Where Immortals Once Walked

Chapter 544: Another Sudden Upheaval

He Lingchuan muttered to himself, “So Baoshu King has entered the game too.”

Baoshu King had stood firm for eight hundred years without falling. Even the Monster Emperor had changed in that span of time, yet the old tree monster remained exactly as it always had. It must have understood the art of survival better than most.

He Lingchuan could not help but smile. The moment that old tree monster made a move, the waters of Beijia had grown even murkier.

“That old tree may stay rooted in its own territory, but its weight is different from that of the other monster kings.” Baoshu King was the oldest, most experienced, and most influential of all the monster kings. Even the Monster Emperor had to show it some respect. “Now that it’s stirred the pot too, there’s no way this matter can end quietly.”

“Oh, the late-night food’s here.” Fushan Yue spotted a guard walking over carrying food. “You really don’t want any?”

“No.”

He Lingchuan returned to his room and quietly let out a breath.

After capturing Cen Boqing, the King and Crown Prince of the State of Chiyan could more or less account for themselves both internally and upward. After all, digging any deeper would mean probing into Lingxu City’s internal affairs, well beyond what most monster kingdoms were capable of.

However, He Lingchuan was constantly calculating his own position. He had become involved in this case far too deeply. No matter whether Bai Ziqi wanted to investigate Zhongsun Mou’s death or the elixir of youth case, he could not extricate himself from either.

He Lingchuan himself could even be counted as a witness by now, since he had personally crossed swords with both Zhongsun Mou and Cen Boqing.

Which meant that if Bai Ziqi wanted to wrap up the case, there was even a chance he might take He Lingchuan back to Lingxu City in the name of “assisting with the investigation.”

Could he refuse?

If, under those circumstances, the King and Crown Prince of Chiyan lost their nerve and pulled back, then what Mai Xuewen had warned He Lingchuan about might well come true. The State of Chiyan would most likely strip him of his title and authority as a special envoy.

Worse than having a title without substance was having neither title nor substance.

Now, however, He Lingchuan had learned from Fushan Yue that the Chiyan King’s attitude was firm, and that other monster kings had also been drawn in. That was a great reassurance.

The more forces became involved, the less likely it was that the matter could simply be smoothed over.

As long as he kept his position straight and watched what he said, all the great powers would be too busy tearing at one another to bother dealing with a small fry like him.

The mirror in his chest suddenly said, “Hey, they’re going to interrogate Cheng Yu tomorrow. I’m guessing that’s still troubling you, huh?”

“Mm, it is.” He Lingchuan did not deny it. “I’ve noticed that Bai Ziqi’s interest in him is unusually strong.”

Bai Ziqi had personally admitted that Cheng Yu might help him with his other case.

Before the Monster Emperor’s urgent order had suddenly sent him to Baishajue, Bai Ziqi had originally been working at the Twilight Plains. Fushan Yue believed he had even secretly infiltrated the State of Chiyan to look into certain confidential matters. But the moment He Lingchuan had heard the words “Twilight Plains” come out of the Cloud Envoy’s mouth, his mind had already begun to stir uneasily.

After all, he had seen the second scene of the Qianxing Ruins at the Twilight Plains, the hidden illusion that no one else had ever witnessed. He Lingchuan had every reason to suspect that the hidden illusion appeared because it resonated with either the Generous Pot or Fleeting Life.

Either way, the illusion had intersected with him, and it involved the Generous Pot.

And judging from the timing, Bai Ziqi had likely been sent to the Twilight Plains after the hidden illusion appeared.

What if he’s investigating that illusion?

The thought gave He Lingchuan a heavy sense of danger.

The Soul-Stealing Mirror immediately added, “Once they interrogate Cheng Yu, they’ll know how he tried to kill you. That’d be bad.”

He Lingchuan snapped, “Do I need you to remind me?”

The secret behind Cheng Yu’s flawless ability to kill in dreams was the Hundred-Faced Nightmare.

