Where Immortals Once Walked

Chapter 534: The Vanished Cen Boqing

The mirror refused to accept that. “Oh, come on. Where was I wrong?” I’m actually being lectured by a brat of seventeen or eighteen?!

“You skipped right over the strongest force in Lingxu City.”

“Huh?” The mirror then asked in puzzlement, “Which force?”

“The gods.”

“...Ah!” The mirror was instantly embarrassed.

He Lingchuan said evenly, “Bai Ziqi, who was already away on official business, was directly ordered to take over this case as well. Just look at how rushed the appointment was, and how quickly he arrived, you can tell that the Monster Emperor probably didn’t discuss it with the various factions at all. He simply issued the command directly. Otherwise, they could have wrangled for ten days or half a month and still not finished. So if there really was any contest of wills this time, then without question, the gods won.”

“Because the case involves the elixir of youth?”

“Mm-hm, Xiang Yan said before that the elixir of youth is one of the gods’ reverse scales, and that in the past they already unleashed thunderous wrath over this very matter. So if it happens again, that’s hardly surprising.” He Lingchuan shrugged. “We absolutely have to understand the gods’ attitude. That benefits us greatly. The gods also want the private refining of elixirs of youth investigated to the bottom, which means their interests align with ours without anyone even having to discuss it. As for the rest, whether the big shots show their faces or not, maybe that’ll spare us a great deal of trouble.”

“Now that Wu Kai has confessed, Cen Boqing’s finished.” The mirror then asked him, “What trouble could we possibly still have?”

“How could there not be?” He Lingchuan let out a sigh, but did not elaborate further. “Still, there is one thing you said that’s right. Now that Deputy Cloud Envoy Bai has taken over the case, most of the pressure from Lingxu City will shift onto his shoulders. Hah, he can bear it. For us, that’s excellent news.”

At that thought, even his breathing felt easier.

* * *

When He Lingchuan returned to the inn, Bai Ziqi was questioning Wu Kai again.

Because he had cooperated with the investigation earlier, Wu Kai had been given a full meal, two medicinal pills, and a clean set of clothes. His physical condition had improved considerably.

When Bai Ziqi entered the cellar, Wu Kai was hugging a large bowl of chicken soup and gulping it down nonstop.

It had been stewed for over two hours with an old hen and crucian carp. The broth was milky white, the meat so soft the bones nearly crumbled, and it was rich with the sharp warmth of pepper.

Wu Kai had spent days fleeing and then another two days under torture. Right now, he badly needed nourishment.

He was pragmatic enough about it. Since death would come sooner or later anyway, he might as well eat and drink well while he still could.

“What means did Cen Boqing have to slip out of the residence without anyone noticing?”

Meanwhile, He Lingchuan asked much more directly, “Last time, how exactly did you rescue Cheng Yu from right under my nose?”

Wu Kai lowered the soup bowl and wiped his mouth. “There’s a treasure in the Cen Residence called the Climbing Fig Grotto-Heaven[1]. It’s only about the size of a palm. It was bought from Songyang Mansion. It uses a fixed mustard-seed spell. As long as you activate it with profound crystals, it can hide living beings inside the grotto-heaven for as long as an hour. But the same person cannot be hidden inside it twice within two hours. If that happens, the body can’t withstand the compression of the mustard-seed spell and will collapse.”

“A mustard-seed spell!” The moment He Lingchuan heard the words “Songyang Mansion,” he knew things had gone bad.

When He Chunhua had led the army to Xia Province to assume office, he had encountered Li Qingge on the road. Li Qingge had taken out a tiny model of a courtyard house. Once tossed to the ground, it became a real residence, large enough to shelter people from wind and rain, let them eat, sleep, and play cards inside.

She had said clearly that such divine techniques were limited in how much outside volume and weight they could contain, so they were useless for military logistics.

But hiding one or two people inside posed no problem.

The mustard-seed space Li Qingge used herself was obviously the finest sort. It contained evergreen trees, and living people could enter and leave it with few restrictions. Cen Boqing’s Climbing Fig Grotto-Heaven, by contrast, was clearly a downgraded version.

