With a blade at his throat, Fan Sheng simply gave up struggling and let out a cold laugh. “If you dare kill me, then go ahead and do it! But if you dare humiliate me, your end will be so miserable that not even your corpse will remain whole!”

Even trapped as he was, he still did not forget to threaten He Lingchuan.

And infuriatingly, the threat carried real weight.

The two large spiders caught in the net along with him vanished with a pop.

So those spiders were only creations of a divine technique?

Then why did they feel so solid and alive?

At that moment, Jia Yu’s voice came from within the lotus wall. “My lord! Lord Envoy!”

He Lingchuan turned his head and saw that yet another boat had arrived nearby, and Jia Yu was grappling with the man on board.

He Lingchuan jumped over and threw two heavy punches. The man immediately went limp and toppled headfirst into the boat.

He then had Jia Yu tie the fellow up to several lotus stalks before finally extending his hand. “The Overlord Lotus.”

“Oh, oh, yes, here!” Jia Yu seemed to wake from a dream.

What just happened?

It seemed that Lord Fan had suddenly burst out of the water to attack the special envoy, then the special envoy had disappeared, after which several giant spiders had emerged from the lotus wall and fought Lord Fan, and then that enormous metal puppet had risen from the water and taken Lord Fan down in a single cast of its net...

And now the special envoy had come back out and was even sitting on the puppet’s shoulder. That means the special envoy won, right?

Then he himself was safe now.

Jia Yu relaxed at once and allowed the golden-armored copper man to lift him up and place him on its shoulder.

From up high, the view was broad.

“Wh-what do we do now?” He was still holding the Overlord Lotus. “Ah! Lord Envoy, you’re wounded!”

He Lingchuan was covered in injuries, most notably on his left waist, where his clothes were soaked red with blood.

“It’s nothing. I can handle it myself.” He Lingchuan took the Overlord Lotus and put it away, then said to Fan Sheng, “You’re the dignified deputy commander of the Tongxin Guards. Instead of guarding the southern gates of Lingxu City, why did you come running here to obstruct my investigation?”

Fan Sheng glared so fiercely that his eyes looked ready to split. “Because you injured my third brother!”

If looks could kill, He Lingchuan would have died a hundred times over by now.

Fan Sheng had been even more cautious and meticulous in ambushing He Lingchuan this time than the last—but throughout the entire exchange, he had never truly fought He Lingchuan himself face-to-face!

Their weapons had not even properly clashed, and yet he had already been captured?

Clearly, his origin energy was richer, and the advantage should have been his.

The net, the spiders, the hidden needles, the broken boat, the other party had used all sorts of tricks against him, never fighting him head-on in a proper, honorable match even once!

Fan Sheng was so upset that he felt he was on the verge of coughing up internal injuries.

“To be clear here, you were the one who helped Zhongsun Mou come after me first.” Seated on the golden-armored copper man’s shoulder, He Lingchuan took out medicine and began treating his wounds.

This bastard’s attacks are the real thing. He Lingchuan had already been on full alert, and he had even used the substitution technique in time, yet he had still been a fraction too slow, and the force on the axe blade had cut into his waist.

Against that kind of offense, even the Soul-Stealing Mirror’s full-body protection was not comprehensive enough.

The wound was as deep as half a pinky finger. Fortunately, it had not reached his kidney.

When he poured the disinfecting medicinal solution over it, He Lingchuan’s face immediately went pale, and he sucked in a sharp breath from the pain.

“The Lingxu City courier case was assigned to the State of Chiyan by the Lord Emperor himself, then personally handed to me by the Crown Prince of Chiyan. By obstructing my mission, you are, at the root of it, obstructing Lingxu City as well. Later, when the ruler of the State of Chiyan submits the full account of right and wrong in this matter, how exactly do you plan to defend yourself?”

Fan Sheng replied coldly, “Don’t try to crush me with grand accusations.”

