After two caws, there was a brief pause, followed by two more.
Naturally, there was no answer from inside the inn.
And so, the sounds outside ceased as well.
These fellows were quite cautious. He Lingchuan exhaled softly, knowing there was a ninety-percent chance they would back down. Since the crow hadn't flown back out, it meant something unexpected had happened inside the inn, and they might not strike after all.
Consider them smart. Otherwise, Fusheng would have been waiting to serve them.
He Lingchuan did not give chase. With the Jeweled Tree King's birthday jubilee right around the corner, Fufeng City had imposed a temporary curfew for these two days.
Stirring up trouble right now wouldn't be worth it.
Sure enough, about a dozen breaths later, a flurry of sharp whistles shrilled from the street, followed by what sounded like a bailiff shouting, "Who goes there? Halt!"
Roars of beasts accompanied the cries.
It seemed the bailiffs weren't just humans. Those fellows were going to have their hands full.
The commotion faded in the distance as pursuers and quarry fled farther away.
Quiet returned to the street.
***
After daybreak, at another inn some two hundred zhang away.
Someone tiptoed into a guest room. A lamp was still lit, and Fu Shan sat before the window.
"Any news?"
"Yes. The target has already moved into Willow Residence, an official manor specially arranged by Fufeng City for foreign envoys."
The subordinate muttered hesitantly, "The others have been positioned."
"Call everyone back. Security in Fufeng City is too tight; we won't make our move here." Fu Shan revised the plan. "However, we still need to confirm the thing's whereabouts first."
In just a few days, the various disturbances in Fufeng City sparked by the Emperor's Flowing Dew had been reined in, gradually restoring order.
Shuttered shops reopened one after another, and pedestrians multiplied in the streets.
All trades and crafts regained their vitality, and the bustle of horses and carriages returned.
The monsters and people who had become casualties could speak no more and were gradually forgotten. No matter what had happened, life had to go on.
Besides, the commoners of Beijia Kingdom knew very well that compared to the displaced and war-torn civilians of smaller nations, their lives were already a blessing.
By this time, Sha Xinghai had led his contingent back to Fufeng City. Without even changing his clothes, he came directly to report to his father:
"The missing deputy envoy from Eling Kingdom has been found. His remains were discovered beneath a large tree on the west bank of Three Hearts Lake. The nearby monsters claim they didn't see the killer."
Grand Preceptor Sha's brow furrowed into an almost unbreakable knot. "Eling Kingdom has been peaceful for over a decade, keeping friendly relations with its neighbors. I haven't heard of any recent rifts."
"Could it be a personal grudge rather than a national feud?" Sha Xinghai said with a troubled look. "I hear this deputy envoy is the son of General Yinshan. His cultivation was decent, and he had an extensive retinue. General Yinshan has a ferocious temper. Once this news reaches his ears, how could he let it rest?"
"Whenever the Emperor's Flowing Dew appears in the world, bizarre incidents always crop up in droves. Over a dozen monsters across foreign delegations have been wounded or gone missing, not just General Yinshan's son." Grand Preceptor Sha also had a bit of a headache. "Just now I went to report to our King. In fact, on the night the Emperor's Flowing Dew erupted, His Majesty exerted divine powers to monitor events both large and small within the city and the immediate suburbs. A few incidents even involved delegations jumping into the fray of their own accord. What sort of mess is this?"
Formidable as the Jeweled Tree King's divine powers were, they had a limited range. He could only monitor his immediate surroundings and had no way of reaching as far as Three Hearts Lake.
Such a feat was the domain of ancient demon immortals; modern men could only look on in vain longing.
"Our King's birthday jubilee takes place tomorrow. The curfew remains in effect tonight, and patrols throughout the city will be reinforced."
After Sha Xinghai withdrew, Grand Preceptor Sha pondered for a moment and asked Wu Jinsong, who stood by his side:
"You reported yesterday that He Xiao was collecting Emperor's Flowing Dew over a hundred li northeast of the city?"
