Chapter 493 - 492: This Man Cannot Be Spared

Chapter 493: Chapter 492: This Man Cannot Be Spared

’He and Zhongsun Mou were merely acquaintances, not old friends, but I know the man is extremely cautious. With the situation so chaotic, why would Zhongsun Mou risk coming in person? Isn’t he afraid the so-called Crown Prince Envoy will find a weakness to exploit?’

"I heard about what happened at Tide Lake Tower this afternoon." The Water Mirror Technique’s duration was too short; Zhongsun Mou had to come in person to discuss matters properly. "Hee Xiao used a trick to capture your servant. I’m afraid your secret won’t be safe for much longer."

"’Our’ secret," Cen Boqing corrected him. "Didn’t you say you took all the documents and intelligence from Mai Xuewen’s house? Then how did that Hee fellow know the time and place of Mai Xuewen’s deal in Baisha Jue?"

It had truly caught him off guard.

He had never taken the so-called Crown Prince Envoy seriously, never imagining he’d suffer such a major setback and have the man trace the clues right back to him.

Although Hee Xiao couldn’t truly harm them yet, this feeling of being targeted was awful.

’Who doesn’t prefer pulling the strings from behind the scenes?’

"He arrived first. I was right behind him, only a few moments apart," Zhongsun Mou said, secretly curling his lip. "All I can say is, you have terrible luck."

Cen Boqing let out a breath. "Brother Zhongsun, you’ve come all this way in the dead of night. What brilliant insight do you have for me?"

’It was all because this incompetent fool’s ambition outstripped his ability that I’m in this mess. And now he has the gall to come and gloat?’

"This Hee Xiao is a real troublemaker," Zhongsun Mou said bluntly. "My own reinforcements have arrived, so I came to see if Brother Cen requires any assistance."

’He’s here to push me into acting,’ Cen Boqing thought, narrowing his eyes. "The specialist I hired has been preparing for days. He can make his move tonight."

"How confident are you?"

"I can’t say it’s a sure thing, but I’d put the odds of success at eighty percent."

’Those are high odds.’ Zhongsun Mou relaxed slightly. "Excellent. Do you require us to act as Protectors?"

"He doesn’t allow onlookers when he performs his arts," Cen Boqing said, still maintaining a polite tone with the Inspector. He added tactfully, "However, I’d still ask Brother Zhongsun to be ready to provide backup at a moment’s notice."

"Then how about this..."

...

On the way back, Jiao Yu reminded Hee Lingchuan again, "You’re a thorn in their side now. You must be extremely careful."

"I know." Hee Lingchuan was well aware. "If they kill me, the investigation hits a dead end."

When you can’t solve the problem, you usually get rid of the person causing it.

And right now, he was the troublemaker.

Once he was dead, the masterminds could go back to their peaceful, untroubled lives.

He was currently at a disadvantage, exposed in the open while his enemies remained in the shadows.

And this hidden enemy had likely already bared its venomous fangs at him.

As for the one who was out in the open, Zhongsun Mou, Hee Lingchuan couldn’t kill him in his capacity as the Special Envoy from the Chiyan Kingdom.

Not harming or humiliating an Inspector was the bottom line the King of Chiyan had drawn for Fushan Yue.

"And there’s a third party, their allegiance unknown, also lurking in the shadows." Hee Lingchuan’s mind was perfectly clear.

"You mean?" Jiao Yu was startled but quickly understood. "Oh, the person who sent us the Record of God Worship! You think it’s Mr. Mai?"

"He wanted someone to trace the case here. It didn’t matter if it was me or Zhongsun Mou, as long as someone did," Hee Lingchuan mused. "But Zhongsun Mou has sided with the true culprit and even publicly declared the Messenger case solved. That must have made this third party very unhappy."

"Will they target us too?"

"Not necessarily, but it can’t hurt to be on guard." ’Who knows what their intentions are?’

So now he had at least two sets of enemies: one that wanted him dead, and another with sinister, unknown designs.

’I’ve only been in Baisha Jue for a few days. Is it always this exciting?’

「An hour later, Hee Lingchuan returned to his inn.」

He glanced down and noticed that a strand of wool he had placed in the seam of his door was gone.

It was a whisker from General Antelope—a very long one.

That meant someone had secretly entered his room.

He had set these small traps and made these preparations to guard against Mr. Mai and his backers. Of course, now there was another person to watch out for: Zhongsun Mou.

Hee Lingchuan entered the room and looked around, discovering that none of the small traps he had set were triggered.

This meant the intruder hadn’t searched every corner. In fact, their movements inside the room seemed to have been very limited.

’What were they trying to do?’

Just then, Jiao Yu rushed in from outside, its expression grave.

"I’ve got it."

It had left earlier to follow up on the latest intelligence.

Hee Lingchuan braced himself. "Oh? So which powerful family owns that grand residence?"

"It’s the eldest son-in-law of the Chief Agriculturist of the Beiga Kingdom, Cen Boqing."

Hee Lingchuan suddenly felt the mental preparation he’d made wasn’t quite enough. "What? The Chief Agriculturist from where, again?"

"Lingxu City! He’s one of the Nine Ministers, in charge of Beiga’s finances and provisions—he’s incredibly powerful." Jiao Yu’s paws tensed, its front claws gouging three marks into the table. "Cen Boqing himself is Captain Wei Yang. He’s a decorated war hero, and I hear a promotion is imminent. Many officials in the court are trying to curry favor with his family."

Hee Lingchuan scratched his head. "No wonder the captive didn’t dare say his name."

He had long been prepared for the possibility that digging deeper into this case might mean stepping on the toes of some powerful people in Lingxu City.

