The creature gave a sharp sniff, sucking several wisps of a pale white, smoke-like substance out of the fragments.
The fragments vanished in an instant, leaving nothing behind.
The Monster Head let out a long "Ahhh." It looked like a homeless man, starved for seven days and nights, who had just finished a full meal. Or like someone who had just jumped into a hot spring on a freezing day. The word "blissful" didn’t even begin to cover it.
Anyone who didn’t know better would have thought it was getting high. Hee Lingchuan gave it a sidelong glance. "Is it really *that* good?"
The Monster Head sniffed twice, its craving not yet satisfied. "In the past, this little bit of power had to be shared among more than a hundred faces. How could that be as good as me enjoying it all by myself? Besides..."
"Besides what?"
"This god statue has a burnt, smoky smell. What’s that about?"
Hee Lingchuan then explained how he had rescued the statue from the fire.
"I knew something was off! So Cheng Yu tried to burn the god statue!" the Monster Head raged, its voice vicious. "Good. Very good! He’s the one who broke the oath. He can’t blame me for what comes next."
Hee Lingchuan was startled, then overjoyed. "You don’t have to abide by your contract with him anymore?"
"The contract is gone." The Monster Head chuckled. "He dared to burn my statue, which makes him my enemy. I can make a move against him now!"
Hee Lingchuan rubbed his nose.
The main body of the Hundred-Faced Nightmare had been devoured by the giant red shadow, so Cheng Yu probably thought the statue was useless and just tossed it into the fire without a second thought.
Who would’ve known that a Nightmare Clone had been left behind here?
So his casual act of burning the statue had broken the original contract he’d made with the Nightmare.
What an unlucky bastard.
Or maybe he was just in shock and wasn’t thinking straight.
"Alright, you’ve had your fun. Time to get to work, right? Or else that oath you swore..."
"Fine, fine!" the Monster Head readily agreed, before stammering, "But I have to remind you of one thing..."
Hee Lingchuan stared at it without replying, a bad feeling rising in his heart.
The Monster Head grew nervous under his gaze and gave a hollow laugh. "I can try to track him, but Cheng Yu might not be asleep. If he’s not in the Dreamland, I can’t find him."
"You can only find him when he’s asleep?"
"That’s right." The Monster Head sighed. "What do you expect? I’m a Nightmare. If he doesn’t dream, I can’t get close to him."
Hee Lingchuan said flatly, "Why didn’t you mention that earlier?"
’This thing was playing games with him, tricking him into letting it devour the statue’s power before revealing its own shortcomings.’
’He’d never dealt with a Nightmare before; his lack of experience was costing him.’
The Monster Head sensed the sudden surge of killing intent from him and quickly said, "But you don’t have to worry. Everyone has to sleep."
"Cultivators often use meditation to replace sleep." Hee Lingchuan did so himself.
"For a short time, maybe. But whether they’re demons or humans, they all need long periods of sleep eventually," the Monster Head argued. "Many of Beiga’s Demon Kings are often in deep slumber, like that King of Treasure Tree. Besides, Cheng Yu suffered a backlash and is seriously injured. He desperately needs to fall into a deep sleep to recuperate."
Its conclusion was:
"He won’t be able to hold out for long."
Hee Lingchuan looked at it and said, "You really are a firm believer in your own trade, aren’t you?"
But the Monster Head wasn’t wrong. Ultimately, people had to sleep.
***
In the quiet of the night, the Celestial Net Star in the eastern sky flashed brilliantly once more.
「Lingxu City, the Heavenly Palace.」
A red light flickered on the Divine Altar again.
This time, the Celestial Net Star’s anomaly was brief, just two quick flashes, but its brightness far exceeded the last one, successfully attracting the Lamp Guardian’s attention.
Ever since the last time the Celestial Net Star acted up, Star-Picking Tower had assigned extra personnel to guard the Divine Altar.