"Yes." Wu Jinsong had always admired how the Grand Preceptor, despite handling thousands of affairs every day, could still remember minor matters with such clarity.
"That's not far from the Three Hearts Plain. He returned late; perhaps he saw something. Go and sound him out."
Wu Jinsong bought some drinking snacks along the way before heading off to find He Lingchuan.
Arriving at the inn, he knocked on the door, but no one answered. Instead, a cat's head poked down from the eaves:
"Who are you looking for?"
"He Xiao."
The black cat asked again, "What is your surname?"
"Wu. I come from the Grand Preceptor's Manor."
The black cat leaped onto his shoulder, leaned close to his ear, and whispered, "The master left word. Go find him at the Songhe Restaurant."
Understanding the hint, Wu Jinsong left the inn and doubled back toward Songhe Restaurant on East Street.
The restaurant sat roughly four hundred paces from the Grand Preceptor's Manor—neither too far nor too close. Consequently, prices there were neither too high nor too low, just right.
Wu Jinsong and the other guards often frequented the place for drinks.
He walked in with practiced familiarity and asked for a guest named He. The waiter did not lead him to a private booth, but instead guided him to the guest rooms in the rear courtyard and knocked on one of the doors:
"Young Master, you have a visitor."
He Lingchuan sat inside, wine already set upon the table.
Wu Jinsong came in, sat right down, and asked, "Why did you move here?"
"I took a room here so it'd be convenient to drink the whole night through with Brother Wu."
Behind Songhe Restaurant were guest rooms. Even during a curfew, patrons staying in the back could still drink in the front building. As long as they didn't wander aimlessly into the streets, the authorities paid them no mind. The only catch was that the rooms here were slightly more expensive than at He Lingchuan's previous inn—about double the price.
Wu Jinsong set down the dishes he carried. "I brought some food to add to your table."
He never cared about curfews; on any given night, he could run around wherever he pleased.
Wu Jinsong took it as a matter of course, and He Lingchuan found nothing unusual in it, so neither brought it up.
He Lingchuan asked the waiter for a few plates and personally emptied the appetizers Wu Jinsong had brought onto them. The two toasted each other with a cup of wine. Seeing one particular dish, He Lingchuan's eyes lit up, and he reached out to peel one.
Wu Jinsong gave him a thumbs-up. "Brother He really knows his food! I've introduced plenty of people to this, and they didn't dare touch it."
Among the snacks he brought, the spiced beef had a rich, savory aroma and fine knife-work, each slice veined with translucent, glistening tendon; the river snails were stir-fried to a glossy sheen, bursting with spicy fragrance. Yet the first thing He Lingchuan picked up was a pickled, spiced feathered egg.
With this delicacy, those who feared it truly feared it, and those who loved it truly loved it.
He Lingchuan ate as he asked, "What brings Brother Wu here?"
"Didn't I say yesterday? To drink with you today." Wu Jinsong thought to himself that the lad obviously knew he was coming, even hiring a cat guard to relay the message.
He Lingchuan filled his cup. "Nothing else?" They had agreed to drink tonight, yet Wu Jinsong had shown up before noon.
"What else could there be?"
"Then tonight, we only drink—no business talk."
Wu Jinsong was slightly taken aback and cleared his throat. "Cultivation doesn't count as official business, does it?"
He Lingchuan looked entirely unruffled. "All right, if you want to ask, just ask. But first, tell me: what happened this time?"
*This kid.* Wu Jinsong had no choice. He had come to sound the other out, only to be turned inside out himself first. "It's still about what happened at Three Hearts Plain on the night of the Emperor's Flowing Dew."
"Oh?" He Lingchuan asked. "Who died this time?"
With a curfew tonight and the Jeweled Tree King's jubilee right at hand, would Wu Jinsong pick this moment to visit if there weren't serious business?
