Chapter 630: Fang Canran's Deadly Weakness

## Chapter 625: Fang Canran's Fatal Weakness

He Lingchuan said slowly, "At that time, this signet ring was on a man's hand."

He spoke slowly, but his steps never halted.

This was the ninth repetition.

This time, it was Fang Canran who was drawn by his words: "Who?"

"The man's surname was Shao," He Lingchuan said with a smile. "Have you ever heard the name 'Shao Jian,' Mr. Fang?"

Fang Canran was immediately speechless.

He Lingchuan happened to walk past the mirror's edge. Taking advantage of Fang Canran's distraction, he delivered an elbow strike to the mirror's surface.

With several crashes, the perfectly clear mirror shattered into seven or eight pieces.

The array's focal point was broken!

He Lingchuan immediately saw Fang Canran standing in the back hall and casually threw the Transient Blade.

No, impossible, the Heart-Piercing Mirror was actually broken?

How did he break it? The man looked at him as if he'd seen a ghost, then, after a moment of stupefaction, turned and fled.

The Transient Blade arrived, only to be bounced back by the "Coming-Going Armor."

He Lingchuan also lunged forward, grabbed the Transient Blade, and unleashed a flurry of slashes at Fang Canran.

The golden shield in front of him took countless blows before finally shattering.

Just as Fang Canran reached the back garden, all the scattered blade lights converged into a single beam, held at his throat.

"If you want to die, move," He Lingchuan's eyes gleamed brighter than the blade.

In just two short moments, the balance of power shifted.

The blade's internal energy pulsed, drawing a slight scratch on Fang Canran's neck. He dared not move and, at the same time, asked in confusion, "You... how did you undo the Earth Immortal Rope? How did you find the array's focal point?"

And why did the Soul-Shocking Thunder have no effect on He Lingchuan?

He truly couldn't understand the young man before him. Why did every meticulously planned tactic of his fail?

"Of all things to use for an array, why choose mirrors?" He Lingchuan was too lazy to explain. Did he look like a lecturing scholar?

"Hahahahaha, he's not afraid of making a fool of himself. This old master is the ancestor of all mirrors!" The Soul-Absorbing Mirror laughed wildly in his embrace, though only its master could hear it.

"Hands behind your back." He Lingchuan had already put away the Earth Immortal Rope and, with practiced ease, replaced it with a set of spider silk ropes, looping one around Fang Canran's neck and tying his hands together.

The much-anticipated tying-up segment.

"This is how you tie someone securely, understand?" How many captives and monsters had He Lingchuan apprehended on the Coiling Dragon Wasteland? He had learned at least fifteen ways to tie ropes, among other things.

As for the Soul-Shocking Thunder, heh, its power had been blocked by the Soul-Absorbing Mirror. When it came to soul-absorbing and soul-shocking abilities, the thunder was like a junior compared to the mirror.

"You had to precisely shatter the Heart-Piercing Mirror on the ninth repetition for it to work. If you hit the wrong one, the cycle would be disrupted and restart, and who knows which repetition the array's weakness would appear in!" The mirror boasted triumphantly. "Such a petty trick is far too amateurish, far too amateurish, how could it escape Grandfather Mirror's discerning eye!"

Bound tightly by He Lingchuan, Fang Canran's eyes darted around again.

He still had a supernatural ability called the Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell, which allowed him to slip away, leaving his restraints on his outer garments.

However, before he could seize the right moment, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck. He Lingchuan had actually pricked two major acupuncture points on his back with a silver needle, instantly cutting off the flow of his true energy.

It wasn't that He Lingchuan had foreseen this ability; he was simply annoyed by Fang Canran's constant tricks and decided to cut off his true energy to prevent any further mischief.

"You!" Fang Canran's vision went dark, and he finally despaired.

Why was he restrained at every step, every single step!

This kid clearly seemed like a scatterbrain, only reacting spontaneously to everything!

"Let me go, I can give you anything you want!" Realizing the gravity of the situation, Fang Canran tried to quickly sway his captor. "I can give you wealth to last several lifetimes, and I can secure you a high-ranking official position with no worries! If you harm me, you'll gain nothing from it!"

"But it's satisfying. Isn't satisfaction enough?" He Lingchuan smiled. "It's most gratifying to return like for like. Now it's my turn to ask: Where did that spiraled ring on your hand come from? What's your relationship with Shao Jian?"

He deliberately dropped the name when Fang Canran was anxious, then observed his expression. Sure enough, when Fang Canran heard "Shao Jian," his pupils constricted slightly again.

Although it lasted only for a fleeting moment, Fang Canran quickly regained his composure. However, such an unconscious reaction couldn't deceive anyone; He Lingchuan had likely struck a deep secret within his heart.

This was the second time he had heard Shao Jian's name from He Lingchuan, and his reaction was still strong.

"What?" Fang Canran hissed. "I don't know him!"

"Chief Steward Fang, that's not very convincing. As a person, one should be reasonable," He Lingchuan patted his back and pointed to the torture instruments on the table. "We have no prior grudges; you attacked me first, trying to gouge out my eyes and pull out my tongue. If I were to use these methods on you, that would be fair, wouldn't it?"

Fang Canran swallowed. "My apologies, but my ancestors had some old adversaries. You kept staring at my ring, and I thought an enemy had come calling."

A wise man knows when to yield. His attitude immediately softened.

"What did your ancestors do?" Was the man named Fang starting to make excuses?

