And just now, he had cut down a whole swath of lotus leaves...

He desperately wanted to shout, “Stop! How dare some mere little water spirit offend a superior officer!” But underwater, he could not open his mouth, and with the net still binding him, he could only let the lotus monster tighten its grip around his throat.

Under normal circumstances, he would never have spared such a petty water spirit a second glance.

At a moment like this, though, it had become an ancestor that held his very fate.

* * *

The golden-armored copper man had only just come ashore when it abruptly stopped in place.

Jia Yu stared at it for a long while without seeing it move. “Lord Envoy?” Did the puppet break after being soaked in water?

He Lingchuan pressed a hand to his chest.

The divine bone amulet had actually begun to warm up again.

Is the treasure it covets still in the water?

So it’s not the Overlord Lotus after all?

He Lingchuan let out a long sigh. Thinking it over, the Overlord Lotus was something that grew every year. The divine bone’s standards were far too high, so how could it possibly have taken a liking to that?

So what now, should I turn back and jump into the Lotus Palace again, or keep going?

He Lingchuan hesitated for two breaths, then still urged the golden-armored copper man onward.

There were priorities in all things. First, he needed to get back to Chao Lake Tower and see what exactly had happened there. If his guess was right, something major should already have taken place.

As for the treasure inside the Lotus Palace, he could always come back for it later.

The farther south they went, the hotter the divine bone amulet became, clearly very dissatisfied with his choice.

He Lingchuan ignored it completely.

This thing is far too willful. It’s good to let it stew a little now and then.

The shoreline wound on in long bends, and it took the golden-armored copper man more than half an hour of running to reach the sandy islet.

To He Lingchuan’s surprise, the gathered spectators had not scattered in panic. On the contrary, they were all lingering at the rear, craning their necks toward the islet from what they considered a safe distance.

There were even more people there than usual.

The Lotus Festival only came once a year, and some people had long since gotten tired of it. But the great Touring Commissioner from Lingxu City being swallowed by an aberrant creature? That was a truly explosive sensation, something Baishajue had never witnessed since its founding. It was well worth watching.

That way, when they got home that night, they would have something juicy to accompany their food and wine.

The guests of real wealth and status, on the other hand, cherished their lives. Most of them had already withdrawn.

By the time He Lingchuan arrived, not many people remained in the pavilions. One noble carriage after another was leaving, and the authorities had sealed off the entire sandy islet.

Commander Lu was also there with troops maintaining order. Jia Yu jumped down at once and went to report the whole course of events to his superior.

He Lingchuan looked around. Cen Boqing was nowhere to be seen. Instead, the Baishajue County Magistrate stood at the edge of the sand, looking utterly dazed and spiritless.

“County Magistrate Tian, what happened?”

As He Lingchuan approached, County Magistrate Tian jolted as though he had grabbed onto the one remaining support beam holding up the sky. “An aberrant creature burst up from underground, and Lord Zhongsun was... was swallowed!” 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

He Lingchuan was greatly alarmed. “What aberrant creature?”

“The one you mentioned before! The aberrant creature that looks both like a snail and a toad.” County Magistrate Tian smiled bitterly. “It even carries a hard shell on its back like a house. After ambushing Lord Zhongsun, it immediately burrowed into the sand and escaped. No one knows where it went. Now, I don’t even know what to do anymore!”

He was so distraught that he had even stopped referring to himself as “this lowly official.”[1]

“So it was that snail toad coming to seek revenge on Lord Zhongsun.” The moment He Lingchuan opened his mouth, he gave the sudden incident a fixed interpretation. “I said long ago this case was not that simple.”

He patted County Magistrate Tian on the back and said, “What’s done is done. Panicking is useless. This matter must be investigated thoroughly. We must do everything we can to rescue Lord Zhongsun and give Lingxu City an explanation.”

“R-rescue Lord Zhongsun?” County Magistrate Tian clutched at the words like a drowning man grabbing a reed. “He’s still alive?”

“That depends on the intentions of the snail toad’s controller, in other words, Mai Xuewen. If he thinks Lord Zhongsun is still useful, then this is a kidnapping case.”

Where the snail toad was concerned, County Magistrate Tian knew nothing like what He Lingchuan knew. Hearing this, hope flared up in his heart again. He took a deep breath and said, “I understand. I’ll go issue a wanted notice.”

