Chapter 1588

"I know where that powerful force supporting Qingyang in secret comes from!" He Lingchuan said slowly, "The Temple!"

All signs indicate that Qingyang and Bai Tan have already colluded. But He Lingchuan can feel that they still have an unusually powerful third force supporting them from behind!

Qingyang is only the regent and has no real power; Bai Tan represents some bureaucrats and military generals and is not the one the public looks up to; for them to dare to stir up monstrous waves in the Yao Nation, they must have a powerful and incomparable assistance!

What kind of power dares to stand for Qingyang's heaven-defying plan?

What kind of power can buy up 30% to 40% of the Yao Nation's grain in just one month?

Is this something Qingyang or a few military generals could accomplish?

So the answer is ready to come out; besides the Yao royal family itself, the only ones with this kind of background, connections, and power in the Yao Nation are, of course, the Temple.

Dong Rui also nodded: "Yes, Qingyang plus Bai Tan, the power is still thin. The Yao people have believed in Miao Zhantian for over a hundred years; there are crazy believers everywhere here. Whoever Miao Zhantian says it supports, these believers support; even the King of Yao doesn't have this kind of prestige."

Human emperors have birth, aging, sickness, and death; they make mistakes, get confused, and can even be beheaded. How can they compare to gods who are high above and have boundless magic power? "Piety" in Dong Rui's view is about the same as "craziness."

Gurgle, gurgle; while the two were talking, the Ghost Ape lifted the basin to drink milk, finishing it in one breath.

When it put down the basin, there was a circle of white beard around its mouth.

Before it could use its hand to wipe it, Ling Guang hurriedly handed it a damp towel.

"However, the King of Yao serves Miao Zhantian quite meticulously, yet Miao Zhantian intends to make a move against him? Tsk, were those thousands of temples built in vain in the past?" Dong Rui picked up a piece of cake and chewed it vaguely, "The heart of a god is really hard to warm up."

"It depends on which angle you stand from," He Lingchuan took a sip of milk. This taste is really good and worth promoting, "If you look at it from the perspective of the Yao royal family, sincerity cannot be exchanged for sincerity, which is somewhat unworthy; but if you were Miao Zhantian, this entire Yao Nation is your sheepfold, and the King of Yao is just a farmer guarding the fold for you. If his work is not done well and not to your satisfaction, of course, you will replace him."

In the end, the King of Yao thinks this country is his, but the god doesn't think so.

It's dawn, and He Lingchuan should go to the big construction site on the outskirts of the city.

For the construction of the new city, the King of Yao hopes not to delay even for a day.

He Lingchuan also intends to go and ask the ministers who attended the banquet last night.

He urgently needs to know more details. Bai Ziqi was originally led to the north by the Thousand Illusion True Person clue he planted, but suddenly returned to the Yao Nation; are there other reasons behind this? Dong Rui was somewhat worried: "Hey, don't you have to enter the palace today? It's too dangerous."

Today is another day for He Lingchuan to enter the palace to report the project progress to the King of Yao, but Bai Ziqi only arrived in Tianshui City yesterday; will they have already set up a net in the palace, waiting specifically for He Lingchuan to throw himself into it?

"It's fine, I have a way," He Lingchuan asked him back, "What did you research about the yellow buns Tian Yun stole and buried in Yongquan Shanzhuang?"

As soon as this was mentioned, Dong Rui became energetic: "Aha, I didn't guess wrong; it's insect puppets again!"

"What's the filling—I mean, what's the content?"

"Do they all look the same to you, all round and plump?"

"Hmm, like stale coarse-flour buns, and one is even a bit deflated."

"Actually, the insect puppets inside are all different," Dong Rui explained, "This thing shouldn't be called an egg spore; it should be called a sheath, because what crawls out from inside isn't necessarily a newly hatched larva."

He Lingchuan said "Oh": "Just like caterpillars, although they are oviparous, they still have to form a pupa once before they can turn into butterflies?"

Out of the eggshell once, out of the pupa shell once.

"Exactly, that's the principle!" Dong Rui showed an expression of gratification that the child is teachable, "These sheaths are actually all pupae, inside which are insect puppets waiting to transform into their final forms. Two of them will turn into powerful individuals after emerging from the soil; I can't estimate their future appearance for the time being."

Just like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly, the physical transformation is extremely great.

"The other two are annoying; one will evolve into a queen ant, and the other will evolve into a queen bee," Dong Rui scratched his head, "This guy Tian Yun is really cunning. If I were him, and I wanted to create more trouble for the enemy, these two things are indeed excellent choices."

He Lingchuan thought for a moment: "About how long will they hatch?"

"What hatching?" Dong Rui said irritably, "Did you not remember a single word I just said? That's metamorphosis! The other two sheaths will break out of their pupae in about twelve or thirteen days, while the queen bee and queen ant will mature earlier, breaking out of their sheaths in about three days, and then start breeding underground or under the tree bark."

"I deduce that the bee eggs and ant eggs they lay can hatch within an hour at the latest—yes, now you can call this process hatching," Dong Rui didn't forget to despise He Lingchuan, "Do you remember the seventy-year cicadas we captured in Rongshan?"

"I remember. They were stained with divine blood, so their mutation and reproduction were unprecedentedly rapid." Isn't this just exploding the army?

