"I had a feeling... Mr. Mai didn't seem very pleased back then."
Having said all this in one breath, Wan Song grew fatigued. After resting for a moment, he continued, "We usually operated in the countryside to avoid drawing attention. That was our first time entering a major city. Mr. Mai summoned the snail-toad inside a grand manor, hid those four people inside it, and whisked them away underground."
"He specifically used the snail-toad to smuggle people out of Baishaqu?"
Wan Song nodded.
"What was the situation in the city at the time?"
"I don't know. The moment I received them, I left. I didn't linger, nor did I pay attention. But while I was inside the manor, I heard a lot of footsteps out on the street."
He paused briefly. "Later, I drove the snail-toad and dropped them off seventy li west of Baishaqu, then turned back."
With He Lingchuan leading the questioning, General Ling had been listening by his side. Now, the goat general could no longer hold back: "You at least remember the location of that grand manor, don't you?"
"Of course I do. It's in the northwest corner of Baishaqu. There are two streams there, and the soil underground is soggy, so the snail-toad even made a special effort to avoid the water." Wan Song recalled, "The small courtyard in the manor where I surfaced with the snail-toad went by the name 'Lanting.'"
"The snail-toad loved eating the soil in that courtyard, but Mr. Mai told it never to go near it again."
He Lingchuan asked him, "How do you summon the snail-toad?"
The snail-toad normally burrowed through the earth without a trace, so this crew had to have had a set method for contacting it.
Wan Song cast a sideways glance at him. "After today's battle, it won't answer my summons. You can put that out of your mind."
"That's my concern," He Lingchuan replied mildly. "Just tell me."
Wan Song drew a breath. "Take a snail-toad egg and crush it hard. As long as it isn't far away, it will sense it."
"Crush it? Really?"
"Really."
He Lingchuan looked skeptical. "Why does that sound to me like making an enemy, not a summons?"
He crossed his legs and said earnestly to Wan Song, "You can't tell only half the story, or your kid will only have half a body left."
The dull, numb expression faded from Wan Song's face, giving way to a hint of helplessness.
"If it's me or Mr. Mai summoning it, it will come to take orders. If a stranger does it, that makes an enemy—it will lie in wait nearby, looking for an opportunity to attack."
"When you say 'not far away,' what distance do you mean?"
"Within thirty or forty li, probably."
He Lingchuan held out his hand. "Where are the eggs? Hand them over."
"In the pendant." Wan Song didn't even have the strength to lift his hand, able only to let the young man take his necklace.
Sure enough, inside it He Lingchuan found a jar of damp earth, buried in which were seven or eight white spheres. Each was about the size of a ping-pong ball, soft, smooth, and springy to the touch.
"After the snail-toad fled, where would it likely go?"
"To find its... its master, of course. None of us are; only Mr. Mai..."
"Describe Mr. Mai."
"Mr. Mai is pretty tall, with a build similar to yours. He doesn't say much ordinarily and doesn't seek us out unless something comes up. Wherever he goes, he wears a blood-jade thumb ri—"
Wan Song was already at the end of his rope, and having strained with his remaining life to speak for so long, the exhaustion of his spirit and breath could no longer be concealed. He mumbled a few more words, but no one could make them out.
He Lingchuan pressed, "A blood-jade thumb ring?"
Was it the thumb ring hidden in the painted jar alongside the pulp beads?
"Yes... yes..."
After that, Wan Song's breathing grew fainter and fainter, until it ceased entirely.
General Ling grumbled indignantly, "A villain of the foulest atrocities, yet he gets to die so peacefully!"
The matter of Wan Song's remains would naturally be handled by the bailiffs. He Lingchuan stood up and headed straight out.
Once outside, General Ling was still glaring. "Scum like this doesn't deserve to leave behind an heir! If you hadn't already sworn an oath, I would really... really want to..."
He pawed his hooves forcefully against the ground.
He Lingchuan laughed. "He never had an heir to begin with. You can cool your temper now."
"Eh?" General Ling's anger deflated in an instant. "But wasn't he just... Wait, was that woman's pregnancy fake?"
Jiao Yu mocked the old goat, "Only just realized?"
He Lingchuan walked toward the back of the hall. Qinggu still lay here in a deep slumber, the slit in her clothes still visible.
Reaching inside, he pulled—and peeled Qinggu's belly right off!
No matter that General Ling had killed countless foes, seeing this still gave him quite a fright.
Yet he quickly noticed that the peeled-off human skin immediately changed color, scale-like dark patterns surfacing across its texture.
The hide was actually quite large; going by area alone, there was no way it could be Qinggu's human skin. "Is this python hide or snake skin?"
He Lingchuan shrugged, taking a cloth to wipe away the bloodstains on the hide.
This was naturally Lord Boshan's camouflage hide. It could blend seamlessly with its surroundings, and when tied across Qinggu's torso, it naturally mimicked Qinggu's body.
Lord Boshan had been an accomplished demon powerhouse in life; how could an ordinary dagger pierce his hide?
Thus, Qinggu hadn't been injured at all.
As for the dripping blood, He Lingchuan had previously hidden a small blood pouch in Qinggu's navel; when he made his move, he had merely punctured the blood pouch first, naturally producing a vivid visual effect.
In fact, right after plunging the dagger in, He Lingchuan had ordered Qinggu wheeled out.
It was only that Wan Song was in excruciating pain and his mind was far less lucid than usual, so he failed to spot the flaw.
Seeing the blood pouch and mulling it over, General Ling realized what had happened and couldn't help grumbling, "What would have been the harm in actually stabbing her? Why go to all this trouble?"