“The case is already close to coming to light. Zhongsun Mou colluded with the mastermind behind it, and none of them will escape the law.” Only then did He Lingchuan begin leisurely applying medicine to himself. “Yet you insist on jumping into the dye vat right now. Or is it that the Tongxin Guards have long since been in cahoots with the mastermind, and you came here to silence people?”

Fan Sheng’s face changed sharply. “What nonsense are you spouting? I don’t know any mastermind!”

“Then what did you come to Baishajue for?”

Once the whole Tongxin Guard was implicated, Fan Sheng grew somewhat agitated. “I was on assignment in Qingding City and took the chance to visit my family. Then I received an urgent message from Zhongsun Mou saying that you, relying on the five hundred soldiers under your command, had abducted a major criminal of Lingxu City and treated him, the Touring Commissioner, as though he were nothing. He asked for my help, so I came.”

“The Tongxin Guards are that fond of helping people?” He Lingchuan asked curiously. “Then if I tell you to go back, will you?”

Fan Sheng was so choked by that retort that his chest burned. “My older brother owes the Zhongsun Family a major debt of gratitude. They keep bringing it up, boasting about it, and using it to pressure us, so I thought that I might as well repay it.”

“And you weren’t afraid of causing even greater trouble for Commander Fan?”

Fan Sheng had no answer.

People get injured every year in the scramble during the lotus token contest in Baishajue. He had only intended to take advantage of the occasion. How much weight could a mere Crown Prince’s special envoy of the State of Chiyan really carry? He had thought that beating the other party half to death and teaching him a lesson would be enough.

Even if he crippled the envoy, how much trouble could that possibly cause?

He Lingchuan suddenly stood up on the golden-armored copper man and shaded his eyes with one hand as he looked toward Chao Lake Tower.

“Hm? It sounds a little noisy over there.”

The mirror grunted against his chest, though naturally, only He Lingchuan could hear it, “Keep acting. Go on, keep acting!”

Fan Sheng could naturally hear the noise too. There was indeed some commotion over by Chao Lake Tower. But right now, he could barely save himself, so where would he find the spare mind to think about it?

A gust of wind blew from the opposite side, and Jia Yu heard it too, “It sounds like someone screamed. I wonder what happened.”

He Lingchuan’s face darkened. “This is bad. We need to get back quickly.”

He had already finished applying the medicine. After moving a couple of times lightly to test himself, he kindly reminded Fan Sheng, “Lord Fan, hold your breath. Take a deep breath first. Here, like this—”

He demonstrated taking a deep breath. Fan Sheng only stared at him coldly.

He Lingchuan slapped the golden-armored copper man. It immediately tied the net rope into a knot and flipped it into the water!

Fan Sheng was thrown into the water headfirst, floating up and down in the water together with the net.

While death may be forgone, some form of punishment absolutely could not.

The golden-armored copper man turned and strode toward the lakeshore more than thirty meters away.

The boat was gone, but this replacement mode of travel was just as fast.

Once ashore, the golden-armored copper man marched along the lakeside toward Chao Lake Tower in great strides, faster than a galloping horse. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

If it had been anyone else who had lain in ambush to attack him like this, He Lingchuan would never have shown the slightest mercy. But since it was Fan Sheng, if he really killed him, there was a good chance he would be playing directly into Cen Boqing’s hands and making himself an entire faction of deadly enemies.

Besides, he still needed to keep this witness alive for what came next.

Fan Sheng was the deputy commander of the Lingxu City Tongxin Guards, a man in high office, and behind him stood an even more terrifying great commander whose martial power and influence were both simply terrifying.

For the sake of his future mission and his own safety, unless He Lingchuan intended to flee Beijia forever and never return to Lingxu City, he could not very well kill Fan Sheng outright.

Fan Sheng could exploit the lotus token contest as a chance to beat him up or kill him, but He Lingchuan could not use the same excuse to kill Fan Sheng in return.

He had not even killed Zhongsun Mou with his own hands. Fan Sheng, whose status stood above Zhongsun Mou’s, was, of course, even less killable.

Such was the oppressive force of Lingxu City’s halo.

