Two hours passed in the blink of an eye.

Leaning against the window, Jiao Yu looked outside. “Those two watchers in the building across from us could at least try to hide it a little. They haven’t moved from that spot for ages.”

“It’s not like those two are the only ones tasked with watching us, so whether they do it well or badly really doesn’t make much of a difference.” 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Their enemies had been trying every possible way to plant some eavesdropping divine technique or tiny spying device inside his room. But with the treasured mirror in his hand, He Lingchuan was able to sweep the place clean every single time.

Then he went downstairs, whistling as he strolled over to the “perfume shop,” which was a little over a hundred meters away and also known as a bathhouse. He soaked there for a full two hours before returning thoroughly relaxed and heading straight to bed.

As for the Resting Rain Pavilion on the eastern bank of Luan Lake? To hell with that. Did Mai Xuewen really think he could send over a single note and have He Lingchuan dancing in circles to his tune? He thought far too highly of himself.

If he wanted to cooperate, then he needed to show some sincerity.

As night fell, he closed his eyes, and so another night passed just like that.

Lately, things had also been calm and uneventful inside the Panlong Dreamscape. He Lingchuan practiced every day without interruption, and whenever he had spare time, he went to the Martial Review Hall to fight in the arena. He had almost returned to the same all-consuming state of cultivation he had been in at the very beginning, when he forgot food and sleep in favor of training.

After his fight with the Fan brothers, he had gained many new insights that still needed to be consolidated.

Tempering oneself on the edge of life and death was the most beneficial thing there was for improving both one’s cultivation and mental state.

It was just that such benefits did come at the cost of risking one’s life.

* * *

That same night, at the Cen Residence.

Cheng Yu was still lying in bed, eyes shut tight, sleeping soundly.

He had already slept for more than twenty hours with no sign of waking. His complexion had improved slightly and was no longer as pale as joss paper.

It was plain to see that the restorative effects of sleep were not to be underestimated.

The guards watching over him had already changed shifts several times. At that moment, one of them sat beside the bed, stifling a yawn, occasionally glancing at the transparent spiral shell on the table.

Uncle Wu had instructed them that the moment the red lantern hanging by the door of the little wooden cabin inside was extinguished, they were to pull out the stopper.

That light’s been lit the whole time. This man can really sleep.

Watching someone else sleep so comfortably while he himself had to sit there and tough it out, the guard was inwardly grumbling when he suddenly heard a delicate jingling sound from outside.

Ting-ling-ling...

He had heard that this was the warning sign for the arrival of some ghostly, sinister thing.

The guard jolted upright and hurried to the doorway. Sure enough, one of the bells on the west side of the cord-and-bell array in the courtyard had begun to ring.

That thing’s going to be entering the room next, right?

But before he could retreat inside, the bells on the north side of the array suddenly started jingling as well.

Then the ones outside the courtyard rang too.

After that, the courtyard fell silent again.

Has the thing left?

The guard turned and looked back toward the inner room. The bells inside the room had never rung even once.

What does this mean? Did that ghostly thing not enter the room at all? Did it change direction halfway and go north instead?

What’s to the north?

He did not dare delay. He immediately sent someone to report to Uncle Wu.

After giving the order, he watched his companion hurrying north and scratched his head.

North?

A lot of people lived in that direction. Uncle Wu seems to live north of here too.

This incident also alarmed Cen Boqing. The next day, he had people bring in quite a few exorcising magical artifacts to suppress evil in the residence.

Whether or not those artifacts had really worked, the sinister thing never came again.

* * *

The next day, it was still raining.

The sound of rain striking lotus leaves and duckweed was wonderfully soothing. He Lingchuan slept an extra two hours before finally getting up. He then put on a bamboo hat and went out to eat the locally famous Hu Mazi’s beef-stuffed flatbread, and washed it down with two bowls of rice noodle soup[1].

After that, he took Jiao Yu with him and went off to a local scenic spot called Little Spirit Mountain. The famous sight there, “Rain Woven Over Spirit Mountain,” was well known far and wide.