Even though He Lingchuan had saved the man's life, he knew exactly how much weight their friendship actually carried.
"The deputy envoy of Eling Kingdom," Wu Jinsong said. "The Eling delegation reported it two days ago. They ran into the Emperor's Flowing Dew while passing through Three Hearts Plain, and their deputy envoy got separated and went missing. Young Master Sha led men to search the plain and finally discovered the deputy envoy's remains beside Three Hearts Lake. Though beasts and birds had gnawed away part of it, it was still identifiable."
He Lingchuan knew what had happened. "What kind of monster was this deputy envoy?"
Now that Fufeng City had also discovered the Eling deputy envoy's remains, things were much simpler.
"A Yinshan python." Wu Jinsong shook his head. "He was also the son of General Yinshan of Eling Kingdom. He was forty years old, just about to reach adulthood. Supposedly, General Yinshan sent him along with the delegation to gain experience, never expecting such a tragedy. The delegation asked the Grand Preceptor to investigate whether any of General Yinshan's rivals had come to Fufeng City."
"Oh? The Grand Preceptor also thinks it was an assassination motivated by revenge?"
"It's hard to say right now, except that all the flesh and blood were drained from his body. If not a vendetta, who would use such ruthless methods?" Wu Jinsong said solemnly. "Foreign and domestic affairs in Fufeng City have been in utter disarray these two days. If you noticed anything, Brother He, please let me know."
He Lingchuan pondered for a moment before asking, "This Yinshan python you mentioned—was it a large grayish-white serpent with fine black patterns on its scales?"
Wu Jinsong gave a start. "Yes, yes, exactly! You saw it?"
"That night, a crow brought word that a massive amount of Emperor's Flowing Dew had appeared by the lake. I rushed over and saw swarms of monsters and warriors locked in slaughter along the shore. The fighting was gruesome. In the end, the two victorious laozhi were about to scavenge the spoils when a dozen or so people frightened them off. The Eling deputy envoy you spoke of—that Yinshan python—crept up on their leader, intending to launch a surprise attack, but the leader instantly detected his true form, and they surrounded and butchered him."
Wu Jinsong stared in astonishment. "What? The Eling deputy envoy went to snatch Emperor's Flowing Dew and was killed for it?"
Was the cause of death that simple? Perishing for the Emperor's Flowing Dew just like any other monster?
"Didn't you say several delegations suffered casualties from getting dragged into disputes over the dew?" Monsters were monsters; being diplomatic envoys didn't make them any more restrained.
He Lingchuan shrugged. "I also heard those people say they killed the wrong target."
"Killed..." Wu Jinsong was dumbstruck. "Killed the wrong target? Who were they trying to kill in the first place?"
The Yinshan python had died for nothing?
"I have no idea."
A chill gripped Wu Jinsong's heart.
Those people had actually botched the target? Which meant they would strike again!
He Lingchuan added, "The Yinshan python probably looked very similar to their intended target, which is why they mistook him, right?"
In other words, their target was also a serpent?
"The culprits who killed the envoy—you saw them yesterday too."
"Eh?" Wu Jinsong started, his thoughts whirling through several turns. "You mean those people at the inn yesterday? Good grief, why didn't you speak up sooner!"
He Lingchuan picked up a slice of spiced beef with his chopsticks and chewed slowly.
*Mmm, tender with good chew, deeply flavorful. Truly an appetizer from an old, established shop.*
"On the night the Emperor's Flowing Dew erupted, monsters and warriors dropped dead in dozens along the shore of Three Hearts Lake. It was nothing out of the ordinary. If you hadn't mentioned this Yinshan python, how would I know he held such status?" That night, not only were human lives treated like weeds, but monsters died like scattered dust. Afterward, who was there to care?
"The man leading them called himself Fu Shan. Last night, he crept around the inn—presumably hoping to silence me for good."
Chapter 385