He Lingchuan said irritably, “Why didn’t you mention this earlier?”

It now looked as if Cen Boqing’s earlier breakout attempts had all been feints in the open, meant to show Fushan Yue that he was still inside the residence and lower everyone’s guard; only when the real crisis came had the two of them secretly stolen away through the hidden route.

So that man surnamed Cen isn’t as incompetent as everyone thinks, eh?

Wu Kai wore a look of innocence. “I didn’t know he would actually use it.”

Bai Ziqi, meanwhile, had already thought one step further. “Even if he and Cheng Yu hid inside the Climbing Fig Grotto-Heaven, someone still had to carry that magical artifact out of the residence.” Otherwise, if the artifact had remained inside the residence, soldiers would have eventually found it during the search.

Moreover, it could only hold people for an hour. “Other than you, whom did Cen Boqing trust most inside the residence?”

“The driver, Old Chen,” Wu Kai answered without hesitation. “His wife once fell critically ill and nearly didn’t make it. The madame personally invited a famous physician to treat her. Old Chen has been deeply grateful ever since and has served Cen Boqing and his wife with complete devotion. Whenever Cen Boqing traveled, Old Chen was always the one driving his carriage.”

“Go to the Cen Residence. Find this man and interrogate him,” Bai Ziqi turned and gave the order, and one of the guards immediately left. Then he asked Wu Kai, “Aside from the Climbing Fig Grotto-Heaven, what other unusual magical artifacts does Cen Boqing keep on him?”

Wu Kai thought a moment. “On the ring finger of his left hand, he wears a red jade ring. It can release two wolf puppets. They were refined from two tundra wolf kings. Their hide is as tough as bronze, and their bones as sturdy as iron. They possess immense strength, and they have no sense of pain. It was a gift from an envoy of Tuhun two years ago.”

“He also has a root segment from a Linglong Rarefruit[2]. As long as you bury it in soil and water it with clean water, it can grow into a fruit tree within half an hour. Each fruit can feed one person. Depending on the richness of the soil, a single tree can bear anywhere from dozens to two hundred fruits. The fruit can also be stored.”

Bai Ziqi said, “Oh, he’s carrying quite a lot of private goods. That’s particularly useful when marching or fleeing.”

Wu Kai listed two or three more items in succession before saying, “That’s probably everything he brought with him from Lingxu City.”

Even He Lingchuan had to admit that Cen Boqing really was worthy of being a noble young master from Lingxu City. The treasures he pulled out casually were all high-end. And these were only the ones he had brought to Baishajue. The real bulk of his collection was presumably still back in Lingxu City.

Bai Ziqi’s face remained mild. Given how much he had seen, none of this particularly impressed him. “Nothing else? Think carefully. Are there any secret treasures too shameful to mention?”

This time, Wu Kai thought for a long while before shaking his head. “That’s all I know.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than a crescent-shaped protective charm at his neck snapped apart with a crack.

Wu Kai noticed at once and pulled out the token Fushan Yue had given him from his robes. The token was now glowing with red light, and at some point, its origin energy had activated on its own.

“Cheng Yu’s gone back to work.” He Lingchuan gave a dry cough. “That man really is relentless. He absolutely has to get you killed.”

“No, it’s Cen Boqing who absolutely has to get his old servant killed.” Bai Ziqi looked at the broken protective charm. “That curse master is highly skilled. You’ve got multiple divine techniques and arrays protecting you, and he can still break your defenses.”

He Lingchuan feigned puzzlement. “Shouldn’t they be busy escaping right now? How does Cheng Yu still have the leisure to cast spells?”

“Then that simply means Cen Boqing is very confident that we won’t be able to find him.” Bai Ziqi drew in a light breath. “They’ve likely fled to a place they consider safe, and now Cen Boqing can’t wait to curse the witness to death. He still doesn’t know I’ve already arrived, and that I’ve already questioned Wu Kai.”

If Lingxu City’s special envoy had not come, then if Wu Kai died in Fushan Yue’s custody, no matter what he had confessed while alive, the Cen Family could simply refuse to acknowledge it and claim it was a false confession.

So Cen Boqing’s mind was still fixed on only one thing: silencing Wu Kai.

