The fire was already raging. A loud explosion erupted from above the Tongfu Inn, and the crowd scrambled back.
The purple flames were incredibly potent; water couldn’t extinguish them. In just this short time, they had burned down half the inn. Fortunately, the inn was a standalone building, so the fire hadn’t spread to other nearby structures.
Still, the air was thick with black ash, choking the onlookers and sending them into fits of coughing.
"Who set this fire?"
Hee Lingchuan and Fanx Sheng both pointed at the other. "Him!"
County Magistrate Tian felt a massive headache coming on.
Seeing the County Magistrate’s face so miserable it looked like he was about to cry, Hee Lingchuan walked over, patted his shoulder, and whispered in his ear, "Forget it. I’ll help you out. We can put it all on the Crown Prince’s tab."
It wasn’t that he had gone soft. It was just that County Magistrate Tian’s appearance had been perfectly timed, effectively preventing the other side from making another move.
These two brothers from the United Guard not only possessed powerful Cultivation but also seemed to have a formidable background. With only the tiger Jiao Yu as his backup, Hee Lingchuan was at a significant disadvantage.
He knew exactly what his opponents were plotting. The moment County Magistrate Tian had yelled "Crown Prince Envoy," Fanx Sheng could no longer play dumb and pretend he didn’t know his adversary’s identity. And with that, the battle had to end.
County Magistrate Tian quickly said, "Thank you, Lord Special Envoy."
Hee Lingchuan made a move to leave, but Fanx Sheng strode over and said coldly, "Trying to leave?"
"What do you think?"
Fanx Sheng pointed at the Giant Bear. "You injured my brother and think you can just walk away? In your dreams."
The Giant Bear didn’t even dare let its front paw touch the ground, standing on only three legs.
Hee Lingchuan called Jiao Yu to his side, pointed at its chest and forepaws, and said, "My brother was injured by you as well. How do you plan to compensate me?"
He wasn’t lying. The tiger’s fur had several gashes. Although it hadn’t been struck directly by the axe, it had been hit by the force of several swings, and its forepaws were burned by the purple flames.
County Magistrate Tian said weakly, "Gentlemen..." ’Here we go again.’
Just then, several people emerged from the crowd of spectators, led by none other than Zhongsun Mou.
He surveyed the scene and spoke up to mediate. "How about you both do me a favor? Go to a medical hall to have the injuries assessed, and then settle on compensation."
"Why go through all that trouble?" Hee Lingchuan said shamelessly. "I’m well-versed in medicine. Just have this Giant Bear come over every day, and I’ll treat its wounds myself. I guarantee it’ll show improvement within a month."
’Bear Demons are generally simple-minded. If the Soul-Catching Mirror were to shine on it for thirty days, who knows what might happen to the big lug?’
The thought filled Hee Lingchuan with a bit of eager anticipation.
Fanx Sheng’s chest heaved. His face livid, he refused. "There’s no need."
The Violent Bear had immense Life Force and an outstanding constitution. Even without medicine, its injuries would heal on their own within a month.
"So, we’re all good then?" Hee Lingchuan shrugged. "See you around."
With that, he and the tiger turned and left.
Fanx Sheng clenched his fist, his knuckles crackling audibly.
But he remained rooted to the spot, only asking Zhongsun Mou, "What are you doing here, playing the good guy?"
"For now, we can’t do anything to him anyway. It’s better to let Third Brother Fanx get treatment and rest. This way, we save a little face." ’I already warned you not to be arrogant,’ Zhongsun Mou thought to himself. ’Who’s to blame for you not listening?’
But since his words sounded pleasant on the surface, Fanx Sheng just snorted and didn’t reprimand him in public.
He had originally thought, ’This Hee Xiao is just a teenager, a visitor from some minor kingdom. How tough can he be? A few slashes and it’ll be over.’
Who knew the kid would be so slippery?
Yes, slippery.
His Cultivation wasn’t necessarily that powerful, but he was like an eel, repeatedly preventing Fanx Sheng from landing a decisive blow.
The Carriage Post House was right across the street. He went to procure a carriage to transport the Violent Bear away.
