Chapter 411: Inner Traitor

"This is no different from other countries," He Lingchuan remarked, his curiosity piqued by the Bega Kingdom's system. "How can Lingxu City tolerate localized warfare within the demon territory?"

In his impression, every country was eager to suppress rebellions.

"I grew up in the Green Wilds," Fu Shanyue said with a smile. "Every few years, the forests and plains there would suffer wildfires, burning across the mountains and fields, leaving widespread devastation. After such a disaster, you could barely find any living creatures. Yet, within half a year, the area would be lush and green again, with new grass and trees bursting with life, and all the old decay swept away."

"If this is the way of Heaven, shouldn't human affairs also follow such a cycle of renewal? Bega has been established for a long time, and this concept has long been deeply ingrained in people's minds."

He Lingchuan did not respond.

Fu Shanyue's explanation sounded beautiful, but that was all. Ignoring rebellions? Any country that dared to play such a game would likely self-destruct.

The development of events often takes unexpected turns; nations' efforts to seek peace and stability are lessons learned through blood.

Yet, Bega was an exception.

Why?

Was it simply because they had pledged allegiance to the gods?

Fu Shanyue took the wooden bottle. "So, this is the wood-transforming poison. Thank you for telling me."

Knowing what it was, he already had a plan in mind.

He Lingchuan asked him, "The Wind Demon you released isn't the one subdued by King Baoshu, is it?"

"No," Fu Shanyue replied, standing up and stretching. "A thousand years ago, a smaller Wind Lord split from the one belonging to the Misty Sect. So, they actually had two guardian spirits, one large and one small, though the world didn't know it."

It's difficult to distinguish gender or age in cats or tigers based solely on appearance, let alone a Wind Lord, which is formless most of the time.

"King Baoshu subdued the larger one. The small Wind Lord was hidden inside a Wind Lion statue at the time and went undetected. Later, someone picked up that Wind Lion statue, took it to the market down the mountain and sold it. After several transfers, the small Wind Lord came into my possession."

He Lingchuan didn't ask why the official road at Black Rock Fort suddenly encountered a landslide; the reason was too obvious.

"As for King Baoshu defeating the Misty Sect, it was simply because he coveted their territory, wanting to open a path there to connect north and south. The Misty Sect refused to relocate, so they were annihilated."

"In the past, rare medicinal herbs like snow lotus and yellow jade ginseng also grew on the Gale Tundra because the Wind Lord enjoyed roaming the tundra, bringing special nutrients from underground. Commoners could pick them freely and had no worries about food or drink. After King Baoshu destroyed the Wind Lord, the later Meridian Divine Winds lost their spiritual essence and no longer descended upon the tundra. These spiritual herbs have since vanished from the tundra, growing only on high, perilous peaks." Fu Shanyue scoffed, "It's laughable that these commoners on the tundra believed King Baoshu's words and cheered the demise of the Wind Lord and the Misty Sect, unaware that their livelihood was severed precisely because of it."

He stood up. "You're not bad. How about joining me to build a great enterprise? In the future, high positions, honored wives, and prosperous sons will naturally follow."

Fu Shanyue actually wanted to recruit him? He Lingchuan chuckled, "I'm used to a more leisurely life."

Fu Shanyue only thought he wanted to climb higher. "Lingxu City is good, but it has accumulated problems for over six hundred years, with various forces deeply entangled. Countless talented individuals have fallen by the wayside there. You might not have a path to promotion."

"I'll consider it," He Lingchuan said, extending a hand and wiggling his fingers, gesturing for Fu Shanyue to hand something over quickly. "Let's keep in touch. After all, when I go to Lingxu City, I'll be staying in your mansion."

Fu Shanyue smiled, then took out a deed, keys, and a token, handing them to him. "There's a butler there; just show him the token."

"You've missed a great opportunity for success and fame. Oh well, let's just be friends for now." He stood up and bowed with clasped hands to He Lingchuan. "Until we meet again."

He Lingchuan returned the bow and watched as the man stored his subordinate's remains in a spatial artifact, then leaped out of a hole in the wall, disappearing with a few bounds.

Huh, that direction seemed to be towards the inn's kitchen?

In the inn's kitchen, Fu Shanyue caught a fat rat, administered the medicine to it, and then took it elsewhere to observe the effects.

Approximately five hours later, the rat transformed into a wooden carving.

Fu Shanyue carefully noted the entire transformation process.

By this time, it was already bright. He made inquiries around Tongcheng and found an inconspicuous small shop in the northwest corner.

The shop was a two-story building: goods were sold in the front, the workshop was in the middle, and people lived upstairs.

The shop owner was a man in his early forties, with greying temples and thick, knotted hands.

The neighboring shop, which sold miscellaneous goods, often placed items in front of his store, encroaching on his business space. The owner kicked the baskets back into their shop, had another argument, and then walked back with his head held high.

Just then, Fu Shanyue arrived and got straight to the point: "I hear you're the best sculptor on the west side of Tongcheng?"

"The west side?" the shop owner's eyes widened. "I am the best in all of Tongcheng."

"Help me carve something. If you do it well, you'll be handsomely rewarded." Fu Shanyue habitually reached for his waist, only to remember that he had given all his large silver to He Lingchuan. He only had two small pieces of scattered silver, not even enough to pay for the craftsmanship.

*Sigh*, when had he ever been so hard up?

