What Was Bound to Come

Zhongsun Mou immediately said to Fan Sheng, "Don't fret, Brother Fan. I'll handle this myself." He Lingchuan smiled. "Let's get one thing straight first: I don't accept jiaoren pearls. You can produce those yourself—as many as you could ever want." The old lore of jiaoren weeping tears that turned into pearls became blatant mockery in this context. Zhongsun Mou shot him a cold, venomous glare. What he produced, however, was not a magic artifact, but a thick stack of banknotes. "Fifty thousand taels of silver." The smallest denomination in the stack was three thousand, while the largest was ten thousand. The moment he slapped the banknotes onto the table, the noisy Chaohu Pagoda instantly fell deathly silent. A single wager of fifty thousand taels? This was an unprecedented, record-breaking bet for the Baishaqu Lotus Fragrance Festival. "Your turn." Zhongsun Mou waited leisurely, eager to see how He Lingchuan would respond. "If you can't produce the silver, offering up that round shield of yours works as well." "My shield?" He Lingchuan froze for a second. This fellow actually had his eye on the soul-snatching mirror? True enough, he had frequently used the mirror recently to detect divine abilities and mechanisms. Meanwhile, the mirror screamed in his ear, "No! Absolutely not! I hate being soaked in water!" Zhongsun Mou was a jiaoren, spending at least half his life submerged in water. It was a mirror; it despised rust! Of course, only He Lingchuan could hear its cries. He reached into his robes, stroking the mirror for a long moment, a conflicted look on his face. Seeing his visible distress, Zhongsun Mou sneered inwardly. A penniless bumpkin from out of town thinking he could lord it over others just by brandishing Fu Shanyue's medallion? A single move would reduce him right back to his true colors. Yet, in the end, He Lingchuan still drew out the mirror and held it forward. "You mean this?" Zhongsun Mou took it naturally and examined it closely. The mirror's surface was bright enough to reflect a clear image, and its craftsmanship was ancient and unadorned—distinctly not an artifact of the current era. It felt somewhat damp as well; had it been soaked in this fellow's sweat? With a look of disgust, Zhongsun Mou wiped it twice against his trouser leg. "Yes..." In truth, holding the mirror made him reluctant to let go. But after he had turned it over merely twice, He Lingchuan snatched it right back. Standing behind Zhongsun Mou, Fan Sheng was blocked and unable to intervene in time. "Forget it. This treasure is worth far too much. Stacking three more piles of fifty thousand wouldn't be enough to match it!" He Lingchuan reneged on the spot, then rummaged in his robes for quite a while longer. Zhongsun Mou rested his hands behind his back and sneered. "If you can't afford the wager, then drop it. I won't force anyone against their will." Cen Boqing chuckled as well. "Lord Envoy, shall I lend you a bit first?" The surrounding nobles and dignitaries watching the spectacle also pointed and whispered among themselves. Within the pagoda were prominent figures from Lingxu City as well as venerable gentry of the Chiyan Kingdom. With differing stances and backgrounds, the looks they directed at He Lingchuan were thoroughly mixed. Those from Lingxu City echoed Cen Boqing, acting as though no one else mattered; the people of Chiyan, on the other hand, wore worried expressions, privately blaming He Lingchuan for starting trouble he couldn't finish. Fifty thousand taels. Even in a gathering of such wealth and nobility, who carried fifty thousand taels on their person when stepping out for leisure? That was fifty million copper coins! Unable to watch any longer, Xiang Yan cleared his throat, preparing to speak. But He Lingchuan waved a hand and finally pulled three fist-sized, deep crimson profound crystals from his chest! He even looked as though he had breathed a sigh of relief. "I have too much stuff on me; it took forever to dig out these few small ones. They're worth around eighty thousand taels, but I'll value them at fifty thousand to match your wager." The buzzing chatter all around ceased abruptly. Jiao Yu peeled back its lips; without a sound, no one could tell the tiger was grinning. Commander Lu, however, directly gave a thumbs-up. "Lord Envoy!" He Lingchuan set the profound crystals on the table and addressed the County Magistrate of Baishaqu, "Magistrate Tian, if you please, serve as our witness." Magistrate Tian nodded like a pestle pounding