Not daring to waste any time, He Lingchuan took out a grappling hook, anchored it to a boulder, and grasped the spider-silk rope to swing down into the fissure.
The fissure was narrow, but he was agile.
"Could there be any? Could there really be any?!" the soul-snatching mirror babbled nervously. "Huh? Do you think there'll be any?"
"Shut up." He Lingchuan reached into his robes and replaced his cleansing bead with a fresh one.
Only three left. The recent battle and flight had depleted them far too quickly.
If he couldn't replenish them, he had only three quarters of an hour left to live.
Three quarters of an hour was nowhere near enough time to escape the mountains and get beyond the sandstorm's reach.
The spider-silk rope was long enough, and He Lingchuan lowered himself all the way to the bottom of the fissure.
The further down he went, the narrower it became. The rock walls were jagged and uneven; in some places, he had to use both hands and feet to scramble down.
Yet the steeper and narrower the terrain grew, the greater He Lingchuan's hopes became.
He ran a hand over a protruding ledge. "Only a few grains of sand."
Everywhere the sandstorm passed was buried beneath thick layers of sand and grit, yet down here there were only a few stray grains.
The mirror's voice trembled with excitement. "There's hope! There's real hope!"
If its master died in the spiritual-energy-barren Fu Realm, it would be a death sentence for the mirror as well—just a suspended one.
Its yearning for He Lingchuan to make it out alive was even stronger than his own.
Reaching the bottom of the fissure, He Lingchuan began feeling around.
It was pitch-black down here, so he took out a fluorescent spore for light.
A squelching splash sounded underfoot. He Lingchuan brought the fluorescent spore close to the ground to take a look. "Water?"
At the bottom of the fissure was a shallow ditch of water.
It was likely groundwater accumulated over countless years.
The mirror said repeatedly, "Good, good! Water is even better."
Yet He Lingchuan's good luck seemed to have run out. After groping along the fissure for over a quarter of an hour, he had found nothing.
There was only stone here, stone everywhere.
Exasperatingly monotonous stone.
Wait—there seemed to be some small creatures in the ditch, startled into a panic by his arrival.
None of these were He Lingchuan's objective.
He kept moving forward, feeling along the rock wall.
"Slow your breathing! Don't get agitated!" the mirror urged him incessantly. "There's still time!"
He Lingchuan felt along the rock crevices, and then suddenly froze.
"Hm?"
He withdrew his hand and slowly opened his palm.
Two round little objects gleamed with a pearlescent luster in the glow of the fluorescent spore.
The mirror whistled like a human and let out a loud cheer:
"Finally!"
"We're going to live! We're going to live!"
They had finally found cleansing beads, here in these sunless subterranean depths!
The earlier sandstorm had swept across the plains and mountains, stripping them practically bare. Only deep within a trench like this, where the tempest could not wreak havoc, could the hope for He Lingchuan to survive and walk out of the Fu Realm still be found!
Carefully putting away the two life-saving treasures, He Lingchuan continued searching ahead.
From then on, things went much more smoothly.
An hour later, he had successfully gathered over thirty cleansing beads—enough to last him eight hours.
With these little things, he would have ample time to travel south to where the sandstorm had not raged and harvest more cleansing beads.
He Lingchuan sat down in the pitch-dark trench, unbothered by being soaked in water.
He could finally relax, free from the immediate worry of survival.
He had made it.
He also began to feel a faint weariness creeping over him.
Only now did the mirror have the leisure to ask, "How did Hu Bin know your real name?"
Earlier, Hu Bin had yelled "He Lingchuan" at the top of his lungs, and the mirror had heard it loud and clear.
"In all of Lingxu City, no more than three people know my real name." He Lingchuan rubbed his eyes. "Wait, no. Second Master Shi of the Shimen Merchant Guild has already left, so that leaves only two."
One was Li Qingge, and the other—
The mirror was shocked. "Hong Chenglüe? You're saying he was Hong Chenglüe?!"
It had seen Hong Chenglüe before, and that was definitely not his face!
"When I first met him, I asked you whether he was wearing a mask or using a disguise," He Lingchuan said, closing his eyes to rest. "You said you didn't spot anything."
The mirror could reveal a person's true appearance—well, in theory.
"Uh," the mirror hedged. "B-but..." There were exceptions to everything.
"The look in his eyes when he glared at me really was full of deep, bitter hatred," He Lingchuan said slowly. "Who would venture into the mountains after a sandstorm to hunt me down for no good reason? That was practically a suicide mission."
An assassin merely doing a job for money wouldn't go that far.
The mirror pondered. "Was he disguised, or did he change his face?"
"Remember Xi Yunhe?" He Lingchuan's mind hadn't been idle while groping around for cleansing beads earlier. "He was clearly a disciple of the Azure Palace originally, yet later he could take on a new face and identity, infiltrating Cen Boqing's service without anyone recognizing him."
He paused. "Hong Chenglüe and Xi Yunhe both have ties to National Preceptor Shuangye."
Understanding dawned on the mirror. "You mean National Preceptor Shuangye has the ability to alter people's faces?"
"Ordinary disguises have nowhere to hide before origin power. If this is a secret technique of National Preceptor Shuangye, I wouldn't be surprised in the least." He Lingchuan nodded. "Of course, visitors from the mortal realm can't use origin power in the Fu Realm, so it can't be ruled out that Hong Chenglüe just used an ordinary disguise. Nobody here could see through it anyway."
"If it really was him, what are you going to..." The mirror trailed off, suddenly realizing. "Oh. By now, he's probably already dead."
If not mauled to death by the Wu beasts, he would have suffocated when his cleansing beads ran out.
Hunting down He Lingchuan was no easy task; one careless step, and you'd end up dead first.