Right now, Bai Ziqi was only somewhat curious about He Lingchuan. But once he learned that Cheng Yu’s ultimate trump card was something of that magnitude—

The Hundred-Faced Nightmare could even kill the ruler of the State of Mang, yet it had failed to deal with a mere special envoy to the Crown Prince of the State of Chiyan. And He Lingchuan did not even have origin energy!

How could a mere seventeen-year-old boy possibly accomplish that?

What kind of secret method or magical artifact did he possess that could make the Hundred-Faced Nightmare backlash against Cheng Yu?

“When your opponent is someone like Bai Ziqi, even the slightest trace of suspicion is already extremely dangerous for us.”

He had depth, schemes, and outstanding powers of observation.

Worst of all, he had authority.

Authority granted by the gods.

The Soul-Stealing Mirror immediately said, “There’s still time. Just kill Cheng Yu before tomorrow’s interrogation starts!”

“Kill Cheng Yu?”

“Exactly! If they’ve got no one left to interrogate, then your secret stays safe.” The mirror was immensely pleased with its own idea of striking at the root of the problem. “You can do it, right?”

But He Lingchuan only sighed. “At the time, there was still over two hours before dawn. Neither he nor the prince was especially tired, so why didn’t they keep interrogating Wu Kai? Were they afraid Wu Kai was too tired, or afraid we were too tired?”

“Then what was it?”

“Maybe he wanted to go back, wash up, change clothes, and burn incense to the gods. Maybe he wanted to go eat the locally famous Hu Mazi’s beef-stuffed flatbread and rice noodle soup. Or maybe...” He Lingchuan’s face darkened. “Maybe it was a trap meant to test me. If I send the nightmare out now to finish off Cheng Yu, I might be walking straight into his hands. Who knows what methods a cloud envoy has? I might fail to kill Cheng Yu and expose myself instead.”

The Soul-Stealing Mirror gave a frustrated cry. “Then what do you plan to do? You can’t just sit there and watch Bai Ziqi interrogate Cheng Yu tomorrow, can you?”

He Lingchuan was just about to answer when he heard hurried footsteps outside. A moment later, Fushan Yue was pounding on his door and shouting, “He Xiao! Get out here, He Xiao!”

He Lingchuan pushed open the door just in time to see Fushan Yue’s figure flash past. He tossed back a single line as he ran, “Wu Kai’s been attacked! His life’s hanging by a thread!”

Something happened to Wu Kai?

This truly startled He Lingchuan.

This night really is a restless one.

As Fushan Yue ran, he barked orders to the guards. “Notify Deputy Cloud Envoy Bai at once! Go!”

By the time the last word left his mouth, he had already reached the entrance to the inn’s cellar and bent low to jump down.

Cen Boqing had only been captured tonight, so Wu Kai was still being held in the inn’s cellar and had not yet been transferred.

Although Cen Boqing had already confessed, Wu Kai was still a highly important witness, and there were many mysteries surrounding him. Bai Ziqi and Fushan Yue both intended to interrogate him again later.

Fushan Yue absolutely did not want to see anything happen to him.

The two men jumped into the cellar and found the guards removing Wu Kai’s shackles. The man seemed deathly afraid of the cold. Curled up on the ground, he was trembling violently.

At first glance, his symptoms looked similar to the curse attack earlier that evening. But in fact, his flesh was visibly shriveling inward before their eyes. As his tendons and nerves contracted, his limbs twisted into grotesque shapes, and his entire body convulsed uncontrollably.

Red blotches also began appearing on Wu Kai’s skin, shaped somewhat like peach hearts.

“This isn’t a curse. It may be some kind of violent poison!” Fushan Yue took one look and immediately pulled out a small bottle of medicine from his robe, personally forcing it down Wu Kai’s throat.

Wu Kai’s swallowing muscles had stopped working too. He could no longer swallow properly, so the medicine simply flowed down his esophagus.

Anything Fushan Yue took out at a moment like this was naturally life-saving medicine.

But Wu Kai choked at once. Yet instead of coughing, he made a strange sound, like a rat being crushed underfoot.

Then he began vomiting blood.

Bright red blood, with little shreds of flesh mixed in.

