Chapter 1515: Got News

The hustle and bustle outside largely had nothing to do with him.

However, on the night of the festival, several golden lightning bolts suddenly flashed across the sky above Tianshui City, stunning everyone who was working at Yongquan Villa. Within that short five-second span, the night sky was incredibly spectacular, as if golden dragons were spiraling. Amidst everyone's exclamations and discussions, He Lingchuan calmly withdrew his gaze. Although the display was grand, it couldn't compare to the pillars of thunderous light he had witnessed in the Coiling Dragon World—a monumental day when the heavens descended.

However, after the golden lightning streaked across the night sky, it quickly brought golden raindrops. The rain, when it fell on one's body, made one feel refreshed and invigorated.

"Divine Grace!" For the gods to make mortals on earth believe in them, they had to periodically display miracles and bestow divine grace. Unfortunately, before everyone had a chance to fully bathe in the divine grace, the rain stopped.

The mirror also grumbled, "It's just a taste, not enough to be satisfying. This Miao Zhan Heaven is too stingy!"

The Flying Flower Festival was held to celebrate Miao Zhan Heaven, so the main deity worshipped by Yao Nation was naturally the one who bestowed this "divine grace."

"Either Miao Zhan Heaven is busy, or she's not very pleased." When deities express displeasure this way, ordinary people can immediately perceive it.

After saying this, He Lingchuan went back to work. After moving into Yongquan Villa, in addition to standard defensive measures, they also needed to set up formations to prepare for the arrival of the Emperor's Dew.

The scale of the Emperor's Dew that would erupt in over three months was unprecedented in over a century. He Lingchuan certainly couldn't miss this wave of heavenly benefits. Yongquan Villa covered dozens of acres. With the small number of people he brought, there was no way to collect a large amount of Emperor's Dew, and ultimately, they would have to rely on formations.

When He Lingchuan first arrived in this world, the Emperor's Dew had ceased for decades, and the original collection methods had become obsolete and gradually fallen into disuse. In recent years, the Emperor's Dew had erupted frequently, so people had revived old methods. For instance, the Spider Demon Sisters collected Emperor's Dew on Panlong Island by directing cave spiders to weave layered and structured webs with their silk, ensuring the Emperor's Dew would flow from the treetops all the way down into pre-dug stone troughs on the ground. This unique advantage meant that other demons on Panlong Island had to rely on the Spider Demon Sisters' methods to obtain the Emperor's Dew.

In the human inhabited areas of Yangshan Archipelago, the methods for collecting Emperor's Dew were more diverse. This time, He Lingchuan was using the Spirit Wind Grand Formation, which was one of the most effective formations proven on the archipelago. It could summon small whirlwinds to funnel the Emperor's Dew into specific containers. After several years of continuous improvements, this formation could now automatically filter, naturally separating the Emperor's Dew essence from rainwater. The only drawback of the Spirit Wind Grand Formation was that it was quite laborious to set up. Fortunately, they had ample time to perfect it.

Early the next morning, a grey crane descended from the sky, landing by the pond behind He Lingchuan's house, and squawked shrilly:

"He... He..."

"Yes, that's me." This demon bird had such a bad memory, it even mixed up the recipient.

"I went to Sanmentou Posthouse and almost made a wasted trip." The grey crane twitched its long neck, spat out a small note, and added, "You moved without warning, making me take a detour. You owe me more money!"

He Lingchuan didn't argue with it. The fee was upgraded from half a bottle of pills to a full bottle, and he also offered it three complimentary frog and rodent meals from his orchard. Yongquan Villa had too many fruit trees, and the previous owner had moved out quite some time ago, so now rodents were rampant.

He unfolded the note and glanced at it, then asked someone to find Dong Rui. Dong Rui was busy setting up his laboratory, and his face showed displeasure when interrupted, but He Lingchuan captured his full attention with just five words:

"Xiao'an has been found."

"Give it to me!" Dong Rui snatched the note.

Two horrifying cases of mass casualties at Chen Family Village and Greenery Villa in Liu County were both related to mysteriously appearing demon puppets, and these demon puppets were linked to a girl of unknown origin named Xiao'an. After the young girl disappeared from Greenery Villa, He Lingchuan had asked Pei Nation to investigate promptly. After more than two months, there was finally news.

This message came from Ju City of the Allied Forces, written in code by Jiang Lishui of the Yangshan Chamber of Commerce. The message was delivered by Yu Hai, the founder of the Hometown Association. County Lieutenant Li, who had previously investigated Chen Family Village with He Lingchuan, had unexpectedly discovered Xiao'an in Tongji Town in Pei Nation. She had been taken in by a couple in the town. The head of the household, named Wu, was a small merchant who was often away. His wife lived in Tongji Town with their eight-year-old daughter. Their family was not wealthy, but they managed. Xiao'an had lived with them for over forty days. The family had treated her well, and the two young girls shared a room, ate together, and always played together. Of course, in Tongji Town, she was no longer called Xiao'an. Instead, she had given herself a new nickname: Wenwen.

A barefoot doctor passing through Tongji Town noticed that the Wu family had an extra young girl whose appearance was very similar to the Xiao'an sought by the authorities. So, he secretly reported it. That day, County Lieutenant Li happened to be on duty; he received the message and reported it to Yu Hai. Yu Hai immediately sent people to Chen Family Village to find Aunt Wu and simultaneously notified the Yangshan Chamber of Commerce. After Aunt Wu observed and identified her in Tongji Town, it was confirmed that Wenwen was indeed Xiao'an. The Yangshan Chamber of Commerce did not alert anyone; they only dispatched a team of guards to remain in Tongji Town, while quickly sending a message to He Lingchuan.

After Dong Rui finished reading, he casually tore up the note and decisively said, "I'm going back to pick her up! I need to get there before anyone else." He had to find Xiao'an to confirm his hypothesis about Tong Hao. That could be a major breakthrough in demon puppet research! The owner of the Red Lodge was also looking for Xiao'an, and Dong Rui didn't want him to get there first.

"County Lieutenant Li and Yu Hai haven't made a big fuss, so very few people know about this."

Dong Rui could barely hide his excitement. "I'm anxious because the Scorpion-tailed Tigers and Armadillo Porcupines decay very quickly. Even if they weren't killed by Qi Yunzheng at Xiaotao Villa, their bodies would disintegrate within half a year. I'm worried that Xiao'an doesn't have much time left either." Demon puppets generally do not have long lifespans. The demon puppets he created were already considered very stable, but without the secret techniques contributed by Madam Zhu, demon puppets like the Berserk Ape would probably no longer exist.

He Lingchuan didn't object. "In that case, be careful on your way."

Dong Rui usually had a low profile; others regarded him as He Lingchuan's attendant. As long as He Lingchuan himself remained in Tianshui City, Dong Rui's absence wouldn't attract much attention. After all, attendants come and go.

Although Dong Rui was eager to return, he still feigned a question: "You'll be fine here, won't you?"

"Are you asking if I'll be fine staying alone in Tianshui City, facing the ill-intentioned King Yao and Qing Yang, who hates me to the core, with a massive pile of 'pie-in-the-sky' projects on my hands?"

"...Yes." Thinking about it that way, he seemed a bit unfair, didn't he?

"Of course, no problem." He Lingchuan laughed loudly and vigorously patted his shoulder several times, making Dong Rui visibly slump with each pat. "It won't be harder than you going back to coax a child."

"..." Was this his way of saying he didn't mind?