Chapter 506: Second Strange Flash

The creature took a sharp inhale through its nose, and several wisps of light white, smoky substance were sucked out of the fragments.

The fragments vanished instantly, leaving nothing behind.

The strange head let out a long "Ahhh," looking like a vagrant who had just finished a full meal after starving for seven days and nights, or like someone suddenly jumping into a hot spring in freezing weather. "Comfortable" could not even begin to describe the sensation.

Someone unaware might have thought it was taking drugs. He Lingchuan glanced at it, "That's how good it feels?"

The strange head sniffed twice, still wanting more. "Previously, this much power had to be distributed among over a hundred faces," it said. "How could that compare to me enjoying it all by myself now? And..."

"And what?"

"This idol smells of smoke and burning. What happened?"

He Lingchuan then recounted how he had rescued the idol from the fire.

"I knew something was off just now. So Cheng Yu wanted to burn the idol!" the strange head exclaimed furiously and viciously. "Good, very good! He deliberately broke his oath, so don't blame me for being merciless."

He Lingchuan was stunned, then overjoyed. "You don't have to honor your contract with him anymore?"

"The contract is gone," the strange head chuckled. "If he dares to burn my idol, he is my enemy. I can deal with him now!"

He Lingchuan rubbed his nose.

The true form of the Hundred-Faced Nightmare had been swallowed by the gigantic red shadow. Cheng Yu probably thought the idol was useless, so he casually left it in the fire and didn't take it with him.

Who knew there was still a nightmare clone left behind here?

So his act of casually burning the idol broke the contract he had originally made with the nightmare.

This was truly bad luck for him.

Perhaps he was too shocked and lost his composure for a moment.

"You've had your fun, time to get to work, right? Otherwise, the oath you swore..."

"Alright, alright!" the strange head agreed readily, then stammered, "But I need to remind you of something..."

He Lingchuan stared at it without responding, a sense of foreboding settling in his heart.

The strange head felt unnerved under his gaze. It chuckled before saying, "I can try to track him, but Cheng Yu might not be asleep. If he's not in dreamland, I can't find him."

"You can only find him when he's asleep?"

"That's right," the strange head sighed. "After all, I'm a nightmare. If he's not dreaming, I can't get close to him."

He Lingchuan said calmly, "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

This creature was playing tricks on him, first tricking him into letting it consume the idol's power, and only then revealing its weakness.

He had never dealt with a nightmare before, and his lack of experience put him at a disadvantage.

The strange head sensed the sudden surge of killing intent from He Lingchuan and quickly said, "But you don't need to worry; everyone has to sleep."

"Cultivators often use meditation to replace sleep," He Lingchuan said, as he himself did.

"That works for a short time, but whether demon or human, everyone still needs long periods of sleep," the strange head argued. "Many demon kings in Beijia are often in a deep sleep, like the Sacred Tree King. Furthermore, Cheng Yu suffered a backlash and severe injuries, so he desperately needs deep sleep to recover his yang energy."

Its conclusion was:

"He won't last long."

He Lingchuan looked at it and said, "You certainly commit to your expertise."

But the strange head wasn't wrong; people ultimately need sleep.

On a quiet night, the Star of Heavenly Net in the eastern night sky flashed brightly once more.

Lingxu City, Heavenly Palace.

The divine altar once again flickered with red light.

This time, the anomalous movement of the Star of Heavenly Net was very brief, only two instantaneous flashes, but their brightness far exceeded the last time, thus successfully attracting the attention of the lamp-keepers.

Since the last movement of the Star of Heavenly Net, the Star-Picking Tower had assigned additional personnel to guard the divine altar.

These two anomalies were naturally treated as the most urgent matters and reported overnight.

So the Demon Emperor soon arrived in person:

"Where there's one, there's usually a second. I expected this."

"Your Majesty is wise," Grand Envoy Duyun said, producing a sand table on which mountains, rivers, valleys, and terrain were vividly depicted. "This time, the location of the Grand Square Vessel has changed."

It's north of Zhitian Township and south of Xiangshan Mountain.

"Six northern counties of Chiyan?" the Demon Emperor said playfully. "This thing grew legs? It can run by itself?"

"The scope has narrowed to six counties, which is good news," Grand Envoy Duyun analyzed. "The Grand Square Vessel's fluctuations were very strong just now, which allowed us to monitor it more precisely."

"It wasn't like this before, was it?"

"Previously, the Grand Square Vessel's fluctuation locations were very clear, down to a specific city or area, and we could easily pinpoint them," Grand Envoy Duyun said in a low voice. "This time, a mist shrouds it, making it elusive and much more difficult to track."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a dozen more characters suddenly appeared on the Heavenly Tome:

"Unknown karma gradually unfolds, neither in this realm nor in the Divine Realm."

"An unknown karma related to the Grand Square Vessel is unfolding?" the Emperor pondered. "If it's not in the human world and not in the Divine Realm, then where else could it be?"

Cause and effect: there is a result only if there is a cause. A stone must first be thrown into the water for ripples to spread.

If you can't find the water, and you can't find the stone, how can you see the ripples?

Clearly, the omniscient gods were very concerned about this unknown karma, which is why they specifically ordered Lingxu City to investigate it.

Were they feeling uneasy and...

...threatened?

"Gods fear the cause, mortals fear the consequence," the Demon Emperor snorted. "Any new developments from Bai Ziqi?"

"Last time the Star of Heavenly Net moved, a total of two illusions appeared around the ruins of Thousand Stars City in Twilight Plain. Witnesses said they had never seen the second illusion, which depicted the old appearance of Thousand Stars City before it was ravaged by war, the entire city being very peaceful."

