Every profession had its specialization; ordinary cultivators might well have been helpless. What was more, this youth seemed to follow the path of a martial cultivator.
Upon receiving the cloth doll, He Lingchuan did nothing unusual, simply tucking it straight into his lapel as though Bai Ziqi had tossed over a pouch of silver that he casually pocketed.
He even patted it twice.
As a result, Bai Ziqi saw the swarm of stag beetles on the ground grind to a halt.
Every single one froze in place like a sculpture, their antennae not twitching in the slightest.
"Please release your restraint on them," He Lingchuan said. He, too, wanted to know what means Bai Ziqi had used to pin down these erratic insects.
In response, Bai Ziqi took a horsetail whisk from his robe and flicked it lightly toward the swarm on the ground.
A gust of wind swept across. He Lingchuan couldn't shake the feeling that something had been blown away from the stag beetles.
Only then did they take wing in twos and threes, circling around He Lingchuan.
He still couldn't decipher the other man's method.
Fortunately, Bai Ziqi likely hadn't figured out his trick either.
He Lingchuan drew the cloth doll back out of his robes and waved it at the swarm. "Go home. There's nothing fun out here."
With a whoosh, the swarm surged toward him.
To be precise, they surged toward the cloth doll.
How their bulky bodies squeezed through that narrow slit was a mystery, but in roughly a few dozen breaths, not a single stag beetle remained on the scene. All had returned to the nest.
Bai Ziqi couldn't help applauding. "Well done. Intriguing! How did you manage it?"
"Cheng Yu hadn't tamed the beetle king either; he merely used a trick."
"Oh?"
"He controlled the beetle king using an evil spirit he raised," He Lingchuan said with a smile. "Otherwise, bonding with a beetle king doesn't seem like an easy task."
In his Panlong City squad, there was a beast tamer named Old Yu who had said that beasts caught between ordinary animals and demon beasts were the hardest to tame. Once their sapience began to awaken, they became somewhat cunning, yet remained oblivious to the ways of the world.
Among them, the hardest of all were insects.
Because it was virtually impossible to communicate with them effectively.
Cheng Yu had likely run into this very problem, so he had taken a shortcut.
He Lingchuan had been able to subdue the beetle king so quickly by taking a page from his book.
Who told him to possess the soul-snatching mirror? Who told the soul-snatching mirror to keep two evil spirits inside?
The mirror had reaped the evil spirit possessing the beetle king, then sent one of its own lackeys in to take over. The stag beetle king possessed a simple mind with virtually no capacity for deep thought, only a bit of petulant temperament.
Controlling a vessel like this was child's play for the evil spirit in the mirror, and the stag beetle king was swiftly appeased.
He Lingchuan calmly put away the cloth doll. "Thank you for the gift, Emissary Bai."
Bai Ziqi studied him closely for a moment before remarking, "Cheng Yu's defeat at your hands was no injustice."
He Lingchuan could only chuckle.
He could sense that Bai Ziqi had handled the two men with absolute ease, exerting barely any effort at all.
In truth, he would rather have traded the hive doll for the platinum candle; that item seemed far more useful.
However, He Lingchuan figured Bai Ziqi would never agree. After all, it was a treasure of Zhaixing Tower; best not to make a fool of himself asking.
Only then did the bailiffs catch up from behind, clamping runic shackles onto both fugitives.
This manhunt that had stirred the entire city finally reached its end.
Bai Ziqi let out a breath and patted his sleeves. A bailiff led his spirit deer over, inviting the high emissary to mount.
Watching his back as the crowd surrounded and escorted him forward, the corners of He Lingchuan's mouth curled into a faint smile.
The giant serpents manifested by the lamp spirit were indeed formidable.
Bai Ziqi's divine abilities were indeed unexpectedly powerful.
Yet the trick He Lingchuan had just pulled had likewise eluded Bai Ziqi's notice!
The real show was yet to come.
After He Lingchuan returned to Baishaqu and waited for another half an hour, Fu Shanyue finally returned from the north.