Baishajue had already posted wanted notices for Mai Xuewen before. What County Magistrate Tian meant now was that he would raise the level and urgency.

He turned to go, only for He Lingchuan to grab him back in one motion. “County Magistrate Tian, what about my wager with Lord Zhongsun?”

“The... the wager?” County Magistrate Tian’s mind had long since gone reeling off somewhere else. At the reminder, he froze, and only after some effort did he remember that the two of them had indeed made a bet, and that he himself had been witness to it. “Oh, right. You won.”

“So I can go collect the money now?” He raised the Overlord Lotus in his hand.

Zhongsun Mou’s life was something he wanted.

Zhongsun Mou’s money was something he wanted as well!

He was not about to walk away empty-handed on either count.

At this point, County Magistrate Tian had no heart left for the Lotus Festival. He pointed numbly toward the high tower and gave a hollow smile. “Congratulations.”

He Lingchuan immediately sprinted toward the tower. Using the Overlord Lotus as proof, he reclaimed his own three profound crystals, then snatched up Zhongsun Mou’s fifty thousand taels in treasure notes and carefully counted them twice.

Mm, the amount’s correct.

That thick stack of treasure notes gave off the scent of wealth, and thinking of where it had come from made it smell even sweeter to He Lingchuan.

With fifty thousand taels added to his pocket, he instantly felt a little more flush again.

Now he had a modest reserve once more, and for cultivation pills, he still had the Hundred Virtues Pill holding him up. It really was time to find some ventures worth investing in. Only then would he have a steady stream of liquid funds going forward.

In the middle of the present chaos, probably only he could still be thinking about such things.

The moment He Lingchuan stepped out of the tower, the tiger came running in from the distance. Seeing him, it was overjoyed. “You won! You actually came back alive!”

It had not missed the Overlord Lotus in He Lingchuan’s hand.

The prize for the lotus token contest was right there, and He Lingchuan himself looked lively enough. Fan Sheng, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen. Such a result truly exceeded its expectations.

Originally, it had only hoped He Lingchuan would make it back alive.

“Where’s Fan Sheng?” The tiger looked left and right. “Did he not go, or did he lose to you? No, that’s not right, you’re wounded.”

Though He Lingchuan had returned, his face and hands were covered in wounds that looked like... bite marks? More precisely, small, sharp tooth marks.

There was also a wound at his waist, and that one looked much more serious.

“He ambushed me, so I soaked him in the water for a while.” He Lingchuan scratched his head. Fan Sheng’s cultivation is quite deep, so soaking for more than an hour probably won’t kill him.

“While you were in the Lotus Palace, Zhongsun Mou was swallowed by the snail toad.” Jiao Yu’s eyes were full of suspicion. “Could it be that you...”

It thought of Mai Xuewen, who had come calling the day before.

He Lingchuan smiled right back at it. “Could it be that I what?”

“Nothing.” Jiao Yu had been an official for many years. Though it was a monster, it had learned quite a bit of political caution. At a time like this, it understood perfectly well that certain things absolutely could not be said aloud. What was more, it had not the slightest shred of evidence, so why worry itself over nothing? “After Zhongsun Mou met with disaster, Cen Boqing’s expression turned extremely ugly, and then he left at once. I followed him all the way back to the Cen Residence before returning. I’m worried...”

Jiao Yu paused for a moment before continuing, “I’m worried he may flee back to Lingxu City, so I had Commander Lu send men to watch both the front and rear gates of his residence.”

Baishajue belonged to the State of Chiyan. Once Cen Boqing returned to Lingxu City, he would have home-ground advantage. If the people of Chiyan wanted to investigate him after that, the difficulty would rise by far more than a single level.

He Lingchuan nodded, then whistled sharply toward the sky and waved a hand.

Very soon, a goshawk descended from the air and landed on a tree branch beside him.

“Carry a verbal message for me, quickly!” He leaned in and murmured a few words to the goshawk. “You know who to find.”

The goshawk nodded, beat its wings, and flew eastward, disappearing into the horizon not long after.

By then, the teams that had taken part in the lotus token contest were also beginning to row back one after another.

He Lingchuan deliberately swept his eyes over them and, not seeing Fan Sheng anywhere, could not help but laugh.

Suddenly, a booming explosion came from the northwest.

Everyone turned in unison, not knowing what had happened.

Isn’t that in the direction of the Lotus Palace?

