Chapter 1029: The Discovered Background (Part 2)

This was very strange. Since the Tiangong and the Earth Torch had made peace, shouldn't they have asked for the treasure back?

Fang Canran's mind turned rapidly.

No matter how the Tiangong tried to cover up the news of the Star-Plucking Tower being robbed, it certainly couldn't be hidden from Lingshan in the end.

He thought for a moment and said: "The Earth Torch likely hid it under the earth fire as a bargaining chip to hold the Tiangong. Otherwise, with the fire spirit causing such a huge mess, how could the Tiangong let it go?"

Wang Xingyi looked at Fang Canran and said: "You have contacted the Earth Torch and conspired with He Xiao; do you know where the lost treasure is?"

Fang Canran was ashamed: "I left Lingxu City that very night and didn't contact the Earth Torch again; as for He Xiao, he said he had just taken one step out of the Xushan territory when the Earth Torch sold him out, guiding the Qingyang State Preceptor and the Hundred-Battle Heavenly God to pursue and kill him. Based on my understanding of the Earth Torch, this is indeed its style of doing things."

Wang Xingyi asked again: "Do you know what treasure was enshrined in the Star-Plucking Tower? Did the Earth Torch say?"

Fang Canran shook his head. The Earth Torch was a very scheming great demon.

But it wasn't just the Earth Torch that went to the Star-Plucking Tower that night.

There was also He Xiao.

"It was the lid of the Great Fang Hu."

"The lid?" Fang Canran was startled, "The Great Fang Hu has a lid?"

"The pot lid was originally one piece, separated during the medieval period, and the lid's whereabouts were unknown. Later, the Tiangong somehow found it and enshrined it in the Star-Plucking Tower." Wang Xingyi said slowly, "After the Earth Torch rebelled, this lid disappeared."

Fang Canran understood: "Are you suspecting... is Lingshan suspecting that He Xiao snatched the Great Fang Hu lid?"

Daring to incite the Earth Torch and wreak havoc in the Tiangong, it was either for deep hatred or huge profit. From this perspective, He Lingchuan disrupting the Tiangong to snatch the treasure seemed to make sense.

"Based on current clues, this divine object is either in the hands of the Earth Torch or He Xiao." Wang Xingyi picked up a siu mai and swallowed it in one bite, "And the climate change in the Panlong Desert thousands of miles away might be related to the Great Fang Hu lid. The Tiangong should have speculated the same, which is why they sent He Jing."

He sighed softly: "I didn't expect that Envoy He would die in a foreign land, and the whole matter would be unclear. When the news was sent back, the Tiangong was shaken, and they sent several more groups to investigate."

Fang Canran wondered: "So the Tiangong didn't even investigate what happened in the Panlong Desert?"

Wang Xingyi shook his head: "After this incident, the Tiangong also sent people to Baling, but I don't know the specific reason."

"Baling?" Another country Fang Canran never expected, "Baling is also related to the Great Fang Hu?"

"This matter is becoming more and more confusing." Wang Xingyi put down his chopsticks and stopped eating, "I ask you, where did this He Xiao come from?"

"He said he was from the Fu Nation." He Xiao had once found two sea travelers to contact him. Fang Canran had asked these two sea travelers, and they had also boarded the ship halfway, all saying He Lingchuan set off from the Fu Nation.

The Fu Nation was next to Beijia. Wang Xingyi pursued again: "No connection to the Yuan Nation or the Panlong Desert?"

"Never mentioned it." Although Fang Canran answered this way, his heart stirred.

He Xiao had recognized his ancestral seal ring and said he had seen the illusion of more than a hundred years ago in the Panlong Desert, which included Shao Jian.

In other words, He Xiao personally admitted he had been to the ancient city of Panlong.

But he couldn't tell Wang Xingyi this. Because Fang Canran had never mentioned the past of the Shao ancestors to Lingshan.

This was Fang Canran's own secret.

If He Xiao himself was really related to Panlongcheng and the Great Fang Hu, then it wasn't strange that he recognized Shao Jian's ring, and it was reasonable that he went to snatch the Tiangong's divine object.

The Panlong past of more than a hundred years ago was the origin and entanglement between him and He Xiao.

Because he answered firmly, Wang Xingyi gave an "hmm" and fell into deep thought.

"Uncle Master..."

"Your information is lagging; he is not from the Fu Nation, but from the Yuan Nation." Wang Xingyi said slowly, "His real name is He Lingchuan, his father is He Chunhua, the Prefect of Qiansong County in the Yuan Nation, and he is now a Great General of the Yuan Nation. His family lived in Heishuicheng for more than ten years. Do you know where Heishuicheng is?"

Fang Canran blurted out: "Panlong Desert?"

No wonder, no wonder He Xiao could reveal the secret of his ancestor Shao Jian and the ancient city of Panlong.

"Right, his family is right on the edge of the Panlong Desert, guarding the northwest frontier of the Yuan Nation." Wang Xingyi drank some tea, "Some time ago, he took your seal and password to Other Rongshan, mortgaged several million taels of silver for the Yuan Nation to fight a war, and then took a team of Other Rongshan elites out to sea, crossing the ocean to come here."

Fang Canran muttered: "So that's how it is."

"You say his father is a great general of the Yuan Nation, and now he has power over the court. Why did he leave the good life of a general's son and run alone to the Yangshan Archipelago to set up his own business?"

Fang Canran considered for a long time: "Father-son discord, or some unspeakable secret?"

Wang Xingyi didn't answer.

Fang Canran waited for a while, and had to ask again: "Uncle Master, do you intend to... toward He Xiao?"

Wang Xingyi shook his head: "I don't intend to do anything to him."