Bai Ziqi glanced at Wu Kai. “Whether this man lives or dies, it no longer affects the progress of the case.”

But Wu Kai looked frightened. “Cheng Yu can curse even the ruler of a kingdom to death. I’m afraid you people won’t be able to protect me!”

He Lingchuan nearly laughed inwardly. Cheng Yu’s greatest feat, his supposed “cursing a ruler of a kingdom to death,” had almost certainly relied on the Hundred-Faced Nightmare’s power. While He Lingchuan did not know exactly how the nightmare had accomplished it, he remembered the power of that aberrant creature all too vividly.

By Cheng Yu’s own strength alone, he probably could never have done such a thing.

Bai Ziqi, however, pulled out a jade lingzhi from his robes, carved with exquisite detail and no bigger than a thumb. It glowed with a warm white radiance.

“This is a heart-cleansing talisman bestowed with divine grace inside Star-Plucking Tower. Whoever wears it is safe against a hundred evils.” The moment it came out, all three men present immediately felt refreshed and clear-headed, as though even breathing had grown easier. “Driving back Cheng Yu’s petty curses is even less worth mentioning.”

Wu Kai stared at the heart-cleansing talisman and swallowed repeatedly.

True, he knew he was certain to die upon his return to Lingxu City. But the moment a life began its countdown, it became precious. In the limited time he had left, he wanted even less to die.

Besides, being cursed to death was an unbearably painful process. He had already experienced it once and did not want to go through it again.

“C-can you...”

Bai Ziqi smiled. “There were omissions and falsehoods in your earlier testimony. Tell the full truth, and I will grant you the heart-cleansing talisman.”

Wu Kai froze. “I, I already told the truth.”

“You said you don’t know who in Qingfu Temple is refining the Elixir of Youth. That’s impossible,” Bai Ziqi said plainly. “What you and Cen Boqing were doing involved enormous risk. You were both walking around with your heads tucked into your waistbands. How could you possibly continue cooperating without knowing who your superiors were?”

Wu Kai muttered, “It was already like that in Old Master Cen’s time. He forbade us to ask, said knowing too much would only invite disaster.”

Bai Ziqi gave a quiet laugh. “And the work you were doing doesn’t invite disaster?”

Wu Kai forced a bitter smile. “I truly don’t know.”

Bai Ziqi studied his expression carefully, as though judging whether he spoke truth or falsehood, then said, “Then tell me this, how did you end up recruiting a calamitous star like Mai Xuewen into your ranks?”

“Ten years ago, I ran into a flood while doing business in Mount Ya, and Mai Xuewen happened to save me. He said that he was a drifter with no family and no livelihood, framed by villains in the State of Mang. After killing his enemies with his own hands, he fled to Beijia and lived by doing business in the open and in the shadows, but he’d become somewhat dispirited. I traveled with him for over two months. I saw that his cultivation was decent, and he was a loyal man, so I invited him to come work in Zhaotian Township of Baishajue.”

He Lingchuan folded his arms. “You let a tiger into the house that easily?”

“Not that quickly. At first, I only had him manage legitimate businesses in Zhaotian Township, nothing shameful. I observed him for three full years like that. His businesses all saw their profits rise sharply. Once I was sure he really was capable and tight-lipped, I gradually let my guard down and put him in charge of the jiang bead trade in the State of Chiyan. Of the six monster-hunting bead-harvesting teams, the one he managed always completed its tasks the fastest and best, and never caused trouble. I trusted him more and more, and little by little I let my guard slip. I even let him know certain things...” At that point, Wu Kai let out a long sigh. “Who would’ve known I was inviting a calamitous star into my own house?”

From He Lingchuan’s perspective, Wu Kai had already been cautious enough. He had observed a man for more than three years before deciding to let him touch the core business.

Unfortunately for him, the man he had encountered was the freak called Mai Xuewen.

1. A grotto-heaven (洞天) is just one of the common translations for the term. It usually just refers to some space that is considered a paradise hidden from the mortal realm or the rest of the world. ☜

2. This only appears in this chapter. It was really just some generic words on a random fruit. ☜