The lotus token contest has already ended. What fresh trouble could still be brewing inside the maze?

In all the previous Lotus Festivals, which year had not gone smoothly from start to finish? When had there ever been so many strange incidents?

County Magistrate Tian had been wound tight the entire time. The moment he heard the explosion, he immediately sent men over to investigate.

Could it perhaps have something to do with the snail toad?

After a while, he suddenly came to his senses and realized that one highly important person was missing: Fan Sheng.

This deputy commander had both exceptional combat ability and a high official rank. County Magistrate Tian had intended to consult Lord Fan about the rescue effort, only to discover that Lord Fan had vanished as well! He hurried to consult He Lingchuan, and after hearing the answer, was so shocked that he immediately sent men into the maze to rescue Fan Sheng.

Another fifteen minutes or so passed in the blink of an eye.

Just as County Magistrate Tian was beginning to think Fan Sheng had died as well, a solitary little boat finally appeared in everyone’s field of vision.

Other than the boatman, there was a man sitting in the back row with a dark face and sour expression. Who else could it be but Fan Sheng?

Water was dripping from him from head to toe, and his hands and face, like He Lingchuan’s, were covered in wounds. Evidently, he too had enjoyed the enthusiastic hospitality of the man-eating fish.

County Magistrate Tian hurried up to him, offering a round of concern and pleasantries before asking, “What exploded inside the Lotus Palace?”

“Baishajue’s water spirit rebelled!” Fan Sheng spat onto the ground. “It actually tried to strangle me to death!”

Truly embarrassing. The lotus monster had been trying all this time to strangle him and still had not succeeded, and the reason, ironically, was thanks to He Lingchuan’s net... That net was extremely tough. It had pulled taut against his neck, and as a result, no matter how hard the lotus stalks tightened, they still could not cinch directly around Fan Sheng’s throat.

Otherwise, he probably would have died in the gutter here.

County Magistrate Tian was horrified.

But He Lingchuan, walking over, said, “Who told you to slash apart the lotus walls? You even cut the Overlord Lotus halfway through. The water spirit is a lotus monster, and that place was its old nest. If it didn’t make you suffer a little for that, that would be the strange part. Hm, so what caused the explosion, then?”

Now that he could see Fan Sheng’s utterly wretched state and knew he had suffered plenty, He Lingchuan finally felt relieved.

“I still had a few self-defense measures left, so I gave them to it.” Fan Sheng cast him a cold look. Seeing He Lingchuan so calm and unaffected made the back of his molars itch with rage. “Count yourself lucky. That should have been used on you.”

Now that He Lingchuan had returned to public view, Fan Sheng could no longer make a move against him.

Once the chance was gone, it was gone.

He Lingchuan’s eyebrow rose. Only now did he notice that Fan Sheng’s back was a bloody, mangled mess.

That makes more sense. How could this fellow possibly not have had some final trump card hidden away? Luckily, He Lingchuan had not pushed him into a desperate mutual-destruction move.

What he did not know was that this method had been given to Fan Sheng by his elder brother. It was a one-time-use measure, and the price of using it was not small either. Who would have thought it would end up being wasted on a mere lotus monster? That was like using fine white jade to weigh down a pickle jar. Fan Sheng himself was aching with regret.

“And that lotus monster?”

Fan Sheng said indifferently, “Dead, probably.”

County Magistrate Tian let out a long “Ahhh.” If even the lotus monster serving as the local water spirit was dead, then how was Baishajue’s signature Lotus Festival supposed to continue in the future?

A tradition that had endured for so many years had been destroyed in a single day. And without the lotus monster lending its aid, how could Baishajue’s aquatic harvests possibly remain so abundant?

County Magistrate Tian’s heart felt sour beyond words.

He Lingchuan stroked his chin and clicked his tongue twice. “What exactly did it do to you, to actually force you into unleashing a move like that?”

Even when Fan Sheng had lost to him, he had still not used his ultimate killing move. And yet a mere lotus monster had managed to force it out of him...

Looks like the lotus monster’s methods were the crueler ones in the end.

He Lingchuan was genuinely curious.

1. The last time he referred to himself as such was in Chapter 491, so I honestly don’t know why the author added this line, considering that he didn’t refer to himself as such during the entire time in between. It’s possible that the author’s editor just changed things afterward, causing the discrepancy. ☜