Chapter 2454: Not Necessarily Human

"Why?" Xianren Mingke realized that since entering Yujing City, the frequency with which he asked "why" had increased dramatically. You must know that before, it was always others asking him that.

"The owner of the Secret Realm usually has to manage the entire Yujing City, and those man-eating monsters outside are mostly ill-tempered. To restrain these scattered fellows and turn them into a qualified army requires great effort. Look at Yujing City—orderly amidst chaos—this shows that the Earth Mother's governance is not as crude as it appears on the surface." He Lingchuan's experience in territorial management is unmatched by few in the world, "so his position in the Duzhi Mountain Secret Realm is likely one of idleness, with no need to be busy, allowing him to focus his energy on the outside world. Besides, this is very likely an endless loop Secret Realm—whether he acts or not makes no difference."

Xianren Mingke then said: "Idle? So we're looking for a lazy person?"

"Not necessarily a person."

The meaning of these four words is rich indeed; Xianren Mingke heard them and was stunned, pondering for a long time, his expression changing:

"Could it be that you think..."

"Yes."

Xianren Mingke's expression grew heavy and solemn: "Then where should we start looking?"

He Lingchuan pressed the divine bone necklace hidden in his collar.

Before leaving the locust house, he had always had a question:

The Earth Mother's essence is likely not in the Golden Dew Lotus at all, and the Golden Dew Lotus itself is probably a trap—any outsider who touches it gets kicked back to reality.

So why, when he asked about the divine bone necklace, did the necklace give the Golden Dew Lotus a red halo?

In the past, this would have meant a definite answer.

When has the divine bone necklace ever been wrong?

Fortunately, He Lingchuan has always maintained the habit of independent thinking; otherwise, having just let Xianren Mingke pull weeds, the three of them might have already ended their Secret Realm journey.

Combining all that has happened since, He Lingchuan instead arrived at a conclusion:

Information mismatch!

The question he posed to the divine bone necklace was:

"Is our goal in this journey within the Golden Dew Lotus?"

At that time, his "goal" referred to the Earth Mother's essence or the stone heart—anything that could help the Earth Mother break free from Shangguan Biao's control.

He Lingchuan asked this because he hadn't thought much about it.

However, there is another possibility: what the divine bone necklace points to might be another latent goal of his in this Secret Realm—and a more direct one:

The Secret Realm's owner, Shangguan Biao!

Even if we can't find the Earth Mother's essence, as long as we find Shangguan Biao and kill him, He Lingchuan's expedition to Duzhi Mountain could still be a great success.

So is the Secret Realm's owner He Lingchuan's goal?

Without a doubt.

At that time, He Lingchuan hadn't realized that the Secret Realm's owner was also in Duzhi Mountain, leading him to misinterpret the divine bone necklace's indication.

Now, after correcting this, he immediately realized he had taken a huge detour!

It's time to set things right!

Then the next problem came rushing in:

Assuming Shangguan Biao is truly hiding in the Golden Dew Lotus, how should we dig him out?

As outsiders, if the three of us touch the Golden Dew Lotus, we might get kicked out of the Secret Realm.

This setup is truly an excellent protective measure for the Secret Realm's owner.

We can't touch the Golden Dew Lotus, yet we must dig out Shangguan Biao—how exactly should we do it?

He Lingchuan took a deep breath: "First, go to a place where the Secret Realm's owner cannot stir up trouble."

Xianren Mingke is quick-witted; Zhu Xiuer hadn't even reacted yet when he had already adjusted the direction of the flying boat.

Destination: the Locust House!

The sky ahead swirled with dust and haze, rapidly forming a huge face.

It was the Earth Mother's face—He Lingchuan had seen it once before in the skies above Yujing City.

"Your Panlong Ruins, I've already eaten them!" the Earth Mother's grand voice echoed in their ears, "And you and your new Secret Realm won't last long either, Nine Abysses Great Emperor!"

Nine Abysses Great Emperor? Xianren Mingke blinked—who is the Earth Mother referring to?

There are only three people on this flying boat—besides me and the Spider Empress, could it be...

He suddenly turned his head to look at He Lingchuan, his eyes filled with disbelief:

"You?"

The Earth Mother's words sounded absurd at first, but Xianren Mingke immediately thought of all the extraordinary traits of this "Tiger-Wing General."

How could a mere national general possibly achieve such a feat?

If it were the renowned Nine Abysses Great Emperor himself, then everything would make sense.

The Earth Mother even mocked him specifically: "Xianren Mingke, you've been used as a pawn for so long, yet you're still kept in the dark!"

But He Lingchuan merely glanced at it dismissively: "Don't listen to its nonsense."

Want to eat him? Want to eat the Panlong New Secret Realm? Go dream your spring and autumn dreams.

The smoky face in the midair opened its huge mouth toward the flying boat, trying to swallow it whole. He Lingchuan raised his right hand, fingers spread, and shouted low:

"Wind comes!"

Before the flying boat hit the smoke, a whirlwind rapidly formed in midair, growing from the size of a funnel to a diameter of ten zhang, becoming a tornado!

This was the second appearance of the Xuling Qionglong of the Qixia Sect!

It slammed hard into the smoke, the two entangled in a tumble, and thus the smoke wall ahead of the flying boat was torn open a large gap.

Xianren Mingke rode the white crane, whooshing through it.

The locust house on the mountainside was right ahead.

"Draw away the pursuers behind, then come back to find me." He Lingchuan stared fixedly at the old locust tree ahead, "If I'm not mistaken, these three rows of houses won't be affected by the Earth Mother's divine powers."

The matter at hand is urgent. Xianren Mingke exhaled, suppressing his doubts: "Let's go down."

Passing above the medicinal rock cliff, using the trees and solid rock for cover, He Lingchuan flashed sideways and jumped down.

He moved with incredible speed, and with the sky already dark, Li Yun and the others behind him actually didn't notice his actions.

￥￥￥￥￥

The locust-wood house was far from peaceful tonight—first, the private drug trafficking case was exposed, then came the serial explosions on the back mountain; the menial workers had long been alarmed and rushed out to watch the commotion.

They had been whispering among themselves, but upon seeing Shangguan Biao step out, two people immediately stepped forward to greet him: "Senior Shangguan was actually framed—I told them all along, Shangguan has impeccable character; it's impossible for him to be involved in smuggling spirit herbs, absolutely impossible!"

"Senior Shangguan must be tired—the kitchen made braised pork and fermented fish tonight; I saved a portion for you..."

Shangguan Biao gave them a cold glance—these two had never shown him a good face before, and had even given him small shoes to wear.

Originally, Shangguan Biao had been put in shackles and thrown into the cellar, and everyone thought he would never recover. Who would have expected Xu Liangzhi to arrive, and Elder Li to come in person as well!

When Elder Li arrived at the three-row houses, Shangguan Biao was released from the cellar and had a long private talk with Elder Li.

This shows that Elder Li is very pleased with Shangguan Biao, even willing to intervene personally to clear his name.

From now on, the ill fortune on Shangguan Biao will be swept away entirely—he might even leave Du Zhishan soon! So those with sharp minds had better change their attitude quickly and try to get in his good graces.

With these two leading the way, many more menial workers came over, asking after his health and well-being.