He Lingchuan didn't pick up the thread. He stood up and flexed his wrists. "Rested enough. Time to head back."
This place was so cramped he couldn't even stretch properly!
Using the spider-silk rope, he climbed back up to the surface. He sat cross-legged and retrieved the heads of the two Wu beasts from his storage ring, cutting them open on the spot.
Time for the much-anticipated blind-box unboxing!
Inside each beast's head was a fist-sized, pale-red floatstone, along with—
Several opaque, spherical beads the size of longans.
Some were black, some white, and others as transparent as colored glaze.
He Lingchuan picked up a white sphere and wiped away the brain matter clinging to it. He found it icy to the touch, too cold to hold for long, and when placed on the ground, a layer of white frost quickly condensed around it.
He had originally come for the "frost pellets" of the frost silver beast, but now—
"Perhaps this could work too?"
He hoped this trip to the Fu Realm hadn't been in vain.
***
Twenty hours later, He Lingchuan was soaking comfortably in a large wooden tub at Pianxiang Villa, enjoying a hot bath.
It felt like a lifetime ago.
Only upon returning from the Fu Realm did he realize how precious breathing freely truly was.
Every breath of air tasted so sweet.
The Chiyan team had already returned from the Fu Realm.
This year's hunting event had been far too grueling. After careful deliberation, the Chiyan team leader had decided to withdraw early.
From start to finish, Chiyan's participation had lasted eleven days. Factoring in mid-event replacements, they had sent in thirty-one people in total, and twenty-three had made it out alive.
Fu Shanyue was reasonably satisfied with this casualty rate. After listening to his subordinates' reports, he learned that a massive beast tide—unseen in a century—had actually erupted inside the Fu Realm.
Having entered the Fu Realm three times himself, he naturally knew the terrors of a beast tide.
What was more, it had been closely followed by a sandstorm and a territorial showdown between Donao beast lords.
Truth be told, quite a few teams had withdrawn immediately after that upheaval; with the thunderous behemoth lord on a rampage, the Donao beasts in its territory were thoroughly agitated and exceedingly aggressive.
After changing into clean clothes, He Lingchuan headed out.
A Tongxin Guard at Pianxiang Villa glanced at him. He Lingchuan offered a smile and waved, and the guard didn't bother tailing him.
After descending the mountain, he neither rode a ram nor hired a carriage, walking over a hundred zhang before turning into an alley.
Once certain no one was tailing him, he slipped into a silk shop.
This place was arranged with a storefront in front and a courtyard in back: the front displayed fabrics and conducted business, the back courtyard was for measuring and tailoring, and the attic above served as living quarters for the shop hands and tailors.
It was afternoon now, with no customers in the shop. A clerk was propped on the counter, dozing off.
He Lingchuan stepped before him and cleared his throat softly. "I'd like to buy pearlescent satin, seven chi and two cun; and half a bolt of cloud brocade."
The clerk rubbed his eyes. "Huh?"
Then he snapped to attention. "Oh!" He remembered—it was a secret code!
Thus, dozens of breaths later, He Lingchuan climbed up to the silk shop's attic.
None of the three small rooms were occupied, but they bore strong traces of daily life, cluttered with various odds and ends. One room had greaseproof paper scattered everywhere; evidently, the tenant was very fond of steamed buns.
The attic had front and rear windows. Looking down from the front window, one could see anyone entering the front parlor, while the rear window looked out over the entire back courtyard.
Whoever chose this place for a meeting was very cautious.
He Lingchuan waited for over two quarters of an hour before finally spotting someone entering the front parlor.
Soon, the stairs began to creak.
The newcomer wore plain, unadorned cotton clothes, with a veiled hat obscuring the face.
Seeing that only He Lingchuan was in the attic, the veil was lifted, revealing a breathtakingly stunning countenance.
"Young Master He," Li Qingge bowed gracefully upon seeing him.
"My Lord Marquis." With a wave of He Lingchuan's sleeve, an invisible stream of force supported her arms, preventing her from bowing further. "You aided me first; there is no need for such ceremony."
On the surface, Li Qingge had merely sent someone to Wange Marsh to activate a magic artifact.
While it was effortless for her, it had been a monumental favor to He Lingchuan. Had the attention of the Heavenly Palace and the Demon Emperor not been diverted, his subsequent plans would have been fraught with difficulty and virtually impossible to carry out.
"Assistance knows no order of before or after, but favors differ in magnitude. Without your full support, Young Master, how could I have regained my freedom?" Li Qingge's eyes shone with deep gratitude. "From now on, I would go through fire and water for you without hesitation."
"You are being far too polite, My Lord Marquis. There is truly no need." Had this woman fought so hard to reclaim her freedom just to go through fire and water for him? He Lingchuan took such words with a grain of salt and didn't take them to heart.
Li Qingge immediately continued, "Songyang Mansion always repays its debts. How about this: I would like to invite you to serve as a guest elder of Songyang Mansion. It comes with a share of the profits."
"Uh..." Songyang Mansion was a Daoist order, yet it actually had shares; He Lingchuan hadn't expected that.
In this era, merchant guilds and gangs had long since developed the concept of shares and shareholders. Songyang Mansion's business was thriving, so holding a stake would certainly not be a losing proposition.
He just happened to be short on a steady source of liquid funds.
Still, last time he had spun tall tales to Fang Canran, claiming that Li Qingge wanted to recruit him as an elder. Had those casual words really come true?
"Don't be in such a hurry to refuse," Li Qingge broke in anxiously. "Being a guest elder of our Songyang Mansion comes with many benefits. You can have your magic artifacts repaired and maintained for free at any Songyang Mansion branch, and you get priority testing on all new products."
Chapter 656