He Lingchuan smiled without explaining. He placed an ingot of silver beside Qinggu as compensation for assisting the investigation, then said to the doctor, "All right, once you wake her, let her go."
General Ling was accustomed to ruling like a tyrant in these parts; why would he care about the life of a commoner? Their standpoints and backgrounds were entirely different, so there was no need to debate such topics.
By the time they left the clinic, the sky was fully bright.
He Lingchuan said to General Ling, "The culprit who murdered the wind-boring beast is dead. Does this outcome satisfy you, General?"
General Ling nodded. "Much obliged to you!"
"Do you plan to set off eastward now, General? The time limit is nearly up."
General Ling looked slightly startled. He glanced at him, thought for a moment, and said, "You rascal, just speak plainly. Are you trying to back out of investigating further?"
His way of addressing He Lingchuan had changed; two days ago, he had respectfully called him "Special Envoy."
This was not disrespect, but growing familiarity.
"You two have both heard of elixirs of immortality, haven't you?" He Lingchuan had observed Jiao Yu and General Ling earlier. Although demonic facial expressions were not as supple as those of humans, when Wan Song had uttered the words "elixir of immortality," the tip of the tiger's tail had twitched, while the old goat had shaken his head twice.
Both demons were silent for a moment before nodding. "We have."
General Ling added, "There are people in the Chiyan Kingdom who take them as well."
"At this stage, the case is no longer simple." He Lingchuan asked General Ling, "Do you still want to pursue it downward... or rather, upward?"
General Ling hesitated—a rare sight for him—before saying, "I ought to head east, but the mastermind who murdered my kinsman hasn't been caught yet. Baishaqu is right within Chiyan's borders. At the very least, Mr. Mai and his superior must be apprehended!"
He Lingchuan looked at Jiao Yu. The tiger licked his paw. "Within Chiyan's borders, we have the authority to make arrests."
This meant pursuing the investigation to the end, which matched the temperament of Chiyan's future ruler. He Lingchuan sighed; Fu Shanyue's payment was truly not easy to earn.
General Ling looked up at the sky and let out a long sigh: "In the end, that snail-toad still managed to escape! Otherwise, finding it would have meant finding Mr. Mai."
Just then, the bailiff Xu Dayou came jogging up, beaming. "Special Envoy, Wan Xianneng and Laiwen have both been locked in the township jail. The County Magistrate would like to ask if you have any further instructions."
He Lingchuan waved his hand. "Nothing more. Both suspects are key witnesses. Have the county dispatch men to escort them to the capital."
Xu Dayou voiced his assent and departed.
He Lingchuan consoled the old goat, "Mr. Mai might very well be in Baishaqu too."
His desire to track down Mr. Mai was no less intense than General Ling's.
General Ling said regretfully, "A pity I must leave. I can no longer accompany you to hunt down the culprits."
He Lingchuan smiled. "Just await the good news, General."
General Ling turned his head, took out a bell from who-knew-where with his teeth, and offered it to him. "This is a wind-boring bell. Put it on that rock sheep of yours. I noticed it's quite fast, but its attack is far too weak. This bell can transform it into a wind-boring beast for twelve breaths, granting it the strength of my race and a three-strike combo. Of course, the bell needs to recharge wind energy for a full day before it can take effect, and it can only be used by caprine demons."
He Lingchuan hadn't expected such an unexpected boon. He accepted it graciously and immediately turned around to tie it onto the rock sheep.
"I can't make it to Baishaqu, but I have an old friend of many years there. He held official posts in both the Chiyan Kingdom and Lingxu City before retiring last winter. In Baishaqu, he enjoys high prestige and extensive connections, so he might be of assistance to you." General Ling paused, then added, "The fellow looks a bit greasy—pah, slick on the outside—but he actually has a bit of backbone. In matters of importance, he can be trusted. Otherwise, why would I have stayed friends with him for so long?"
He produced a palm-sized pink gem and handed it to He Lingchuan. "That fellow loves curious stones, and I promised to gift him a pink cosmetic stone. Take this as my token of trust and a greeting gift."
He Lingchuan took it and noted down the instructions.
"Until we meet again. I'll seek you out for drinks then." General Ling bid farewell then and there, setting off eastward with his guards.
The past day had been exceptionally long. Even the tiger let out a long breath and asked He Lingchuan, "Where to now?"
He Lingchuan, however, stared lost in thought at General Ling's receding figure, not answering until the tiger repeated the question, only then pulling his gaze back.
The question he had asked General Ling earlier had actually been one he was asking himself.
The case of the missing courier had not been simple from the very start. Investigating up to this point, he could faintly sense that the resistance ahead was growing ever greater.
The strange snail-toad, the elusive Mai Xuewen, the mastermind daring to hunt demons inside a demon kingdom, and the Ruler of Chiyan whose attitude was exceptionally unyielding in demanding a thorough investigation to the bottom...
Was this whole affair merely the tip of the iceberg?
It was still not too late for He Lingchuan to wash his hands of it now. Capturing Wan Song was already enough to account to Fu Shanyue.
Even the old goat had left.
Yet if he backed out midway now, he wouldn't be able to see what lay beneath the surface.
What happened to striking the waters midstream? If he flinched after taking only this small step, how could he ever endure the baptism of torrential storms when the Beijia Demon Kingdom eventually discovered the secret of the Dafang Pot?
The saber art he practiced was Wave Slash.
It was a martial technique, but also a mental discipline.
Without the courage to plunge behind enemy lines, parting waves and chasing swells, how could he grow stronger against stronger foes and soar above the clouds in the days to come?
Chapter 471