It was merely blocked by the protective amulet Wu Kai had prepared.
"He truly cares deeply for you," He Lingchuan said with a chuckle. "I wonder whether he acted personally, or hired a few half-baked curse masters?"
Wu Kai was completely indifferent to his mockery.
He Lingchuan continued, "Still, don't go thinking you're safe. Cen Boqing has a powerful curse master over there named Cheng Yu. Finishing you off from afar wouldn't be difficult for him."
Wu Kai spoke up suddenly, "How do you know Cheng Yu hasn't already acted?"
He Lingchuan thought to himself that Cheng Yu's soul was in hiding and the nightmare couldn't find him anywhere, showing he was in no normal state; it would be a miracle if he could cast any spells at all.
Yet the look on He Lingchuan's face was as if he were staring at a fool. "Nonsense! If Cheng Yu had acted, would you still have your life? Count your blessings."
He picked up a bundle, shook it near Wu Kai's ear until it clattered, and said, "These are all the protective amulets, self-defense magic artifacts, and warding talismans confiscated from you... good and bad, quite a dazzling assortment. Just how many guilty deeds must a man commit to need so many talismans and defensive arrays to protect himself?"
With the tip of his blade, he flicked open Wu Kai's lapel, revealing a large tattoo over his heart.
The guards had discovered it earlier when searching him.
"You even had an array to ward off evil and drive away banes tattooed onto your body." He Lingchuan smiled. "What are you afraid of?"
"Of course, you're wearing runic shackles and can't muster any true power, which means you have no way to activate that array tattoo." He paced a couple of steps beside Wu Kai. "In other words, if Cen Boqing wants to kill you now, it's as easy as turning over his hand."
"How long you live depends entirely on when he casts another spell to take your life. You might not want to sell him out, but his trust in you has long since gone to the dogs. After all, you abandoned your master and fled, pulling a fast one on him." He Lingchuan leaned close to his ear, enunciating every word. "He already knows."
As those last words fell, the corner of Wu Kai's eye twitched.
The reaction was subtle, but it did not escape He Lingchuan's watchful eyes.
"Confess earlier and testify against him sooner, and we might still save your life."
Wu Kai remained silent as a statue.
He Lingchuan lingered in place for a moment before slowly walking out of the cellar.
"Think those few words will work?" Fu Shanyue had been standing by the cellar entrance listening the entire time. Earlier, he had pleaded and reasoned earnestly, but Wu Kai had turned a deaf ear.
What good would empty words do? Wu Kai didn't buy that kind of trick at all.
"Just planting a reminder. This man's willpower is tougher than Cen Boqing's—he won't shed tears until he sees the coffin."
Down in the cellar.
Wu Kai took things in stride. When the bailiffs brought food, he ate; when they brought water, he drank.
Apart from that, he didn't utter a single sound.
Neither Fu Shanyue nor He Lingchuan showed up. While feeding him, a bailiff said, "Another team under your command was captured in Xiaohulu Town in Baiting County. Five of them were taken alive, including Yang Song. The remaining two resisted stubbornly and were killed."
Wu Kai's chewing paused ever so slightly.
Yang Song had been captured?
"This news will soon reach the Cen Estate," the bailiff continued, following He Lingchuan's instructions. "Knowing Cen Boqing as you do, what do you think he will assume?"
Expressionless, Wu Kai stared at the cellar wall opposite him.
***
Having listened to his guard's report, Cen Boqing was drenched in cold sweat.
The reason he had stayed put in the Cen Estate was because he pinned his hopes on Wu Kai successfully getting away. Even though the old servant's abandonment of his master at the crucial moment was dishonorable, it would at least have resolved the crisis facing master and servant.
Yet as prudent and meticulous as Wu Kai was, he had still failed to escape Fu Shanyue's grasp.
This was utterly baffling. The Crown Prince of Chiyan he used to know had never seemed so shrewd.
Not only that, Fu Shanyue had even ordered Commander Lu to cross the border, seize Yang Song, and drag him with great fanfare to the county yamen, where Magistrate Tian convened an open trial!
