Chapter 455: Clues in the Dense Forest

Chapter 454: Clues in the Dense Forest

It was impressive; in this situation, it could even fly backward.

He Lingchuan grew annoyed and swiftly threw three throwing knives.

The crow leader skillfully dodged two of the knives, but the third struck its wing, pinning it to the wall with a 'thwack'!

Outside the window, the crows clamored, the dozen or so of them trying to break through to rescue their leader.

However, an agile shadow flipped over the wall from outside. With a swoop, it spread its wings, its steel talons going straight for the flock of crows.

Their natural enemy had arrived.

The crows were terrified and scattered in all directions.

He Lingchuan reopened the window, and the goshawk folded its wings, turned over, and easily slipped in through the bottom of the window.

It perched on the cabinet, only a foot away from the crow leader, its steel beak poised to pierce the crow's head with a single lunge.

And it looked quite eager to do so.

He Lingchuan ignored the clamor of the crows outside and simply addressed the crow leader: “Now, let’s see you name another price.”

“No, no need!” the crow leader stammered, trembling with fear at the sight of the hawk's beak so close. “I’ll tell you!”

It cawed twice, and the crows outside fell silent, settling onto the trees, no longer agitated.

He Lingchuan dealt with the crows very efficiently, taking less than ten breaths from start to finish.

“About five or six days ago, my children found many remains in the forest – human and animal,” the crow leader said. “Or rather, perhaps demon remains.”

“You know, finding human or demon remains separately isn't strange, but it’s odd when they’re mixed together,” it continued. “There were several Wind-Piercing Beasts among them.”

“Where was this?”

“Zhitian Village, thirty-two li away,” the crow leader said, tilting its head. “They had been buried, but it seems wild dogs dug them up again, as there were dog paw prints in the nearby soil.”

“Can you lead the way?”

“Yes.”

He Lingchuan retrieved his throwing knife and then asked it, “Since you had this clue, why didn't you report it to the authorities instead of just watching Wang Mazi wait to die?”

“Who would push away meat that’s almost in their mouth?” the crow leader said, flapping its wings, feeling it could still fly. “Besides, the authorities… hah!”

It sneered, “Half a year ago, Little Seven went missing too. We reported it, but the county magistrate still hasn’t responded. They only help humans; they never care about our lives!”

In the counties of Beijia, there was a special official position known as the county magistrate (xianpu), specifically responsible for handling demon affairs, including complaints and accusations.

The county magistrate themselves was a demon, so they could truly empathize.

“You also had a companion go missing half a year ago?” He Lingchuan’s eyes flickered. “Did it become a demon?”

“It had already become a demon,” the crow leader answered truthfully. “It was thanks to the Imperial Flow Nectar last year.”

“The Imperial Flow Nectar ironically became a death warrant,” He Lingchuan hummed in acknowledgment. “These guys specialize in capturing demons. Unless they’re removed, you will all be in danger.”

This was a land of demons, yet someone dared to be so audacious as to capture demons here?

If exposed, there would be no escape from certain death.

“Specialize in capturing demons?” The crow leader flapped its wings. “Don't trick me; didn't they also eat people?”

This fellow truly wasn't easy to deceive. He Lingchuan didn't argue and changed the subject: “Lead the way for me, and also be my eyes and ears. As payment, you will receive one hundred catties of fresh beef and lamb, and thirty Spirit Preservation Pills each month, for one year.”

If these words had been spoken before the confrontation, the crow leader would have scoffed at his wishful thinking. But now, it actually found the terms quite favorable: fresh beef and lamb even when food was scarce in winter, no need to dig through snow for food, no need to peck at unripe berries, no need to search everywhere for frozen corpses—it seemed quite fortunate...

“It’s a deal!” It handed He Lingchuan the feather that the throwing knife had knocked off as a token of its promise.

Since the Three Hearts Plateau incident, He Lingchuan had not had a good impression of crows; they truly were greedy, snobbish opportunists. But he had to admit that crows were omnipresent eyes and ears.

He even heard that there was a Celestial Raven Legion in Lingxu City dedicated to intelligence gathering.

With these guides, He Lingchuan immediately set off for Zhitian Village.

Zhitian Village was thirty li northwest of Shuangyi Town.

As He Lingchuan traveled, he noticed fewer and fewer croplands by the roadside, replaced by various other crops and medicinal herbs.

“Huh?” He pointed at the fields by the road and asked, “Are those ganoderma mushrooms?”

Don't ganoderma mushrooms usually grow under tree roots? Why are they growing in rows here like wheat?

“This is Zhitian Village,” the fierce tiger Jiao Yu explained to He Lingchuan from inside the carriage, admiring the scenery. “They use cut timber to cultivate ganoderma mushrooms.”

Indeed, Zhitian Village was renowned in central and northern Chiyan for its cultivation of spiritual herbs, as its name suggested.

“The local energy here is particularly suitable for growing spiritual medicines,” Jiao Yu explained, stretching out on the floor with a yawn, the carriage interior too cramped for it to fully extend its limbs. “Thirty percent of all conventional medicinal herbs in Chiyan come from here.”

He Lingchuan simply leaned against it, using it as a tiger-skin armchair. Ah, comfortable! And self-heating with vibrations.

“Especially around certain hot springs, the medicinal ingredients grown there are unique in Chiyan.”

Supplying thirty percent of Chiyan’s medicinal herbs was a very high market share.

