Chapter 518: Death Penalty May Be Remitted, But Living Punishment Is Inevitable

With a blade at his throat, Fan Sheng simply gave up struggling. He sneered, "If you dare to kill me, then go ahead! But if you dare to humiliate me, you will surely die a horrific death!"

Even while trapped, he didn't forget to threaten He Lingchuan.

Yet, this threat proved remarkably effective.

The two large spiders caught in the net with him vanished with a pop. So, were these spiders merely illusions created by a mystical power?

Why did they feel so real and corporeal?

At that moment, Jia Yu's voice echoed from the lotus wall: "Sir, Envoy Sir!" He Lingchuan turned his head and saw another boat approaching. Jia Yu was wrestling with someone on board.

He Lingchuan leaped over, delivered two swift punches, and the man immediately surrendered, collapsing onto the boat.

He Lingchuan instructed Jia Yu to tie the man to a few lotus stalks, then extended his hand and said, "The titan arum."

"Oh, oh, here you go!" Jia Yu came to his senses as if waking from a dream. What had just happened?

It seemed that Lord Fan had suddenly emerged from the water to attack the Envoy. Then the Envoy disappeared, followed by several large spiders that crawled out of the lotus wall to fight Lord Fan. A massive metal automaton also rose from the water and caught Lord Fan in a net.

Now the Envoy was back, sitting on the automaton's shoulder. So, the Envoy had won?

In that case, he was safe.

Jia Yu immediately relaxed, allowing the golden armored automaton to pick him up and place him on its shoulder.

From such a height, he could see far.

"What... what now?" He was still holding the titan arum. "Ah, Envoy, you're wounded!"

He Lingchuan was covered in injuries, especially his left waist, where his clothes were visibly stained red.

"It's fine, I'll do it myself." He Lingchuan took the titan arum and put it away, then said to Fan Sheng, "As the esteemed Deputy Commander of the Tongxin Guard, why are you here obstructing my investigation instead of guarding the southern gate of Lingxu City?"

Fan Sheng scowled, his brows furrowed in anger: "Who told you to hurt my third brother!"

If looks could kill, He Lingchuan would have died a hundred times over.

This time, his ambush on He Lingchuan was far more careful and meticulous than the last. Yet, he hadn't even engaged the man directly throughout the entire process!

He was captured without their weapons even clashing? He clearly had more abundant spiritual energy and a greater advantage.

Nets, spiders, hidden needles, wrecked boats—what kind of shoddy tricks were these? That man, He, hadn't fought him fairly and squarely even once!

Fan Sheng was so frustrated he felt like he was about to suffer an internal injury.

"To be fair, you were the one who helped Zhongsun plot against me first," He Lingchuan said, sitting on the golden armored automaton's shoulder and beginning to treat his wound with medicine.

That fellow's attack was truly formidable. Even with his utmost caution and the timely use of the 'Substituting the Plum for the Peach' technique, he was still a fraction of a second too late and was wounded in the waist by the axe's aura.

Against such an onslaught, even the Soul-Snatching Mirror's full protection wasn't entirely adequate. The wound was half a pinky deep, but fortunately, it hadn't damaged his kidney.

As the antiseptic liquid was poured onto the wound, He Lingchuan's face paled, and he hissed in pain.

"The Lingxu City Messenger case is a task assigned by the Emperor to Chiyan, and then personally by the Crown Prince of Chiyan to me. Your obstruction of my duty ultimately hinders Lingxu City. When the King of Chiyan submits the full details of this matter, how will you defend yourself?"

Fan Sheng coldly replied, "Don't try to intimidate me with grand titles."

"The case is about to be solved; Zhongsun Mou and the mastermind behind him cannot escape justice." He Lingchuan then leisurely applied his medicine. "Did you intentionally choose this moment to get involved, or does the Tongxin Guard already collude with the mastermind, and you're here to silence witnesses?"

Fan Sheng's face flushed with anger. "What nonsense are you talking about? I know nothing about any mastermind!"

"Then why are you in Baishajue?"

When the entire Tongxin Guard was implicated, Fan Sheng grew agitated. "I was on duty in Qingding City and visiting relatives when I received an urgent message from Zhongsun Mou. He claimed you, relying on your five hundred soldiers, had abducted a major criminal from Lingxu City and treated him, a Grand Inspector, as nothing. He asked for my help, so I came."

"The Tongxin Guard is so keen on helping others?" He Lingchuan asked curiously. "Then if I tell you to go back, will you?"

Fan Sheng was infuriated by his retort. "My elder brother owes the Zhongsun family a great favor, which they often boast about and use to coerce us. That's why I wanted to repay it."

"Aren't you afraid of causing even greater trouble for Commander Fan?"

Fan Sheng was speechless.

During the Lotus Gathering event in Baishajue, people were injured in disputes every year, so he merely used it as an opportunity. He figured that a mere Crown Prince's envoy from Chiyan wouldn't hold much weight, and giving him a good beating to teach him a lesson would suffice.

Even if he were crippled, how much more trouble could it cause?

He Lingchuan suddenly stood up on the golden armored automaton, shading his eyes as he looked towards Chaohu Tower.

"Hm, it's a bit noisy over there."

The mirror hummed against his chest, a sound only He Lingchuan could hear: "Keep pretending!"

Fan Sheng also heard the commotion from Chaohu Tower. But he was in no position to worry about anything else.

