Ordinarily, when people reached out to touch or even scratch graffiti onto it, the barrier would not activate at all—it could be called remarkably tolerant, unless the integrity of the entire mark was threatened.
He Lingchuan moved on to the second military report.
Compiled after the fall of the Yuan Kingdom, the report enumerated the campaign's results, within which was a single passing sentence:
*The King of Yuan slit his throat, Thousand Stars City fell, and no black flood dragon descended to take part in the battle.*
This confirmed that the black flood dragon truly was not a "guardian divine beast." Otherwise, after being sustained year-round by the people's finest food, drink, and origin power, how could it fail to exert itself in such an existential crisis?
He Lingchuan flipped through more papers and suddenly spotted a page stating that the black flood dragon mark had also appeared in the Mou Kingdom!
The Mou Kingdom?
He Lingchuan's heart stirred. The Mou Kingdom survived to this day and held vast territory. Located east of the Beijia Kingdom, it faced Beijia across the Earth Sea and two smaller nations.
Was this the sole connection between the black flood dragon emblem and the present world that he knew of so far?
Fu Shanyue had provided a fair amount of material, but after reading through it, He Lingchuan realized that even the Chiyan Kingdom did not seem to have reached any convincing conclusion.
If this was true for Chiyan, could it be any different for Beijia?
Still, since this thing had no effect on battles or enemies, Chiyan might have been puzzled by it without paying it too much mind. But why had the King of Yuan and Zhong Shengguang valued it so highly?
They had known not only what it was, but also what purpose it served.
After pulling out all the documents, He Lingchuan discovered a circular eaves tile resting at the bottom of the chest.
The tile bore an intricate carving—the head of a flood dragon!
Fu Shanyue had actually been decent enough to send him a physical artifact!
An unexpected pleasant surprise.
At the same time, a sudden warmth flared against his chest—
The divine bone necklace was making its desire known: it wanted it!
He Lingchuan picked up the eaves tile and examined it repeatedly from every angle, confirming there were no mechanisms or hidden compartments. It was merely crafted with exceptional delicacy, and its hardness far surpassed that of an ordinary tile.
He pinched the divine bone. "What is its purpose, exactly?"
The divine bone continued to pulse with heat.
"This couldn't be a key to some ruin or treasure vault, could it?"
The divine bone naturally gave him no answer.
He Lingchuan refused to pamper it, returning both the dragon-head eaves tile and the manuscripts to the chest before storing the whole thing in his storage ring.
How could he feed away such a vital clue on a whim?
***
Toward dusk, Fu Shanyue came looking for him again, clicking his tongue in wonder. "How bizarre. Even Cheng Yu has been reduced to a living corpse."
"Oh?" He Lingchuan feigned shock. "Who did it? How could even Emissary Bai fail to preserve his life?"
"Who knows? Emissary Bai is probably furious." Fu Shanyue glanced at him sideways. "The killer certainly vented some anger on your behalf, though."
"It has nothing to do with me." He Lingchuan held up his hands to proclaim his innocence. "He ambushed me, and I brought him to justice. We're even. I'm a man who always acts by the book and exercises great magnanimity!"
Anyone connected to the secret of the Dafang Pot had to die!
This had nothing to do with personal grudges.
Fu Shanyue looked up at the sky and smiled faintly. "Ah, who knows how many more people will die over this case!"
The deeper the investigation went, the larger the commotion grew.
Over the next four or five days, the skies over Baishaqu remained cloudless.
Sightseers bustled along the embankments, and blossoms drifted throughout the canal town as everyone rushed to seize the final splendor of late summer.
No matter what undercurrents surged within the town, the lives of ordinary folk went on as usual.
With several peaceful days passing without a single casualty, even Bai Ziqi grew somewhat unaccustomed to it.
He had handled plenty of bizarre, uncanny cases, but having witnesses die one after another on his very first night on the job certainly put this elixir of immortality case near the top of the list.