But he hadn’t expected his target’s background to be *this* formidable.

For countless officials of the Vassal Demon Kingdoms, those two words, "Lingxu City," formed an uncrossable chasm.

Jiao Yu asked him, "What now?"

"With only the testimony of those two small-timers captured by Elder Wu’s men, we can’t topple a heavyweight like Cen Boqing," Hee Lingchuan said slowly. "But now we know our target and where to focus our efforts. That alone is a huge step forward."

He glanced at the sky. "Tomorrow, we’ll take our captive and go pay a visit to this Captain."

Just then, a knock came at the courtyard gate. One of Marshal Lul’s personal soldiers had arrived to deliver their meal. The password and countersign matched perfectly.

Before returning to the inn, Hee Lingchuan had given Marshal Lul specific instructions: from now on, his personal soldiers were to deliver their meals. The soldiers were to be rotated, and the restaurants where the food was purchased must also be changed regularly.

His hidden enemies had three likely ways to deal with him: assassination, poison, or Curses.

’As for assassination, Zhongsun Mou should know I’m not an easy target. Besides, in a crowded place like Baisha Jue, an attempt would be too risky and prone to failure. The other two methods were far more subtle. Without Primordial Power to protect my body, my resistance to poisons and Curse Arts is low. Zhongsun Mou knows I’m a foreigner, making me an easier target for those two methods.’

Therefore, starting today, Hee Lingchuan had to be cautious about everything.

Even though the meal was delivered by one of Marshal Lul’s own men and the countersign was correct, he still took out a testing Potion and added a drop to check for poison, only eating after confirming it was safe.

This particular Potion had been created by his good little monkey, Lingguang, who had called it an essential remedy for home and travel, quoting the old adage that one could never be too careful.

’Sigh. If Lingguang were here, I wouldn’t have to worry about being poisoned.’

After eating, he spent over two hours circulating his energy and regulating his breath, then went down to the 24-hour public bathhouse to wash. It was quite crowded inside.

Before returning to his room and lying down, he took out the Soul-Catching Mirror as usual and swept its light across every corner of the room, not even missing the ceiling beams.

The Mirror could see through many Divine Techniques and Curses, making it his trusty tool for thorough inspections.

Hee Lingchuan swept the Mirror under the bed. It was just a casual glance, but the Mirror suddenly cried out, "Hey, hey, hey! Go back!"

He bent down and used the Mirror to thoroughly illuminate the space under the bed.

"There!" the Mirror shouted, casting a beam of light onto the underside of the bed planks.

Only then did Hee Lingchuan notice a small clump of gray filaments in the illuminated spot. It looked like Spider Silk.

’In a dark, damp corner like this, isn’t it perfectly normal to find some Spider Silk?’

No matter how splendid an inn appears on the outside, its unseen corners will always hide filth.

However, stuck to the Spider Silk was a small, gray, round cocoon. It was smaller than an ordinary silkworm pupa and very inconspicuous.

If the Mirror hadn’t illuminated it in such fine detail, he likely would have missed it even if he had looked right at it.

Hee Lingchuan drew his dagger, scraped the clump out, and set it on fire.

The very instant the flames consumed the cocoon, in another inn over a thousand yards away, a man suddenly clutched his chest and cried out in agony.

The man tore open his shirt, revealing a large, charred black patch on his chest. It looked as if he’d just been seared by an open flame and even emitted the faint smell of roasting flesh.

"Damn it! He actually found it!"

The man had no choice but to quickly swallow a medicinal draught and then pour a Potion over the wound, washing it repeatedly.

Nearly half an hour later, the wound finally began to close, leaving only a scar the size of a copper coin.

To heal completely, it would take some time.

"Heh, don’t get cocky. Your luck is about to run out!" he snarled. He then took out a barefoot wooden carving, placed it on the table, and lit two offering candles.

It was a divine statue, about two palms high, carved from aged wood. Although its gilded Golden Body hadn’t completely flaked off, its form was far from the solemn majesty of other deities. Instead, it seemed to have a hundred different faces and expressions. Its attire was equally informal, a mess of tattered, patched-up rags.

Faces grew from its chest, hands, feet, neck, and even from the holes in its clothing. Some had only one eye, while others had three or four. Some eyes were as wide as Copper Bells, while others were stretched to their limits in fury, even bleeding.

Some faces were wailing, some were laughing maniacally, some were furious, and some were grief-stricken. Every single expression was grotesquely twisted.

Only a few faces were complete blanks, with no eyes, no nose, and no mouth—expressionless, one might suppose.

Other divine statues evoked feelings of majesty or benevolence, but this one was simply hideous and terrifying. A second glance was enough to make one’s blood run cold.

It was as if countless vengeful spirits had been crammed into the wooden carving.

The man dripped a few drops of Potion into his eyes, placed a small wooden ball in an offering bowl, then knelt down ramrod straight. He lit half a stick of incense and began to chant.

After applying the Potion, he could see a translucent shadow float out of the wooden ball. It was the soul of a child, no more than three or four years old, still dripping wet as if it had just drowned.

The child’s soul looked around in confusion, clearly not understanding what was happening. It instinctively drifted closer, greedily inhaling the incense smoke.

This was its sustenance, which could replenish its weak Soul Body.

The wooden ball was carved from wood found on the seabed and could serve as a temporary vessel for a remnant soul.

The Curse Master then took out two whole sticks of incense, lit them, and pressed their unlit ends to his forehead, resuming his chant.

The night was silent, and the atmosphere inside the room quickly grew heavy.

It was as if something unseen yet terrible was drawing near. Even the chirping of the insects outside fell silent.