That meant there would be no action for now. Fang Canran felt slightly relieved: "Then the Great Fang Hu?"

"The Great Fang Hu is still in the Panlong Desert; this has been confirmed." Wang Xingyi sighed, "The person who stole the pot lid doesn't know what for either."

But the Great Fang Hu was still in its original place, which undoubtedly made the Tiangong and Lingshan feel at ease.

This was the most important thing.

"You don't want to find He Xiao to confirm this?"

"If he didn't steal the lid, he certainly wouldn't admit it; if he really did it, he still wouldn't admit it. And then?" Wang Xingyi laughed, "Lingshan should arrest him and torture him?"

"Uh..." Fang Canran rarely felt so troubled. As far as he knew, it wasn't as if Lingshan hadn't done such things.

"Lingshan also competed for the Great Fang Hu in the past, but the result wasn't ideal." Wang Xingyi sighed, "This supreme treasure doesn't obey anyone, and doesn't even pay attention to anyone. Zhong Shengguang, the leader of Panlongcheng, once said that it was the Great Fang Hu that chose him, not him who controlled the Great Fang Hu, so it couldn't be transferred."

The logic was also very simple: it wasn't your thing to begin with, so how could you give it to someone else?

"And in the final analysis, the Star-Plucking Tower losing a divine object, what does that have to do with us?" Wang Xingyi shook his head, "As long as the Tiangong is in a mess, that's enough."

"Yes." Although Fang Canran agreed, he was as clear as a mirror in his heart: He Xiao's outstanding talent made Lingshan genuinely want to recruit him, which was why they were acting so magnanimous.

Try it with some unknown nobody? "The Great Fang Hu is actually such a spirited object with a personality?" He turned to ask a question, "If He Xiao is really related to the Great Fang Hu, why doesn't he guard that divine object, but instead crosses the ocean to the Yangshan Archipelago to seek other development?"

The Great Fang Hu was still in the Panlong Desert, but He Xiao had come to the Yangshan Archipelago, separated by more than ten thousand miles? Just going back once would be extremely troublesome.

"Perhaps there is something he wants here; perhaps he is still in an organization and just came here to execute a mission." Wang Xingyi laughed, "In short, these are all guesses, unverified. Fortunately, we still have time. You and He Xiao have similar aspirations, so you might as well contact him more and befriend him."

"Yes."

"Lingshan doesn't accept people with secrets." Wang Xingyi's words made Fang Canran's heart skip a beat, "He Xiao has too many secrets and is indeed not suitable to join the court as an official. But this doesn't mean he is useless to us."

But State Preceptor Wang had just invited He Lingchuan to work in the Mou Nation? Fang Canran understood as soon as he thought about it; this was just a test.

Regardless of whether He Lingchuan was related to the Great Fang Hu, this young man's courage, ability, and talent for planning and layout were still the excellent qualities Lingshan valued most.

Lingshan would naturally pay attention to such talent.

Compared to that divine object in the Tiangong whose whereabouts and specific uses were unknown, Lingshan's needs were more practical.

Divine objects were ethereal, but talent was real.

"If he is really the person chosen by the Great Fang Hu—" Wang Xingyi said slowly, "Even the Great Fang Hu has chosen him, what reason do we have not to choose him?"

Fang Canran had just responded with a "Yes" when he suddenly sniffed twice: "So fragrant."

A faint fragrance lingered in the air, making one's appetite stir.

This is?

He walked quickly to the wall and pushed open the window.

Fresh wind and pouring rain slapped in at once.

But there was a hint of green in the rain, refreshing the heart and spleen.

"The Emperor's Flowing Pulp has arrived!"

Wang Xingyi also walked to the window and reached out to catch some rainwater: "Rare, the Emperor's Flowing Pulp actually descends at the same time as the hurricane?"

Arrangements had been made here in the Yangshan Archipelago, and the storm couldn't enter the human settlement area, but the heavy rain could.

The Emperor's Flowing Pulp came with the heavy rain.

He was also someone who had experienced the Emperor's Flowing Pulp several times, and this was the first time he had seen such a situation.

Recalling that he had just instructed He Lingchuan to welcome the Emperor's Flowing Pulp after the hurricane, he felt a bit awkward. The time was so close that the favor hadn't been sent out.

Fang Canran took a deep breath, suppressing the restlessness caused by the Emperor's Flowing Pulp: "It's really not peaceful tonight."

Good fortune is where disaster hides.

The Emperor's Flowing Pulp was beneficial to living beings and could best stir up the instincts of creatures. It was common for riots to occur in a city or place because of the Emperor's Flowing Pulp.

At such times, it was the greatest test of a leader's organizational and control abilities.

Both looked at the lights on the island, which seemed to be full of shadows everywhere. The two of them had excellent concentration and wouldn't be distracted by the Emperor's Flowing Pulp, but nine out of ten people on this island were mortals.

And because of the arrival of the hurricane, Suoding Island was also gathering a large number of outside guests tonight.

These outside sea travelers and sailors were different from the local residents; their quality was uneven, their hearts were restless, would they listen to He Xiao's training and management? Would they clash with the archipelago's guard team?

He Xiao was the host, and they were the guests. If the host and guests fought each other tonight, flashing knives and fists, could Suoding Island still have a good reputation on this shipping route in the future?

But if left unchecked, chaos would surely arise.

Fang Canran put himself in He Lingchuan's shoes and felt troubled for him.

"That's why he had to rush to deal with the Bailong people and the Beijia people before the Emperor's Flowing Pulp arrived." Otherwise, if natural disasters and man-made disasters collided, it could drive people directly crazy.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1030 =====