These two flashes were naturally treated as a top-priority emergency and reported overnight.
So, the Demon Emperor soon arrived in person.
"Where there’s one, there will be a second. I expected as much."
"Your Majesty the Emperor is wise." The Du Yun Envoy summoned a Sand Table, on which mountains, river valleys, and terrain were vividly displayed. "This time, the Grand Square Pot’s location has changed."
It was north of Zhitian Village and south of Elephant Mountain.
"The six northern counties of the Chiyan Kingdom?" the Demon Emperor said playfully. "Did this thing grow legs? Can it run on its own?"
"The area has been narrowed down to six counties. This is good news," the Du Yun Envoy analyzed. "The fluctuation from the Grand Square Pot just now was very strong, so our monitoring of it has become more precise."
"It wasn’t like this before, was it?"
"In the past, the Grand Square Pot’s fluctuations pinpointed a very clear location, down to a single city or area, which we could easily lock onto," the Du Yun Envoy said in a low voice. "This time, it’s shrouded by an Illusion Barrier, making it unpredictable and greatly increasing the difficulty."
As soon as his voice fell, a dozen words suddenly appeared on the Celestial Book:
An unknown causality unfolds, not in the Mortal World, not in the Divine Realm.
"An unknown chain of cause and effect related to the Grand Square Pot is unfolding?" The Emperor mused. "If it’s not in the Mortal World and not in the Divine Realm, where else could it be?"
Cause and effect... there is no effect without a cause. A pebble must first be thrown into the water before ripples can spread.
If you can’t find the water or the pebble, how can you see the ripples?
’Clearly, the omniscient Deities are very concerned about this unknown causality, which is why they specifically tasked Lingxu City with investigating it.’
’Are they feeling uneasy and...’
’...threatened?’
"Deities fear the cause, while mortals fear the consequence," the Demon Emperor snorted. "Any new progress from Bai Ziqi?"
"The last time the Celestial Net Star acted up, two Illusions appeared one after another in the ruins of Thousand Star City on the Twilight Plateau. Witnesses said they had never seen the second Illusion before. It was an image of Thousand Star City before it was ravaged by war; the entire city was peaceful."
"A second one?" The Demon Emperor was very interested. "Anything special about it?"
"A merchant caravan went inside to look around but found nothing unusual. It was just a sleeping city at night. The streets were empty, with only the occasional soldier on patrol."
"It resonated with the Grand Square Pot and triggered the Celestial Net Star’s flashing. How could there be nothing unusual?" The Demon Emperor’s low laughter echoed through the grand hall, causing the flames of the Everlasting Lamps to flicker and sway. "Is that all Bai Ziqi has found?"
"There is no new, confirmed intelligence at this time."
"Tell him to hurry to the new location." The Demon Emperor started to walk away. "The more frequently the Grand Square Pot acts up, the more clues there will be, and the easier it will be to find. By the way—"
The Demon Emperor paused abruptly. "Is it possible that this anomaly, like the one over a hundred years ago, is just a feint?"
"A feint?" The Du Yun Envoy thought for a moment before understanding the implication. "You mean... the Punishment Dragon Pillar?"
"Mm," the Demon Emperor said coolly. "Back then, my royal father fell for Mitian’s treacherous plot and went through a great deal of trouble."
The Du Yun Envoy didn’t know how to respond to that.
"Tell Bai Ziqi to be on his guard. Also, immediately send someone to the Panlong Desert in the Yuan Kingdom. Find out if anything has happened there, and see if there will still be a Sandstorm Season this autumn."
***
The next morning, Hee Lingchuan opened his eyes and stretched.
His abdomen still ached faintly, but it was much better than last night, as long as he didn’t cough.
This was the effect of swallowing a Hundred Virtues Pill (a defective one) before his meditation. Although one batch of the small pills concocted from Emperor’s Liquid had been ruined, the life force contained within was still incredibly potent and would soon heal his internal injuries.
