Chapter 476: Cold-Blooded and Ruthless

It was already late in the hour of Chou (1-3 AM) when He Lingchuan found an inn and checked in.

Luocang was nearly turned upside down by their actions. The self-heal warehouse was ablaze with dazzling sound, light, and electrical effects, so it would have been strange if the townspeople hadn't been woken up.

He Lingchuan immediately took a cold shower to wash off the blood and mud, changed his clothes, and then headed to the town office.

The fat man's confession had already been obtained. This was thanks to General Ling, who wasted no time and began interrogating him on the return journey.

As a local powerhouse, General Ling enjoyed many privileges, and no one dared to stop him from overstepping his authority to conduct such an interrogation.

The fat man had been kicked out of the snail-shell by the skunk during the fight and captured early. This spared him from being blown to pieces, and he was now alive and well.

Jiao Yu observed the interrogation and confirmed that the fat man was merely an accomplice, taking all orders and arrangements from his superiors and boss.

The boss was Wan Song.

However, the fat man also provided some crucial testimony, including the detail that they had started this "no-capital" business seven years ago. He had been recruited by Wan Song, who in turn had been recruited by the former captain.

The original captain had died of severe injuries last winter while raiding a porcupine nest in Jade Wheel Mountain, which naturally led to Wan Song's promotion to captain.

For seven years, they had operated solely within the borders of the Chiyan Kingdom, undertaking nearly two hundred missions and killing thousands of monsters, both large and small.

This was an approximate figure, as he couldn't recall the exact number.

The high number was due to the smaller size of some monsters, such as bats, where they would kill at least a dozen at a time.

"Thousands?" He Lingchuan frowned upon hearing the number. "That doesn't seem right. In the Jade Wheel Mountain incident alone, over a hundred porcupines were killed."

"That was in the later stages," Jiao Yu explained. "Initially, they hunted monsters very cautiously, trying to pick large, wild ones so they only needed to hunt one or two at a time, minimizing official attention."

Safety was key to longevity.

"It was only starting last year, when the Emperor's Dew arrived, that the number of mountain monsters and wild creatures surged. With the increased demand for dew beads from their superiors, they were ordered to escalate their hunting efforts."

Otherwise, this matter would never have come to light.

He Lingchuan finally remembered the main issue: "So, what happened with the messenger from Lingxu City being hunted?"

"The fat man confessed that they simply killed it for its beads, treating it as an ordinary monster bird, completely unaware it was a messenger from Lingxu City!" Jiao Yu sighed, a rare occurrence for him. "He wept profusely in front of us, claiming that if they had known it was a monster from Lingxu City, no one would have dared touch it. General Ling even used force just now to ensure he wasn't lying."

After speaking, Jiao Yu glanced at General Ling. The impatient general had nearly kicked the fat man's guts out, so the latter was probably incapable of lying.

He Lingchuan asked curiously, "Didn't that white-shouldered eagle try to defend itself before dying?"

It was a raptor, after all; did it truly die such a humiliating death?

"The monster assigned to Wan Song is called the Snail Toad, and it can release colorless, odorless anesthetic smoke that causes its prey to fall into a deep, unaware sleep. So, the white-shouldered eagle indeed fell asleep and never woke up, without even a chance to defend itself."

Realizing this, Jiao Yu felt a shiver. "Fortunately, when we set the ambush in the self-heal warehouse, we all had invigorating pills in our mouths. Otherwise, if we had fallen asleep and then woken up to find the culprits a thousand miles away, it would have been utterly humiliating!"

He Lingchuan stroked his chin. "So that's how all the porcupines died?"

"Mostly, yes, but a few returned from outside and weren't affected, which led to a major battle with Wan Song and his group," Jiao Yu clarified after thorough interrogation. "They still managed to win, thanks to the Snail Toad."

"What exactly is this Snail Toad?" He Lingchuan was most interested in this. "You asked about it, right? Tell me."

"As you suspected, that monster is a synthetic demon puppet. However, the fat man doesn't know who created it; he only knows it's a hybrid of an Evil Ghost Toad larva and a snail, and even the shell on its back has a significant origin."

"What origin?"

"He doesn't know; he only heard the former captain mention it once."

"An Evil Ghost Toad? Does the Chiyan Kingdom have that kind of monster?" He Lingchuan had heard of the Evil Ghost Toad. Legend says this monster only appears in the countryside during thunderstorms, specifically ambushing travelers on their paths.

It possesses the ability to change color and shape, often disguising itself as a cave or a dwelling. Travelers who enter to seek shelter from the rain are essentially throwing themselves into the toad's mouth, becoming a delicious meal for the Evil Ghost Toad.

"Chiyan doesn't have them. I heard there's an Evil Ghost Toad family in Zeguo, but their offspring are not thriving, with only three remaining," Jiao Yu said, shaking his head. "Evil Ghost Toads are enormous and powerful, making it very difficult for them to reproduce now."

The more powerful a creature, the inherently more difficult it is for them to reproduce, especially in an environment with such sparse spiritual energy.

He Lingchuan wondered, "Then where did these people get an Evil Ghost Toad larva?"

"I don't know, but I suspect it's connected to Zeguo," Jiao Yu murmured. "If this news gets out, it will cause another huge uproar."

