Chapter 819: Casting

In the past eight months, over two hundred new households have moved into Blackwater City. Most are refugees from the Northwest, with a small number coming from abroad. On the northwestern front, Dong Haoming's rebels and the Kite Army are locked in fierce combat, forcing civilians to flee their homes to escape the conflict. The conditions you specified were: foreign visitors, a group of seven or eight or more, bought a local residence but didn't register for citizenship, appeared idle but weren't short on money.

The conditions provided by He Lingchuan were indeed very specific.

"The result?"

"There really is a group of people who fit the description perfectly," Situ Han said, taking a bite of his wonton. "These dozen or so individuals arrived almost eight months ago. They have an accent I can't quite place, not from around here. They stayed at Bo Xi Inn for five or six days and were quite generous with their spending. I was on patrol a few times back then and remember them. Later, they bought a large house in Blackwater City and settled down. They claimed they were here for business and even acquired a carriage and stable business, but they run it very haphazardly, never actively seeking customers. A genuine merchant operating like that would have starved long ago."

"What else do they usually do?"

"They usually stay in their residence and rarely interact with outsiders. However, they always pay their biannual taxes on time, never delaying. Their leader's surname is Zhang, named Zhang Lianhai. He's very arrogant, always looking down on people, and when he goes out, he's accompanied by at least three or four attendants," Situ Han continued. "The city gate guards say they frequently see them entering and exiting the North Gate."

"Entering and exiting the North Gate?" He Lingchuan mused. "Heading north?"

"Yes, they often leave for many days before returning," Situ Han replied. "To the north is Red Cliff Road."

He Lingchuan smiled. "North is the Coiling Dragon Desert. Have they been going there more frequently since the strange occurrences began in the Coiling Dragon Desert?"

"Yes, they just returned two days ago!" Situ Han winked. "Young Master, guess which house they bought?"

"Where?" He Lingchuan's heart sank as he saw Situ Han's wide grin. "Damn, don't tell me it's..."

"Yes, it's your former residence!"

Seeing He Lingchuan's eyes widen, he quickly corrected himself: "Oh, what am I saying? Old residence, your old residence!"

He Lingchuan let out a long sigh, feeling a bit dejected.

So, his old home had been occupied by this group.

When the He family moved to Xiazhou, they never intended to return, so their local assets were entrusted to an agent for sale.

Still, this also indicated that these people had good taste, as the layout and scenery of the He family manor were designed by Madam Ying herself, making it a rare gem among Blackwater City's residences.

He Lingchuan then inquired about other details.

Situ Han answered every question.

He was something of a local insider in both Red Cliff Road and Blackwater City, with connections in both legitimate and underworld circles. Before ordinary people even sensed a stir in the city, he would already know.

"Oh, right, they originally numbered over ten, but at some point, quite a few new faces appeared."

He Lingchuan's gaze sharpened. "They added more people?"

"I'm not too sure about that, my brothers and I have been out a lot recently." Situ Han had his own work to do and couldn't constantly monitor the group. As he said this, he glanced around and lowered his voice, "Young Master, what you asked me to do has been taken care of."

"No one found out?"

"How could anyone find out?" Situ Han chuckled. "When does gossip ever get traced back to its source? Besides, strange phenomena already occur frequently in the Coiling Dragon Desert. What we did wasn't really spreading rumors, just mentioning a few things in crowded places."

The rapid spread of strange stories about the Coiling Dragon Desert was partly due to his efforts.

He Lingchuan patted his shoulder with satisfaction and handed him a banknote. "Well done! Take this for the brothers, for their hard work."

The wontons were finished, and the large bowl of wide noodles he'd added later was also gone. Situ Han wiped his mouth. "I'm heading back to work. Young Master, just give the word if you need anything!" With that, he jumped up, insisted on paying the bill, and left.

As soon as He Lingchuan returned to the inn, the Soul Mirror asked its owner, "Who exactly did you want this Situ fellow to investigate when you wrote him the letter?"

"People from the Celestial Palace."

"Huh?" The Soul Mirror was surprised to hear that term in a small border town of Kite Kingdom. "The Celestial Palace?! Are we going to deal with them even here?"

"Yes," He Lingchuan retorted, "What are you afraid of? We're on Kite Kingdom's territory. The Celestial Palace envoys don't have home-field advantage here."

Though they bore the name "Celestial Palace," these people were merely visitors now and certainly couldn't throw their weight around as they did in Lingxu City. Had this foolish mirror been scared witless by them at Mount Xu?

The mirror retorted stubbornly, "Scared of what, exactly? I just don't understand why they're here!"

"They've been here for a while," He Lingchuan said, setting up a barrier as soon as he entered the room and sweeping the mirror around. "I activated the Celestial Net Star at both the Thousand Stars City ruins and Baisha Qu, and I stole the pot lid from Mount Xu. Which of those wasn't related to the Great Square Cauldron? The gods already knew the Great Square Cauldron was hidden in the Coiling Dragon Desert, so of course they would send people to investigate and wouldn't withdraw anytime soon."

Their inability to retrieve the Great Square Cauldron didn't prevent the Celestial Palace from sending people to keep watch.

"So that's why you set the time limit at within eight months?" The Soul Mirror pondered. "Hey, how did you know they would definitely buy a house here?"

"Staying in an inn for several months straight—could *you* stand it?" As a local insider, how could he not know the quality of inns in Blackwater City?

The mirror thought: *I could stand it. I'm just a mirror; I only move with my host. Where I stay makes no difference, so what's there to stand or not stand?*

He Lingchuan seemed to hear its internal grumbling and tapped the mirror. "I've dealt with people from the Celestial Palace quite a bit. They consider themselves superior and are never stingy when it comes to food, clothing, or living conditions. We saw the grand procession Bai Ziqi had on his return to Lingxu City from Baisha Qu; Fu Shanyue couldn't even compare. How could these Celestial Palace envoys tolerate a small, cramped inn in Blackwater City?"

Since they intended to monitor the Coiling Dragon Desert long-term, they would certainly look for a comfortable place to live.

The Celestial Palace allocated ample funds, so how could their envoys abroad be short on money? That's why their pretense of doing business here was half-hearted; a local insider could see through it instantly.

Thus, even without being present himself, He Lingchuan, relying on his previous interactions and understanding of them, could remotely direct Situ Han to find the Celestial Palace people.

The mirror found it odd. "What do you want with people from the Celestial Palace? If anyone else were doing this, wouldn't they avoid the Celestial Palace most of all?"

"The stage is set," He Lingchuan said calmly. "How could this performance be complete without their part?"

The next day, He Lingchuan, along with Qiu Hu and others, switched to camels and departed through the North Gate, embarking on Red Cliff Road.

Since the purpose of their trip was to "evaluate the Red Cliff trade route," they still had to do the necessary work. He Lingchuan needed to first take Hu Qin and the others along Red Cliff Road for a firsthand inspection, and then return to Blackwater City to verify past years' tax records.