As they spoke, the carriage passed a large greenhouse, at least, He Lingchuan thought it looked like one. It was framed with bamboo and wood, covered with linen fabric, and then coated with putty for insulation.

Yuan Country didn’t have this technology; Beijia certainly had a lot of novel things.

“What is this?” he humbly asked.

“A shed,” Jiao Yu answered. “Inside, they place heat stones to keep the medicinal herbs warm.”

Heat stones were rocks that could generate heat by themselves. Piled in a corner and sprinkled with a few ladles of water, they would become as hot as a sauna.

He Lingchuan chuckled, “It’s midsummer now; adding heat and warmth, aren’t they afraid of the herbs dehydrating?”

“Spiritual herbs like Fire Cloud Pearl and Dragon Flame Tangle originally grew in volcanic craters, so they need warmth and heat when transplanted to flat ground,” Jiao Yu explained. “They wouldn't survive without a constant temperature above fifty degrees. But you’re right, these sheds are also used to dehydrate and dry medicinal herbs.”

He Lingchuan chuckled, “Lord Jiao knows these things like the back of his hand?”

Jiao Yu stated frankly, “I served for several years in the neighboring county, so I’m very familiar with the surrounding area.”

He rose to the rank of Left Zhonglang General and had served an apprenticeship here before his promotion.

He Lingchuan understood. That scoundrel Fu Shanyue had truly sent him a good helper; not only was he formidable in strength, but he was also familiar with the local customs and affairs, making it convenient for him to connect with the locals.

Indeed, none of those who could become crown princes were truly simple-minded.

The goshawk perched on the carriage roof. The crows, fearing it, could only humble themselves on the horse’s back, guiding the coachman.

He Lingchuan hadn't expected General Antelope to follow again, but this time, it only brought a few guards.

Didn’t they say that big shots prefer to stay in the rear and send their subordinates to gather information? Why was this one doing the opposite? But seeing the numerous scars on General Antelope's body, it was clear that it also liked to lead the charge in battle—perhaps it was simply its nature.

The carriage soon left the main road and headed into the wilderness.

Zhitian Village was mountainous, with hills and treacherous peaks, gorges and stone forests—a living geological encyclopedia.

The carriage wound its way through the towering mountains. Sometimes the crows even had to fly up and circle twice just to confirm their location.

Half an hour later, there was no road ahead, and the carriage could go no further.

He Lingchuan switched to riding a rock goat, with the fierce tiger and Wind-Piercing Beasts beside him.

This speed was much faster than by carriage, but it still took over an hour to reach the disposal site the crows had mentioned.

This was a dense forest at the foot of a mountain where sunlight barely penetrated.

The ground was covered with a thick layer of decaying leaves and branches; one sank ankle-deep when stepping on it, bringing up rotten leaves and dark, humus-rich soil.

A strong smell of mildew mixed with dampness, creating an unpleasant, strange odor.

The large crow flew to a thick branch and flapped its wings:

“Here we are, this is it!”

This was the shady side of the mountain, the rocks covered in moss and perpetually damp to the touch.

He Lingchuan saw a large pit at the base of a tree, filled with scattered remains.

The crow was right; this place had originally been buried by humans, but wild dogs had dug it open. Loose soil and wild dog paw prints were everywhere.

He leaned over to look down; the large pit seemed to have been only half-dug, with many remains still buried.

This was a paradise for mosquitoes and flies; as soon as they approached, the insects swarmed out with buzzing sounds.

Naturally, no insects were willing to approach He Lingchuan, as he wore an insect-repelling pouch gifted by Zhu Xiuer. However, the ground here was damp and gloomy, so the bodies decomposed quickly, and the stench was particularly foul.

If he hadn't been 'baptized' by fragrant pellets, demon nests, and various animal dens, He Lingchuan would surely have been nauseated by the smell now.

However, the fierce tiger, goshawk, and crows paid no mind to the stench of the corpses. Jiao Yu even went into the pit and continued digging until he unearthed two or three complete animal skeletons before stopping.

General Antelope took a look and said sadly:

“They are indeed my children.”

The human remains were difficult to identify, but General Antelope recognized the Wind-Piercing Beast remains at a glance.

“These youngsters had been working for me for a long time,” General Antelope lamented. “I didn’t expect them to die not on the battlefield, but to be buried obscurely in the wilderness.”

He Lingchuan also descended into the pit to examine the remains, even touching and sifting through them. “Although there are signs of wild dog gnawing, these remains look like, uh...”

The goshawk perched nearby: “Digested?”

He Lingchuan snapped his fingers. “Precisely!”

Although covered by soil for many days, the surface of the remains was still somewhat sticky. The flesh was gone, leaving only bones, fur, and hair, all matted into clumps.

Wild dogs gnawing on remains couldn't clean them so thoroughly. Moreover, several deeply buried remains here that hadn't been gnawed by dogs were in the same condition.

The reason the goshawk could describe it so precisely was that the residue excreted by raptors after digestion was generally like this.

General Antelope angrily turned its head, its large horns snapping a small tree in half. “When I find the culprit, I will trample them into the mud!”

“So our target is a demon with an extraordinarily huge appetite, capable of eating a dozen or so people and seven or eight wild sheep at once?” He Lingchuan asked the goshawk. “And then it specifically walked thirty or forty li to find a latrine? Are there any gluttonous raptors like that?”