"They were also merchants, small-scale business," Fang Canran murmured. "Those who do business can make friends and enemies alike."

He Lingchuan poured himself a cup of tea, brought it to his lips, then, remembering the ambush from earlier, poured it out. This fellow was as full of hot air as himself, lying with a sincere expression, uttering words that couldn't be verified.

Fang Canran watched his actions and, unable to contain his curiosity, asked again, "Why was the Earth Immortal Rope useless against you?"

"It was useful," He Lingchuan pulled the coiled rope from his embrace and examined it carefully. "A fine treasure indeed."

This rope resembled the net of Grand Tutor Sun Fuping, also designed to hold onto anyone it caught. It had fallen into He Chunhua's hands after Sun Fuping's death.

"It's just that I was ambushed by a Sky God not long ago and nearly lost my life," he said slowly. "Since then, I've become much more cautious in my actions."

He had had enough of the powerlessness he felt when facing a Sky God. Was He Lingchuan someone just anyone could ambush?

Of course, he wouldn't tell Fang Canran that he had released a doppelganger when he excused himself to go to the secret room earlier.

Thus, it was the doppelganger that fell to the ground, and it was merely the doppelganger that Fang Canran bound with the Immortal-Binding Rope.

No matter how securely the Immortal-Binding Rope was tied, what use was it once He Lingchuan's doppelganger disappeared?

Later, as a strong gust of wind blew past and Fang Canran went to close the window, He Lingchuan's true body seized the opportunity to lie back down and loosely drape the rope over his own hands.

He had already observed clearly that the rope was ineffective without a chanted spell. However, for safety, he still cut half of it with the Transient Blade and held the severed end in his palm.

In his opinion, Fang Canran's way of tying ropes was amateurish, lacking any method or aesthetics, relying solely on the Earth Immortal Rope's own power to restrain the enemy.

He tied it so casually that he himself wouldn't remember how he'd tied it later. How could he notice that something was wrong with the rope? If he were skilled at knot-tying like a willow branch, He Lingchuan would have had no chance of restoring the knots and tying them to himself in just a few breaths.

From this alone, He Lingchuan could tell that Fang Canran rarely personally ambushed people.

And details determine success or failure.

In short, Fang Canran wanted to trick him, and he wanted to trick Fang Canran.

In the current situation, it can only be said that neither of them succeeded.

Upon hearing the words "Sky God," Fang Canran's brow twitched slightly. "What do you want? I am the chief steward of the Golden Horn family and the owner of Yulexiang Villa. As you said earlier, if you kill me, you won't escape consequences either!"

Their current predicament was that neither could physically eliminate the other easily.

He Lingchuan slipped the signet ring off Fang Canran's hand, held it up to the light, and said matter-of-factly, "What does that matter? I'll just report you to the Sky Gods. I won't have to worry about anything after that."

Fang Canran's expression remained unchanged, but a vein in his temple twitched.

He Lingchuan's words had hit his fatal weakness.

"But I truly don't know how to answer you," he sighed deeply. "How about you ask a different question?"

This fellow was truly tight-lipped. He Lingchuan didn't want to actually torture him, as the man still had his uses. So, after a moment's thought, he said, "Alright, then let's talk about you baseless drugging, binding, and attempting to privately interrogate the envoy from Chiyan. This is a serious crime, Chief Steward Fang. Have you thought about what price you'll pay?"

"You have no evidence, no witnesses," Fang Canran said, looking at his own tight restraints. "I'm the one bound now."

"However, if Young Master He is willing to reconcile, I, Fang, will certainly offer a generous gift to ease your distress." Since Fang Canran was at a disadvantage in this game, he quickly tried to de-escalate the situation, "How about fifty thousand taels of silver?"

He Lingchuan knew that if he bargained with Fang Canran, the topic would shift, and the incident would be considered over.

"I don't think that's appropriate," he said, shaking the signet ring. "Earlier, when I mentioned Shao Jian, your emotions fluctuated greatly. And you have this signet ring in your hand... well, this ring has five spiral patterns, which are the proof of the Red Snail Merchant Guild's founder."

"Shao Jian was the founder of the Red Snail Merchant Guild, and he spent his entire life opposing the Sky Gods," He Lingchuan said leisurely. "You dare to brazenly wear this signet ring, thinking no one would recognize it?"

Since this fellow wouldn't budge, he needed to find the right breakthrough point.

As expected, Fang Canran firmly denied, "I don't know this person, nor did I know that my ancestral ring had such implications!"

He sighed, "If I had known, would I still be wearing it?"

A normal person wouldn't wear something that would provoke the Sky Gods.

He Lingchuan smiled. Was Fang Canran normal?

"Then you don't want to know why I recognize this ring?"

"If Young Master He is willing to enlighten me, I, Fang, would naturally like to hear," Fang Canran said. If he didn't want to know, why would he have planned all this tonight?

"I have indeed seen Shao Jian," He Lingchuan began, repeating his earlier statement. "In an ancient city to the west."

Fang Canran's gaze sharpened slightly. "You've really seen him? How old are you?"

Shao Jian passed away more than 150 years ago, yet this young man claimed to have seen him?

Could it be that He Lingchuan, like the two Grand Tutors, was a monster with an ageless appearance?

"Seventeen," He Lingchuan said lazily. "I didn't say I saw a living Shao Jian."

Fang Canran frowned. "I'm sorry, I don't understand."