"The second illusion?" the Demon Emperor asked, very interested. "Was there anything special about it?"

"A merchant caravan entered and moved around, finding nothing unusual," Grand Envoy Duyun replied. "It was just a sleeping city at night. The streets were empty, with only occasional soldiers patrolling."

"Both were connected to the Grand Square Vessel and both caused the Star of Heavenly Net to shine, so how could there be no anomalies?" The Demon Emperor's deep laughter echoed through the hall, shaking the flames of the eternal lamps, making them flicker precariously. "Is this all Bai Ziqi found?"

"No updated precise information yet."

"Tell him to hurry to the new location," the Demon Emperor said, walking back. "The more frequent the Grand Square Vessel's anomalies, the more clues there will be and the easier it will be to find them. Oh, and one more thing—"

The Demon Emperor suddenly paused. "Is it possible that this anomaly is also just an illusion, like it was over a hundred years ago?"

"An illusion?" Grand Envoy Duyun thought for a moment before realizing what he was referring to. "Are you referring to the Dragon Punishment Pillar?"

"Yes," the Demon Emperor said calmly. "Back then, my father fell for a massive scheme and had quite a struggle."

Grand Envoy Duyun found it difficult to respond to this.

"Tell Bai Ziqi to be careful; also, immediately send someone to the Coiling Dragon Desert in Yuan Nation to inquire if anything has happened there, and see if there's still a season of fierce sandstorms this autumn."

The next morning, He Lingchuan opened his eyes and stretched.

His abdomen still ached faintly, but it was much better compared to last night, as long as he didn't cough.

This was the effect of consuming a Hundred Goodness Pill (defective) before meditating. The small pills formulated from Imperial Ambrosia, though one batch was ruined during refining, still contained very powerful vital energy and could quickly heal his internal injuries.

Only a bit of his injury remained, and he would be fully recovered after another two or three days of rest.

He had just finished washing up when his room door burst open.

Fierce Tiger rushed in and said, "The inn is surrounded! Someone's here!"

He Lingchuan also heard chaotic footsteps coming from downstairs; there were at least a hundred people. Some guests exclaimed in surprise, and someone shouted, "Sit back down, no moving!"

He Lingchuan peered out the window to look downstairs. Over ten horsemen turned the street corner and headed towards the inn.

Ordinary citizens, merchants, and even government officials on the roadside quickly moved out of the way.

Although there were only just over ten horsemen, they rode with an arrogant, disdainful air.

The leading rider was handsome, imposing, and flamboyant.

He Lingchuan took one look and said, "Let's go."

He wasn't planning to stay.

Fierce Tiger asked in surprise, "Where to?"

This special envoy didn't back down yesterday when confronting the Inspector-General and fighting the Fan brothers, so why was he trying to escape today, seeing these strangers approach so aggressively?

"To have breakfast and then some morning tea, of course."

As he spoke, He Lingchuan had already slipped out through the back window.

The people and horses downstairs hadn't fully surrounded the place yet, and given his agility, slipping away was not difficult at all.

Fierce Tiger had no choice but to follow closely.

To think that it, a dignified Centurion of a Hundred Mountains, a master who had fearlessly killed countless enemies on the battlefield, was now following this special envoy, traversing rooftops and walls, climbing through windows, darting through alleys, and with little effort, leaping onto the roof of the adjacent silk shop.

The man and the tiger stealthily continued their journey.

As He Lingchuan passed a certain attic, he seemed to catch a glimpse of a young girl inside about to change clothes.

Just then, Fierce Tiger stepped on a roof tile, "Clang!"

The attic's wooden window immediately creaked open. He Lingchuan, startled, ducked his head and quickly rolled over behind the roof ridge.

The young girl poked her head out and looked left and right, found nothing unusual, and then closed the window.

He Lingchuan gave Fierce Tiger a rap on its head. "Be careful," he whispered, "don't expose us."

Fierce Tiger, with its thick hide and hard head, didn't care at all. It merely licked its lips and said, "They dismounted."

"They" naturally referred to the ten riders.

He Lingchuan peeked out and saw all these people and horses had stopped outside the inn, making a grand display with a large crowd gathered. But the riders seemed indifferent. Their leader entered the inn with his hands behind his back, followed closely by the others.

Soon, figures moved in He Lingchuan's guest room. The leader stood by the window, gazing out with a displeased expression.

The man and the tiger had already crouched behind the roof ridge.

Here was a high gable wall that blocked the view; after they rolled over it, their movements couldn't be seen from the guest room.

"Who's that stuck-up jerk?"

Jiao Yu honestly replied, "I don't recognize him."

He was not familiar with Bai Shajue.

"Judging by his eyes being on the top of his head, I guess this guy is from Lingxu City."

Jiao Yu was puzzled. "Why are you avoiding him?"

"No need," He Lingchuan chuckled. "He came here so aggressively, clearly looking for trouble. Why waste time arguing with him? It's such a beautiful morning, and we have important things to do."

That person came up empty-handed and must be quite annoyed.

Jiao Yu looked at him with a strange expression.

"What's wrong?"

Fierce Tiger licked its lips. "Aren't you angry?" it asked. "They've targeted the Crown Prince's special envoy repeatedly; they're truly aggressive. If it were the Crown Prince, he'd probably explode with rage, right?"

"What's the use of getting angry?" He Lingchuan shrugged, unbothered. "I can't just go find Zhongsun Mou and chop him down with one slash."