"Thank goodness Emissary Bai and you took the western road!" Hearing that Cen Boqing had been captured, Fu Shanyue also let out a long sigh of relief. "If that wretch had slipped away, he would have fled far from Beijia, never to return! Well, where is he?"
"Emissary Bai took him back to the yamen, along with Cheng Yu." Speaking of Cheng Yu, He Lingchuan still felt a lingering sense of unease. "The interrogation hasn't begun yet. Commander Lu has also sent men to guard them. Emissary Bai said he would conduct the trial together with you in the morning."
"Hah, at least he remembered." Before splitting their forces to hunt down the culprits, Fu Shanyue and Bai Ziqi had made a pact: whoever caught Cen Boqing, both must be present to interrogate him.
Having spent half the night covered in grime, everyone was headed back to wash up and change clothes, and Fu Shanyue even called on He Lingchuan to grab a late-night bite.
Just then, a personal guard under Commander Lu rushed over to report:
"Emissary Bai has gone to the yamen. Also, that Cheng Yu you captured has regained consciousness."
He Lingchuan felt a jolt in his chest.
Could Bai Ziqi be after Cheng Yu? What connection could a mere curse master have with the demon-hunting and pearl-extracting case? Why couldn't Bai Ziqi wait even a few hours, insisting on interrogating him right this moment?
The method He Lingchuan had used to defeat Cheng Yu last time was not something he could reveal to outsiders, so his conscience was uneasy.
"Cheng Yu woke up?" When they bound and brought Cheng Yu back, the man had still been unconscious. The strike when the lamp spirit turned into a white fireball and crashed down was devastating, and the Everlasting True Fire also seemed to possess a restraining effect against Cheng Yu's curses.
"He's awake. Barely clinging to life, but still able to speak."
He Lingchuan glanced at Fu Shanyue. "Is this proper?"
Fu Shanyue pondered for a moment. "He's interrogating the curse master, not Cen Boqing. Technically, he hasn't broken our pact."
He had no interest in Cheng Yu.
He Lingchuan immediately said, "The key figure in this case is Cen Boqing, yet Bai Ziqi is questioning Cheng Yu in the dead of night. Don't you find that strange?"
"Hmm, it is a bit strange." Fu Shanyue stroked his chin. "I've dealt with those folks from Zhaixing Tower a few times before. Whenever they have free time, all they do is bathe, change into clean robes, burn incense, and pray to the gods—they're never eager about anything else."
Cheng was already a prisoner. Why interrogate him in the middle of the night instead of waiting?
"Could what he's questioning Cheng Yu about be something he doesn't want us to know?" Fu Shanyue's eyes darted.
Knowing Fu Shanyue's innate rebellious streak, He Lingchuan further pressed, "Didn't you say Emissary Bai might harbor an ulterior motive?"
Fu Shanyue took pause.
He had long suspected Bai Ziqi had another purpose for traveling south, and now the man was secretly questioning the curse master behind his back. Could this fellow Bai secretly be targeting him and his father, trying to dig up dirt on them?
In recent years, relations between the Chiyan Kingdom and Lingxu City had been strained. His royal father had recently submitted memorial after memorial, publicly exposing the illicit brewing of the elixir of immortality and even alarming the gods; the Demon Emperor was surely seething with fury.
Just then, an owl descended from the night sky, lifting its wings back in a bow to Fu Shanyue.
He Lingchuan guessed this was likely the one from Uncle Da's squad that had previously gone to Golden Spring Retreat to arrest Fu Shanyue. However, to human eyes, all owls looked identical, so he couldn't be certain if he was mistaking it.
"Crown Prince, the Minister of Agriculture's eldest daughter, Yao Xingning, has suddenly arrived at the Cen residence! She beat two of Commander Lu's soldiers and barged right into the manor—no one dared stop her."
"What?" Fu Shanyue jumped in shock. "Yao the Shrew is here?"
