“I feel like... Mr. Mai wasn’t very happy at that time.” Wan Song had spoken in one long stretch up to that point. He looked worn out, so he paused to catch his breath before continuing, “We usually operate out in the wild, so we don’t draw attention. That time was the first time we’d ever gone into a big city. Mr. Mai summoned the snail toad inside a large residence, then hid those four people inside the snail toad and had it burrow away underground.”

“He specifically used the snail toad to get people out of Baishajue?”

Wan Song nodded.

“What was the situation in the city at the time?”

“I don’t know. I picked them up and left. I didn’t linger, didn’t pay attention, but while I was inside that large residence, I heard a lot of footsteps out on the street.”

He paused again.

“After that, I drove the snail toad and dropped them off about thirty-five kilometers west of Baishajue, and then returned.”

He Lingchuan had been the one asking questions, and General Ling had been listening in the whole time. Now, it could not hold back any longer. “You remember the location of that residence, don’t you?”

“Of course. It’s in the northwest corner of Baishajue. There are two streams there, and the soil underground is wet. The snail toad even went out of its way to avoid the running water.” Wan Song thought back. “The courtyard inside the estate where I surfaced had a name plaque: Lanting.”

“The snail toad really liked eating the mud in that courtyard, but Mr. Mai told it that it was never allowed to go back again.”

He Lingchuan asked, “How do you summon the snail toad?”

The snail toad usually came and went underground without leaving a trace. These people had to have a fixed method to contact it.

Wan Song shot him a glance. “After today’s fight, it won’t respond to my summons. Don’t get any ideas.”

“That’s my problem,” He Lingchuan said flatly. “You just answer.”

Wan Song drew a breath. “Take one of the snail toad’s eggs, then crush it. If it’s nearby, it’ll sense it.”

“Crush it? Really?”

“Really.”

He Lingchuan looked doubtful. “That sounds less like summoning and more like making an enemy.”

He crossed one leg over the other and spoke in an even tone, but his meaning was sharp, “Don’t give me half-answers. Otherwise, your child will only have half a body.”

The blankness drained from Wan Song’s face, replaced by a flicker of helplessness.

“If it’s Mr. Mai or me doing the summoning, it’ll come and obey. If a stranger does it, that’s making an enemy, then it’ll lurk nearby and look for a chance to attack.”

“When you say ‘nearby,’ how far is that?”

“Within fifteen to twenty kilometers.”

He Lingchuan held out his hand. “Give me the eggs.”

“In my pendant.” Wan Song did not even have the strength to lift his arm anymore. He could only let He Lingchuan take the necklace from his neck.

Sure enough, He Lingchuan found a small jar of damp mud inside the pendant. Buried in it were seven or eight white spheres, each about the size of a ping-pong ball—soft, slick, and springy to the touch.

“After the snail toad escaped, where might it go?”

“To find its master. That isn’t us. Only Mr. Mai...”

“Describe Mr. Mai.”

“Mr. Mai’s fairly tall. About your build. He doesn’t talk much, and he doesn’t come looking for us unless there’s something to do. Wherever he goes, he wears a red jade thumb ring...” 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Wan Song was already a candle with nary even a sliver of wick. He had forced himself to speak for this long, but now the signs of exhaustion he had been suppressing could no longer be hidden. He muttered a few more words, but they were too faint for anyone to make out.

He Lingchuan pressed, “A red jade thumb ring?”

Was it the same ring that had been hidden in the painted jar along with the jiang beads?

“Yes, yes...”

Then Wan Song’s breathing grew weaker and weaker until it finally and entirely stopped.

General Ling ground its teeth. “A villain with crimes that monstrous, and he dies this peacefully?”

Wan Song’s aftermath would be handled by the constables. He Lingchuan rose and walked out.

Outside, General Ling still stared, eyes blazing. “A man like that shouldn’t be allowed descendants! If you hadn’t already sworn, I’d really, really—”

It clawed hard at the earth.

He Lingchuan smiled and said, “He didn’t have any descendants in the first place. You can calm down now.”

“Huh?” General Ling’s anger leaked out of it like air from a punctured skin. “But just now... Wait, was that woman faking the pregnancy?”

Jiao Yu snickered at the old ram. “You’re only figuring that out now?”

He Lingchuan walked to the back of the hall. Qing Gu was still sleeping there, her clothes still slashed open along the cut line.

He slipped his hand inside and peeled, and her “belly skin” came right off.

Even General Ling, who had killed countless others, jumped at the sight.

But then it noticed the skin immediately changing color, dark scale-like patterns emerging across its surface.

This piece of skin was huge, far too large to be Qing Gu’s. “Is that python skin? Snakeskin?”

He Lingchuan shrugged and wiped the bloodstains off with a cloth.

Of course, it was Mountain Monarch Bo’s disguise skin, something that could blend into its surroundings. Bound around Qing Gu’s upper body, it naturally transformed into the appearance of her flesh.

Mountain Monarch Bo had once been a greater monster with real cultivation. How could an ordinary dagger ever pierce its hide?

So Qing Gu had never been injured at all.

As for the blood, He Lingchuan had hidden a tiny blood pouch inside Qing Gu’s navel beforehand. When he “cut,” he punctured the pouch first, producing an eerily convincing effect.

In truth, right after he made that motion, he had had Qing Gu pushed out of the room.

However, Wan Song had been in too much pain, and his mind had been far less sharp than usual, so he had not noticed the flaw.

General Ling saw the blood pouch, thought it through, and grumbled, “What’s wrong with cutting once for real? Why go through all that trouble?”

