Chapter 1681: Pursuing the Clues Left by He Xiao

Is that boy blind? Can't he see the Palace Lord is unwell?

Qingyang, however, waved her hand. "Have them all wait two hours," she said. "I need to rest for a while."

She never had a moment to herself.

With the fall of the State of Yao, the Sky Gods should have seized the opportunity to invade, but their available power had suddenly diminished. Many tasks that were once handled by the State of Yao now lacked suitable personnel, forcing Qingyang to shoulder the burden once more.

In the long term, if things continued this way, the influence of the Lingxu Gods on the Flash Gold Plain would inevitably grow. For now, however, this awkward transitional period was set to continue for some time.

It was already dark, but after leaving the Secluded Lake Retreat, Bai Ziqi did not return to the Tianshui City temple to rest. Instead, he intended to visit the Gushing Spring Villa.

He had to inspect the place where the fugitive had lived for several months.

Qingyang had informed him that the villa was deserted; He Xiao had already fled with his subordinates. Nevertheless, she had Bai Tan dispatch a team to guard the estate.

Vagrants frequently roamed the eastern outskirts of Tianshui. If they were to enter the villa and ransack it, the scene Bai Ziqi wished to observe would be utterly destroyed.

The old Imperial Preceptor remained as considerate as ever. Bai Ziqi pressed his temples.

At this point, they passed a small stream bordered by a dense stretch of woods.

As they approached, flocks of night birds were startled, fluttering and flying off into the distance.

This, paradoxically, indicated that the woodland by the stream was quite safe, free from predators.

Bai Ziqi looked around. "What is this place?" he asked.

Qingyang had specifically sent a Green Guard to guide Bai Ziqi. The guard now replied, "This is Peach Stream. The peach trees along its banks are laden with sweet peaches every summer, and city dwellers enjoy coming here to pick them."

"Peach Stream?" Bai Ziqi mused. The name had come up in his conversation with Qingyang. "Wasn't there a major battle here a few days ago?"

"Ah, yes," the Green Guard nodded. "There's a large crater blasted out by the stream ahead, with a giant fish corpse buried inside."

"A fish corpse? Let's go see it."

"The authorities had it buried on the spot, fearing the stench and potential plague," the Green Guard explained. He led the way, and not more than ten zhang further, a massive pit suddenly appeared in the clearing by the stream. "Hmm? I remember this pit was already filled in. Why has it been dug up again?"

"At the time, there was an earth-shattering explosion here. We rushed over to investigate... Huh!" He recalled, lowering his gaze, and then froze as he peered into the pit.

Where was the fish corpse?

He even purposefully raised his torch to peer down, but the pit's bottom was nothing but yellow earth. The vibrantly colored fish corpse had vanished without a trace!

Seeing his reaction, Bai Ziqi knew something was amiss. "The fish corpse is gone?" he asked.

"Yes, yes, it was right at the bottom of the pit; I saw it with my own eyes!" The Green Guard scratched his head. "Could someone have dug it up and eaten it? There are many vagrants nearby, and they'll eat anything when they're desperate."

"That fish corpse was likely Cao Wendao's demonic puppet. Any ordinary person who ate it would die," Bai Ziqi stated flatly. "Let's go down and examine it."

They were now very close to He Xiao's Gushing Spring Villa, less than half an hour's walk away. Bai Ziqi felt it warranted an investigation.

So they all jumped to the bottom of the pit to examine it, listening as the Green Guard described the scene from that day.

The pit's bottom showed signs of excavation. Bai Ziqi's subordinates found several ghastly white fish bones and a few tattered pieces of fish skin.

As the Green Guard had said, the fish skin was dark red and spotted. Both the skin and bones bore gnaw marks.

The attendant gestured, indicating the size of the teeth marks, which were roughly the size of a rice bowl. "Whatever gnawed on this fish corpse, its mouth must have been this big!" he exclaimed.

Such a wide mouth and such sharp tooth marks couldn't be human, nor did they resemble those of tigers or wolves. Bai Ziqi frowned. "What creature leaves such flat, straight bite marks?" he wondered.

The attendant added, "It certainly looks like the fish corpse was eaten."

Bai Shiqi pointed at the fish bones. "Can a large fish really be pieced together from just these few segments of bone?" he questioned.

Bai Ziqi pondered, "Whatever the creature was, it certainly ate a lot of fish."

To consume Cao Wendao's demonic puppet and remain unharmed—what kind of iron constitution did this creature possess? However, Bai Ziqi recalled his earlier conversation with Qingyang, who hadn't known exactly which demonic puppets Cao Wendao had brought forth, nor how He Xiao's subordinates had managed to cope.

Cao Wendao's cause of death had been decapitation by biting. While cuts from knives or axes were smooth, such ragged wounds were clearly the work of a creature.

Qingyang had also mentioned that before his death, Cao Wendao suspected a demonic puppeteer was hiding within Gushing Spring Villa. On the night of the Peach Stream explosion, He Xiao had been detained by Qingyang and had not participated in the battle there.

This implied Cao Wendao might have been killed by the opponent's demonic puppeteer.

If so, the opponent's demonic puppets must be exceptionally powerful. Bai Ziqi was well aware of Cao Wendao's standing in their profession.

However, with too few clues at hand, he could only tuck his questions away and continue toward the Gushing Spring Villa.

As soon as he arrived, the Gushing Spring Villa guards came forward to greet him, and the Green Guard bid his farewell and departed.

After the State of Yao Palace upheaval, Qingyang had only managed to dispatch people to inspect the villa once she left Tianshui City. They hadn't found He Xiao, but they had discovered seven or eight vagrants ransacking the estate for food, drink, and valuables.

