"Something feels off." Julu Port's public security was far worse than Blade Harbor's. By comparison, He Lingchuan felt Superintendent Wu had actually done quite a good job. "Commander Jin suspected it was Bo Kingdom, and it really turned out to be Bo Kingdom. Isn't this case a bit too easy to crack?"
"It's just that the stolen tribute carries weight, not that the case itself is difficult. Not every case is as intricate as the elixir of immortality case. You're overthinking it." Dong Rui took it all in stride. "When Fang Canran assigned you the mission, the case hadn't been solved yet. In a few days, once National Preceptor Wang gets updated intel, he'll probably realize he didn't need an ox-cleaver to kill a chicken."
"Then in your view, when Bo Kingdom stole the Bright Lantern Cup, did they know they were robbing Mou Kingdom's escort team?"
"Uh..." Dong Rui suddenly choked. "Well, maybe they did?"
"Why do you say that?"
"If they didn't know, that would mean they hadn't even done the most basic homework before striking. How could they have stolen the tribute right out of the Shadow Tooth Guard's hands without anyone noticing?" Dong Rui had done plenty of such deeds in the past and knew very well what mattered most.
"Exactly," He Lingchuan nodded. "And what if they did know?"
"If they did know—" Having received He Lingchuan's validation, Dong Rui's thoughts flowed smoothly. "Then so what? This isn't Mou Kingdom's territory. Can their reach extend all the way here?"
"The Bright Lantern Cup has been missing for barely a month, and the second prince of Bo Kingdom has already recovered from his madness. The King of Bo even held nationwide celebrations for three days. Is he afraid Mou Kingdom won't find out, or that they won't get angry enough?" He Lingchuan mused. "His son hasn't been mad for just a day or two. Couldn't he wait a little longer before treating him—at least until the heat from the stolen tribute blew over? Does he lack even that much patience?"
"Maybe he's just thick-headed and genuinely fearless!" Dong Rui shot back. "How many people are like you, always hesitating, looking over their shoulders, and treading on eggshells?"
"In any case, something is weird about this."
Dong Rui scoffed. "Did the Bright Lantern Cup end up in the hands of the Bo royal family or not?"
"Most likely."
"Doesn't that settle it?" Dong Rui maintained his steadfast attitude of 'less trouble is better than more trouble.' "As long as we confirm that, snap, your job is done! Quick and easy!"
It was a great task: little work, high pay, and the only downside was being far from home.
"The method used for the crime is quite intriguing, though," He Lingchuan pondered. "Even the Shadow Tooth Guard couldn't figure out how it was done."
Imperial secret guards were masters of assassination, infiltration, and all manner of sinister, unorthodox arts. That was especially true for the Mou Emperor's Shadow Tooth Guard. Although He Lingchuan had never crossed paths with them before, they surely weren't pushovers.
Yet even the Shadow Tooth Guard hadn't figured out how they had fallen for it. Bo Kingdom's thieving technique had to be remarkably sophisticated.
"Besides, if they could pull off the theft right under the Shadow Tooth Guard's noses, why didn't they silence them on the spot?" Robbery was far easier than theft; it required no finesse. The reason killing witnesses to silence them remained a timeless tactic was that dead men tell no tales—a truth tested and proven throughout history.
As long as they eliminated the escort team on site, Bo Kingdom could have concealed countless details about the incident.
Even if Mou Kingdom later discovered that Bo Kingdom's second prince had recovered from his madness, investigating without surviving eyewitnesses from the escort team would have been an utter nightmare.
Having living witnesses versus having none made for two completely different levels of difficulty. When He Lingchuan took over the missing messenger case in Lingxu City, why hadn't so many Chiyan officials been able to find a single clue beforehand?
Because the messenger—the sole primary party—was gone, and not a single witness could be found.
Yet the people of Bo Kingdom deliberately chose not to kill them.
Dong Rui still thought nothing of it. "Chaotic decision-making is common even in Beijia, let alone Bo Kingdom. Who knows, maybe several factions within their leadership were butting heads, resulting in self-contradictory orders downstream. Just look at the sorry state of Julu Port, and you can tell their governing ability is nothing to write home about."
He Lingchuan glanced sideways at him. "Over this past year and a half, your standards have improved quite a bit." To think he even understood things like multi-headed factional bickering and downstream administrative orders.
Dong Rui gave a huff, though those few technical terms were all he could muster. He promptly switched topics: "By the way, the spiritual energy here is a bit thin. Did you notice?"
He took a deep breath. "Yang... It's still far richer back where we are. I used to think the spiritual energy under heaven was pretty much the same everywhere."
He Lingchuan said dismissively, "The world is vast, and different places vary. All you can say is that their fortune is meager."
Several rounds of spiritual rain had fallen over the past two years, causing spiritual energy levels to soar. Cultivators felt it most acutely, just as fish were most sensitive to changes in water quality.
Yet the spiritual energy environment of Julu Port—well, how should one put it?
He Lingchuan felt it was roughly at the level of the Yangshan Archipelago when he had first taken over.
In the span of over a year, had none of the three or four showers of Emperor's Flowing Dew fallen upon this land?
The world was vast, so the spiritual energy conditions in different regions naturally varied. It depended on the scale of the spiritual rain when it fell, how deeply it penetrated the ground, the local terrain and topography, and whether leylines were present.
In short, Julu Port's spiritual energy level was far below that of the Yangshan Archipelago.
No wonder the local residents looked rather listless.
In places rich in spiritual energy, flora and fauna flourished, crop yields were high, and the land could sustain a larger and healthier population of living beings.
