Chapter 605: The Dreaming Villa

Chapter 601: Fleeting Thoughts Manor

Naturally, He Lingchuan knew that after passing the divine eye test, he had likely been removed from the gods' suspect list, and their surveillance on him would probably ease considerably from now on.

But there was still Bai Ziqin.

Hiss, that guy inexplicably wanted to keep an eye on him.

So, he had to quickly find something for Bai Ziqin to do.

Seeing him constantly rubbing his temples, Fu Shanyue said, "Alright, you should rest first. We'll go check out Fleeting Thoughts Manor tomorrow."

He Lingchuan nodded.

Back in his guest room, he shut the doors and windows tightly, then used a mirror to scan the surroundings, confirming there were no hidden surveillance or listening devices. Only then did he reach into his clothes. What he took out was a leaf.

The leaf, obtained from the Julo Tree in Panlong City, had originally been a beautiful golden-red. Now, however, it was withered and curled at the edges, covered in yellow spots.

At first glance, it was indistinguishable from any other fallen leaf picked up from the ground.

He Lingchuan examined it carefully, then softly exhaled:

"A single leaf obscures the view."

So, the Wood Spirit Venerable's second prophecy had manifested here.

The golden leaf wasn't meant to block his sight, but rather the Demon Mulian's eyeballs.

It was by using this leaf that He Lingchuan successfully passed Miaozhantian's lie test.

Thousands of years ago, during the ancient war, the immortals of the Great Return Sect used leaves from the Dao-seeking Tree to defeat the great demon Mulian.

Thousands of years later, He Lingchuan used a Dao-seeking Tree leaf, gifted by the Wood Spirit Venerable, to once again overcome Mulian's remaining eyeballs and save his own life.

A drink, a peck—was it all predestined?

He Lingchuan was utterly awestruck by the Wood Spirit, a powerful senior who had accurately foreseen events a thousand years into the future and saved his life. He also grew curious about the last remaining prophecy.

What kind of scenario would that one fit?

As He Lingchuan watched, the leaf slowly turned to ash and fell to the ground.

The Soul-Capturing Mirror asked curiously, "What happened to the Julo Tree leaf?"

"Its power must have been exhausted," He Lingchuan replied. "Miaozhantian's touchstone and Eye of Truth are not easily resisted."

As for whether the gods would question the test results, He Lingchuan believed they wouldn't in the short term.

The reason was simple: if they didn't have confidence in the great eyeball, why would they conduct this test?

It's not that the gods could easily invade his sea of consciousness. Mitian had said long ago that the divine realm and the human world were clearly separated by barriers, and any form of transgression was difficult.

The strongest evidence was that Miaozhantian only asked him three questions, and after they were answered, the invasion would end.

If they could linger freely in his sea of consciousness, they could have asked thirty or three hundred questions, let alone just three.

Therefore, he was inclined to believe that the gods also expended considerable effort for this invasion.

Since they placed great hopes on Mulian's Eye, the "truthful" conclusion it yielded would at least convince the gods for a period of time.

This was also the strategic window He Lingchuan had risked his life to secure this time.

Ultimately, he was still too naive, having underestimated the complexity and danger of opposing the gods.

Had it not been for the timely assistance of Panlong City and the Wood Spirit Venerable, he would almost certainly have been exposed by the gods this time.

In fact, ultimately, this confrontation wasn't truly He Lingchuan's; it was a showdown between Panlong City and the Wood Spirit Venerable behind him, and the gods.

More broadly speaking, this could be seen as a continuation of the struggle between immortals and gods.

Their side had temporarily gained the upper hand. He Lingchuan had walked to the gates of hell and back, narrowly escaping with his life.

The mirror clicked its tongue in admiration, "As expected of a treasure from the City of the Undead, it can actually block the gods' Eye of Truth!"

He Lingchuan clutched his head and sighed deeply:

"I was too overconfident!"

Looking back now, he realized he had made a reckless mistake even before setting off for Mount Tianshu.

"I thought too highly of them," he said. He had underestimated the gods' will and their methods.

The intricate detours and careful calculations he had relied upon might have concerned the Demon Emperor, but the gods didn't fall for such tricks at all.

They were powerful, arrogant, and reckless, doing as they pleased—probing whomever they wanted, testing whomever they wanted, utterly disregarding the victim's life or death.

They hadn't specifically targeted He Lingchuan either, because in their eyes, all humans were like grains of sand in the ocean, as insignificant as ants by a wall.

Anyway, they could just crush anyone to death with ease.

Fortunately, with the protection of Panlong City and the Wood Spirit Venerable, He Lingchuan was able to overcome this severe tribulation.

He recalled the Wood Spirit Venerable's words:

"Young people, you know, should be allowed to make mistakes."

When the Wood Spirit Venerable spoke, his eyes were fixed on the golden-red leaf. Only then did He Lingchuan realize that the Wood Spirit Venerable's words had been directed at him.

This sage had exhausted heavenly secrets just to secure one chance for He Lingchuan to make a mistake without perishing.

Just one.

He Lingchuan stated firmly, "I won't make this kind of mistake again."

No one would cover his mistakes again in the future. As the Wood Spirit Venerable had said, future matters were to be left to future generations.

The mirror looked completely bewildered throughout.

It couldn't keep up with its master's thoughts anymore. What now?

He Lingchuan pressed his temples, recalling the unreasonable god who had tried to seize his body during the final moments of the divine invasion.

Miaozhantian had even argued with it, which indicated that the gods were not monolithic; there were times when their opinions diverged and their interests clashed.