Only the last traces of his injuries remained. Another two or three days of recovery and he would be fine.
Just as he finished washing up, the door to his room was thrown open.
The Fierce Tiger rushed in and said, "The inn is surrounded! Someone’s here!"
Hee Lingchuan could also hear the chaotic sound of footsteps from downstairs; there were at least a hundred people. Some of the guests cried out in alarm, only for someone to shout, "Get back in your seats! Don’t move!"
Hee Lingchuan moved to the window and looked down. A dozen or so riders were turning the street corner and heading this way.
Civilians, merchants, and even Officials on the roadside all hurried to get out of the way.
Though there were only a dozen or so of them, they rode with an air of utter arrogance.
The lead rider was handsome, with a grand and flamboyant bearing.
Hee Lingchuan took one look and said, "Let’s go."
He actually wasn’t planning to stay.
The Fierce Tiger asked in surprise, "Where are we going?"
’This Special Envoy hadn’t flinched when he confronted the Inspector or fought the Fanx Brothers yesterday. Why is he running away today just because some strangers are approaching menacingly?’
"To get some breakfast and morning tea, of course."
As he spoke, Hee Lingchuan was already climbing out the back window.
The men below hadn’t surrounded the back yet. With his Body Technique, slipping away wouldn’t be difficult at all.
The Fierce Tiger had no choice but to follow close behind.
’To think that I, the great Hundred Mountains Middle Lang General, a master who has slaughtered countless enemies on the battlefield with sweeping, powerful moves, am now following this Special Envoy, scaling walls and leaping across rooftops, climbing out of windows and darting through alleys. I landed on the roof of the silk shop next door without much effort.’
The man and the tiger continued onward, moving stealthily.
As Hee Lingchuan passed an attic, he thought he saw a young girl inside about to change her clothes.
Just then, the Fierce Tiger stepped on a roof tile. CLANG!
The wooden window of the attic immediately creaked open. Startled, Hee Lingchuan ducked his head and quickly scrambled behind the roof’s ridge.
The young girl poked her head out and looked left and right. Seeing nothing unusual, she closed the window.
Hee Lingchuan rapped the tiger on the head. "Be careful. Don’t give us away."
The Fierce Tiger’s hide was thick and its head was hard, so it didn’t care at all. It just licked its lips and said, "They’ve dismounted."
"They," of course, referred to those ten riders.
Hee Lingchuan peeked out. The riders and their horses had all stopped outside the inn, making quite a scene. A large crowd of onlookers had gathered, but the riders paid them no mind. Their leader strode into the inn with his hands clasped behind his back, and the others followed close behind.
Soon, shadows flickered in Hee Lingchuan’s room. The leader stood at the window, gazing out with a displeased expression.
The man and the tiger were already hiding behind the ridge of the roof.
A high gable wall blocked the view here. Once they climbed over it, their movements could no longer be seen from the inn room.
"Who’s that cocky bastard?"
Jiao Yu answered honestly, "I don’t recognize him."
He wasn’t familiar with Baisha Jue.
"Judging by the way he looks down his nose at everyone, I’m guessing that guy is from Lingxu City."
Jiao Yu was confused. "Why are you avoiding him?"
"No need." Hee Lingchuan smiled. "He came here so aggressively, it’s obvious he’s looking for trouble. Why waste time arguing with him? It’s a beautiful morning, and we have important things to do."
’That guy came up empty. He must be pretty frustrated.’
Jiao Yu gave him a strange look.
"What is it?"
The Fierce Tiger licked its lips. "Aren’t you furious? They keep coming after the Crown Prince Envoy, one after another. They’re so aggressive." ’If it were the real Crown Prince, he’d probably be exploding with rage right now, right?’
"What’s the use in being furious?" Hee Lingchuan shrugged, not at all angry. "It’s not like I can just go find Zhongsun Mou and cut him down with a single stroke."