Watching He Lingchuan, Jiao Yu felt that he did not look like he was investigating a case, nor like someone whose life was in constant danger. Rather, he looked like a man on a publicly funded vacation.

As the sky grew darker and darker, it finally could not help reminding this utterly carefree special envoy, “You do remember that we still don’t have any evidence that can directly convict Cen Boqing, right?”

He Lingchuan shrugged.

“The Cen household has been searching all along for Fu Songhua. It’s only a matter of time before they find him. With the Fan brothers there, you and I can’t very well stop them, is that right?”

A piece of malt candy stuck in his mouth, He Lingchuan nodded. “Right.”

Last time, he had snatched Fu Songhua away through sheer force. But now the other side had the Fan brothers there to hold the line, so that advantage was gone. If He Lingchuan made another move, it would be giving Fan Sheng the perfect chance to unleash all his killer moves, and that man’s axes really hurt when they landed.

County Magistrate Tian had just sent word that Fan Sheng had arrived in Baishajue with forty to fifty subordinates.

At a glance, it was obvious those men had been called in at short notice. That meant Fan Sheng was not here in an official military capacity. Otherwise, how could there have been only the Fan brothers lying in ambush at the inn last time? By Beijia law, if a military officer was not on duty or handling official business, they were not allowed to bring troops with them. At most, they could have eight personal guards.

“And you’re still this relaxed?” Jiao Yu glared at him.

This was a literal tiger-eyed intimidation. An ordinary person would have gone weak in the legs under those eyes long ago. He Lingchuan, however, had grown so used to it that he no longer cared at all.

“Don’t tell me you already have a plan and know exactly what to do?”

“Do what?” He Lingchuan looked blank. “What plan?”

“Hey...” Playing dumb this hard is really going too far.

But just then, a burst of chaotic footsteps sounded outside, followed by a knock at the door, cutting Jiao Yu’s questioning short.

The two exchanged a look. The footsteps were heavy, not the tread of cultivators.

“Who is it?”

A voice answered, “We’ve brought your bathwater.”

It was the voice of one of the inn attendants. He Lingchuan had heard it for several days already and recognized it at once. But now something in the tone felt strange. “When did I ask for bathwater?”

“Just now. Did you forget?”

He Lingchuan’s expression sharpened slightly. He flicked his hand, and a gust of wind swung the door open.

Three attendants stood outside, carrying a large wooden bathing tub.

He Lingchuan stepped aside, and they brought the tub into the room and set it down, then carried in bucket after bucket of hot water.

He stood off to the side and watched the whole time.

Ever since coming to Baishajue, he had avoided using a bathtub in his own room for fear of being ambushed, instead bathing at the public bathhouse every time.

So what exactly is this little performance about?

The others all took their tips and left. But the very last attendant shut the door behind him, then turned back to face He Lingchuan.

The man’s gaze was fixed and vacant, no longer lively as usual, nor did he wear that ingratiating smile he always had before. He stepped forward and said in an indifferent voice, “The Crown Prince’s special envoy?”

Jiao Yu sprang to its feet at once.

He Lingchuan waved it down, then looked at the attendant for two breaths before finally asking, “You’re Mai Xuewen?”

This man’s Mai Xuewen? The one who’s been lurking in the shadows this whole time? Jiao Yu was startled. But after studying the attendant’s eyes more carefully, it felt that something was wrong.

“You turned the inn attendant into a puppet?”

“I’m only borrowing him as a mouthpiece,” the attendant said flatly. “There’s no need to look for me. I’m very far away.”

He Lingchuan had once used the eyeball spider to observe Zhongsun Mou’s interrogation. He knew that Mr. Mai had planted eye mites in the eyes of the old gatekeeper in Shuanglu Town in order to spy on his opponents.

The world was full of wonders, and naturally, methods of surveillance came in all kinds. He was probably using the same trick here, except with an added divine technique to control the attendant’s mind.

“You hide your face and skulk about like this. How do I know you’re really Mai Xuewen?”

The attendant answered immediately, “You took the jiang beads I hid inside the painting, didn’t you? There were three in all, along with four account books, one cipher slip, and a red jade thumb ring I often wore.”