garlic. "Of course, of course! Rest assured!" With hard currency like profound crystals on the table, even Zhongsun Mou was left speechless. With both wagers placed upon the tabletop, Magistrate Tian immediately ordered his men to guard the perimeter, forbidding anyone from drawing near. Every Lotus Fragrance Festival saw prominent figures flaunting their wealth, but none could hold a candle to this year, where each participant outdid the other in sheer extravagance. With the bets locked in, He Lingchuan walked over and exchanged a few brief words with Jiao Yu and Commander Lu. Then, he leaped straight off the tall pagoda and plunged into the water. Everyone watched as he splashed across the lake with a couple of strokes, commandeered a horse from an official on the shore, and galloped all the way toward the pebble beach. He looked down and whispered to the divine bone necklace, "It's all on you now. Put your back into it in a bit." Those profound crystals were the advance pay Fu Shanyue had given him. The divine bone necklace naturally gave no response whatsoever, but He Lingchuan took it as though it had heard him. Aboard Skiff Ninety-Seven sat two of Commander Lu's subordinates. Hearing He Lingchuan explain his intent, one of them promptly leaped into the water, ceding his spot. Originally, the tiger Jiao Yu had wanted to join the fun as well, but tiger paws were ill-suited for rowing a boat, and its substantial weight would drag down their speed. It had no choice but to stay in the pagoda and watch from afar. Turning around, however, the tiger noticed Zhongsun Mou whispering something to Fan Sheng before the two went over to Cen Boqing together. What kind of mischief were these three cooking up now? It sensed trouble brewing. Sure enough, Fan Sheng immediately approached Magistrate Tian, pointed at the six or seven men behind him, and said, "We're participating in the tally-plucking race as well." Magistrate Tian froze. "Y-You... all of you intend to join?" Fan Sheng stated arrogantly, "Yes. Is that not allowed?" "Er, b-but..." Magistrate Tian stammered. Each racing skiff carried only two men; if these seven or eight men entered together, four additional boats would have to be added. Everyone in and around the pagoda had already placed their bets. Making last-minute adjustments to the roster would provoke widespread outrage. When that time came, the resentment wouldn't fall on Fan Sheng, but on him, the magistrate. Besides, Magistrate Tian was no fool. He could tell at a glance that their entry was aimed entirely at the Crown Prince's special envoy. To gang up on someone and openly plot against the Crown Prince's envoy on Chiyan territory was to treat Chiyan with total contempt. "The envoy called it," the tiger growled, stepping on Commander Lu's foot. "Step in!" Commander Lu immediately shoved his way into the crowd and shouted, "Magistrate Tian, thirty men from my side wish to join as well!" "Thir—" Magistrate Tian was inwardly thrilled, yet forced an expression of utter shock onto his face. "Goodness, that would require another fifteen boats! Furthermore, where could we requisition so many vessels on such short notice?" In truth, over a hundred small skiffs were officially participating in the Lotus Fragrance Festival, with another dozen or so held in reserve. Baishaqu was a land of fish and rice; claiming there were no boats was a joke, though requisitioning them would take a little time. Yet as the host, if Magistrate Tian firmly insisted there were none, what could anyone say? Commander Lu chuckled coldly. "I don't care about that. We want in too." Why should Fan Sheng and his men get to go while he couldn't? The distinguished guests in the rear broke into hurried discussions. In all the past iterations of the Lotus Fragrance Festival, nothing like this had ever occurred. In the end, Xiang Yan stepped forward and said, "Gentlemen, this event is meant solely for auspicious celebration. If both of you enter, won't you frighten all the other teams half to death?" Another guest from Lingxu City chimed in, "It's best to leave things as they were. Let's not invite unnecessary complications!" "Indeed, stop wasting time, will you? Let's get started already!" None of the people permitted in the pagoda were fools; anyone could see both sides were planning an armed brawl inside the Lotus Palace. It sounded thrilling, but the Lotus Palace was far away and the walls of lotus leaves were high—the onlookers here wouldn't be able to see a thing. If they couldn't see