Chapter 2369

Behind the door was indeed a courtyard, but there were no wooden racks for drying goods here; instead, over a dozen flowerpots were arranged, filled with all kinds of medicinal herbs. Among them was a plant pitch-black in color, growing like a scorched ginseng, but with two tufts of white hair atop its head. Dong Rui took one look and exclaimed, "So they're actually growing Ghost Silk Dolls here!"

The Ghost Silk Doll is a kind of mountain spirit; like ginseng, it can run all over the mountain, but usually it likes to stay rooted in the ground, motionless. Whoever dares yank it out from underground, or accidentally touches it and displeases it, it will suddenly let out an incomparably shrill, piercing scream. He Lingchuan had the fortune to hear it once; the volume was probably around 170 to 180 decibels, enough to rupture an ordinary person's eardrums.

This is also a kind of divine ability, comparable to the Demonic Sound Piercing the Brain; if a listener isn't careful, they'll be shocked into unconsciousness.

Being able to grow Ghost Silk Dolls in a courtyard in a bustling market district — the owner of this shop is no ordinary person.

This kind of mountain spirit is also a rare and precious medicinal ingredient, and moreover one of the materials for various witchcraft and divination arts.

Zhong Shengguang didn't look sideways; he walked to the front of the house and knocked on the door.

From inside came a voice: "Please enter."

He Lingchuan felt that this voice sounded a bit familiar.

Zhong Shengguang pushed the door open and entered; someone came forward to meet him.

Catching sight of that face, He Lingchuan blurted out:

"Great Shaman?!"

This person looked to be in his thirties or forties, with an ordinary face but gentle eyes; thrown into a crowd he might well vanish. The key point was that He Lingchuan actually recognized him too —

Zhao Mandu the Great Shaman!

Dong Rui and the Soul-Capturing Mirror both gasped in surprise: "Huh, no way?"

He Lingchuan's expression was heavy and solemn.

Over a hundred years ago, Zhao Mandu the Great Shaman had also appeared in Panlongcheng?

And compared to later generations, his appearance hadn't changed in the slightest.

Humans can't do this; even the Qingyang Grand Preceptor couldn't. So the Great Shaman isn't human?

Yet in the Panlong World, He Lingchuan had never seen this person at all.

Panlongcheng over 150 years ago, and present-day Heishuicheng — both bore traces left by the Great Shaman. He Lingchuan smelled the scent of a setup.

Zhong Shengguang's next action was even more inconceivable to the three of them.

He stepped forward and bowed deeply to Zhao Mandu the Great Shaman, his etiquette flawless:

"Venerable Immortal!"

So in different historical periods, Zhao Mandu also had different titles?

Zhu Xiuer scratched her claws in anger, gouging several small pits in the ground with a zeng-zeng-zeng sound: "Just which Immortal Venerable is this Zhao Mandu? Why doesn't Zhong Shengguang call his full title?"

"You've come." Zhao Mandu's expression was kindly, and he glanced behind him once more.

Zhong Shengguang immediately said: "My daughter didn't come."

Zhao Mandu nodded, looking as if he'd also breathed a sigh of relief.

He Lingchuan also received a key piece of information: Zhao Mandu knew the Red General's true identity.

On this point, he surpassed ninety percent of Panlongcheng's residents.

"Matters are dire." Zhong Shengguang had no mind for pleasantries either, and spoke straight to the point: "I just received a letter from Beijia, demanding that Panlongcheng hand over the Great Square Pot within ten days!"

The "or else" that followed went unsaid.

He Lingchuan's heart clenched sharply; he knew he had unwittingly stumbled upon another key turning point in Panlong history, and the very situation he worried about most in the Panlong World:

The secret of Panlongcheng possessing the Great Square Pot had been discovered by the Lingxu Saint Venerable!

This differed from the later situation: Cangyan's territory was truly vast, and between it and Beijia lay the enormous state of Mou, so even though the Heavenly Demon discovered the Great Square Pot was in the Nine Nether Great Emperor's hands, he could do nothing about him for the time being.