Those were indeed things only Mai Xuewen and He Lingchuan knew about. This bastard really has run out of patience and come to seek me out first.

Whoever lost patience first was the one at a disadvantage.

He Lingchuan immediately shut the window and threw up a barrier. “You’ve thrown the whole northern part of Chiyan into chaos. So what exactly are you doing here?”

People closed the window when they bathed anyway. It wouldn’t draw attention.

Mai Xuewen spoke. “You’ve got nerve, Special Envoy. You’re in a dangerous situation, yet you still eat well and sleep soundly.”

One of He Lingchuan’s eyebrows rose. So this guy really does know my situation inside and out. “Oh? Dangerous how?”

“As long as they kill you, all their present troubles would be resolved at once.” Mai Xuewen looked at him. “You’re trapped in danger in Baishajue. Countless people want you dead. Of course, you already know that. Otherwise, how could the curse master invited by the Cen Residence have failed in his sneak attack?”

He Lingchuan’s heart stirred. “That man was at a very high level?”

“He once cursed a state’s ruler to death and became famous in a single stroke.”

Jiao Yu cut in, “Did that state not have any origin energy?” How could the ruler of a state fall prey to evil things unless that state’s fate was already in decline and nearly exhausted?

“I don’t know the details.” The inn attendant controlled by Mai Xuewen tilted his head slightly, still scrutinizing He Lingchuan carefully. “The fact that you survived him is quite unexpected.”

“Let’s talk business.” He Lingchuan poured himself a cup of water. “Don’t tell me you came to turn yourself in?”

Mai Xuewen laughed. “If I wanted to surrender, why would I have gone to all that trouble before to arrange clues for you?”

He Lingchuan finally asked the question that had troubled him for a long time, “Who exactly are you working for?”

“For myself.” Mai Xuewen let out a long breath. “I have a deep blood feud with the people behind all this, so I infiltrated their ranks to collect clues and evidence, then waited for a chance to hand them over to someone capable.”

He Lingchuan pointed at himself. By someone capable, does he mean me? “In Zhitian Township, killing monsters and taking their beads, that was all on your orders, wasn’t it?”

“It was.” Mai Xuewen did not deny it. “If I didn’t properly work for them, how could I win the Cen Family’s trust?” He then added, “Of the six lower branches Wu Kai managed for Cen Boqing, I was always the one who turned in the most jiang beads while causing the fewest problems.”

Well now, a proper double agent. He Lingchuan rubbed his nose. “So you were their model worker?”

Mai Xuewen shrugged. “If I do something, I do it as well as possible.”

“There is certainly no shortage of wronged souls under your command.”

Mai Xuewen replied plainly, “Survival of the fittest has always been Beijia’s one unchanging law. Stay here long enough, and you’ll come to agree.”

Those monsters were killed because they were too weak. They were naturally just food for the strong.

“So Cen Boqing is actually killing monsters for beads all across Beijia?”

“That’s right. But even after years of probing, I still don’t know the exact members and locations of the other five groups.” Mai Xuewen said, “Wu Kai is extremely cautious. He never says more than he has to.”

Jiao Yu interjected, “What is he gathering jiang beads for? Is it really to refine elixirs of youth?”

“In the past, some of them were sent off to refine elixirs of youth, while another portion was laundered by Wu Kai as foreign imports. That was how they could be brought in openly,” Mai Xuewen explained. “But recently the elixir of youth has been in short supply, so I’m guessing they no longer have extra beads to launder through outside channels.”

“Laundered?” He Lingchuan said in surprise. “Something like this can actually be imported openly?”

“Of course it can, as long as there’s demand in Beijia.” There was a faint trace of mockery in Mai Xuewen’s voice. “Otherwise, where do you think the raw jiang beads come from for the elixirs of youth bestowed by the Lord Emperor? If they openly killed their own state’s monsters and took beads from them, word getting out would easily stir public anger.”

“If they import them from abroad, then the state’s residents won’t complain.” After all, it would be foreign monsters dying, not Beijia’s own. Naturally, Beijia’s residents would not care.

1. The author should be referring to Teochew rice noodle soup here, also known as Kway Teow Soup. ☜