He Lingchuan’s face changed sharply. He grabbed Wu Kai’s pulse, only to find utter chaos. His heart, liver, and lungs had all suffered severe damage.

It had only been a matter of seconds from the onset to critical condition.

Fushan Yue roared with a dark face, “Physician! Liu Shi’er! Where the hell are you all? Dead?”

Liu Shi’er was the curse master who had cast a curse on Wu Kai that afternoon.

His movements were nowhere near as quick as a martial artist’s, so only then did he come hurrying down into the cellar.

He flipped open Wu Kai’s eyelids, then ripped open his clothing and pressed twice over his chest.

“It’s not a curse, but there’s something in his heart!”

He Lingchuan also reached out and pressed down, sending true energy into Wu Kai’s body.

And the moment he examined it, he was shocked. Wu Kai’s heart felt like a torn, leaking sack riddled with holes. Every beat only made the damage worse.

Wu Kai suddenly stopped trembling and let out one long hiccuping gasp, as though the last breath in his lungs had just been squeezed out.

He remained curled in the same position, eyes bulging so wide they looked as if they might fall from their sockets.

He Lingchuan checked the pulse at his neck, then shook his head at Fushan Yue.

“He’s dead.”

Fushan Yue immediately rounded on the curse master, grabbed him by the collar, and snarled with murderous eyes, “Did this have anything to do with you? Talk!”

“No, no!”

“Was it because of what you did at dusk—” Fushan Yue still had enough reason left not to blurt out the secret aloud.

“No, really, it had nothing to do with this subordinate!” the curse master protested. “He died of heart failure!”

“What kind of attack kills a man that fast?” From first symptoms to death, it had been less than thirty breaths. Less than thirty breaths!

It had given them no time to react at all.

Only then did the physician traveling with them arrive belatedly.

Fushan Yue stared at him coldly. “You made sure to finish your midnight snack before coming, didn’t you?”

The physician was already wiping sweat from his brow the moment he arrived. “Please calm your anger, Your Highness. This subordinate was just... squatting, squatting...”

He had been in the back, in the middle of answering nature’s call, when the guards came pounding furiously at his door.

Pulling his pants up took time too, didn’t it?

Fushan Yue knew that scolding him now would accomplish nothing. “Then figure out how he died!”

“Y-yes, yes!” The physician hurriedly kneeled down and temporarily took on the role of coroner.

It was not enough for him to poke and prod at the corpse. Soon enough, he took out a small knife.

Fushan Yue’s attention snapped to it at once. “What are you doing?”

“Your Highness, I have to cut him open to see what’s wrong inside.” He needed an autopsy. Otherwise, how was he supposed to determine the cause of death?

Fushan Yue covered his head with one hand, looking deeply burdened. “Deputy Cloud Envoy Bai hasn’t arrived yet, and you think you can just cut him open? Wait!”

* * *

So when Bai Ziqi finally arrived at the inn after hearing the news, this was the scene he found:

Fushan Yue and He Lingchuan were both sitting off to one side with blank expressions, while the physician was kneeling beside the prisoner.

The major witness, Wu Kai, lay curled up in death, his eyes still wide open.

Bai Ziqi’s heart sank. Not even fearing those bulging dead eyes staring toward the cellar entrance, he strode over in long steps.

“What happened?!”

“Sudden fatal seizure,” Fushan Yue said in a low voice. “The physician says it wasn’t a curse—”

The physician at the side: “...”

He had never said that.

“—and not poison either. As for the exact cause of death, I wanted to wait for Deputy Cloud Envoy Bai to arrive before conducting an autopsy.”

Bai Ziqi’s gaze never left Wu Kai’s corpse for even a moment. He crouched down now, turned the body a few times, and pressed over the heart.

“It may be a Shared-Life Gu.”

“What’s that?”

“A kind of extremely vicious parasitic gu. The most dangerous variety is also called Peach-Heart Gu. Once it flares up, it kills with terrifying speed, and no medicine can save the victim.” Bai Ziqi pointed at the red blotches on Wu Kai’s body. “Those peach-shaped marks are the proof.”