No one would ever let it go if they saw their child turned into such a demonic, puppet-like abomination.

He Lingchuan, naturally unconcerned with Chiyan's diplomatic risks, pondered, "An Evil Ghost Toad larva... wait a minute, isn't that a tadpole?"

No wonder the demon puppet looked so strange—wasn't it just an incompletely mutated tadpole?

Tadpoles are born with a classic spindle shape. As time progresses, the tail base swells, front and hind legs grow, and then the body becomes increasingly bloated while the tail shortens and eventually disappears, transforming into a frog or toad.

Aside from the snail's shell and antennae, wasn't the demon puppet's appearance precisely the intermediate stage of a tadpole developing into a toad?

However, from a biological standpoint, this form is short-lived and particularly unstable.

No wonder Dong Rui said that this monster needed to regularly consume self-heal. He must have used some method to maintain the demon puppet in this form, but the creation process was too rushed at the time, preventing further calibration.

What would happen if the Snail Toad didn't consume self-heal for an extended period?

Would it transform into an Evil Ghost Toad?

And would that lead to any dire consequences?

He Lingchuan felt that after hearing these confessions, his questions had only increased, not diminished.

"How much does he know about Wan Song's current superior, Mr. Mai?"

General Ling interjected, "He hasn't met Mr. Mai, and Wan Song doesn't talk about him much. However, when Wan Song returned from meeting Mr. Mai in Baishajue late last year, he said their group had completed their mission the best and therefore received the most generous rewards."

A year-end bonus? "How much money did they get?"

This team originally had six members. The former captain died last year while hunting porcupines, and two others died a few days ago while poaching He Lingchuan's rock sheep. Thus, this time, only three members remained.

"Each person received 700 taels at the end of last year, with an additional 1,200 taels as a bonus," General Ling said bitterly. "Otherwise, they wouldn't have been so invigorated to kill so many monsters this year!"

"So, there are other groups as well?"

"He couldn't say for sure."

"What about Wan Song's temperament?" This was a question he had specifically instructed Jiao Yu to ask during the interrogation.

"Fierce and cruel; his subordinates all fear him."

He Lingchuan nodded.

The fat man had been thoroughly drained by the two monsters and held no further value for questioning. He Lingchuan checked the time, then stood up. "Let's go to the medical hall."

At times like these, he particularly missed Ling Guang.

After the midnight battle, Wan Song was sent to Luocang's best medical hall for emergency treatment.

The doctors here were quite skilled. After more than an hour of work, the bleeding had stopped, and the swelling on the injured man's face had largely subsided. However, they expressed regret: "His internal injuries are too severe; there's nothing more we can do. Even with all our methods, we can at most keep him alive for another hour. Should we wake him now?"

"Wake him up," He Lingchuan and the others said, naturally without regret. "Time is precious."

So the doctors took a smelling bottle, placed it under the injured man's nose, and gently shook it.

Soon, Wan Song slowly regained consciousness from his coma.

He opened his eyes to see He Lingchuan, then his gaze swept over Jiao Yu, General Ling, and the other monsters. His confusion gradually gave way to clarity, which then turned into utter despair.

"It seems you're very aware of your situation." He Lingchuan hooked a chair with his leg, pulled it over, and sat down. "Answer truthfully, and you can suffer less."

"Why... why did it explode?" Wan Song hadn't been able to figure it out, neither before nor after falling into a coma.

"There were several jars of explosives in the self-heal warehouse," He Lingchuan stated. He had placed them there, initially intending to detonate them when the monster burrowed into the warehouse from underground.

Who knew it would simply swallow the entire warehouse?

That was even better. He Lingchuan sent his clone to leap into the creature's mouth, triggering a chain of explosions with astonishing power.

Wan Song slightly raised his head and looked at his legs:

"Can I still be saved?"

He Lingchuan replied bluntly, "No."

"..." Jiao Yu and the other monsters wondered if they shouldn't offer him hope now, using his life as leverage.

But He Lingchuan knew this man came from a Daoist sect and was a desperate outlaw who constantly risked his life; he had probably already assessed his injuries, making it difficult to deceive him now.

Wan Song, with his hooked nose, high cheekbones, and gaunt face, now looked pale and grim.

"I'm practically dead; what else do you hope to get from me?"

"Lord Wan has been captured and might be implicated because of you." He Lingchuan picked up the cup on the table, speaking amiably, "Would you like some water?"

"Yes," Wan Song replied, figuring a dying man had nothing to fear, and acted brazenly.

He Lingchuan personally gave him water, then continued, "Lord Wan's grandchildren are still young. Do you intend to drag them down to the underworld with you?"

"If Wan Xian Neng hadn't exposed me, do you think you could have caught me?" Wan Song said carelessly. "He harmed me, and I harm him; we're even."

He was about to die; why would he care about other people's children?

He Lingchuan smiled. "Good, very good. Cold-blooded and ruthless. No wonder Mr. Mai trusts you."

Wan Xian Neng was his biological uncle and his only living relative, who had even provided him with aid in the past, yet he could simply disregard him. Perhaps Mr. Mai valued this very quality?

Wan Song merely flicked his eyelids at him, remaining silent, but his contempt was palpable.

He was about to die; what more could this person do to him?

With death imminent, who else could he possibly fear?