That giant wild boar? Back when it and Lord Boshan had besieged Zhu Erniang, its rampaging, headlong momentum had left a deep impression on He Lingchuan.
He was overjoyed. "Excellent!"
"There are two old demons near Butterfly Valley in Mou Kingdom. Their territory is too small and cramped for comfort. I'll try inviting them as well."
He Lingchuan clapped his hands. "Now that's my good Erniang!"
Right then and there, he agreed on a method of communication with Zhu Erniang. After a moment's thought, he gave the spider demon another pill of reassurance: "Currently, both Longji Island and Pansi Island are fishing-prohibited zones, so very few vessels sail these waters. But your island will soon yield output, so I will order the designated boats traveling to and from Pansi Island to paint the keel red as a mark. When the yin hui see it beneath the water, they won't interfere. This red mark will be hidden below the waterline; unless a ship runs aground for repairs, nobody else will ever see it, and even if they do, they won't understand what it means."
Zhu Daniang raised a claw. "That's good. If Beijia folks sail an unmarked boat, they can forget about getting anywhere near Pansi Island."
With today's major matters settled, the tide began to recede along the shore. Within the newly built stone fish traps of the spider demons, the splashing silhouettes of thrashing fish began to emerge.
Only when the tide ebbs does it become clear who has run aground, stranded in the deadly trap.
Zhu Erniang stood up and had the little spiders fetch several lively, thrashing fish a meter long. Binding them through the gills with spider silk, she shoved them to He Lingchuan.
"The wine was good. Consider this a return gift."
He Lingchuan accepted them readily. "Once I finish these, I'll come back for more!"
The spider sisters accompanied He Lingchuan through the spider nest back to the surface, seeing him off onto his boat for the return trip.
Zhu Daniang stayed behind to share a meal with her sister.
Watching the boat sail farther and farther away, Zhu Erniang lingered on the shore, lost in thought.
Beside her, the little spiders remained busily at work. Since they were already here, they might as well carry back some sand and gravel; it would help improve the aeration of the base grass soil.
Zhu Daniang smiled. "Told you he's a good person. Dependable."
"He might not necessarily be a good person." Zhu Erniang remembered He Lingchuan wreaking havoc in the Heavenly Palace to recover a spider husk for her, but she remembered just as vividly that this brat had stabbed her and stolen one of her husks! "Still, you're right about one thing: the rascal is dependable."
Dependable was enough.
Who else would dare brave the pressure of Beijia to take her in?
Who else would be willing to offend Beijia on her behalf?
Not to mention that He Lingchuan had his own unspeakable secrets; sheltering her made it all the easier to expose himself.
Now, the spider sisters were tied together with him and these islands. They could only hope he won, only hope he held out to the very end.
"I hope this is the last time I ever have to move."
The wind of heaven and the waves of the sea remained unchanged through ten thousand years.
He Lingchuan sat alone at the prow, feeling the sea breeze against his face. Autumn had arrived after all; even the sunlight had grown sluggish, devoid of warmth.
The soul-snatching mirror asked him, "Listening to you lay it all out so clearly and logically, it sounds like Beijia isn't all that hard to deal with after all?"
"That was said for the spider sisters' ears," He Lingchuan replied with his eyes closed. "In reality, how could it be that simple?"
"...Ah? So they're actually really hard to deal with?"
"When has Beijia ever been easy to deal with? What's more, that fellow surnamed Yu is one of National Preceptor Shuangye's subordinates. Sigh, we've dealt with Shuangye's subordinates before. Did you think they were easy to handle?"
"Xi Yunhe?" The soul-snatching mirror gasped. "He was an absolute pain."
The elixir of immortality case that had rocked all of Beijia started when National Preceptor Shuangye's subordinate, Xi Yunhe, murdered the messenger from Lingxu City. The entire affair had snowballed bigger and bigger, and the truth was peeled back layer by layer like an onion.
Yet in the end, even National Preceptor Qingyang had been brought down, while the instigator, Xi Yunhe, remained at large.
If a subordinate was that formidable, what about National Preceptor Shuangye himself?
"And that was merely one of Shuangye's subordinates," He Lingchuan said, shaking his head. "If his underling can't get it done, do you think National Preceptor Shuangye will just give up?"
"Uh, then what do we do?" Hearing He Lingchuan talk now, the mirror felt the future looked bleak again.
"Take it in stride. Zhu Erniang is already here, and I went out of my way to invite her. What good does it do me to scare her half to death?" He Lingchuan said casually. "Besides, I only downplayed Beijia's influence over us. As for how the spider sisters should handle things, I wasn't wrong. They just need to go about their ordinary business with an ordinary mindset. Zhu Erniang was frightened out of her wits by General Red more than a century ago, and she still harbors psychological trauma toward official powers. Once she realizes Beijia can't do anything to Pansi Island, she'll naturally grow bolder.
"If Beijia applies pressure to the Yangshan Archipelago—and it inevitably will—then naturally I will bear it. It has nothing to do with them."
When it came to handling pressure, Zhu Erniang was no match for him.
He had dared to invite Zhu Erniang to the island because he had anticipated this day from the start.
"I expect that fellow surnamed Yu will meet with me at least once."
The soul-snatching mirror startled. "You think he'll launch a sneak attack?"
"I can't rule it out, since we don't know his temperament." He Lingchuan wasn't particularly worried, however. "But it's more likely he'll come to see me out in the open."
"Come straight to you?"
"Mm. Negotiation has the lowest cost," He Lingchuan said slowly. "Why should he exert himself to deal with me first when he has the gold-plated name of Beijia at his disposal? Besides, looking at the methods he used against Zhu Erniang earlier, he always stirred up the surrounding powers to act. In the Yangshan Archipelago, I hold the greatest influence over Zhu Erniang. Who else would he seek out if not me?"
"True enough." The mirror asked, "So what will you do then?"
"Roll with the punches. In any case, we won't necessarily be the ones to suffer a loss." He Lingchuan sighed. "When dealing with Beijia, the real difficulties will come down the road."
He had a clear understanding of his future relationship with Beijia.
"That's why rapidly raising Yangshan's overall strength is vital. With Beijia at war with Mou Kingdom, paranoia runs rampant, and wild demons in the surrounding areas are all having a rough time. Just look at Zhu Erniang moving multiple times within Mou Kingdom without being able to find a foothold; if even a demon as powerful as her finds it difficult, what about the others?
"This is a prime opportunity for us to recruit more great demons to settle here, and I believe the chances of success are actually quite high."
A few days later, the County Magistrate of Qucheng requested an audience with Lu Qing'an.
Lu Qing'an had spent the previous night with a concubine, and the magistrate waited until the sun was high in the sky before the eldest young master of the Lu family finally strolled out, glowing with vigor.
"Magistrate Liu, what is it? Did something go wrong with the grain transport?"
"The final batch of grain is already on the road, and everything is well at present," Magistrate Liu replied respectfully. "However, some news has arrived from the south, and this humble official thought it best to bring it to your attention."
Lu Qing'an yawned. "Speak."
"Do you recall the Yangshan Archipelago that was sold not long ago?"
Lu Qing'an grunted in assent. A wealthy young master surnamed He had come knocking, wanting to purchase the Yangshan Archipelago. Father and son were short on funds, so they had offloaded the yin-fiend-shrouded islands for eighty thousand taels of silver.
That money had already been peacefully converted into grain and dispatched to Mou Kingdom.
As for what He Lingchuan had done after taking possession of the Yangshan Archipelago, Lu Qing'an felt a twinge of guilt and hadn't sent anyone to inquire.
Chapter 934