A gust of wind blew from the opposite direction, and Jia Yu also heard the noise. "It sounds like... like someone screaming. I wonder what's happening."

He Lingchuan's face grew stern. "This is bad; we need to get back quickly."

Having finished applying his medicine, he lightly moved his limbs, then kindly reminded Fan Sheng, "Lord Fan, hold your breath. First, take a deep breath, like this—"

He demonstrated a deep breath, while Fan Sheng watched him coldly.

He Lingchuan patted the golden armored automaton, which immediately loosened the net's knot and flipped it into the water!

Fan Sheng was forced face-down, bobbing up and down in the water with the large net.

While he might escape death, he wouldn't escape punishment.

The golden armored automaton turned and walked towards the lakeshore, a dozen zhang away.

The boat was gone, but this mode of transport was also very fast.

After reaching the shore, the golden armored automaton strode along the lakeside towards Chaohu Tower, moving faster than a galloping horse.

If it had been anyone else ambushing him this way, He Lingchuan would never have shown mercy. But Fan Sheng was different... if he were truly killed, it would likely play right into Cen Boqing's hands and create a powerful enemy for himself.

Besides, his subsequent actions required a witness to bear testament.

Fan Sheng was the Deputy Commander of Lingxu City's Tongxin Guard, holding a crucial position and backed by a Grand Commander whose strength and influence were even more formidable.

For his future missions and personal safety, He Lingchuan couldn't simply kill Fan Sheng unless he intended to flee Beijia forever and never return to Lingxu City.

Fan Sheng could attack him under the guise of the Lotus Gathering competition, but He Lingchuan couldn't use the same pretense against Fan Sheng.

He hadn't personally killed Zhongsun Mou, so killing Fan Sheng, who held a higher rank than Zhongsun Mou, was even less of an option.

The aura of Lingxu City was just that intimidating.

Whether people felt resentful or not, willing or not, they had to constantly remain reverent.

Meanwhile, Fan Sheng was submerged in the water. Just now, the golden armored automaton had deliberately flipped the net over, forcing him face down.

Before entering the water, Fan Sheng had been forced to take a deep breath.

With his profound cultivation and long breath, holding his breath underwater for half an hour was trivial.

The problem was, there were piranhas in the water!

Before leaving Chaohu Tower, Zhongsun Mou had given him a fish pouch, only as big as a dried orange. But when thrown into the water, it would expand and release sixty to seventy piranhas.

These piranhas could burrow into the mud and survive during the dry season; even cracked ground wouldn't kill them. They would revive the following year with ample rain.

Enhanced by Zhongsun Mou's spiritual energy, these creatures ignored protective auras. Also known as "water tigers," they could gnaw a living person down to a skeleton in minutes.

If He Lingchuan hadn't had his mirror shield for protection, he would have been riddled with bites earlier. These piranhas were naturally ferocious, and having just tasted blood, they now only craved living flesh. Fan Sheng was merely their pouch master, not a merman, so he held no natural dominance over them. These creatures swam around, devouring all the frogs, birds, snails, and fish in the vicinity, yet they remained ravenous. Their gaze then turned to Fan Sheng.

Fan Sheng was about to experience the same "hospitality" that He Lingchuan had received from them earlier.

These fiendish creatures opened their jaws, gnashing their teeth as they bit him, specifically targeting skin not covered by armor, such as his face, neck, and wrists.

They particularly enjoyed biting his facial features. Fan Sheng barely dared to open his eyes, lest his vision be filled with gaping mouths full of sharp teeth.

How could soft eyeballs withstand such savagery?

And don't forget these things could penetrate protective auras. Not only could He Lingchuan's aura not block them, neither could Fan Sheng's!

While spiritual energy could mitigate damage, mitigation didn't mean immunity. Three or four different lights flashed on Fan Sheng's body, indicating the activation of his protective artifacts.

How long could they last? He had no idea.

Fan Sheng turned his axe blade sideways, trying to cut the fishing net, occasionally exhaling a couple of air bubbles. He exerted his true power, and frost crystallized wherever his axe blade passed.

The fishing net was no exception.

However, the water current carried away some of the cold. Even with a thin layer of frost, the net remained tough and flexible, not becoming brittle or hard. This was problematic: the axe blade was better suited for chopping than cutting, and the fine steel dagger he carried couldn't cut through it at all, feeling more like he was sawing steel wire.

He struggled immensely, managing to sever only three or four knots. And this darn net even had three layers, inner and outer!

He was still a long way from breaking free.

What kind of net was this, to be so incredibly sturdy? If he weren't holding his breath, Fan Sheng would have cursed aloud.

He didn't know that Madam Zhu Er's Cloud Brocade Cape was inherently impervious to water and fire.

After He Lingchuan left, the churned lake water gradually cleared. Fan Sheng occasionally opened his eyes and saw new things on the lakebed.

Something seemed to be growing rapidly, transforming into dozens of long, snake-like objects that extended towards him.

Were those... lotus stalks?

The astonishingly tall lotuses of the Lotus Palace were called Great King Lotuses. Their stalks were as thick as goose eggs and incredibly hard; even a dull machete couldn't chop them.

Now, these long, thick lotus stalks reached out to him, coiling around him like pythons.

The most insidious stalk didn't go for his neck. Instead, it circled him twice with malicious intent, as if searching for an entry point for attack.

Only then did Fan Sheng remember that the water spirit of Baishajue was a lotus demon, and also the creator of this labyrinth.