"Where are the palace guards who were stationed here that night?" Bai Ziqi asked as he surveyed the Gushing Spring Villa. "Zhao Song didn't take all his subordinates into the palace, did he?"

"With the upheaval inside the palace, most of them rushed back. Only about ten men remained here," the guard replied. "But He Xiao suddenly returned with his subordinates, seized these ten men, knocked them unconscious, and locked them in the woodshed."

Bai Ziqi's brows furrowed deeply. "Are you saying that on the day of the palace coup, He Xiao first escaped, and then returned?"

"Yes."

"What did he do upon returning to the villa?"

"That, that's not entirely clear," the guard replied respectfully. "Those ten palace guards were all knocked unconscious and knew nothing of what happened afterward. When we arrived, we also apprehended a few vagrants who had snuck in to eat and drink."

In such a large villa, how could anyone else know what He Xiao had done upon his return?

But why would he return?

He had already escaped from the Gushing Spring Villa; he should have left the State of Yao as quickly as possible.

Bai Ziqi recalled the note He Xiao had left behind.

He Xiao hadn't forgotten to provoke him before departing. Given his nature—to plan meticulously before acting—he must have set up some contingencies within the villa.

"What else has happened here?"

He merely asked casually. With He Xiao gone, what else could possibly have happened at the Gushing Spring Villa?

However, the guard visibly flinched, a look of hesitation crossing his face. Should he speak or remain silent?

Bai Ziqi said kindly, "Just tell me. No detail is too small."

"The villa is very large and requires constant patrolling, so the higher-ups arranged for three shifts. We are the third shift, taking over from the previous one at three-quarters past You hour."

They all calculated the time. This meant the second shift had left their posts at dusk, and the third shift had taken over less than two hours ago.

"Was there a problem?"

The guard replied, "I heard, uh, that the second shift guards seemed to be murmuring before they left, saying they were missing someone."

"What happened?"

"Roughly half an hour before their shift ended, one of the guards went to patrol the Apricot Grove Terrace. When their team withdrew and departed, he didn't emerge. They searched for him but couldn't find him, so they instructed us to call him back if we saw him."

Bai Ziqi understood. "And he still hasn't appeared?"

"No," the guard replied. "We've patrolled the Apricot Grove Terrace twice ourselves and still haven't found him. Some in our team think he might have simply returned on his own. After all, the villa is so vast, we wouldn't necessarily know if he departed."

"However—" He hesitated again. "When patrolling the Apricot Grove Terrace, I kept feeling as if someone was watching me, and chills ran down my spine. But my teammates, who were with me, felt nothing and simply dismissed me as paranoid."

"Only felt this sensation at the Apricot Grove Terrace?"

"Uh, yes. After leaving the Apricot Grove Terrace, that unsettling sensation vanished."

An anomaly was preferable, as it provided a direction for investigation—far better than searching aimlessly within the vast villa. Bai Ziqi promptly said, "Go find me one of Zhao Song's subordinates, the more familiar with this place, the better."

"Yes, sir."

Who would dare defy a request from the Heavenly Palace's White Envoy? Not even in the dead of night.

So, an hour and a half later, Tianshui City urgently dispatched a palace guard. He had also been one of Zhao Song's subordinates, arrested on the day of the coup and thrown into prison.

He had resided at the villa for two or three months, making him more familiar with the place than anyone else.

This palace guard had been awaiting his death in prison, but Bai Ziqi told him, "Cooperate fully, and your life will be spared."

The palace guard eagerly agreed. Zhao Song and King Yao were long gone; he had no desire to be buried alongside them.

Over the past hour and a half, Bai Ziqi had walked around the Gushing Spring Villa, observing its various parts, but he had yet to visit the Apricot Grove Terrace.

"Take me to the Apricot Grove Terrace."

What exactly had He Xiao done here, and what had he left behind?

Bai Ziqi suspected it wouldn't be anything benign, yet he found his curiosity growing.

The Gushing Spring Villa was actually a large orchard. Even with its trees stripped of leaves, dark, shadowy silhouettes were everywhere. When the evening breeze swept through, it was as if countless malevolent specters lay hidden within.

With so few people now in the villa, it took considerable courage to move about. Moreover, the deeper one ventured into the estate, the more eerie and terrifying it became.

Even the guards only dared to proceed in pairs.

Soon, they reached the Apricot Grove Terrace.

As the name suggested, this elevated platform was surrounded by apricot trees. While perhaps picturesque in autumn, they currently stood as bare, skeletal forms.

"What are these rune formations for?"

Bai Ziqi casually pointed at a tree trunk.

As they had walked along, they had already noticed copper talismans embedded in some of the trees, each roughly the size of a palm.

The apricot trees were bare and leafless, and the copper talismans glowed faintly.

A pale blue glow.

Should any vagrants attempt to dig them out, an invisible barrier would automatically push them away.

Bai Ziqi recognized immediately that these were the array plates, or rune boards, of a large-scale rune formation.

Given the considerable size of the Gushing Spring Villa, the scale of this formation was quite impressive.

"This is a formation ordered by He Xiao for his subordinates to set up, specifically the 'Spirit Wind Great Array' for the night of the Imperial Nectar," the palace guard explained. "Originally, a different formation was planned for the Gushing Spring Villa. It was already half-built and had cost a significant amount of money, but He Xiao suddenly changed his mind and switched to this Spirit Wind Great Array to collect the Imperial Nectar."

Rich and capricious.

In such a vast villa, with so many obstacles, it would be impossible to collect purely by manual labor.

"Do you know how the formation operates?"

"I heard that once the formation is truly activated, a total of thirty-five small tornadoes will manifest throughout the villa, both inside and out. Each will be funnel-shaped—wider at the top, narrower at the bottom—and they will remain stationary in place."