Chapter 1276: Dong's Cabin

The mirage horn was a trophy he had obtained from Consort Mei, who had used it to change her appearance and infiltrate the Carefree Sect to harvest the Lantern of Illumination.

When he recounted this past event, the mirage demon became angry.

"Such a crude use!" Zhu Erniang exclaimed on its behalf. "She wasted a divine mirage horn just to create an illusion!"

He Lingchuan interjected, "Do you know what form that mirage immortal took?"

"You can't tell just by looking at this horn."

"Alright," He Lingchuan shrugged. "I'd like to ask about the uses of the mirage horn. How can I use it to set up illusion arrays?"

"Do you want to trap enemies?" This was the mirage demon's usual application of illusionary arts.

"No, I just want to use it to bluff... or rather, to deceive people."

"Using the mirage horn for *that*?" the mirage demon commented, "That's overkill."

However, since He Lingchuan was asking about its specialty, the mirage demon taught him very thoroughly.

Finally, it told He Lingchuan, "The most profound mirage techniques can deceive even those with primal energy."

He Lingchuan was dumbfounded. "My mirage techniques are not profound. Is there any way to make them undetectable?"

He was a complete novice, merely learning a trick on the fly, which had nothing to do with being "profound."

"The things you use to deceive people must be real," the mirage demon continued. "Furthermore, it's difficult for humans to use the mirage horn effectively; it's best combined with other magic tools."

"..." This logic was astonishing. "Are you saying that in order to create a fake, I need to use real things?"

"Exactly!" the mirage demon affirmed. "Don't you humans have a saying, 'When the fake is taken for real, the real becomes fake'? The reverse is also true: 'When the real is taken for fake, the fake becomes real.'"

He Lingchuan rubbed his temples. "Alright, let me think about it."

He asked many more detailed questions before bidding farewell to the spider demon sisters.

Upon returning to Suoding Island, He Lingchuan carefully pondered the mirage demon's words before sending for Li Mingrong.

He first handed the damaged folding blade to Li Mingrong for repair, then continued, "I hear you're also skilled at crafting scenic magic tools?"

Magic tools came in a wide variety of types and uses. Madam Ying, He Chunhua's wife, for instance, would use scenic magic tools when creating garden landscapes to achieve an ethereal mist effect.

Of course, they weren't often activated to save money.

"What kind of effect does the patron need?"

"The more terrifying, the better; the more frightening, the better," He Lingchuan said, taking out the mirage horn and handing it to him, explaining its use as he had just learned it. "It needs to have a strong atmosphere."

Terrifying, frightening? Li Mingrong thought for a moment. "You brought back a 'Linglong Pagoda' from the Glimmergold Plains. Several of its divine powers have ceased to function, but it can still affect the environment. Paired with this mirage horn, it might produce extraordinary results."

"Excellent," He Lingchuan clapped his hands and laughed. "You should come with me to the Glimmergold Plains. I'm afraid many of the weapons and magic tools there will need your on-site adjustment."

Since the boss had requested a business trip, Li Mingrong, as an employee, could only happily agree.

For the next few days, He Lingchuan was busy with official duties.

He had been away for several months, and accumulated work was piled up like a mountain; he couldn't finish it even if he worked sleeplessly for five or six days.

During this time, he also had to find time to inspect the progress of various projects across the islands, check the work status of his subordinates, and announce a new round of personnel appointments and removals.

As a leader, he had been absent for several months, so it was inevitable that his subordinates would become lax. This was the time to straighten things out.

For example, several troublemakers who had caused problems in the Yangshan Archipelago were assigned new tasks: to go to the Glimmergold Plains and serve as vanguards for the islands and He Lingchuan's plan.

This was a minor punishment and a serious warning for both warring factions, and the Rongshan and Bailong people understood this implicitly.

After ten busy days, He Lingchuan finished handling the Yangshan affairs and set off again for the Glimmergold Plains.

This time, he brought many people with him.

The ship sailed for five days; the sea was calm and peaceful, and occasionally, white gulls landed on the deck, looking for scraps of food from the travelers.

On the large Yangshan ship, Wanqifang walked down the deck, seeing his cousin Wanqiliang and several clansmen gathered around a table playing cards. He walked over and said, "Aliang, take a set of black armor to the second cabin at the stern."

"Oh, alright," Wanqiliang agreed verbally, but he kept his eyes on the cards and didn't look up.

"Now!" Wanqifang kicked him in the backside, almost overturning the square table with him.

Wanqiliang stumbled to his feet. "Yes, yes, I'm going now!"

"Don't touch anything once you're inside," Wanqifang instructed. "Leave immediately after delivering the armor; don't linger." He then turned and left.

Wanqiliang rubbed his backside. His cousin's kick had been merciless.

The clansman playing cards with him chuckled, "Aliang, you got into a fight with the Rongshan people a few days ago. This is the patriarch punishing you."

Wanqiliang scoffed, "Delivering armor is a punishment?"

"Don't you even bother to check where you're delivering it?" another said. "The second cabin at the stern!"

"What's wrong with the second cabin?" Wanqiliang asked, looking bewildered. "Are there ghosts?"

They were on a large ship newly built by the Yangshan Archipelago, said to have been launched only two months ago. Where would ghosts come from? There wouldn't even be time for new ones to die and become ghosts, he thought.

"No, that's Mr. Dong's experimental cabin," his companion said. "Mr. Dong sleeps in the last cabin at the stern and conducts experiments in the second cabin from the stern. That's a restricted area for the entire ship; even the island master has ordered that no one should enter unless explicitly commanded."

"Mr. Dong?" Wanqiliang's heart skipped a beat. Mr. Dong was a good friend of the island master and also an eccentric. It was said that he spent all day in a dark room, conducting various strange experiments, and dealt with more corpses than living people.

Another companion also leaned in. "Mr. Dong's laboratory is full of all sorts of monsters. The day before yesterday, Azi went in to deliver food and saw a black cloth covering something in the corner. Out of curiosity, he lifted it—"

As he spoke, his voice grew lower and lower, then he suddenly let out a loud "Whoosh!"

The others were startled and recoiled.

"Exactly, his reaction was just like yours!" the man chuckled mischievously. "He almost wet himself!"

Before he could receive a beating, he quickly continued, "But it really is dangerous. Under the black cloth was a monster with a human body and a scorpion's stinger for a tail! And, and it was alive! When he lifted the cloth, the scorpion stung his arm!"

"Azi's arm immediately swelled up as thick as a bucket! Luckily, Mr. Dong arrived and promptly helped him remove the potent venom." He gestured with his left arm. "They say if it had been thirty breaths later, the poison would have reached his heart, and he would have been beyond saving. Although the poison was removed, Azi was still in excruciating pain and couldn't sleep for the past two days. Mr. Dong said he deserved to be punished for touching an experimental subject and didn't allow him to take painkillers."

A clansman nearby let out a long "Ohhh." "No wonder he's been so listless these past two days."

Wanqiliang rolled his eyes. "It's just a stitched-up monster. It can't run around, so what's there to be scared of?"

"Mr. Dong's cabin has plenty of monsters," another person added. "Who knows what else is hidden under that black cloth now!"