Chapter 2386: Doubts

The Earth Mother and the two celestial deities were heading for the Panlong ruins, and Ling Mountain was likely heading for them too!

These three parties were likely to meet and engage in a world-shaking battle on Shen Guo's territory.

How should Shen Guo declare its stance?

He Chuanhua had no evidence, but he had a hunch: the Manshou Dazhaman were especially sensitive to crises and variables.

He had been staying peacefully in Heishuicheng, but whenever a major upheaval was imminent, he would inexplicably disappear.

The two previous times Manshou Dazhaman suddenly vanished: once, Sun Fuping and Nian Songyu forged an imperial decree to deceive He Jia's father and son into entering the Panlong ruins.

The other time was when He Lingchuan suddenly returned, deceiving him and the Naluotian avatar into lightly entering the Panlong Secret Realm.

So, looking at it inversely, Manshou Dazhaman's sudden wandering to foreign lands—does it signify that another great turmoil is imminent on the Panlong wilderness?

He Chuanhua felt a faint unease in his heart:

Both those times were related to the Panlong ruins and to them father and son; now, as one of the parties involved, he himself was already in Shen Guo's capital—could it be?

In this world, if one were to say who had the closest relationship with the ancient Panlong city and the Great Fanghu, it would undoubtedly be the eldest son, He Lingchuan.

Now that the Panlong wilderness is experiencing another upheaval, will Cangyan Zhen not come to stick his foot in?

Has the eldest son already secretly sent people over?

He Chuanhua still vividly remembered the scenes of He Lingchuan's two previous entries into the Panlong ruins; Naluotian was also confirmed—He Lingchuan and the Great Fanghu had an unclear, close connection.

He Chuanhua vaguely sensed that the demon realm was undergoing a great upheaval, and the relationship between the Sharili Heaven and the Lingxu gods had also become subtle and unclear.

He could sense this from the instructions given by Naluotian. Naluotian seemed not to oppose the Lingxu gods taking the Great Fanghu, but He also did not tell He Chuanhua to hold back and not intervene—He only said, "Do what you ought to do."

What is it that He Chuanhua ought to do?

He himself was also a high-ranking figure, and he clearly understood that the subtlety of such instructions lay in their ambiguity—any problems arising afterward could be blamed on subordinates.

He Chuanhua was also unclear about Naluotian's current attitude toward the Nine Abysses Great Emperor.

If Naluotian discovered that Cangyan's power had also reached the Panlong wilderness, what demands would He make of He Chuanhua?

Although Naluotian had previously been in frequent contact with He Lingchuan, heavenly demons are heavenly demons—they do not speak of human feelings. If given the chance, would Naluotian seize or kill Cangyan's envoy?

He Chuanhua did not want to do that.

If Shen Guo took action against Cangyan's envoy and failed, Cangyan would inevitably stand opposed to Shen Guo thereafter.

The precious materials for Shen Guo's manufacture of characteristic weapons, eighty percent of which had to be imported from the Jinjin Plains, let alone other major trade exchanges.

Moreover, if the Great Fanghu fell into the hands of the heavenly demons, what benefit would it bring to the human realm, to He Chuanhua, and to Shen Guo?

It seemed only to make the impending catastrophe even more grand and shocking.

He Chuanhua knew of his eldest son's determination to resist the heavenly demons.

He revered Naluotian, but that did not mean he wished for the heavenly demons to descend upon the human realm.

He sat in the study for two quarters of an hour, then returned the book box to its place.

The gemstone on the box faded, returning to transparency—this meant the tablet inside the box had also disappeared, reverting to a blank state.

He let out a breath, about to take a step, when the string of silver bells on his wrist suddenly rang without wind.

Naluotian had found him!

His news was truly becoming more and more timely. He Chuanhua's expression shifted slightly; he adjusted his mindset, then strode toward Naluotian's temple.

Closing the doors and windows, lighting incense, whispering a prayer to the deity.

After completing this ritual, Naluotian's voice also sounded:

"Panlong wilderness—another force has newly arrived. Do you know of it?"

He Chuanhua, slightly surprised: "Please, Divine Venerable, give guidance."

"You have also dealt with him more than once—Cangyan."

He Chuanhua lifted his head, utterly astonished: "What?!"

His expression was perfectly appropriate, showing no trace of unnaturalness.

Naluotian then said: "Just one or two hours ago."

He Chuanhua immediately pressed: "Who did the Divine Venerable hear this from? Is this source reliable?"

The speed at which Naluotian obtained this news was, admittedly, too fast.

"Reliable." Naluotian naturally would not lay everything bare—"At least, the puppet master Dong Rui from beside the Nine Abysses Great Emperor has already appeared."

He had placed some spies at the stations and dwellings in the Panlong wilderness, originally intending to monitor the movements of the Earth Mother and the Lingxu gods, but who would have thought that not long ago he had captured several strange things.

The strangest of them was a creature resembling a snail but shaped like a toad, or a toad shaped like a snail?

The description of that chameleon-like creature was unclear, but Naluotian understood it at once:

Wo Chan!

It is known that this monster is a unique specimen, its owner being the puppet master Dong Rui beside the Nine Abysses Great Emperor.

If Dong Rui appeared in the Panlong wilderness, then……

Of course, He Lingchuan had already become the Nine Abysses Great Emperor; matters need not necessarily involve his personal presence, but with Cangyan's power added, the situation would inevitably become more convoluted.

"What exactly is……" He Chuanhua could not help but pace back and forth a few steps, anxiety showing on his face—this needed no concealment.

Now that Naluotian also knew, what would He do?

"What plan does the Divine Venerable have?"

"If the Nine Abysses only sent subordinates, you had best make contact with them; if the Nine Abysses left Cangyan and came to my territory, this opportunity is a once-in-a-thousand-years chance." Naluotian paused, then continued: "Just now I wanted to talk with him, but he refused."

How to talk? Just as he and He Chuanhua were talking.

This is the primary mode of communication between gods and humans at present; for great gods, it is the most effortless, but there is one drawback:

It easily exposes the position of the one invoking the god.

A thread of divine thought descending from the heavenly gods must first locate, then find the invoker.

If the Nine Abysses were present in the Panlong wilderness, communicating with Naluotian in this way would instantly expose one's own position.

When these words were spoken, He Chunhua's heart sank. The Nine Abysses Great Emperor is different from him; he has the right to refuse any deity's connection request.

If you love to answer, answer; if you don't love to answer, hang up.

But at this moment, not answering Netherworld's dialogue request—is it because he's guilty?

He Chunhua steadied himself: "Perhaps he is in secluded cultivation, ignoring worldly affairs."

"Is that so? Hahaha." Secluded cultivation? The Nine Abysses had indeed previously announced he would enter seclusion.

True or false, only he himself knows.

"But if he truly came, the chances of the Lingxu crowd obtaining the Great Square Vase would plummet straight down." Netherworld's laughter was filled with deep malice, "I also very much want to see the Lingxu Holy Venerable eat dirt again! Tsk, what can be done about this?"

He Chunhua also understood his temper, so at this time he said:

"The existence and conduct of the Nine Abysses may not be without benefit to you; the Lingxu crowd not obtaining the Great Square Vase may not necessarily be a bad thing for you."

Netherworld leisurely said: "You still care about this eldest son, don't you?"

He found He Chunhua this quickly just to see the other's attitude.

"Blood is thicker than water." He Chunhua sighed, "Besides, the people I sent out are mostly no match for him, and instead would ruin relations between the two countries."