This goat demon was someone they had hired to prune branches and leaves. Usually diligent and hardworking, he never slacked off or played tricks, exceptionally honest. Who could have imagined that after eating a single mouthful of tree leaves, his temperament and physique would undergo such a massive transformation, turning him this rampantly violent?
Everyone was still in a state of shock.
When the questioning reached A'qing, the crowd chimed in, all speaking at once to recount what had happened truthfully.
In the end, the constable confirmed, "So you're saying that the previous owner's old belongings fell to the ground, and that was what triggered the oak tree's mutation, right?"
With a crestfallen face, A'qing said, "I don't know if it was because of them." It sounded almost as if it were her fault.
"Either way, something shattered, and then the oak mutated?"
"I... think so?"
"What kind of things were they?"
A'qing strained to recall; after all, she had only glanced at them casually. "Some bottles and jars, maybe, and some wooden items, cloth dolls, and the like... They were all old things meant to be thrown away. I—I didn't look closely."
"This residence just changed hands?" The constable looked back toward the fur merchant's property. Good grief—the buildings, garden, and pond were completely gone; nothing remained except that monstrous tree.
"It was... only sold a dozen days ago."
The constable posed the crucial question: "Then who was the previous owner?"
It seemed the previous owner's old belongings had caused this turmoil.
"It was General Nian!" A'qing replied. "His name seems to be Nian Zanli. I heard he's the governor of a western province!"
***
Before nightfall, word of the bizarre incident in the lower city reached Pianxiang Villa.
Soon after, Old Shan arrived.
Li Qingge had ordered him to bring a generous assortment of gifts to Fu Shanyue first, showing goodwill for their recently concluded partnership, before seeking out He Lingchuan.
With such a formal itinerary, the Tongxin Guard wouldn't find anything suspicious.
Sitting in the lakeside pavilion, He Lingchuan frowned at Old Shan. "Wasn't this handled a bit excessively?"
The moment he heard of the crazily growing monstrous tree and the drastically altered goat demon, he knew the divine blood was at work.
The divine blood he obtained from Dong Rui had been handed over to Li Qingge to deal with.
The master of Songyang Mansion was usually measured in her actions; He Lingchuan hadn't expected things to blow up so spectacularly this time, claiming lives and wrecking a whole street. It seemed that before tomorrow night, the news would spread throughout the entire main lower city.
"Lingxu City is vast, and so many things happen here every day, large and small. The celestial gods wouldn't spare them a second glance. The Marquis said that unless the commotion is big enough, how could it ever reach the ears of the heavens?"
He Lingchuan gave a faint chuckle.
What Li Qingge said was a matter of fact. To alert the Heavenly Palace, the incident first had to be severe, horrifying, and the talk of the town.
"Monstrous tree abruptly surges in Lower Lingxu; mad goat turns man-eater." Commoners wouldn't know the reason, and the government bureaus would be baffled, but once the Heavenly Palace received the report, they would instantly understand what had happened.
After all, no one knew better than the celestial gods what effects divine blood had on ordinary creatures.
Li Qingge always appeared delicate and gentle before He Lingchuan, and her earlier demeanor when threatened by Nian Zanli—looking so terribly wronged and pitiable—made it easy to forget that she was not only a successful merchant, but also the head of an entire sect and the master of Songyang Mansion.
Her decisiveness and ruthless resolve were far beyond what ordinary women possessed.
He Lingchuan thought for a moment. "How did that man Nian react?"
Orchestrating all this was ultimately to set a trap for Nian Zanli.
"The government office already sent people to see him once, but they left shortly after. It was probably just routine questioning. After all, he holds an official post, so the authorities can't arrest him lightly." Old Shan asked, "The Marquis wishes to ask you: do we need to make another move?"
"No need." He Lingchuan shook his head. "Too many occurrences won't look like an accident."
Li Qingge only asked this out of an eagerness for vengeance; otherwise, she would have understood this logic herself.
"Give it some time to ferment. Lingxu City is huge, and the Heavenly Palace is far removed from commoners. It takes time for news to reach celestial ears." He Lingchuan calculated. "Besides, there's no fresh progress on the elixir of immortality case right now, so the Heavenly Palace might not want to startle the snake in the grass.
"Once Bai Ziqi returns, things will take a turn," he said to Old Shan. "Please tell the Marquis not to be anxious or impatient. She can proceed with the next step.
"By the way, I need to make a trip to the Fu Realm. Help me prepare a few items."
Old Shan asked in surprise, "You're going hunting in the Grass Sea too?" At a time like this?
He Lingchuan nodded.
Unable to procure frost pellets, he had no choice but to go in person. The Fu Realm was fraught with peril; who would dare venture in empty-handed?
Old Shan noted down his requirements and took his leave.
In truth, He Lingchuan had reflected on it several times: a sudden catastrophic fire at Qingfu Temple that somehow left behind such a vital survivor as Kong Jiaxiang simply didn't add up.
Kong Jiaxiang managed the revenues and expenditures of the elixir of immortality; he was undoubtedly a key figure at Qingfu Temple. If National Preceptor Qingyang wanted to silence witnesses, Kong Jiaxiang must have been a primary target.
Without even confirming whether such a person was dead or alive, could the Azure Palace truly be so rash and sloppy?
Yet when He Lingchuan sent the goshawk back to investigate, there really was such a person in Yangshui.
So, had the Azure Palace genuinely slipped up, or had National Preceptor Shuangye outsmarted them with arrangements of his own?
Regardless, He Lingchuan could pretend to know nothing.