it, it had nothing to do with them. Besides, all the wagers had already been placed. Who would be happy with new variables tossed in at the eleventh hour? Wasn't this just an opening ceremony event? Keep it simple; why make it so complicated? The complaints of the guests had erupted early, leaving Magistrate Tian overjoyed inside. Fan Sheng exchanged a few quiet words with Cen Boqing, who then gave a light cough. "Adding extra boats at the last minute is indeed improper. How about this: the original number of boats remains unchanged. If Lord Fan wishes to join the fun, he can simply swap in for one of my team's men." He looked toward Commander Lu. "Envoy He took the place of one of your men, and Lord Fan will take the place of one of mine. Perfectly fair, wouldn't you agree?" The implication was that each side swapped one man, and Commander Lu was to stay put. Dignitaries surrounded them, impatience written across their faces. Not wanting to stubbornly force a public scene, Commander Lu seized the proffered way out. "Fine. Sounds fine to me." Thus, the final outcome was Fan Sheng heading out alone, without a single guard in tow. He likewise leaped down from the pagoda and rode on horseback toward the lakeshore. That brute wasn't going for the competition; he was going to kill. Jiao Yu the tiger and Commander Lu looked at each other, both seeing the deep concern in the other's eyes. Envoy He had foreseen this before departing, whispering instructions into their ears: *"If they try to form a squad, you jump in too."* With Commander Lu creating a ruckus, the best possible outcome was forcing Fan Sheng to go alone. Yet Fan Sheng was clearly confident in handling Envoy He single-handedly. And he had every right to be; his martial prowess was an entire tier above everyone present, including Jiao Yu and Commander Lu. Last time, when Jiao Yu and Envoy He had teamed up two-on-one, they had still failed to defeat him. Now, with Envoy He having to face Fan Sheng alone, could he succeed? Jiao Yu could only take comfort in the fact that the envoy had entered the race suddenly, catching Cen Boqing and Fan Sheng off guard. It was certain that He Lingchuan had come prepared, while Fan Sheng was rushing into battle on short notice. Hopefully, the Lord Envoy could claw back a bit of an advantage through that preparation. Only after Fan Sheng reached the pebble beach and boarded the Cen clan's skiff did Magistrate Tian finally ring the bell. This time, the chime was unusually rapid and urgent— The signal for the race to begin. A hundred skiffs burst from the shore in fierce competition, shooting like arrows toward the Lotus Palace. He Lingchuan had already washed the mirror and his hands several times in the lake water, yet he still felt unsettled. He poled the boat, pulling rapidly away from the shore. Right then, he heard a familiar tiger's roar, deep and carrying far into the distance. A tiger's roar could travel immense distances; mountain folk were not necessarily frightened upon hearing one, for it might be drifting from a distant peak across the valley. He Lingchuan looked back toward Chaohu Pagoda, knowing this was a signal from Jiao Yu. His expression sank slightly. Fan Sheng truly hadn't passed up this opportunity. What was bound to come had come at last. *** Zhongsun Mou stood beside Cen Boqing, gazing down at the mass of skiffs setting off together, his expression dark and silent. Cen Boqing glanced left and right, ensuring the guards kept everyone else at bay, before lowering his voice. "The inside of the city has been searched; nothing. Outside the city, nine towns and villages have already been checked, with only the last two remaining. I think we're close. We'll have good news by tomorrow or the day after at the latest." He let out a cold sneer. "You submitted an indictment to Lingxu City as well, didn't you? A special envoy of the Chiyan Crown Prince abducting a major felon—now that's quite a spectacle." "I submitted it, but haven't received a reply yet. It would be best if I can find Fu Songhua and deliver him back to fulfill my orders as soon as possible, dead or alive." Whenever Zhongsun Mou thought of Fu Songhua being snatched away, irritation flared within him. He had thought his tough battle would take place in Lingxu City; who could have known that a flawless plan would suffer a setback on its very first step in Baishaqu? This was not a good omen. "That Magistrate Tian is utterly blind to the times as well, outwardly compliant while sabotaging us in secret."