But Panlongcheng's geographic position was poor, right next to Beijia, and at this time Panlongcheng's territory could not be mentioned in the same breath as Cangyan. If one said Beijia previously still had reason to ignore Panlongcheng, once the secret of the Great Square Pot leaked, the Lingxu Saint Venerable could not let it rest!

Zhong Shengguang knew very well that Panlongcheng faced a calamity of annihilation.

What would he do?

Zhao Mandu's face changed slightly: "The Heavenly Demon has discovered it after all."

"The people who know this secret are exceedingly few; including you and me, those in the know in Panlongcheng do not exceed five." Zhong Shengguang's brows knitted into a 'chuan' character shape, "How could it possibly have leaked out?"

"Since it wasn't leaked from inside the city, then someone outside the city sold you out."

Zhao Mandu's words hit the nail on the head, pricking Zhong Shengguang into abruptly raising his head: "You also believe……"

"If you believe those five are reliable, this is the only possibility."

"Lingshan!" Zhong Shengguang clenched his fists tight, "Lingshan!"

These four words he spoke through gritted teeth, filled with regret.

Zhao Mandu asked him: "Things have come to this; what does Commander Zhong plan to do?"

"The Great Square Pot was inherited by me from the Abyss King. Before the Abyss State fell, the Abyss King specifically ordered Shao Jian to secretly send the Great Square Pot to me, to preserve a sliver of hope against the Heavenly Demon." Zhong Shengguang spoke heavily, "Reasonably speaking, now that the secret of the Great Square Pot in Panlongcheng is exposed, I should send it away as well, to prevent it from falling into the Heavenly Demon's hands."

"You already have a suitable candidate in mind?"

"The problem lies right here." Zhong Shengguang shook his head, "I've searched for over twenty years, seen countless outstanding talents, examined countless powerful figures, yet not a single one is equal to the heavy responsibility!"

Zhao Mandu's face was also full of heavy and solemn gravity: "Even with excellent talent, character, constitution, and fortune, one may not be a worthy entrustee for the Great Square Pot. There are too many prodigies in this world, but convictions that the Great Square Pot can acknowledge are too few. All these years have passed, and it hasn't stirred at all — unlike before, when it chose you at a glance."

A supreme treasure like the Great Square Pot cannot be casually given away. If the entrustee is unworthy, it's better not to entrust it at all.

"If Panlongcheng also follows in the Abyss State's footsteps……" Zhong Shengguang smiled bitterly, "This mission is too heavy; Venerable Immortal, I — I and the Great Square Pot cannot find a successor!"

Buried in these words was a bottomless helplessness.

Zhao Mandu examined him carefully for a moment before asking: "What do you have in mind?"

Zhong Shengguang was a man of decisive ideas; since he came to see Zhao Mandu, he surely already had a plan.

"If both the Abyss King and I failed, either the timing was wrong, or our original approach and methods were wrong; continuing to struggle like this would likely be futile, and would only put the Great Square Pot in greater danger." Zhong Shengguang spoke with a serious expression, "I ask the Venerable Immortal: is there a way to keep the Great Square Pot in the city, yet make it impossible for the Heavenly Demon to take it?"

"Keep the Great Square Pot, yet make the Heavenly Demon unable to take it?" Zhao Mandu pondered these words carefully, his expression showing some surprise, "You mean to completely bind the Great Square Pot to Panlongcheng?"

"After the Great Square Pot swallowed the Miti, I could sense a drastic change would occur inside the pot; sending it away at this time would also be unwise."

Zhao Mandu fell silent in contemplation.

"Besides, I've been calculating for a long time that if Panlongcheng is defeated, I must also find a way out for all the citizens." Zhong Shengguang's face darkened slightly, "Back then it was I who single-handedly dragged them into the struggle between the Great Square Pot and the Heavenly Demon; I, Zhong, have no shame before heaven and no remorse before earth, yet I alone owe them a debt, and my heart is uneasy."