Catching his drift, He Lingchuan glanced out the door. No one was around; even the Tongxin Guards could not be bothered to come over.
He casually set up a barrier before saying, "Speak plainly."
Dropping the pleasantries, Fang Canran asked, "Did you get the frost pellets?"
"More or less. I've already had someone evaluate them," He Lingchuan said with a shrug. "Hopefully they'll do the job."
Fang Canran murmured several approvals in succession, then asked, "Could the Thunder-Wielding Behemoth's last egg truly not be saved?"
"That shattered as well."
He Lingchuan had already handed the gliding suit to the servants to be washed; once dried, it would be returned straight to Fu Shanyue.
Earlier, when gliding over the ridge, he had happened to see the Thunder-Wielding Behemoth leading its pack down to the foot of the mountains, raging aggressively as if setting out to exact vengeance on the Wu beast leader.
Even then, he had suspected that the final beast egg was lost as well.
The logic was simple: if an egg remained, even just one, the Thunder-Wielding Behemoth would never have abandoned it to pursue the Wu beasts.
Its strength was formidable indeed, but its wits were nowhere near a match for its enemy's.
Leaving the mountains and heading south, He Lingchuan had harvested several more cleansing beads along the way before finally regrouping with the Chiyan team near the Eye of the Storm.
What his teammates saw with their own eyes confirmed his deduction: when two titans clashed, the nest was caught in the crossfire, and beneath an overturned nest, no egg remained intact.
Lord-tier Donao beasts had immense difficulty reproducing. Who knew how many years the Thunder-Wielding Behemoth had spent building up to lay those three eggs, only to have them wiped out in a single stroke; it would be stranger if it hadn't gone mad.
With the Wu beast leader having fled swiftly, the Thunder-Wielding Behemoth vented its fury on innocent visitors from the mortal realm, electrocuting more than a dozen people on the spot.
Seeing it fly into a rampage, everyone fled for their lives.
The Chiyan team had begun their retreat early, so they suffered virtually no losses.
Fang Canran wrung his hands, distress written all over his face.
Puzzled, He Lingchuan asked, "You're not the Thunder-Wielding Behemoth. What are you grieving for?"
The fellow truly had a wicked tongue, but Fang Canran did not mind. Just a few days ago, they had been ready to fight to the death; speaking like this now only proved the distance between them had closed considerably. "Lord-tier Donao beasts reproduce with great difficulty, and the Thunder-Wielding Behemoth prized its offspring above all else. Losing all its eggs this time must have dealt it a terrible blow."
"And so?"
"For these lord-tier Donao beasts, producing offspring temporarily diminishes their strength." Fang Canran rubbed his hands together. "The Thunder-Wielding Behemoth laid eggs first, weathered a beast tide and sandstorm next, and then fought a pitched battle against the Wu beast leader. Its origin power must be severely depleted, and it won't fully recover anytime soon. For you, this might well be an asset."
He Lingchuan cut straight to the point: "What are you trying to do to it?"
Even injured, the Thunder-Wielding Behemoth was not something any human or demon would dare provoke right now.
"I heard two eggs shattered in the nest, and the last was stolen by the Wu beasts?" Fang Canran looked intently at him. "Did you... happen to pick up any eggshells or anything?"
"You want eggshells from the Thunder-Wielding Behemoth?" He Lingchuan frowned. "Why didn't you mention this earlier?"
"Who could have foreseen these turns of events?" Fang Canran smiled wryly. "It was only after hearing about one accident after another in the Fu Realm that I had some new ideas regarding our plan."
Before the words had finished leaving his mouth, an egg appeared on the table.
A completely intact egg.
It was the size of a water bucket, its surface covered in interlocking blue and green snowflake patterns.
Eh?
Fang Canran froze in astonishment. Then he heard He Lingchuan ask, "What kind of idea?"
"Wait..." Fang Canran instinctively reached out to touch the egg. "You—you took it back from the Wu beasts?!"
This was the egg of a lord-tier Donao beast?
He Lingchuan gave an assent. "And I was hunted down by someone, too."
Subconsciously tuning out that last remark, Fang Canran muttered, "Over the past three hundred years, lord Donao beast eggs were brought back from the Grass Sea hunt only twice, and both fetched astronomical sums at auction!"
It wasn't that the expedition teams from Lingxu City lacked power, but rather that a Donao beast lord laying eggs was exceedingly rare to begin with, and it had to coincide precisely with the opening cycle of the Storm Gate—the odds were naturally minuscule.
Did this kid possess extraordinary skill, sheer luck, or both?
He Lingchuan looked at the beast egg. "What practical use does this thing have?"
"Usually, none."
"..." Then why would it fetch an astronomical price?
"Valuable things aren't necessarily useful." Fang Canran couldn't tear his eyes away from the egg. "Something like this thrives on absolute scarcity."
He Lingchuan recalled the wealthy nobles of Lingxu City, who loved adorning their treasuries and facades with one-of-a-kind treasures.
"Go on, then." He tapped the beast egg with a knuckle, eliciting a look of pure terror from Fang Canran. "Tell me your new idea."
Through gritted teeth, Fang Canran squeezed out, "Don't crack it!"
"It rolled over rocks dozens of times without cracking. What are you afraid of?"
"Wait, did you just say someone was hunting you down?"
The fellow finally registered it. "Yeah, a mercenary named Hu Bin. But I suspect that was an alias, and that his face was fake."
Accustomed to rare treasures and strange phenomena, Fang Canran didn't find that odd. "Could it affect our plan?"
"He was pursued by the Wu beast leader. He might already be dead." Still, a faint trace of worry lingered in He Lingchuan's mind.
Fang Canran breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good, then."
