Bigger Than His Face

The sweet-and-sour pork was brought out, glistening red and glossy with oil. Who could look upon it without their mouth watering? Fu Shanyue was the first to snag a piece with his chopsticks. "Cultivators love seeking out grotto-heavens and blessed lands, but Taozi and I prefer places rich in yin fiend energy; cultivating there yields twice the result with half the effort. I had long heard that the Yangshan Archipelago was thick with yin fiend energy, and that it behaves like tides, subsiding at dawn and surging at night." "That's right. The yin fiend energy here vanishes once the sun shines on it, only re-accumulating every few days." "That's very unusual. Every yin fiend land I've visited before was shrouded in perpetual gloom, never seeing daylight," Fu Shanyue explained. "In truth, ba also require a certain measure of spiritual energy. A place like the Yangshan Archipelago, where yin fiend energy ebbs and flows in regular cycles, suits our cultivation best." At this point, he finally laid his cards on the table: "I wonder if Island Master He would be willing to take me in, and incidentally give me free room and board?" "The Crown Prince of Chiyan graces my humble dwelling—it brings tremendous honor, so of course you are most welcome." How could He Lingchuan be so easily taken in by him? "The question is, how many people did you bring along?" If it was just Fu Shanyue alone, he could easily afford to host him. The trouble was— "Just a hun..." Fu Shanyue scratched his head. Damn it, he couldn't fool this brat. "A hundred and fifty or sixty guards. Any more and I wouldn't have been able to bring them over." This was deep within the Mou Kingdom's rear territory. As the crown prince of a vassal demon kingdom of Beijia, he couldn't march an army here. At most, he could bring some guards, and he had already maxed out that limit. He Lingchuan felt a surge of joy. Could the guards Fu Shanyue kept by his side—the guards the Ruler of Chiyan assigned to his son for traveling abroad—be greenhorns? Taking in one Fu Shanyue meant taking in a hundred and fifty or sixty top experts! Fu Shanyue said sullenly, "I'll cover all expenses for my guards myself." He Lingchuan beamed. Even better! The upkeep for these hundred and fifty-plus elites was fully paid by Fu Shanyue himself, without costing He Lingchuan a single copper! "I'm not trying to rush you out, but how long do you plan on staying here?" Fu Shanyue pondered for a moment. "I haven't got much going on lately." Meaning there was no fixed deadline—he would stay as long as he liked and leave when he pleased. "Captain Yu Zecheng of the Black Tiger Army took out a long-term lease on a courtyard here called Zhaowan Hall. It has splendid scenery and is exceptionally quiet," He Lingchuan said, ever ready to do a convenient favor. "He has already returned to the battlefield, leaving Zhaowan Hall unoccupied." In name it was a "long-term lease," but He Lingchuan knew full well that Yu Zecheng would never return. That money had been extorted from him. So how He Lingchuan disposed of Zhaowan Hall was something Yu Zecheng didn't know, didn't want to know, and would certainly never inquire about. Fu Shanyue took a sip of congee. "Leased by Yu Zecheng? Is it that courtyard worth a million taels?" "Indeed." He Lingchuan's mind stirred. "You've heard of it too?" "Yu Zecheng suffered a massive setback at your hands. Not many in Lingxu City know about it," Fu Shanyue said with a meaningful smile. "But I know all too well." Yu Zecheng wouldn't go around spreading it, and his subordinates wouldn't publicize it either, given how disgraceful it was. How did Fu Shanyue know? Way out in the Chiyan Kingdom, his information shouldn't have been that well-connected. He Lingchuan thought of a possibility. Instead of asking directly, he said, "You crossed vast oceans to come all the way to the Yangshan Archipelago and haven't returned for ages. Doesn't your father object?" The fellow before him was a crown prince, the future successor of a demon kingdom, wandering abroad for so long—was that really appropriate? Fu Shanyue couldn't help letting out a sigh. "You have no idea. The old man went crazy again recently. He kept threatening to strip me of my crown prince title, and beat and cursed me at every turn with real brutality. If I hadn't slipped away fast enough, he really would have beaten me to death. Just then, Lingxu City assigned me an official mission, so I came along." That was a lot of information. He Lingchuan caught several key phrases. "Why?" "How would I know why? He's never gotten along with me." The old man never gave him a pleasant look; Fu Shanyue was used to it and couldn't be bothered to look into it deeper. In the old man's eyes, everything he did was wrong anyway. He Lingchuan, however, did not see it that way. What kind of figure was Fu Shanlie? He Lingchuan had dealt with him in the Panlong World. Could a character who, in real history, ground Yuheng City down to exhaustion and forced Panlong City to retreat back to the Panlong Wasteland go mad without reason? Grown senile in his old age? Driving his only son out of the house and sending him far away from Beijia surely had deeper meaning. However, the crux of his question lay elsewhere: "Why did Lingxu City send you here?" "They said your location is advantageous, and Beijia wants to open a new trade route to this area, so they had me act as a mediator." Fu Shanyue was half coming clean. Lingxu City's original intent was for him to serve as the liaison between the Yangshan Archipelago and Beijia, which naturally included surveillance and intelligence gathering. "Beijia wants to open a new trade route here?" He Lingchuan's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing this. Who didn't know that Beijia's favor was practically synonymous with endless wealth? Although they had received merchant ships from Beijia before, the distance was vast after all, and visitors from Beijia were few. A new trade route and fresh streams of visitors were precisely what the Yangshan Archipelago craved most. At this moment, Fu Shanyue looked like a golden goose in his eyes. Fu Shanyue chuckled. "That's right. Large fleets will be coming over by autumn at the latest." He Lingchuan snapped his fingers at once and called the stall owner over. "Add another dish here: pan-fried crab!" This old friend was as pragmatic as ever. Fu Shanyue smiled at the stall owner and said, "I see two big crabs in the basket, bigger than his face. Fry those two up for me!" Fu Shanyue then retrieved an exquisite scroll case and handed it to He Lingchuan. "Here, for you." "You painted this?" That really would make his jaw drop. Fu Shanyue could paint? "How could that be?" Fu Shanyue took a sip of wine. "Before I departed, Songyang Mansion asked me to pass it on to you." Songyang Mansion? He Lingchuan thanked him and accepted it. The two chatted and laughed, ordering several more rounds of food and drink before finally heading back arm in arm. That evening, Fu Shanyue, Taozi, and the fierce tiger Jiao Yu moved into Zhaowan Hall. He Lingchuan also saw Fu Shanyue's guard contingent. Sure enough, every one of them was a robust, formidable warrior, and several were familiar faces to He Lingchuan. Fu Shanyue thumped his chest resoundingly. "I don't need this many people. If you have any errands, feel free to put them to work!" Staying on Suoding Island was safe enough, and later he would be cultivating in the yin fiend energy anyway, leaving these men idle. All of them were elites; leaving them sitting around would be a waste. On the boat ride back to Centipede Island, He Lingchuan began scheming how best to utilize these men. He also understood that one of Fu Shanyue's purposes—or rather, missions—in coming here was to gather intelligence on the Yangshan Archipelago. Only if his hundred-plus men joined He Lingchuan's army and operations would the information they gathered be genuine and comprehensive. This was an open secret, and He Lingchuan didn't mind. Everything was a matter of weighing pros and cons. As long as the benefits outweighed the drawbacks, what reason did he have to turn them away? Yet as he calculated, he suddenly burst into hearty laughter. The laughter rippled out from the bow of the ship, echoing far across the sea. Even the yin hui in the water poked their heads out to see who was laughing so audaciously.