He Lingchuan still recalled when he visited Xiang Yan, the old man had said it was fortunate Cen Boqing's wife hadn't arrived, or the case would be even harder to handle. Now, just as the case was nearing its conclusion, she had shown up.
Fu Shanyue had just returned from outside the city, and his mount had not yet been unsaddled. He immediately led it out and mounted: "Let's go, to the yamen! I want to see what Bai Ziqi is playing at!"
Once his stubborn temper flared, did he care whether it was day or night? In any case, all of Baishaqu had been thrown into turmoil tonight—what did one more midnight ride matter?
He Lingchuan mounted his rock sheep and followed. Looking at Fu Shanyue's back galloping ahead, he couldn't shake the feeling that the prince wasn't going to confront Bai Ziqi, but rather running away from someone.
The late-night streets were completely unobstructed. The riders galloped without pause and soon arrived at the gates of the yamen.
He Lingchuan's expression tightened as well. He had to know what answers Bai Ziqi managed to pry from Cheng Yu.
...
Yet just as the two stepped up to the yamen gates, Commander Lu was walking out over the threshold. Looking up and seeing Fu Shanyue, he jumped in surprise and hurriedly bowed in greeting.
Was it already over? He Lingchuan's heart clenched. "How did Emissary Bai's interrogation go?"
"Ah, Emissary Bai just went in and kicked me straight out."
Fu Shanyue strode inside as if nobody else existed.
Such private interrogations took place in side chambers rather than the open court. Fu Shanyue simply headed for the room where the lights burned brightest, and the attendants at the door dared not stop him.
Inside, there was only a large bed and a single chair.
Lying in the bed was a sick man, sickly and frail, while the person sitting in the chair was none other than Bai Ziqi.
Fan Sheng stood behind him.
In the four corners of the room stood four burning white candles, their flames rising straight up, utterly still.
"Ah, Emissary Bai, working so hard! Interrogating prisoners without even stopping to catch your breath!" Fu Shanyue strode in, grinning broadly. "Who is this fellow?"
He saw at a glance that Bai Ziqi hadn't even changed his clothes.
Was it really that urgent?
"The curse master, Cheng Yu." Bai Ziqi glanced at him and said mildly, "Please have a seat, Crown Prince."
Though his demeanor was polite, he hadn't shifted an inch upon the arrival of the Crown Prince of Chiyan Kingdom, remaining firmly seated.
He hadn't even bothered to stand.
Watching cold-eyed from the side, He Lingchuan gained a more direct appreciation of the status of a Duyun Emissary. Fu Shanyue didn't seem to take offense either; when guards brought two chairs over, he casually sat down directly below Bai Ziqi.
The side chamber wasn't large to begin with, and with two more people squeezing in, the guards had to turn sideways to move in and out.
The moment Fu Shanyue sat down, he asked, "What's so special about this man that Emissary Bai would question him personally?"
With Bai Ziqi's status, he could easily have made an invalid kneel before him. Yet here he was, personally coming to question him and acting quite solicitous. To Fu Shanyue's eye, this didn't look like an interrogation of a prisoner.
"I haven't interrogated Cen Boqing yet, thinking that the Crown Prince would need some rest after returning to the city."
Bai Ziqi subtly pointed out their agreement, while casting a glance at Commander Lu. This place was full of Fu Shanyue's eyes and ears; he had merely brought in Cheng Yu, not even finishing two preliminary questions, before the Crown Prince rushed over.
From the inn to here, had Prince Yue not ridden at full gallop, how could he have arrived so quickly?
"Emissary Bai is a man of his word, but I could hardly let the high emissary toil alone while I slept soundly." Fu Shanyue rubbed his nose. "Besides, this man named Cheng placed a curse to kill my special envoy. I came to hear him testify against Cen Boqing!"
With a few words, he bound Cheng Yu and Cen Boqing together, then pointed at He Lingchuan and turned to ask Cheng Yu:
"Do you know who he is?"
Chapter 531