He was merely a messenger; once he delivered the word to Bai Ziqi, his mission was complete.
***
Two days later, Old Shan brought all the items he had requested, stating they were a gift from the Marquis and required no payment.
The squirrel also passed along a piece of intelligence:
Nian Zanli was being tailed by an unidentified figure.
Nian Zanli had discovered this himself. As a military commander, his spiritual senses were sharp. However, even after doubling back twice in surprise counterattacks, he failed to catch the tracker. Furious and somewhat uneasy, he sought people to gather information on who was scheming against him.
As luck would have it, the inquiry found its way to Old Ge, the gibbon demon. Thus, the intelligence reached He Lingchuan's hands almost immediately.
Who could the tracker be?
Someone sent by the Heavenly Palace?
The pursuer likely linked Nian Zanli to the divine blood; otherwise, they wouldn't be tailing him at a time like this.
He Lingchuan had worried Nian Zanli might hurriedly flee Lingxu City, but fortunately that hadn't happened.
Nian Zanli must have known about the strange incident at the residence he had sold and that many people had died, but he remained in the dark about the underlying cause, unaware of the kind of trouble he had become embroiled in.
Yet this vortex was about to take form.
By the time he realized he was trapped, escape would no longer be an option.
***
The next day, He Lingchuan hurried to the Grass Sea with three Chiyan guards.
Every few years, the hunting rules in the Grass Sea underwent minor revisions. The latest regulations for this year were:
First, the first five days after the Storm Gate opened constituted the competitive hunt. Each team entering the Fu Realm was limited to ten people, permitted only to exit and not to re-enter.
Consequently, the competition to hunt Donao beasts was at its fiercest during those five days. Once the five-day deadline arrived, rankings were decided by the number of floatstones each team retrieved.
After five days, the competition ended, and the Storm Gate opened to all—anyone could enter at will!
The authorities continued purchasing floatstones at the official price until the Storm Gate closed twenty-five days later.
This was because the Fu Realm on the other side of the storm rift was entirely unsuited for mortal living creatures. When team members became exhausted or injured, they had to return to the mortal realm. After all, the authorities did not host this event to harm people.
The Storm Gate had already been open for ten days. The Chiyan teams venturing into the Fu Realm had swapped out twice, making He Lingchuan's group the third batch.
Today's Grass Sea was far less bustling than during the event's opening.
Wind rustled the reeds; stars hung low over the plains, desolate and chill.
The once-crowded shallows now lay vast and empty. Egrets strolled leisurely, undisturbed for hours.
Only the guards stationed at the Storm Gate and the logistical support of the participating teams remained.
Because the Donao beasts near the Storm Gate had largely been slaughtered, there was no need to keep many troops on guard; thus, the garrison had been drastically scaled back to a bare minimum.
It had been this way for years.
A guard handed over a pouch. "Inside are twenty cleansing beads. Lord He, please monitor your supply at all times."
Each cleansing bead provided breathable air for a quarter of an hour; twenty beads meant five hours of survival. During this window, He Lingchuan had to gather fresh cleansing beads to stay alive.
"Understood." Taking the pouch and putting it away, he registered and passed inspection with the guards before donning his mask and stepping into the Eye of the Storm alongside his teammates.
To prevent vendettas and wanton brawls, teams typically wore masks when entering the Fu Realm. Some nobles even commissioned exceptionally exquisite masks for their squads, turning the competition into a dazzling spectacle.
Naturally, Fu Shanyue couldn't be bothered with such trivialities. The Chiyan team's masks were drab gray, lacking any distinguishing flair.
Plain, but safe.
The closer they drew, the more terrifying the storm's fury felt. As He Lingchuan walked inside, chaos enveloped everything; no scenery remained, only shades of grayish white.
Immediately afterward, his body went weightless, dizziness washing over him.
He was sucked into the Fu Realm.
***
The Chiyan squad vanished into the Eye of the Storm.
A few breaths later, a gate guard reported to his superior, "Nature calls, sir! Need to relieve myself!"
"Go on."
The latrines of the Grass Sea were quite a distance from the water's edge. The guard ran all the way behind a low knoll, where the soldiers could no longer see where he went.
Only then did he veer off midway, making six or seven turns to slip quietly behind a tent.
Checking left and right to ensure no one was watching, he spoke to the guard outside: "The general summoned me. My surname is Gui."
Before the guard could answer, a voice from inside called out, "Come in."
The soldier slipped into the tent and saw a man sitting on a low bed, seemingly just concluding his breath regulation.
"General! The man you ordered me to watch just entered the Eye of the Storm!"
The man stood up immediately. "Are you certain?"
"The name he registered under with us is He Xiao, Chiyan team." The soldier gestured. "Tall, handsome features."
"Very well, go back." The man thanked the soldier.
"You honor me too much, General! I trained under you for three years and you saved my life; doing such a small errand isn't worth mentioning!"
With that, the soldier bowed to him and hurried back to rejoin his squad.
***
The scenery suddenly turned black. Before He Lingchuan could see anything of his surroundings, he felt completely disoriented, as though tumbling headfirst toward the ground.
Instinctively bracing with his arms, he engaged his waist and legs, executing two forward rolls to come to his feet.
Through this sequence of motions, He Lingchuan immediately sensed the difference between the two realms:
In the Fu Realm, his body was extraordinarily heavy. Not only was raising his hands and legs laborious, but a dragging heaviness weighed down his neck, chest, and abdomen.
"You all right?" He even caught a teammate in passing, saving him from landing face-first in the dirt.
Chapter 643