He had no choice but to pull off the jade archer's ring from his finger. "Consider this as payment for your work."

"Green-banded black jade?" The shop owner was clearly an expert. He held it up to the light; though it appeared pitch black, polarized light revealed a hint of oily green. "This is valuable. What do you want carved?"

Fu Shanyue glanced around, and the shop owner understood, leading him into the workshop at the back.

Fu Shanyue then took out the wooden carving that Fu Ji had become from his spatial ring and placed it on the ground.

The shop owner was startled when Fu Shanyue suddenly produced a life-sized wooden carving. He put on his headband, knelt down, and examined it closely, letting out a gasp of surprise. "This craftsmanship is extraordinary! It doesn't look man-made at all!" There wasn't a single trace of artificial carving.

"Exactly," Fu Shanyue said with a smile. "I want you to modify it."

"Modify it, even at this level of craftsmanship?" The shop owner was surprised, but also wondered why the person was carved to look so miserable.

The carving was indeed exquisite, but what emanated from the statue itself was not beauty, but pain.

And the fact that a wooden carving was dressed was bizarre.

"Change its face to mine."

The shop owner didn't quite hear him. "Huh?"

Fu Shanyue leaned next to the statue; their builds were similar. "Can you do it?"

"Uh..." This request was even stranger than the statue itself. The shop owner froze for a moment, then saw Fu Shanyue extend a finger and sharply tap the table. With a dull thud, a hole was poked into the table.

The movement was like a mantis shrimp punching, too fast for the naked eye to follow.

Fu Shanyue asked again, "Can you do it?"

The shop owner's workbench was made of black ironwood, a wood of astonishing hardness. Many tools had been broken when this table was built. Was this man's hand even stronger than a chisel?

Only then did the sharp claws at Fu Shanyue's fingertips slowly retract.

The shop owner shivered. After carefully comparing Fu Shanyue's facial features with those of the wooden carving, he nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes, I can! When do you need it?"

Fu Shanyue pulled up a chair and sat down, crossing his legs. "I'll wait here. Take your time, just make sure it's exactly like me."

The next day, Fu Shanyue returned to the inn.

Fu Jiu came to meet him. "Young Master, was your trip successful?"

"Yes." Fu Shanyue asked him to bring water.

"Huh, where's Fu Ji?"

"He went to buy something for me." After washing his face, Fu Shanyue drank some wine, procrastinating until the afternoon before saying, "Send someone to guard me."

Everything was ready. In front of Fu Jiu, he raised the wooden bottle and drank it all, then tossed the bottle into a corner. "That tasted awful. You can go now."

Fu Jiu quickly picked up the bottle. Before leaving, he saw Fu Shanyue close his eyes and sit upright, composed.

Fu Jiu closed the door behind him, sniffed the bottle, and detected a sweet fragrance.

About an hour later, he heard faint groans from inside the room, seemingly indicating pain. So, he turned on his heel and instructed two attendants, "Guard well; I'll be right back."

He said he'd "be right back," but he actually slipped out of the inn, went into the nearby market, and smeared himself with stinky fish and rotten shrimp.

Once sufficiently covered, he, reeking of fish, sneaked into the alley opposite the inn and hid in the shadows.

About fifteen minutes later, the inn suddenly descended into chaos, with continuous shouts, sounds of running, and screams.

Before the officers arrived, a figure rushed out of the inn, wandered around the market as if disoriented, and then turned and ran towards the city gates.

This person was Fu Shanyue.

While refining the "spiritual medicine," he realized something was wrong and figured out the key. So, he rushed out, intending to confront the perpetrator.

However, the scent trail broke off behind the market, where everything reeked of fish. Overwhelmed by rage and dizzy, he couldn't distinguish the smell carefully.

By this point, Fu Shanyue's limbs were somewhat stiff, and his running posture was awkward. The residents of Tongcheng were accustomed to all sorts of demons and merely cast a sidelong glance at his strange behavior.

Fu Shanyue clutched his abdomen, then suddenly turned and ran towards the city gates.

Even after consuming something he shouldn't have, his speed was still remarkable; his pursuers could barely keep up.

After leaving the city, he charged west into the mountain forest and was not seen again.

Two more hours passed, and Fu Jiu arrived with the other guards. "Search the mountain! A passerby said the Young Master rushed into this mountainous area."

The search continued until dusk.

Finally, a guard found a wooden carving face up in a mountain gully. Examining its features, it was indeed Fu Shanyue!

Everyone was bewildered. One of the guards swallowed hard and stammered, "Wha... what does this mean?"

The wooden carving's face was twisted and its expression ferocious, yet its features were unmistakably those of Fu Shanyue.

The Young Master had come here earlier, but they couldn't find him anywhere, only a wooden carving identical to him.

This couldn't be the Young Master, could it?

"What are you thinking?!" Fu Jiu snapped, his face grim. "Of course, this isn't the Young Master! Keep searching!"

The group searched from night until the next afternoon, naturally finding nothing.

Fu Jiu reluctantly called off the search.

However, that evening, he quietly left the inn and rode eastward for fifteen or sixteen *li*, reaching a small town.

The town, called Tianhe Town, had only six or seven hundred residents, primarily farmers and laborers.

Fu Jiu approached one of the residential houses and gently knocked on the door with two short taps followed by three long ones.

As he approached, a neighbor opened their door, glanced at him twice, and then retreated silently.