Hearing that his old superior Wu Kai had already been arrested, Yang cracked under the pressure and quickly confessed everything.
Where they had operated, how they had operated, how many yaoguai they had slaughtered, how many beads they had harvested, how they handed them over to Wu Kai... he laid out the entire process!
Right under the eyes of the entire town.
Reportedly, the town's yaoguai were so enraged they nearly went wild. If the authorities hadn't dispatched extra personnel to hold them back, Yang Song likely would have been torn to shreds on the spot.
Worse still, some yaoguai were beginning to turn their fury toward the Cen Estate.
If it weren't the truth, how could Yang Song have given such detailed testimony?
The estate guards had already intercepted several groups of yaoguai trying to sneak in to murder and commit arson.
Those creatures were ferocious and wild by nature. Given an excuse, they had no regard for the law, nor did they care that he was a dignitary from Lingxu City who had yet to be convicted of any crime.
Some yaoguai had even hurled filth into the estate.
Yet how on earth had Fu Shanyue caught Yang Song?
The sole contact for the six teams was Wu Kai. If he hadn't spoken, who could have found Yang Song?
Today it was Yang Song. Who would be next? Thinking of this, Cen Boqing's heart pounded with terror.
Had Wu Kai confessed and named him as the mastermind?
If he had confessed everything, Fu Shanyue should be storming into the Cen Estate right now in triumph to make arrests.
Did that mean he was still temporarily safe?
Then who had betrayed Yang Song?
Most importantly, how much longer could Wu Kai hold out?
Usually, Cen Boqing conferred with Uncle Wu on everything. Now that Wu Kai was gone, and most of his trusted confidants had been left behind in Lingxu City instead of brought along, anxiety gnawed violently at him.
He had thought this trip to Baishaqu was mere routine business; who could have known Fu Shanyue would latch onto him like a rabid dog, completely catching him off guard?
***
At the residence where the Fan brothers were staying.
Fan Sheng had always been arrogant, yet before this visitor, he kept his eyes lowered and head bowed, not daring to act insolent.
Meanwhile, the giant bear Fan Bao lay obediently on the couch without making a sound, docile as a large hound.
The man sitting opposite him sipping tea was of medium height and build, looking to be in his thirties. He had down-slanting eyes spaced widely apart and a protruding lower jaw—a classic underbite.
With his head hanging low before him, Fan Sheng meticulously reported every step of the two brothers' itinerary in Baishaqu.
Possessing great vitality, the wound on his back had already scabbed over.
Their demeanors looked just like a parent and a child who had misbehaved.
The visitor listened attentively, occasionally interrupting him.
"You came to Baishaqu only to repay Zhongsun Mou's favor?" Facing Fan Sheng, his expression was blank. "A favor your elder brother owed the Zhongsun family? You didn't meddle in Zhongsun Mou's other affairs?"
"It is absolutely true, Emissary Bai, as heaven is my witness!" Fan Sheng nodded and pointed one finger to the sky. "This subordinate can swear upon Holy Venerable Lingxu!"
The man before his eyes was none other than the special emissary dispatched from Lingxu City, Bai Ziqi.
"What specifically did Zhongsun Mou want you to do?"
"To guard Cheng Yu, the curse master he hired," Fan Sheng replied. "He said this curse master could use magic to track down Fu Songhua's whereabouts. But after midnight, Cheng Yu coughed up blood, claimed his spell had been broken and that enemies were likely pursuing, and then he slipped away."
"I stayed behind and fought a battle with He Xiao, the Chiyan Crown Prince's special envoy."
"He Xiao broke Cheng Yu's curse? And broke it so cleanly and thoroughly, or else Cheng Yu wouldn't have suffered a backlash and spat blood." Emissary Bai twirled his teacup. "How did he break it?"
Fan Sheng shook his head. "I don't know."
"Do you know who Cheng Yu is?"
Fan Sheng answered honestly, "I've heard of him, but not in much detail."