That made sense.

Of course, most importantly, after the green light mark lit up, it had exclaimed:

"How is that the mark of Naraka-tian?"

This meant it recognized the owner of the mark.

This confirmed He Lingchuan's long-standing suspicion: the one who had left the mark deep within his sea of consciousness was indeed another god.

However, he only learned the other party's name today:

Naraka-tian.

Now he had a name to investigate, which was good.

Thanks to the soothing and brain-tonifying elixir, He Lingchuan's headache was gone when he woke up the next morning.

Fu Shanyue and He Lingchuan, accompanied by Jiao Yu and other guards, ascended Qilin Mountain to see the newly acquired property.

Fortunately, the path up the mountain was still flat and wide, with no damage to the surface, indicating sturdy construction materials were used originally.

Compared to Panshan Residence, Fleeting Thoughts Manor was actually closer to the lower city center. Its area was about half that of Dunyuan—

Occupying half of Qilin Mountain, it was already quite substantial.

It faced south, sitting on the sunny side of Qilin Mountain. Theoretically, the first rays of morning sunlight should have reached the manor's attic. However, the gardens had been neglected for years, overgrown with wild plants, and large, gnarled trees blocked the sunlight from reaching the courtyard.

The back mountain of the residence was even more eerie, with such thick wild grass that it was difficult to walk through, and various small animals frequently darted about.

He casually grabbed a handful of soil under a tree; it was damp.

The fierce tiger sniffed around and rolled twice in a patch of grass, surprisingly discovering a den of about ten weasels, as well as a large flock of storks and cranes.

These two types of monsters, unafraid of humans, were instead startled by the fierce tiger and scurried away squeaking. It wasn't until they heard that Fleeting Thoughts Manor had a new owner that they pleaded with Fu Shanyue to renew their contract.

It turned out these were all monsters raised by the Chunyu family in their backyard, specifically to rid the household of insects, snakes, rats, and ants.

While the Chunyu family had faced misfortune, these creatures hadn't. They had continued to live comfortably in the backyard of Qilin Mountain over the years and had no desire to move.

Fu Shanyue had no objections but demanded that they clear all nuisance creatures from the large estate within two days. After all, the house had been empty for seven years, and being so large and spacious, it had become a haven for snakes, insects, rats, and ants.

Both groups of monsters thumped their chests, promising to complete the task, as it was originally part of their duties.

The weasels even blinked their small eyes and asked Fu Shanyue, "I have some goat friends who are very skilled at trimming garden plants. Would you like to hire them too? Just provide food, and a little extra; their wages would be much cheaper than hiring people."

"...Alright," he replied.

Despite its unkempt appearance, the main mansion of Fleeting Thoughts Manor was still very grand. Its beams and pillars hadn't been corroded by ground dampness, and it was largely furnished. This indicated the solid materials used during its construction.

Because of the weasels and other monsters, few intruders dared to break in.

Overall, it could be moved into with just a little tidying up.

After descending the mountain, Fu Shanyue immediately sent people to the employment agency to hire some servants.

A manor of this size would require at least a hundred people to maintain and operate.

Fleeting Thoughts Manor wasn't ready for habitation yet, so Fu Shanyue went off to attend to other matters, while He Lingchuan returned to the inn.

After dinner, a shop assistant came to deliver tea.

"Put it there," He Lingchuan said without turning his head.

The person didn't leave, standing still in place:

"He Xiao."

Hearing that stiff voice, He Lingchuan knew immediately who it was. He sighed; these troubles seemed to come one after another without pause, leaving him no time to even catch his breath.

He walked out of the room and dismissed all bystanders.

"How did it go?"

"The Grand Tutor agreed, but with one condition."

"Please state it."

"Nian Zanli must not know that you facilitated this, or even that you were involved at all," Xi Yunhe said. "The Grand Tutor chose you for this task precisely because you have no ties or conflicting interests with us, making your information clean and trustworthy. Nian Zanli borrowing troops from the Grand Tutor will create a significant stir and will inevitably reach the Emperor's ears. If the Emperor discovers your involvement as an intermediary, your relationship with us will be exposed."

He Lingchuan nodded, "Don't worry, I won't appear publicly, and he won't know."

Xi Yunhe, who had handled the negotiations yesterday, was merely relaying the message today: "Good. The Grand Tutor will lend thirty thousand troops to Baling Kingdom, along with two generals, all to be commanded by Nian Zanli. This matter will be settled within five months at the latest."

It's done! He Lingchuan secretly took a breath.

"The Grand Tutor's powers are immense; such an important matter can be settled in an instant," he said admiringly. "However, how can we convince Nian Zanli without tangible proof?"

"At the very end of East Second Alley on Tian Street, there's a South Paper Shop with a pair of white stone horses outside the entrance. Go in and tell the shopkeeper you want ten sets of Nanbaoxuan inkstones and Qiuhujian paper, and that the agreed price is forty coins. He will then give you the Grand Tutor's token and a personal letter."

"Give these two items to Nian Zanli, and he can then request troops from Baling Kingdom," Xi Yunhe explained further. "The token cannot be counterfeited. There are two personal letters: one for Nian Zanli, explaining the situation, and the other, sealed with wax, is to be presented to the King of Baling and must not be opened midway."

He Lingchuan was moved, "The Grand Tutor's foresight is truly remarkable!"

As expected of an experienced official over a hundred years old, such arrangements were truly considerate. Everything He Lingchuan had thought of, and even what he hadn't, had been meticulously planned.