He Lingchuan just smiled and did not explain. He left a silver ingot beside Qing Gu as compensation for assisting in the investigation, then told the physician, “Alright, wake her up and let her go.”

General Ling was used to ruling as a tyrant locally, so how could it care about the life of a common woman? Their positions and origins were different; some topics were not worth debating.

By the time they left the medical hall, daylight had fully broken.

He Lingchuan said to General Ling, “The murderer who killed drillwind beasts is dead. Is this outcome satisfactory to you?”

General Ling nodded. “You have my thanks!”

“General, are you planning to depart east? The deadline’s approaching.”

General Ling looked startled. It glanced at him, then thought for a moment. “You brat, just say what you mean. You don’t want to keep investigating, do you?”

Even its form of address had changed. Two days ago, it still addressed him as envoy.

However, this was not a sign of disrespect; it showed that they had grown closer.

“You’ve both heard of the elixir of youth, haven’t you?” He Lingchuan had been watching Jiao Yu and General Ling earlier. Monsters were not as expressive as humans, but when Wan Song said “elixir of youth,” the tiger’s tail tip lifted, and the old ram shook its head twice.

Both monsters fell silent for a moment, then nodded. “We have.”

General Ling added, “There are people in the State of Chiyan who take it.”

“Then this case isn’t simple anymore.” He Lingchuan looked at General Ling. “Do you still want to chase it further... no, chase it upward?”

General Ling hesitated, which was something rare for it, then said, “I should be heading east, yes. However, the mastermind who had my clansmen killed is still at large. Baishajue is inside Chiyan territory. At minimum, we have to catch Mr. Mai and whoever is above him!”

He Lingchuan glanced at Jiao Yu. The tiger licked its paw. “Inside Chiyan, we have the authority to make arrests.”

So they want to pursue it, eh? Well, I guess it fits the temperament of the future master of the State of Chiyan. He Lingchuan sighed. Fushan Yue’s payment really isn’t easy to earn.

General Ling threw back its head and sighed loudly. “That damned snail toad got away! If we’d caught it, we’d have found Mr. Mai with it.”

Just then, Constable Xu Dayou came running toward them, beaming. “Lord Envoy! Wan Xianneng and Lai Wen have both been locked up in the township jail. The magistrate wishes to ask if you have any further instructions?”

He Lingchuan waved a hand. “Nothing else. Those two suspects are important witnesses. Have the county send men to escort them to the capital.”

Xu Dayou hurried off.

He Lingchuan tried to soothe the old ram. “Maybe Mr. Mai is in Baishajue too.”

He wanted to find Mr. Mai no less than General Ling did.

General Ling said regretfully, “It’s a pity I have to leave. I can’t go with you to hunt the culprit.”

He Lingchuan smiled. “Then please wait for good news.”

General Ling turned its head and somehow produced a bell in its mouth, dropping it into He Lingchuan’s hands. “This is a drillwind bell. Put it on that cliff ram of yours. I’ve seen it. It’s fast, but its attacks are too weak. This bell will let it transform into a drillwind beast for twelve breaths, granting it my clan’s strength and triple-strike ability. Of course, the bell needs a full day to recharge on wind energy before it can activate again. And it can only be used by sheep or ram monsters.”

He Lingchuan had not expected such a windfall. He accepted it openly with a broad grin, then turned around and tied it onto the cliff ram at once.

“I can’t make it to Baishajue, but I have an old friend there. He’s served as an official in both the State of Chiyan and Lingxu City. He retired last winter. In Baishajue, he’s respected, well-connected, and he may be able to help you.” General Ling paused, then added grudgingly, “He looks a bit... greasy—no, slippery. However, he still has a shred of backbone. In big matters, he can be trusted. Otherwise, why would I stay friends with him for so many years?”

Then it produced a pink gemstone about the size of a palm and handed it to He Lingchuan. “He loves strange stones. I promised him a rouge stone. Take this as my token and a meeting gift.”

He Lingchuan accepted it and memorized the details.

“Until we meet again. Next time, we drink.” With that, General Ling took its leave, leading its guards east.

The past day had been unbearably long. Even the tiger let out a breath before asking He Lingchuan, “Where to now?”

But He Lingchuan was staring at General Ling’s retreating back, lost in thought, and did not answer. It was only when the tiger asked again that he pulled his gaze back.

The question he had asked General Ling just now was actually also a question he was asking himself.

From the beginning, the missing courier case had never been simple. Now, with every step deeper, he could feel the resistance ahead growing heavier.

The strange snail toad, the elusive Mai Xuewen[1], the shadowy backer who dared hunt monsters inside a monster state, and the State of Chiyan’s king, who was unnaturally determined, demanding the matter be pursued to the bitter end...

Had they only just uncovered the tip of the iceberg?

He could still stop now. Capturing one Wan Song was already enough to give Fushan Yue an answer.

Even the old ram was leaving.

But if He Lingchuan withdrew halfway, he would never see what lay beneath the surface.

Had he not promised himself that he would strike the water at midstream? If he took only this small step and then shrank back, then one day, when the Beijia Monster Empire discovered the secret of the Generous Pot, would he be able to withstand the storm that followed?

The saber technique he practiced was called Wave-Cleaving.

It was a saber technique, yet also a way of life.

If he lacked the courage to slip deep behind enemy lines, to part the waves and press forward against the current, then how would he ever meet the strong and grow stronger in the days to come, rising beyond the clouds?

1. I’m guessing this is Mr. Mai. ☜