County Magistrate Tian was all smiles, but Zhongsun Mou shot him a glance. "Did you help Hee Xiao hide Fu Songhua?"
County Magistrate Tian froze, waving his hands frantically. "No, no, of course not!"
"Without a Local Bully like you helping him, where could he possibly hide a person?"
’Baisha Jue is a big place,’ County Magistrate Tian thought. ’He could have hidden him anywhere.’ But on the surface, he remained deferential. "The Special Envoy does as he pleases. Why would he need to consult with me?"
Zhongsun Mou snorted, ignored him, and climbed into Fanx Sheng’s carriage.
As County Magistrate Tian watched the carriage rumble away, the smile instantly vanished from his face.
’These high officials from Lingxu City always look down their noses at everyone.’ But Zhongsun Mou had a point. Where would the Special Envoy hide the criminal?
’An inn in the city, or a cave in the wilderness?’
Baisha Jue was a famous scenic city, but at the end of the day, it was still a small place.
This young Special Envoy was bold, but County Magistrate Tian didn’t think he would dare to send an Imperial Criminal from Lingxu City away.
Forcibly taking Fu Songhua could, at a stretch, be explained as the Special Envoy requiring his assistance in an investigation. This conflict was merely friction between two bureaucratic systems; as long as the King of Chiyan intervened, it could easily be smoothed over.
But if Fu Songhua were to leave Baisha Jue, the nature of the matter would become entirely different. Lingxu City could easily slap Hee Xiao with the crime of aiding a fugitive’s escape.
’So, please, Lord Special Envoy, don’t do anything foolish.’
The Giant Bear was so enormous that even though Fanx Sheng had commandeered the largest available carriage, its body filled nearly the entire space. The two men had to squeeze themselves into the remaining gaps.
"I have some good medicine that Third Brother Fanx could use," Zhongsun Mou offered. His attitude toward the Fanx Brothers was much like County Magistrate Tian’s attitude toward him.
But Fanx Sheng replied coldly, "Not necessary." He clearly didn’t think much of Zhongsun Mou’s medicine.
As they spoke, his hands were busy, quickly applying ointment to the Giant Bear, which whimpered in pain.
Already, the bear’s blood had soaked the wooden floorboards. Its once sleek and glossy fur had been burned bald and charred by the purple flames, leaving it a gruesome, scarred mess that was hard to look at.
"With your Primordial Power for protection, the sinister energy from that kid’s blade couldn’t penetrate deep," Fanx Sheng said, lightly patting its head. "Just hang in there. Your bones were also gashed, so it’ll take an extra six or seven days to heal."
The Giant Bear’s Life Force and regenerative abilities were astonishing. Though it looked miserable now, these were all essentially superficial wounds for it.
"That Curse Master said he was performing a ritual to find Fu Songhua’s whereabouts, so why did this guy surnamed Hee show up claiming he’d been hit with a Death Curse?" Fanx Sheng looked up at him. "You sent a message to Qingding City asking me to come assist with the case. Why didn’t you mention this person was so powerful? If we had known our enemy’s strength, today wouldn’t have turned out like this."
"He’s obstructing the investigation; he’ll say anything." Zhongsun Mou sighed. ’It’s not that I didn’t tell you. I reminded you brothers several times, but what could I do if you wouldn’t listen?’ "The man is cunning and formidable. He’s no pushover."
"He doesn’t look old, but his Cultivation is impressive. Given time..." Fanx Sheng frowned. "You still haven’t figured out his background?"
"He seems to be from the Fu Kingdom. For some reason, Fushan Yue trusts him implicitly." Zhongsun Mou shook his head. "There hasn’t been enough time, and intelligence is scarce."
"Appointing a foreigner as a Special Envoy is nothing new in Beiga; it happens all the time." The Beiga Kingdom had such a long history that there was truly nothing new under the sun. "You’re always out there snooping. I figured you’d have been able to dig up his background by now."
"There’s a limit to what one man can do. Otherwise, why would I have needed to ask for your help, Second Brother Fanx?" Zhongsun Mou pretended not to hear the sting in the words. "Just get rid of this Hee fellow and snatch Fu Songhua back, then I can return to Lingxu City and complete my mission."
