteng Town; it was Desheng Town! That place is only forty li from Immortal Spirit Village. Furthermore, the bandits garrisoned at Desheng Town are not two hundred, but one thousand two hundred!"

"Twelve hundred, so many!" Everyone was shocked. He Yue mumbled, "That's almost as many as a regular army."

He Lingchuan had originally thought two or three hundred would be the absolute maximum. Two or three hundred fierce bandits facing the local militia, if they launched a surprise attack, would have a high chance of winning.

Who knew that the combined bandit forces from Desheng Town and Immortal Spirit Village would total nearly fifteen hundred!

Forget a mere town; if these bandits had some discipline and fighting power, they could even assault a city—

—an ordinary city, caught off guard, provided these two conditions were met.

However, these two pieces of information were just appetizers; the intelligence that followed was even more startling:

"They are Buxin people. This time, they came south along the river from Woling Pass. They are not ordinary mountain bandits, but defeated rebel troops!"

The three keywords, "Woling Pass," flashed like lightning through He Lingchuan's mind.

All the troubles his He family had encountered, time and again, ultimately revolved around Woling Pass!

These people were actually rebel soldiers who had fled from the Woling Pass battlefield.

The true situation at Woling Pass was only learned by him after he returned to Blackwater City from the Coiling Dragon Desert. The government troops had won, the rebel leader had been killed, and the remaining forces had scattered.

Precisely at this time, the Grand Marshal had rebelled in the capital, attempting to seize power.

The government troops at Woling Pass naturally had to return immediately to aid the emperor, and could only let the fleeing rebels go unchecked.

Woling Pass was less than two hundred li from here. Calculating the direction, perhaps this was right on the retreating rebels' path.

It all made sense.

Zhao Qinghe continued, "Their leader, Old Lu, is not Lu Han, but Lu Yao."

At the mention of that name, He Chunhua slammed the table and stood up. "Are you saying Lu Yao, the Left-Flank General of the rebel leader Hong Xiangqian?"

"Yes, precisely Lu Yao!"

He Chunhua clasped his hands behind his back and paced back and forth around the dining hall twice.

Others rarely saw him so agitated. He Lingchuan nudged He Yue with his elbow. "How many generals does the rebel leader have?"

He Lingchuan had heard of the famous Hong Xiangqian. This was the leader of the rebel army who had marched a thousand li north over two years, captured Woling Pass, and shaken the Great Kite Dynasty.

In the northern and western regions of the Kite Kingdom, folk tales described this man as a green-faced, fanged, brutal, and vicious rebel leader. They said he drank human blood raw, flayed people alive, and wherever he passed, the land would be barren for a thousand li.

This was, of course, a necessity for the Kite Royal Court's propaganda war. Upon hearing this, He Lingchuan thought, *Could this person be a resurrected drought demon?*

As for who served under Hong Xiangqian, He Lingchuan's original body had only vaguely heard snippets, and now the drawback of his lack of common knowledge became apparent.

He Yue whispered, "Four when they first raised their army, fourteen at their peak, but after their defeat, only five survived the battlefield. Left-Flank General Lu Yao truly lives up to the description of 'utterly evil and wicked'; he's a true cannibal. He especially likes to stir-fry and eat the hearts of children under five, and judges them to be a supreme delicacy, fragrant and crispy. It's said he even published a cookbook, 'Fifty Ways to Cook Two-Legged Lamb'."