Chapter 520: Mifeng

Chapter 517: Mifeng

A vein throbbed on Fan Sheng's temple. He tried hard to suppress his anger and only asked about the major event that had just occurred: "Zhongsun Mou was swallowed by the monster he was pursuing?"

During the return journey, his subordinates had already reported the details of Zhongsun Mou's demise. Fan Sheng was also greatly startled. With Zhongsun Mou's incident happening while he was also in Baishajue, the subsequent investigation would involve him. Everything he had done here would need to be disclosed in full.

Magistrate Tian's face grew even more distressed. This was truly a case of misfortunes never coming singly. Perhaps he should resign from his post and return home? "Yes, yes, that creature swallowed Lord Zhongsun whole and then burrowed into the sand to escape."

No matter how much Fan Sheng disliked He Lingchuan, at this moment he had to ask: "Was that truly the culprit you were pursuing?"

"I didn't see it myself; we were grappling in the Lotus Palace then, remember?" He Lingchuan shrugged. "But according to the villagers' testimonies, the monster that abducted Zhongsun Mou greatly resembled the Snail Toad Mai Xuewen used for hunting monsters."

Even someone as knowledgeable as Fan Sheng found it incredible: "This Mai fellow has already escaped, so why would he return to abduct Zhongsun Mou?"

"Who knows? Perhaps he wanted revenge," He Lingchuan smiled. "Or perhaps Lord Zhongsun was also hindering him?"

This was a verbal jab at him. Fan Sheng, with furrowed brows and an angry glare, was about to retort when He Lingchuan preempted him again: "Now that even the Inspector has been abducted, how do you think Lingxu City will handle this matter, Lord Fan?"

This was a serious question, and the most important one at the moment. Fan Sheng's anger subsided. After some thought, he said, "Once reported, this will be a major incident, and it will be investigated thoroughly until the truth is revealed."

First, the white-shouldered eagle carrying the message to the front lines disappeared. Then, the investigating Inspector was swallowed in broad daylight. This was like two successive slaps to Lingxu City's face, hitting first one cheek, then the other. How could the Emperor possibly tolerate such an insult? Lingxu City's authority could not be challenged.

"They will certainly dispatch special envoys to investigate the case." The white-shouldered eagle's disappearance might have been an accident, but Zhongsun Mou's death was witnessed by thousands of eyes here, and Lingxu would definitely not treat it lightly anymore. At that point, it would be a dedicated team for a dedicated case, with strict and thorough investigation and handling, unlike Zhongsun Mou's casual approach. "What a disaster."

He Lingchuan then asked him, "So, what about the personnel and physical evidence currently involved in the case?"

"Of course, they must all be detained and not allowed to leave Baishajue." At this, Fan Sheng let out a frustrated sigh. It seemed that this included himself. This time, he had intended to return a favor to the Zhongsun family, but who knew he would end up embroiled in such trouble? What a pointless endeavor.

He Lingchuan noticed his vexation and found his previous statement somewhat believable. He said no more and turned to leave.

"Are you alright?" Jiao Yu asked, seeing half of his clothes stained red.

"I'm not alright, it hurts like hell." Being injured was commonplace, but it didn't mean he didn't feel pain, especially since the pain-relieving effects of the Stone Tuo powder had worn off. "But I need to go somewhere first."

Magistrate Tian was very considerate; seeing that the Special Envoy was injured, he managed to arrange a carriage for him despite being busy.

As a result, He Lingchuan went to Commander Lu to retrieve Jia Yu, then boarded the carriage and headed northwest along the lakeshore.

Wasn't this heading back the way they came?

The fierce tiger peered from the window. After about half an hour, it vaguely saw the Lotus Palace in the lake.

Jia Yu wondered, "Why is the Special Envoy coming back here?"

"I dropped something in the water and need to go back for it," he said, referring to the treasure he had been thinking about.

Jia Yu immediately understood and smartly said, "I'll go get a boat. Please wait!"

The carriage had arrived at its destination. He quickly dismounted, waded into the water, and soon swam away.

He Lingchuan didn't have to wait long before Jia Yu paddled a small boat to the shore.

This was a boat from the Cen family; it had previously carried Fan Sheng to ambush He Lingchuan. When that failed, Jia Yu had pushed it away. Now he had paddled it back, carrying the injured He Lingchuan back into the lake.

The fierce tiger still couldn't get a ride this time; the boat was too small and it was too heavy, so it had to wait on the bank.

Soon, the small boat returned to the spot where He Lingchuan and Fan Sheng had fought fiercely.

Both were wide-eyed and stunned; the scene before them was completely different from when they had left:

Centered around where Fan Sheng had fallen into the water, an area of about thirty meters in radius was filled with shattered lotus leaves and withered blossoms; not a single intact lotus remained. This stretch of water looked as if it had been swept clean. Besides plant stems and leaves, the surface was littered with the carcasses of waterbirds, insects, and fish. Even the previously arrogant piranhas had mostly turned belly-up, with a dozen or so incomplete corpses. Only two were still alive, feebly flapping a single damaged fin, circling in place. They were not far from breathing their last.

Jia Yu murmured, "What happened here?"

"Fan Sheng unleashed a life-saving ultimate move, almost destroying the lotus demon along with himself." He Lingchuan asked him to row closer to where he had previously picked the water lily and circled the area a few more times.

The location of the treasure indicated by the divine bone necklace was slightly different from before.

He Lingchuan had a rough idea. He pinpointed the location and re-entered the water.

This time, he dived all the way to the bottom, carefully searching.

The water was full of chaotic debris, but He Lingchuan only swam back and forth along the lakebed.

Jia Yu watched with wide eyes as He Lingchuan seemed to rummage in the lake mud for a long time before finally surfacing.