He Xiao's plan was looking increasingly feasible, to the point where Fang Canran had begun investing heavily in it. The last thing he wanted was for He Xiao to be targeted right now and expose the plan.
Leaning back, He Lingchuan asked, "You said this egg could help our plan?"
"I have an idea." Fang Canran pressed his hand against the giant egg, grinning from ear to ear. "It might just do you a massive favor."
"Having a plan is fine, but you don't intend to handle it yourself, do you?" He Lingchuan thought the smile on his face looked a bit sinister.
"Why?"
He Lingchuan bared his teeth. "Your execution skills are just..." Downright terrible!
Fang Canran was formidable when it came to scheming and orchestrating matters, but hopeless whenever he took the field himself—one needed only look back at their clash at Yuexiang Villa.
"..." Fang Canran's cheek twitched. "Rest assured. This is a matter of great consequence; I have my own arrangements."
He Lingchuan smiled without answering.
Just as he had guessed, Fang Canran was not working alone.
The two then deliberated over the uses of the Thunder-Wielding beast egg, exchanging thoughts in thorough detail.
He Lingchuan sensed that the fellow was still holding something back. But so long as his own plan could be carried through to the end, it mattered little if others harbored private agendas.
Without selfish motives of his own, why would Fang Canran help him in the first place?
Once their discussion concluded, Fang Canran carried the egg away.
He had rendered He Lingchuan tremendous assistance; the value of the Chain of Oaths alone was beyond monetary measure. Now that Fang Canran was asking for this egg, He Lingchuan truly had no reason to refuse.
Watching his retreating figure, He Lingchuan let out a long breath.
This expedition into the Fu Realm had pushed his Mount Xu Plan several steps forward in one stroke.
Hopefully, everything that followed would go just as smoothly.
***
Upon returning to Dun Garden, Fang Canran dismissed his attendants and set up a barrier before stroking the large parrot perched on the stand. "Lingbo, summon a meeting for tonight. It's time for us to take action as well."
The parrot, which had been half-dozing, instantly perked up. "Ah, ah! After preparing for so long, have we finally found a suitable opportunity?!"
Its excitement stirred, its feathers instantly puffed up, nearly doubling the parrot in size.
"Indeed. I've finally seen a glimmer of hope for success!" Fang Canran looked down at the spiral signet ring on his hand and clenched his fist. "We've gathered our strength for a long time, and we must make this strike earth-shattering. Heh, Lingxu City has enjoyed peaceful days for far too long; it's time they witnessed our power!"
The parrot was slightly uneasy. "Is it safe? Our past attempts all failed. Luckily, you weren't exposed. But this time..."
This time, He Lingchuan had met Fang Canran face-to-face and knew his background.
"We will only act if he succeeds; if he fails, our plan is aborted," Fang Canran said indifferently. "Nor can he sell me out—why else do you think I gave him the Chain of Oaths?"
"Do you know who to contact?" he asked the parrot. "Secrecy comes first."
The parrot let out a squawk of laughter. "Of course."
With that, it flapped its wings and flew off.
Over the next two days, He Lingchuan seemed to do nothing of consequence, dividing his time between wandering the marketplaces and making friends.
This was what Eldest Young Master He did best, and he took to it like a fish to water.
During this time, the inquiry he had entrusted to Old Shan yielded a response.
"Eldest Young Master, everything is normal at the Hong residence."
He Lingchuan paused in his tracks. "What about Hong Chenglüe?"
"Just yesterday, he went to Dun Garden at General Jinjiao's invitation."
Hong Chenglüe was still alive?
Was the mercenary Hu Bin, who had ambushed him in the Fu Realm, not Hong Chenglüe in disguise?
Or had he managed to escape the Wu beast leader's pursuit?
After all, when He Lingchuan took to the air on his gliding suit, he had seen the Thunder-Wielding Behemoth leading its kin into the mountains to settle scores with the Wu beasts. At that very moment, Hu Bin was leading the Wu beast leader outward in flight. If their paths crossed coincidentally, there was indeed a chance he had slipped away.
"What about three days ago?" Three days ago, both he and Hu Bin had been in the Fu Realm.
"General Hong had been away for many days and only returned home yesterday," Old Shan said. "As for where he went, even the servants don't know."
That made it hard to tell. He Lingchuan raised a hand and rewarded Old Shan with a silver ingot.
In Lingxu City, he didn't worry about being ambushed again.
Two days later, he gathered with Gao Jilin, Du Shan, and others for drinks. Ever since his real name had been exposed at Xiangman Restaurant, He Lingchuan neither concealed nor feigned anything, freely calling together his friends for dining, drinking, and entertainment from start to finish.
His words carried substance and frequently cut straight to the heart of matters, earning high praise from his peers. After sharing a drink or two, they felt as familiar as lifelong companions.
In just a few days, the circle of friends around He Lingchuan rotated twice; only Jiang Tao, Gao Jilin, and Du Shan remained constant fixtures.
This time, two guests from the east joined the table.
He Lingchuan had specifically asked Jiang Tao to invite them. When the celestial god invaded his divine consciousness, the third question asked had been whether he had any ties to the Mou Kingdom.
Since the celestial god cared so deeply about that country, He Lingchuan felt it necessary to learn more about it.
The two were brothers, one named Dou Wenguan and the other Dou Wuxing. Both were in their early twenties and bore a slight family resemblance, yet one hailed from the Mou Kingdom, while the other came from the Sha River Basin on its border.
Upon asking, he learned that Dou Wenguan had followed their father to the Mou Kingdom as a child, while the younger brother, Dou Wuxing, had remained in their ancestral home.
Brothers though they were, their temperaments differed sharply. Dou Wenguan was far more eloquent than Jiang Tao, speaking with lucidity and organization, and he carried a convincing sincerity that drew people in.
Chapter 658