"The queen bee and queen ant are both ruthless production machines. Before Tian Yun enters the villa next time, they will likely have already produced a whole nest of bees and ants. By then, whether for reconnaissance or attack, they will be extremely easy to use." The insecticidal drugs sprayed in the villa may not necessarily cause them fatal damage.

He Lingchuan interrupted: "Before Tian Yun buried these yellow buns, he had already calculated the time for their metamorphosis."

Dong Rui hummed twice: "For a good demon puppeteer, this is basic skill."

"Conversely, it can be deduced that Tian Yun actually intends to launch in ten-plus days," He Lingchuan squeezed his knuckles, "This timing is very particular."

Both of them knew very well what would happen in ten-plus days. "Do you think they will also choose to make a move on the day the Emperor's Flow descends?"

"The whole city will be in chaos that day; he has an opportunity to exploit," He Lingchuan consulted the expert, "If the Emperor's Flow erupts, can they still control their insect puppets?"

"If it's the murderer who killed Situ Yu, I think he can," Dong Rui said sternly, "His control is very strong; even if the Emperor's Flow erupts, the possibility of the demon puppets losing control or backlashing is very small—unless he is seriously injured."

He Lingchuan wondered: "If you were seriously injured, I don't think the Ghost Ape and the bat would backlash, right?"

"Of course not," Dong Rui shook his head, "I have always kept them by my side because I have established a firm emotional bond with these two demon puppets and Number Sixty-Six inside the egg."

While speaking, the Ghost Ape stretched out its furry hand to secretly touch the cake on the table, but was slapped on the back of the hand by Dong Rui: "No manners!"

Indeed, Dong Rui rarely uses other demon puppets; He Lingchuan thought this guy was too lazy. "Can't that demon puppeteer do it?"

"He uses insect puppets! How big is an insect's brain?" Insect puppets act more on instinct. "Do you know why I don't like insect puppets now? They can't be tamed!"

"But the spider demon sisters...?"

"They are ancient great demons; look at how big their brains are," Dong Rui didn't want to discuss problems with a layman, "Judging from these few insect puppets, the demon puppeteer organization Tian Yun belongs to should have started research in this area very early."

"Actually, insect puppets have advantages that cannot be erased compared to ordinary beast puppets. Through accelerating generational turnover, they can adapt to the influence of divine blood faster; and they actually have two chances to break their shells, staying in a dormant state within the sheath, which is convenient for control."

Sure enough, the man surnamed Tian specializing in the direction of insect puppets has his own practical considerations. Hmm, whether his surname is really Tian is still hard to say.

"Since they have fallen into your hands, they won't hatch—uh, they won't metamorphose again, right?"

"I interrupted their metamorphosis process, but I have to keep them and study them well." Other people's works and other people's insights are also very precious to Dong Rui. He is a model of self-taught success, but he also needs to broaden his horizons and gain new inspiration from his peers.

"Can Tian Yun know that these few yellow buns were dug out by you?"

"Hard to say." The water in this line of work is too deep.

He Lingchuan stood up: "I'm leaving. You stay in the villa and don't run around."

Before the sky collapses, he still has to go to work.

Before leaving, he once again instructed Wansai Feng that if Zhao Song raises an army, everyone should evacuate as soon as possible according to He Lingchuan's previous arrangements.

As soon as Bai Ziqi entered the Jade Spring Palace, a chill rushed toward his face.

This kind of cold would make everyone caught off guard unable to catch their breath, because the air inhaled into the nose instantly condensed into countless small ice crystals, and once it entered the lungs, it was chilling to the bone.

The mountain rocks and buildings in the Jade Spring Palace were covered with a thick layer of white snow on the surface.

It wasn't frost; it was snow.

Separated by a wall, the temperature inside and outside differed by at least twenty degrees.

As soon as Bai Ziqi opened his mouth, he exhaled a puff of white steam: "The Jade Spring Palace seems to be colder?"

Last time he came, it didn't seem to be this exaggerated.

The palace attendant leading the way said respectfully: "Yes, in the last three years, the Jade Spring Palace has become colder year by year."

And since the end of the King of Yao's birthday celebration, the Jade Spring Palace has become colder day by day. This palace seems to have its own barrier, and snow falls rustlingly every night. By early morning, the palace attendants have to come out to sweep the snow, at least to sweep out a path that the King of Yao can walk on.

However, the King of Yao no longer walks here.

He is old and weak and cannot withstand such icy cold.

"Eh?" Turning the corner, Bai Ziqi's footsteps paused slightly, "What about that old pear tree?"

The old pear tree was the protagonist of the Jade Spring Palace, with a canopy like a pavilion and jade trees with fragrant snow, leaving a deep impression even on the well-informed Bai Ziqi. But this time when he entered, why was the Jade Spring Palace empty?

Where is the tree?

The palace attendant hesitated for a moment before saying in a low voice: "The treasure tree has passed, passed away."

Bai Ziqi was somewhat surprised: "When did this happen?"

He could also receive some news about the Yao Nation from time to time, but small matters like "a tree dying" usually didn't reach his ears.

"On the day of my King's birthday celebration, the treasure tree's flowers flew and leaves fell, and it suddenly withered."

Bai Ziqi said "Oh" lightly: "So that's how it is."

He just asked casually and didn't take it to heart, so he passed through the Jade Spring Palace and walked to the Clear Sound Pavilion.