Whether the world found it stifling or not, whether they accepted it willingly or not, all had to keep a constant reverence for it.

* * *

Meanwhile, Fan Sheng was submerged in the water. A moment earlier, the golden-armored copper man had deliberately flipped the net over so that his face was turned downward.

Before entering the water, Fan Sheng had no choice but to take one deep breath first.

His cultivation was profound, so he could easily hold his breath underwater for an hour if he so wished.

But the problem was that there were still man-eating fish in the water!

Before leaving Chao Lake Tower, Zhongsun Mou had given him a fish bladder no bigger than a dried tangerine. But once tossed into the water, it would swell open and release about seventy man-eating fish.

During the dry season, these piranha-like fish could burrow into the mud and survive no matter how cracked the ground became. Then, once the rains returned the following year, they would spring back to life the instant they touched water.

After being strengthened by Zhongsun Mou’s origin energy, these things ignored protective vigorous qi. They were also known as wolves of the water, fully capable of reducing a living person to a skeleton in minutes.

If He Lingchuan had not possessed the mirror shield’s protection just now, he would already have been chewed full of holes.

These man-eating fish were savage by nature, and now that they had tasted blood, all they wanted was to devour living flesh. Fan Sheng was merely the owner of the pouch, not a merman, so he held no innate dominance over them. After circling nearby and eating all the frogs, birds, snails, and fish they could find, they were still ravenous, so they turned their attention to Fan Sheng.

The enthusiastic hospitality He Lingchuan had just enjoyed from them, Fan Sheng now got to experience for himself in full.

These damned things opened their jagged jaws and bit down mercilessly, targeting exposed skin not covered by clothing or armor, such as his face, neck, and wrists.

They especially loved chewing on facial features. Fan Sheng barely dared open his eyes because the moment he did, his entire field of vision filled with gaping mouths packed with sharp teeth.

How could soft eyeballs possibly endure that kind of abuse?

And just a reminder, these things could pierce protective vigorous qi. Not only had He Lingchuan’s protective vigorous qi failed to stop them, Fan Sheng’s could not block them either!

While it was true that origin energy could reduce the damage, reduced did not mean nonexistent. Three or four different flashes of light flickered over Fan Sheng’s body as his protective magical artifacts activated in succession.

How long could they hold? He himself had no idea.

Turning the axe blade sideways, Fan Sheng worked desperately to cut through the fishing net, occasionally letting out a bubble or two.

When he drove true energy through the axe, frost formed wherever the blade passed.

The fishing net was no exception.

Yet the surrounding current drew away part of the cold, so even when a thin crust of frost formed over the mesh, it did not become brittle or stiff. It remained just as resilient as before. That made things awkward. An axe blade was far better suited for chopping than slicing, while the refined iron dagger he carried in his robes could not cut the thing at all. Trying to saw through it was like trying to saw steel wire.

After tremendous effort, he had only managed to cut through three or four knots of the net.

And unfortunately for him, the thing had three layers, inside and out!

He was still far from breaking free.

What in the world is this net made of to be this ridiculously strong? If he had not been holding his breath, Fan Sheng would have been swearing aloud by now.

What he did not know was that Zhu Erniang’s cloud brocade had always been immune to water and fire.

After He Lingchuan left, the muddied lake water gradually cleared again. When Fan Sheng occasionally forced his eyes open, he saw that there were now some new things on the lakebed.

It looked as if something were rapidly growing, turning into dozens of long, snake-like objects that were extending toward him.

Those are... lotus stalks?

These astonishingly tall lotuses of the Lotus Palace were called giant king lotuses. Their stalks could be as thick as goose eggs, and they were extremely tough as well, too tough for even a somewhat dull woodcutter’s axe to chop through.

Now these long, thick lotus stems were extending toward him and wrapping around him coil by coil like pythons.

The most insidious one of all did not go for his neck at all. Instead, it circled around him twice in a thoroughly malicious way, as if searching for the best point to break through.

Only then did Fan Sheng remember that Baishajue’s water spirit was itself a lotus monster, as well as the very creator of this maze.