It was only that Wu Kai’s protective talismans had blocked it.

“He really is deeply devoted to you,” He Lingchuan said with a smile. “Though I do wonder, did he cast the curse personally, or did he hire a few half-baked curse masters to do it for him?”

Wu Kai remained unmoved by the cold mockery.

He Lingchuan continued, “But don’t think that makes you safe. Cen Boqing still has a powerful curse master at his side, Cheng Yu. If he wants to kill you from a distance, it wouldn’t be hard.”

Wu Kai suddenly said, “How do you know Cheng Yu hasn’t already acted?”

He Lingchuan thought to himself that Cheng Yu’s soul had gone into hiding. Even the nightmare had searched everywhere and failed to find it, which meant that the man was in an abnormal condition. If he could still cast spells, that really would be a hell of a thing.

But what He Lingchuan showed on his face was the expression one used when looking at an idiot. “What nonsense. If Cheng Yu had already acted, would you still be alive? Count yourself lucky.”

He lifted a bundle and shook it beside Wu Kai’s ear, making the contents rattle. “These were all taken off you when they searched you. There are protective talismans, self-defense magical artifacts, evil-averting charms... good ones, bad ones, all sorts of things. Just how many guilty deeds must a person have done to need this many talismans, arrays, and charms to protect himself?”

Then he used the tip of a blade to tug open Wu Kai’s collar. Over the man’s chest was a large tattoo.

The guards had discovered it during the earlier body search.

“You even have an evil-warding array tattooed onto your body.” He Lingchuan smiled. “What are you so afraid of?”

“But with that talismanic cangue on, you can’t use true energy, so you also can’t activate the tattooed array.” He paced two steps beside Wu Kai. “Which means if Cen Boqing wants to kill you right now, it would be as easy as turning over his hand.”

“How long you stay alive depends entirely on when he next decides to take your life with a curse. You don’t want to betray him, but any confidence he once had in you has long since been eaten by dogs. After all, you abandoned your master and stabbed him in the back.” He Lingchuan leaned close to Wu Kai’s ear and said, one word at a time, “He already knows.”

At those last words, the corner of Wu Kai’s eye twitched.

It was a tiny reaction, but it did not escape He Lingchuan’s notice.

“If you confess sooner and identify him sooner, we may still be able to save your life.”

Wu Kai still sat there in silence, as motionless as a carved statue.

He Lingchuan stood in place a moment longer before slowly leaving the cellar.

“Those few lines of yours were supposed to help?” Fushan Yue had already been standing at the cellar entrance, listening the entire time. Earlier, he himself had tried patient persuasion, and Wu Kai had ignored him just the same.

What was the use? Empty words. Wu Kai simply did not buy any of it.

“It was only meant as a reminder. His will is stronger than Cen Boqing’s. He won’t shed tears until he sees the coffin.”

Down in the cellar, Wu Kai had settled into a practical attitude. When the constables brought him food, he ate. When they brought him water, he drank.

Other than that, he said not a single word.

Neither Fushan Yue nor He Lingchuan appeared. While feeding him, a constable said, “Your other squad in Little Gourd Town, Baiting County, has been captured. Five men have been taken, including Yang Song. The remaining two resisted and were killed.”

Wu Kai’s chewing paused ever so slightly.

Yang Song has been captured?

“This news will reach the Cen Residence very soon,” the constable continued, following He Lingchuan’s instructions. “With your understanding of Cen Boqing, what do you think he’ll make of that?”

Wu Kai’s face remained expressionless as he stared at the cellar wall opposite him.

* * *

When Cen Boqing heard the report from his guard, sweat broke out all over his head.

The reason he had not forced his way out of the Cen Residence was that he had been counting on Wu Kai escaping successfully. True, it was disloyal of that old servant to abandon his master at a critical moment, but at least it had solved the immediate problem facing both master and servant. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Yet despite Wu Kai’s caution and meticulousness, he still had not slipped through Fushan Yue’s grasp.

That was too strange. The Crown Prince of the State of Chiyan that Cen Boqing remembered from before had not seemed nearly this sharp.

Worse still, Fushan Yue had actually ordered Commander Lu to cross the border, seize Yang Song, drag him back, and haul him with great fanfare to the county yamen, where County Magistrate Tian formally opened court and tried him in public!