"This job originally had nothing to do with you. Why did you get involved?" Fanx Sheng finished applying the ointment to the Giant Bear and began bandaging the wound.
"..." Zhongsun Mou lowered his voice. "I only wanted to help ease the Emperor’s burdens."
Fanx Sheng sneered. ’He says one thing and does another. This guy was just trying to snatch the credit for himself, wasn’t he? And he ended up biting off more than he could chew.’
The Violent Bear whimpered in pain. Fanx Sheng stroked its head. "Heal up fast. Then we’ll go kill that kid together."
He turned to Zhongsun Mou. "Once Hee Xiao is dead, the favor my older brother owes your family is settled, right?"
Zhongsun Mou’s expression turned serious. "Accomplish this, and I swear I will never trouble the Fanx Brothers again."
"So, where is Fu Songhua hidden? You can find that out, at least, can’t you?"
"Not yet." Seeing Fanx Sheng’s glare, Zhongsun Mou hastily added, "But I’m close. Hee Xiao isn’t a local resident. He knows very few people here, so he should be easy to track."
...
Even after running a good distance from the crowd, Hee Lingchuan’s abdomen, where Fanx Sheng had kicked him, was still throbbing with agonizing pain, especially when he inhaled.
He could only adjust his breathing to reduce the pain, and at the same time, he popped a Pill into his mouth.
Jiao Yu asked with some concern, "You took a hit to the abdomen. Are you alright?"
"I am not," Hee Lingchuan said with a bitter smile. "Fanx Sheng’s power is immense."
When Fanx Sheng’s kick had landed, the Soul-Catching Mirror’s master-protection function had activated instantly, mitigating much of the damage. Otherwise, the force of that one kick—enough to shatter mountains and split stone—would have been sufficient to kill the person Hee Lingchuan was before his enlightenment on the Three-Heart Plateau.
But now, even as he ran, the True Power in his Dantian flowed ceaselessly to soothe the injury.
The true extent of his progress in Cultivation was only ever fully apparent after a major battle like this one.
This was no time to sit down and recuperate. He said to Jiao Yu, "Zhongsun Mou laid a series of traps for me here. First, he hired a Curse Master to deal with me. If that didn’t work, he had the Fanx Brothers waiting in the wings."
"Those two are incredibly powerful, especially Fanx Sheng," Jiao Yu said, a lingering fear in his voice. "If I were to fight him alone, I doubt I’d last ten rounds."
The two of them together had been no match for Fanx Sheng. Jiao Yu knew perfectly well that if Hee Lingchuan hadn’t deployed his surprise tactic, they would have certainly lost.
"If Zhongsun Mou had a man like that with him from the beginning, he never would have let me grab Fu Songhua," Hee Lingchuan said with conviction. "He must have been reinforcements called in at the last minute. But they were still too arrogant, thinking they could kill us without breaking a sweat. If they weren’t so confident, they would have had the Curse Master cast his spell in the wilderness, where there wouldn’t have been so many onlookers, and County Magistrate Tian wouldn’t have appeared."
As he considered this, a thought suddenly struck him.
’Could it be that Zhongsun Mou and his cohorts were just that confident in the Nightmare summoned by the Curse Master?’
A monster like the Hundred-Faced Nightmare was indeed beyond what a cultivator of Hee Lingchuan’s caliber could handle. The more Zhongsun Mou knew about the Hundred-Faced Nightmare, the more he would have believed it could easily dispose of Hee Lingchuan.
If that was the case, there would have been no need for the Curse Master to leave the city to perform the ritual, and the Fanx Brothers’ ambush would have been merely a backup plan.
He likely figured that even if Hee Lingchuan managed to escape the Hundred-Faced Nightmare’s clutches, his Divine Soul would be severely wounded, leaving him powerless to pursue the Curse Master.
And even if Hee Lingchuan did manage to come for revenge, his own strength would be so diminished that he’d be no match for the Fanx Brothers.
’No matter how they looked at it, there was no way for him to win.’