Now people had finally stopped dying, and he had already interrogated the accomplice of Wu Kai whom Lady Cen had recently delivered.
Today, the news he had been awaiting finally arrived.
Bai Ziqi sat inside his room at the inn, two travel-worn subordinates kneeling before him.
"Stand."
The two had ridden in from the Twilight Plains, a thousand li away.
When Bai Ziqi had left Lingxu City to travel south, he brought along a substantial retinue, but most had been dispatched across various regions to investigate.
"What new developments are there?" He had investigated the Twilight Plains for a long time, but witnesses to the second phantom scene at the Thousand Stars City ruins were few—mostly passing merchants and travelers who had long since scattered across the realm. Bai Ziqi's men could only gather diluted, second-hand accounts from nearby post stations, yielding no useful leads.
Frustrating as it was, the Twilight Plains were vast and sparsely populated, filled with desolate, uninhabited stretches.
If the Dafang Pot's anomaly had occurred out there, no one would ever have known.
The two men exchanged glances. "After you departed, your subordinates remained in the Twilight Plains for another five or six days. We discovered that around the ruins of Thousand Stars City, the grass has grown tall, vines and brambles choke the ground, and dense patches of bamboo have sprouted. Passing merchants reported that the mountain paths are no longer as easy to travel as before."
Bai Ziqi's first reaction was prompt: "The malevolent energy has weakened."
For years, vegetation had failed to grow and the earth's vitality had remained stagnant across the Twilight Plains precisely because malevolent energy ran rampant, hostile to all life. For plants to sprout in succession was an inverse proof that the earth fiend had weakened.
"Perhaps it is because Emperor's Flowing Dew erupted twice recently, causing the spiritual energy in the air to grow richer and dissolve the malevolent vapors."
The eruption of Emperor's Flowing Dew exerted a tremendous effect in replenishing the world's spiritual energy. Most of the dew seeped deep into the earth. The malevolent energy of the Twilight Plains had been even heavier over a century ago, easing slightly after every downpour of Emperor's Flowing Dew.
"Or perhaps that day's anomaly with the Dafang Pot and the second phantom scene at the Thousand Stars City ruins consumed a vast amount of it," Bai Ziqi mused, his eyes flickering. "After all, the Dafang Pot shares deep ties with the Yuan Kingdom."
"Your subordinates also secured a confidential piece of intelligence from the border checkpoint between the Twilight Plains and the Chiyan Kingdom."
"Oh?" Bai Ziqi had an affinity for secrets. "Speak."
"According to a petty clerk there, Crown Prince Fu Shanyue of the Chiyan Kingdom crossed the border there more than forty days ago!"
"Hm? Fu Shanyue?" Bai Ziqi's gaze hardened. "When we investigated the Twilight Plains previously, why did this never surface?"
"Names are not recorded upon crossing the border," the two explained. "Moreover, the Inspector stationed at the town checkpoint issued an order forbidding staff from discussing the matter."
Not only in Beijia, but across every nation's borders, individuals were rarely cataloged by name. At a major crossing like the Twilight Plains checkpoint, which saw at least ten thousand travelers a day, recording every name would consume mountains of paper.
And once recorded, dedicated archives would be required to house them.
It was not that people failed to conceive of meticulous methods, but that the cost of implementation was simply prohibitive.
Thus, standard procedure was to stamp the travel permit and send the traveler on their way.
"An Inspector? How did you manage to uncover it, then?"
"The clerk loves wine but has no tolerance for it. After we treated him to a couple of cups, he spilled everything," the two reported. "Three days after the Tianluo Star's anomaly, a base slave reported to this clerk that the Chiyan Crown Prince intended to smuggle a six-year-old base slave through the checkpoint. The clerk ignored it, but Inspector Zhongsun Mou instructed them to covertly inspect the convoy, intending to make things difficult for the Crown Prince the following day."