The moment Yang Song heard that his former superior, Wu Kai, had already been arrested, he could not hold out. He very quickly confessed.

Where they had committed the crimes, how they had done it, how many monsters they had killed, how many beads they had harvested, how they had delivered them all up to Wu Kai, he confessed the whole process, step by step!

And he did so in full view of all the people of the city.

It was said the monsters in the city were so enraged they had nearly gone berserk on the spot. If the authorities had not sent extra forces to restrain them, Yang Song would probably have been torn to pieces right there and then.

Worse still, some of the monsters had begun turning their anger toward the Cen Residence.

If what Yang Song said was not true, how could he possibly have described everything in such detail?

The guards in the residence had already intercepted several batches of monsters trying to sneak inside and kill people or set fires.

Such creatures were wild and violent by nature. Given even the slightest excuse, they no longer cared to obey the law. Why would they care that he was a noble figure from Lingxu City, especially when he had not yet even been convicted?

There were even monsters throwing filth into the estate.

Still, how had Fushan Yue managed to catch Yang Song?

The only contact point between the six hunting squads had been Wu Kai. If he did not talk, who could possibly find Yang Song?

Today, it was Yang Song. Tomorrow, who would it be? Just thinking of that made Cen Boqing’s heart pound in alarm.

Has Wu Kai confessed everything about me?

But if he’s truly confessed all of it, then Fushan Yue should have come swaggering over to arrest me by now.

Does that mean I’m still safe for the time being?

Then who betrayed Yang Song?

And most importantly of all, how much longer can Wu Kai hold out?

Ordinarily, Cen Boqing would always discuss matters with Uncle Wu. But now that Uncle Wu was gone, while most of his other trusted men had been left behind in Lingxu City rather than brought to Baishajue.

His mind was in turmoil.

He had thought this trip to Baishajue would be routine business. Who could have imagined Fushan Yue would latch onto him and bite so savagely? It had really caught him completely off guard.

* * *

The place where the Fan brothers were staying.

Fan Sheng was arrogant by nature, but before the man sitting there now, he lowered both his head and his eyes, not daring to be rude.

Even the giant bear Fan Bao lay quietly on the couch without making a sound, obedient as a great dog.

The man seated opposite them, drinking tea, was of middling height and build, looking a little past thirty. He had downturned eyes, widely spaced, and a jaw that protruded forward, giving him a distinct underbite.

Fan Sheng stood before him with his head bowed, carefully reporting all that he and his brother had done in Baishajue.

His vitality was strong; the wounds across his back had already scabbed over.

The expressions between the two of them were like those of a stern elder and a child who had done wrong.

The man listened in great detail, interrupting from time to time.

“You came to Baishajue solely to repay Zhongsun Mou’s favor?” When he faced Fan Sheng, his expression did not change. “Your elder brother owed the Zhongsun Family a favor? There was no involvement in any of Zhongsun Mou’s other affairs?”

“Absolutely true, Deputy Cloud Envoy Bai[1], I beg your discernment!” Fan Sheng nodded and raised one hand toward the sky. “This subordinate can swear it before His Divine Majesty Lingxu!”

The man before him was none other than Bai Ziqi, the special envoy dispatched from Lingxu City.

“What exactly did Zhongsun Mou ask you to do?”

“To protect the curse master called Cheng Yu, whom he had hired,” Fan Sheng answered. “He said this curse master could cast a spell to determine Fu Songhua’s whereabouts. But after midnight, Cheng Yu suddenly coughed blood and said his spell had been broken, and that the enemy would likely trace him back. Then he fled. I stayed behind and fought with the Crown Prince of Chiyan’s special envoy, He Xiao.”

“He Xiao broke Cheng Yu’s curse? And he must have done so cleanly too, otherwise Cheng Yu would not have suffered backlash and coughed blood.” Deputy Cloud Envoy Bai turned his teacup slowly. “How did he break it?”

Fan Sheng shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“And who is Cheng Yu? Do you know?”

Fan Sheng answered honestly, “I’ve heard of him, but I don’t know much.”

“His secret spells are powerful enough to curse even the ruler of the State of Mang to death. This He Xiao was ambushed by him and still managed to strike back. His level is very high.” Deputy Cloud Envoy Bai fell into thought. “Only seventeen, too. Mm, far too young.”