Zhu Daniang had once estimated that if another eighty to a hundred showers of Emperor's Flowing Dew could fall in quick succession, the spiritual energy under heaven would approach the levels of the Middle Antiquity—provided there was little human turmoil and nightmare energy wasn't drawn away in vast quantities by the Tianluo Star.
After strolling around Julu Port, He Lingchuan only had to sense the local spiritual energy to know that their grain production lagged far behind that of the Yangshan Archipelago and Bailie.
Back then, he had truly chosen a wonderful place to settle down—what foresight!
"What do you plan to do now?"
"I'm wondering why the thieves chose to strike at the port." He Lingchuan's mind had not yet left the case. "We originally assumed that after stealing it, they would flee by ship, so striking at the harbor would provide the easiest escape route. Now it seems that wasn't the case."
If the Bright Lantern Cup had been stolen by agents of the host country, it would ultimately be delivered to Bo Kingdom's royal palace. Why would they need to sail out to sea?
Dong Rui considered it. "Maybe because the Shadow Tooth Guard moved faster than they anticipated? If they hadn't struck right then, their targets would have already boarded a ship and left."
"Indeed, blocking the harbor mouth with driftwood was done to detain Jin Bai and his men," He Lingchuan mused. "But that method is rather odd. The authorities of Bo Kingdom could have simply ordered the docks shut down. Any excuse would do—a sea monster passing through the outer harbor, thick fog over the water, or waves too rough—and they could have halted shipping for two days. Why go out of their way to block the channel? Wouldn't clearing it afterward be a headache for themselves?"
"Are you trying to say Bo Kingdom didn't do it? Then whose hands did the Bright Lantern Cup end up in?" Dong Rui's question struck straight to the heart of the matter. "How did Bo Kingdom's second prince suddenly recover from his madness?"
"That's why we have to scrutinize their methods. The method often exposes the intent and reveals the destination." He Lingchuan stroked his chin. "In Mou Kingdom, Jin Bai and his men are formidable Shadow Tooth Guards, but crossing the vast ocean to come here, they can hardly barge into the Bo royal palace, point at the king's nose, call him a thief, and demand he hand over the Heart Lamp."
A mighty dragon cannot crush a local snake.
"If Mou Kingdom hopes to resolve this through diplomatic channels, they must at least produce indisputable evidence."
Otherwise, what would the Mou Emperor write in a formal dispatch to the King of Bo? *You stole my tribute to cure your son?*
Where was the proof? Without it, it was nothing more than slanderous accusation!
The sudden recovery of the King of Bo's second son wasn't proof. That was an unexpected blessing; that was heaven favoring their king.
After wandering around the harbor for a bit, the two left the main thoroughfare and turned into a quieter alley.
The two thugs tailing them perked up and strode after them.
Both sides of the alley were lined with low, earthen-yellow walls, the pavement was uneven, and the graffiti on the walls had faded.
The two men stood at the mouth of the alley peering inside. The taller one suddenly said to the shorter one, "Go on."
The short one shrank his shoulders upon hearing this. As he hesitated, the tall one shoved him from behind, pushing him into the alley. "Remember to bring back those two fat monkeys, too. Plenty of meat on them—they'll smell delicious roasted."
The short thug had no choice but to trudge inside.
After walking several dozen paces, he looked back to make sure the tall one couldn't hear him before muttering several curses under his breath.
Foul and vicious curses.
The alley was empty; the two targets had vanished.
He walked another hundred paces forward, and upon confirming there was nobody in the alley, he returned dejectedly.
"Useless!" The tall one smacked him across the back of the head. "We lost our money too! How are we supposed to explain this back home?"
The short one swallowed his anger, not daring to speak.
Growing somewhat wary, they turned on their heels to leave. "Forget it, let's head back."
Just as they turned around, something dropped from a large scholar tree by the roadside with a *whoosh*, nearly slapping one of them right in the face.
A monkey.
A fat monkey hanging upside down from the tree.
Terrified, the man let out a loud yelp and leapt backward. The monkey bared its teeth and chattered twice at him, as if mocking him.
"You wretched beast!" Flustered and furious, the man was about to throw a punch when a loud *crack* sounded behind him.
He whipped around to see that their previously vanished targets—He Lingchuan and Dong Rui—had somehow appeared right behind them.
He Lingchuan was slamming his partner's head against the wall, which was the source of that crisp sound.
Blood covered the man's face.
Yet the partner hadn't passed out; his eyes merely spun with stars.
"Skull's pretty hard," He Lingchuan muttered, and slammed him against the wall once more.
This time, the partner finally passed out cleanly.
Sensing disaster, the remaining man wheeled around to sprint away.
Who would have guessed that the moment he turned his head, a furry monkey fist filled his vision...
Standing in the alley, Dong Rui complained, "Hey, if you knock them both out, how are we supposed to interrogate them?"
The ghost ape bared its fangs. Those two thugs had just been planning to eat it and Lingguang. If its master hadn't needed them alive, it would have devoured them in a single bite each.
Let's see who ends up eating whom.
From He Lingchuan's shoulder, Lingguang promptly produced a bottle of smelling salts and randomly picked one of the men on the ground.
It chose the tall one and was about to wake him, but He Lingchuan pointed specifically at the short one.
"Switch to that one."
Lingguang held the smelling salts under the short man's nose.
A few breaths later, the small man knocked out by the ghost ape slowly regained consciousness.
The moment he opened his eyes and saw Lingguang, he shrieked and shrank against the base of the wall, sporting a massive black eye over his left socket.
He had certainly done plenty of screaming today.
Chapter 1103