He helped He Lingchuan re-board the small boat, only then seeing that the other man was holding something in his arms. It looked like a broken piece of pottery, unclear whether it was a jar or a vat, filled with mud and containing a large piece of a lotus root.

He Lingchuan used the lake water to wash off the mud, discovering that the broken pottery was surprisingly clean inside, with no insect corpses or snail eggs, only that lotus root segment.

It was unclear why this lotus root had broken. While other similar segments were off-white at the break, this one was blood-red, and a light-red viscous liquid was still oozing from it, looking somewhat like human blood at first glance.

"What is this?" Jia Yu asked, a little incredulously. "Could this be the lotus...?"

"It's probably the lake's Water Spirit." Jia Yu had mentioned the Water Spirit punishing cheaters. This time, Fan Sheng ambushed He Lingchuan and also cut down a large section of the lotus barrier. The lotus demon would have immediately known that he wasn't participating legitimately but was there to cause trouble. He Lingchuan had guessed it had a bad temper, but he hadn't expected it to seize the opportunity while Fan Sheng was trapped in the spiderweb to take revenge. As a result, it was swept away by Fan Sheng's released ultimate move. Over two hundred years of arduous cultivation had turned to naught, leaving only this half-broken lotus root. But was it truly dead?

"Let's go back."

The small boat paddled towards the shore. This time, the divine bone necklace no longer glowed.

It seemed he had finally found what he was looking for.

After landing, He Lingchuan transferred to a carriage to return to the inn, then gave Jia Yu a silver ingot as payment for his services.

The soldier left happily, and the fierce tiger went to find Commander Lu. He Lingchuan, meanwhile, had the inn send up hot water so he could clean off the mud, residual leaves, and insect carcasses from his body. After soaking, his wounds would also need to be re-dressed.

After finishing these tasks, half an hour had passed. He Lingchuan finally found a comfortable chair and sat down, then took out the broken pottery piece he had retrieved from the lake to examine it.

Actually, the material of this object wasn't pottery; it was neither quite jade nor quite iron, and it produced a clear, ringing sound when tapped. With its black body and white opening, it was likely originally a vessel, but now only about a third of it remained, with only the bottom part relatively intact. Since it was already a broken piece and couldn't be damaged further, He Lingchuan simply tapped it twice with a small knife.

Clink, clink, clink – nothing happened.

He Lingchuan then simply slapped it against the edge of the table.

With a crack, it was still fine, but the corner of the table broke off.

The texture of this fragment was surprisingly hard!

Of course, something noticed by the divine bone must have something special about it.

But this thing had a frosted texture all over, with no discernible patterns. Perhaps the patterned parts had already shattered. Only a few words were engraved on the bottom:

Mifeng.

"Granting wind as desired, granting rain as desired." The first two characters were larger, and the following eight were smaller. All of them were, surprisingly, ancient immortal script. "So I really did pick up an ancient artifact," He Lingchuan mused, looking at it, then at the half-broken lotus root. He surmised that the artifact had shattered for some unknown reason, and the fragment falling into Chao Lake had caused the lotus growing within it to transform into a demon.

He turned it over and over but found no new clues, so he fed the fragment to the divine bone necklace.

The divine bone necklace happily consumed it, leaving nothing behind.

He had no idea how it digested such a hard fragment. Having seen too many strange things, He Lingchuan couldn't be bothered to ponder it further.

As for the lotus root segment, its broken end had a hole, so He Lingchuan casually tossed it into a basin of water.

Only then did he close his eyes to rest, beginning to review the day's events.

Since the investigation into the messenger case had stalled, Fu Songhua's concealment had become increasingly difficult, and He Lingchuan himself had been ambushed twice. It was then that he realized his opponents were acting recklessly under the guise of Lingxu City officials. To turn the tables and break out of this passive situation, he needed an opportunity.

This opportunity was: Zhongsun Mou must die!

On one hand, Zhongsun Mou had strongly advocated bringing Fu Songhua back to Lingxu City to close the case. With Zhongsun Mou dead, no one would push for this, and Fu Songhua could remain in Baishajue. He Lingchuan's immediate crisis was resolved. Fu Songhua was already close to being discovered. The Cen family's influence was no joke, and He Lingchuan was unable to stop them.

On the other hand, Zhongsun Mou's death would inevitably anger Lingxu City. Once this matter escalated, neither the Emperor nor the Zhongsun family would let it rest. Therefore, the special envoys dispatched to handle the case would not be able to act as casually as Zhongsun Mou, thinking they could just muddle through. At that time, all evidence involved in the case would be brought to light and scrutinized repeatedly. The case of the white-shouldered eagle messenger would also be overturned and re-investigated. Would the Cen family's machinations still be effective? Wouldn't the new special envoys become suspicious of them?

It could be said that as long as Zhongsun Mou died, the game would come alive.

In extraordinary times, extraordinary measures must be taken.

Moreover, Zhongsun Mou and others had first made hostile, deadly moves against him; He Lingchuan was simply returning the favor.

Therefore, he used the Snail Toad's eggs.

Wan Song had once explained that to summon a Snail Toad, they only needed to crush its eggs and then stand on the ground. If it was its master, the Snail Toad would naturally be obedient. If it was someone else, like He Lingchuan or Zhongsun Mou, ill-intentioned individuals who had killed its offspring, the Snail Toad wouldn't bother to think of a more satisfying way to take revenge beyond simply swallowing them whole. Its brain was not much bigger than a peach, and it wasn't meant for thinking anyway.

During the gamble at Chao Lake Pagoda, He Lingchuan seized the opportunity to crush the Snail Toad eggs, smeared the Soul-Absorbing Mirror with the liquid, and then used his true power to dry it.