“You still dared make a bet against someone like that in the Lotus Palace?”

The moment that fight was mentioned, Fan Sheng looked embarrassed. “Even working together with that tiger, he still wasn’t a match for me. So once he entered the Lotus Palace, I thought I’d definitely be able to beat him.”

“And yet you didn’t.” Deputy Cloud Envoy Bai knew Fan Sheng was not truly the sort of reckless fool who could not judge the balance of strength between himself and an enemy. If he were, then even with his elder brother protecting him, he could never have remained in the Tongxin Guards this long. So he said seriously, “You opened with an ambush and were still defeated by him. I want you to think carefully about that battle in the Lotus Palace. Was he better prepared than you were?”

Fan Sheng had already replayed that fight over and over in his mind. He did not need to revisit it now before nodding. “Yes.”

“Thinking back now, the way he handled the Lotus Palace was more organized than that inn encounter from a few days earlier.” Fan Sheng hesitated, but still said it aloud. “Though it may also be because I didn’t go for the kill at the inn, and he didn’t bring out his hidden cards either.”

“But he very likely anticipated your attack.” Deputy Cloud Envoy Bai’s gaze shifted. “Before that, was the wager with Zhongsun Mou something he proposed on his own initiative?”

“Yes!” Fan Sheng answered at once. “He was the one who brought it up to Zhongsun Mou first.”

“Tell me the whole process in detail.”

After hearing Fan Sheng’s account, Bai Ziqi fell silent in thought. “They changed the stake once...”

Fan Sheng lowered his voice. “Deputy Cloud Envoy Bai, are you suspecting that this man was behind Zhongsun Mou’s death?”

Bai Ziqi looked up at him. “And what do you think?”

“I suspected it too. He and Zhongsun Mou had a grudge, and Zhongsun Mou was just about to find Fu Songhua. Then Zhongsun Mou dies, and Fu Songhua gets left openly in Baishajue. But—”

“But when Zhongsun Mou was attacked, you and he were both in the Lotus Palace. You’re the witness.”

“Yes. Exactly that.” Fan Sheng looked somewhat vexed.

“Unless he could predict when Mai Xuewen would launch his attack on Zhongsun Mou.” Bai Ziqi said slowly, “In the case report submitted by Fushan Yue, I saw that Mai Xuewen had once sent both He Xiao and Zhongsun Mou a handwritten copy of Records on Worshipping the Gods by the late emperor.”

Fan Sheng’s eyes lit up. “Could they have already made contact with Mai Xuewen back then?”

“From the evidence we have so far, Mai Xuewen spent a great deal of effort laying down leads, guiding both He Xiao and Zhongsun Mou toward striking at his own superior, even at the cost of exposing himself. The difference is that He Xiao followed the trail Mai Xuewen laid, while Zhongsun Mou refused to play along.” Bai Ziqi analyzed. “That makes it entirely possible that Mai Xuewen continued feeding He Xiao further clues afterward, while turning around to deal with Zhongsun Mou himself. Because if Zhongsun Mou succeeded in bringing Fu Songhua back to Lingxu City, the final resolution of the case would very likely not be what Mai Xuewen wanted.” He shook his head. “After scheming this long, there’s no way Mai Xuewen would allow all his work to end with an empty basket dipped into water.”

“Then that man surnamed He, and perhaps even the Crown Prince of Chiyan, may both be entangled in it?”

Bai Ziqi asked, “Did you say that Fushan Yue arrived on the same day Zhongsun Mou died?”

“That’s right. Barely a few hours later.” Fan Sheng said in a low voice. “Cen Boqing had only just returned to the residence from Chao Lake Tower and was already packing to leave when Fushan Yue personally came with men to block his gate.”

“What a timely arrival.” Bai Ziqi smiled. “After all these years, Crown Prince Fushan Yue really has grown.”

Fan Sheng’s gaze flickered. “Deputy Cloud Envoy Bai, tell me what to do, and I’ll do it!”

1. It’s possible to also translate this as chief envoy, but I’ve decided to go with deputy cloud envoy as that appears to be his actual position. See the next chapter if you’re still wondering why I decided to go with this. ☜