"His secret arts could even curse the ruler of the Mang Kingdom to death. For this He Xiao to be ambushed yet still counter him shows he is on a remarkably high level." Emissary Bai mused, "Only seventeen years old... hmm, far too young."
"Against someone like that, you actually thought of making a wager with him at the Lotus Palace?"
At the mention of that fight, Fan Sheng looked embarrassed. "When he teamed up with that tiger, they couldn't beat me. I thought that once we entered the Lotus Palace, I was certain to defeat him."
"And yet you didn't." Emissary Bai knew Fan Sheng was not truly someone blind to danger or ignorant of relative strength; otherwise, even with his brother's protection, he could never have lasted in the Tongxin Guard for long. With a grave expression, he said, "You opened with a sneak attack, only to be defeated by him instead. I want you to recall that battle in the Lotus Palace carefully: weren't his preparations far more thorough than yours?"
Fan Sheng had been brooding over that fight again and again, so without needing to reconstruct it in his mind, he nodded. "Yes!"
"Thinking back now, his rhythm and strategy in the Lotus Palace far surpassed our clash at the inn a few days prior." Hesitating briefly, Fan Sheng added, "It could also be because back at the inn, I didn't fight to kill, and he didn't bring out his trump cards either."
"Still, he most likely anticipated your attack." Emissary Bai's eyes shifted thoughtfully. "What about before that? Was the wager between him and Zhongsun Mou proposed on his own initiative?"
"Yes!" Fan Sheng answered without hesitation. "He was the one who took the initiative to propose it to Zhongsun Mou."
"Relate that process in detail."
Having heard Fan Sheng's account, Bai Ziqi mused, "They changed the stakes once..."
Fan Sheng asked in a low voice, "Does Emissary Bai suspect he murdered Zhongsun Mou?"
Bai Ziqi looked up and asked him, "What about you?"
"I suspected it as well. After all, there was bad blood between him and Zhongsun Mou, and at the time, Zhongsun Mou was on the verge of finding Fu Songhua. Yet once Zhongsun Mou died, Fu Songhua was openly kept in Baishaqu. But—"
"But when Zhongsun Mou was killed, he was in the Lotus Palace with you, and you were the eyewitness."
"Yes, exactly." Fan Sheng felt rather sullen.
"Unless he could predict when Mai Xuewen would launch a surprise attack on Zhongsun Mou," Bai Ziqi said slowly. "In Crown Prince Yue's submitted report of the case, I saw that Mai Xuewen had sent both He Xiao and Zhongsun Mou a copy of the former emperor's personal notes, Records of Reverence for the Gods."
Fan Sheng's eyes lit up. "Could they have made contact with Mai Xuewen back then?"
"Judging from the existing evidence, Mai Xuewen went to great lengths laying out threads to guide He Xiao and Zhongsun Mou into moving against his superiors, not even hesitating to expose himself. It's just that He Xiao followed his leads down the trail, while Zhongsun Mou refused to buy into his game," Bai Ziqi analyzed. "In that case, one cannot rule out that Mai Xuewen continued feeding He Xiao more clues later on, while turning his sights toward dealing with Zhongsun Mou."
"Because if Zhongsun Mou had escorted Fu Songhua back to Lingxu City, the final resolution of the case would very likely not have gone the way Mai Xuewen desired." He shook his head. "After scheming for so long, Mai Xuewen would never accept coming away empty-handed."
"Then that man named He, or even the Crown Prince of Chiyan, might be involved?"
Bai Ziqi asked him, "Did you say earlier that Fu Shanyue arrived on the very day Zhongsun Mou was killed?"
"Indeed, mere hours apart," Fan Sheng said in a deep voice. "Cen Boqing had just returned to his estate from Chaohu Pagoda and packed his bags to leave, only to have Fu Shanyue personally lead men to bar his door."
"Arrived so promptly." Bai Ziqi smiled. "After not seeing him for a few years, Crown Prince Yue has truly improved."
Fan Sheng's eyes glinted. "Emissary Bai, just say the word, and I shall do as you bid!"
Chapter 520