"Zhongsun Mou?" Bai Ziqi chuckled. "That little jiaoren was petty-minded and had always been at odds with Fu Shanyue; he was merely using public duty to avenge a personal grudge. Well, did Zhongsun Mou catch that little base slave in the end?"
"No. The child wasn't in the convoy, but they did search out several pieces of contraband. Lord Zhongsun fined them several thousand taels of silver."
Bai Ziqi fingered the ring on his left little finger, a habitual gesture whenever he pondered. "Good grief, a blatant frame-up."
Centuries after founding their nations, these monsters still operated with crude savagery and zero subtlety.
Considering Fu Shanyue's temperament, Zhongsun Mou's death had not been undeserved in the slightest.
"As for the officers who went missing in town," his subordinate continued, "rumors spread through the office that the Chiyan Crown Prince had returned to take revenge. But there was no concrete proof, and since Zhongsun Mou had already departed by then, the matter was quietly dropped."
"In other words, when the Tianluo Star stirred, the Chiyan Crown Prince was also in the Twilight Plains," Bai Ziqi murmured in thought. "What about his special envoy, He Xiao? Was he mentioned?"
"No," the subordinate answered. "The Crown Prince's entourage was quite large."
"And that base slave?"
"Died in a dark alley. No one knows where the corpse was discarded."
"Indeed, whenever the Tianluo Star stirs, anomalies follow in droves." Bai Ziqi gave a low grunt of agreement. "Fu Shanyue's younger brother, Fu Shanji, also died under very peculiar circumstances."
The subordinates dared not chime in.
"Chiyan publicly claimed he succumbed to illness." Bai Ziqi shook his head with a faint sneer. "A ba dying of illness? That excuse was insultingly careless. What is more, the timing of Fu Shanji's death coincided roughly with the Tianluo Star's anomaly. With so many incidents tangled together in Chiyan, it warrants a thorough investigation."
This was also the Demon Emperor's intention.
A subordinate ventured a reminder: "My lord, when the Tianluo Star stirred for the second time, the Chiyan Crown Prince had not yet arrived in the six northern counties."
"Had not arrived yet?" Bai Ziqi glanced at him, his brow slightly furrowing. "Are you certain?"
"Uh..."
"Less than an hour after Zhongsun Mou was killed, Fu Shanyue appeared in Baishaqu, catching Cen Boqing completely off guard. Can you state with certainty the exact hour he entered northern Chiyan?"
Fu Shanyue had undoubtedly departed Chiyan's royal capital long before. As for when he left and when he reached the north, only he and He Xiao knew for sure.
The subordinate bowed his head. "Your subordinate spoke out of turn. Please instruct us on where to begin our inquiry, Emissary."
"First, uncover the true cause of Fu Shanji's death. Second, investigate the background and origins of the Crown Prince's special envoy, He Xiao. Third, search near the production regions supplying prunella spikes for eyewitnesses to the snail-toad and track down its hiding place," Bai Ziqi directed in measured tones. "Furthermore, redeploy the bulk of our personnel to uncover every strange occurrence that took place on the night of the second Tianluo Star flash across the six northern counties of Chiyan—specifically the region north of Zhitian Township and south of Xiangshan. No detail is too small."
"My lord, we may not have sufficient manpower." Every single one of these tasks demanded considerable time and bodies.
"Then prioritize the six northern counties first. I will requisition additional personnel." Bai Ziqi possessed a keen sense of priorities.
***
That night, Bai Ziqi knelt facing east, reciting prayers to the deity.
This was the daily required devotion of every Duyun Emissary.
Yet halfway through his recitation tonight, the candlelight suddenly flickered, stretching half a foot high before returning to normal.
A candle spirit materialized, whispering soundlessly into Bai Ziqi's ear.
Bai Ziqi's countenance turned all the more devout.
"My Lord is wise! In that case, your subordinate shall depart tomorrow to return to Lingxu. I shall leave personnel behind to continue the investigation in the six northern counties."
Chapter 541