Chapter 2543: Following Procedure

"How do you make these sea-disk carts cluster toward a human shape instead of growing deformed? Compared to the Heavenly Palace's old method—using great demons remade into demon puppets—this problem's difficulty is at least ten times greater! I suspect…" Dong Rui hesitated, some guesses left unspoken, "Never mind, let's verify first. So we still need to capture a demon-puppet master from the Spirit Essence Palace to solve this mystery."

"Fine, this is the fourth task." He Lingchuan took the chance of turning around to glance at the overseer behind them, "One by one."

Zhu Xiuer asked: "What should we do now?"

Mingke Immortal answered in her place: "We need to find out when Overseer Wang will next enter the Spirit Essence Palace."

"If you want to steal someone's things, shouldn't you first learn the victim's movements?"

"Besides, we can't act against Overseer Wang in plain sight." Ling Jinbao also said, "We need to find a hidden place, not alarm others. I think the Emperor already has a plan."

"No rush." When hunting, He Lingchuan was always patient.

Half an hour later, this group of laborers stopped to drink water and eat.

Wanting the horse to run but not eat grass—the Spirit Essence Palace also knows there's no such logic, so even if the schedule is tight, the laborers building terraces must rest.

He Lingchuan's group of about seventeen or eighteen people, upon hearing the rest whistle, all went weak in the legs, didn't care about the mud all over the ground, and sat directly on the field ridges.

Each was drenched in sweat, thirsty and hungry.

The overseer also pointed to the two rows of red houses on the half-slope and said: "Go get food! You have two quarters of an hour to rest, don't cause trouble for me, or else the whole group won't get food next time, and no one will be allowed to rest!"

The laborers heard this and scrambled up, walking toward the red houses.

The overseer himself turned and walked toward the woods below the slope.

Those woods had very dense trees, and two solid rocks intersected in a "person" shape, with a recess perfectly formed behind them—he wanted to take a nap there.

During work, he couldn't go back to his room to sleep openly, so he had to find a place unseen by others to rest.

No way—after many sleepless days, he was so tired he couldn't keep his eyes open; just thinking about being able to sleep for two quarters of an hour made his legs tremble.

But just then, he heard heavy footsteps coming from behind.

The overseer turned his head and saw that the new laborer was actually following closely behind him.

"What are you doing?"

The new laborer accompanied with a smiling face: "I, I need to urinate urgently, want to find a place to relieve myself."

The overseer casually whipped him: "Find your own place, don't come here."

"Ah, okay." This person's footsteps paused, his body stopped leaning forward, and the overseer's whip missed.

This movement was very natural, as if he had just happened to dodge.

"Don't tell anyone I'm here, otherwise…"

"I won't say, I definitely won't say."

Seeing this person run off quickly, the overseer only wanted to fall asleep headfirst, didn't think much, retracted his whip, and walked toward the back of the large stone.

This spot was of course more secluded, with few people coming near. Otherwise, if others patrolled over, they'd immediately notice his dereliction of duty.

But the meaning of secluded is that He Lingchuan and the two of them staying here would also hardly attract others' attention.

After a dozen breaths, He Lingchuan threw a small medicine bottle to Xiao An, who immediately went behind the boulder.

Soon she came out, her fingers pinching two strands of hair.

It used medicinal smoke to make the overseer sleep more deeply, then plucked two hairs. Tong Yang wanted to transform into someone else, needing a bit of medium.

He Lingchuan then said to Xiao An: "Come on, let's go eat."

He had just approached the overseer and already placed something on him.

The food provided by the red houses on the half-slope was very simple: sorghum rice and mixed vegetable bean leaves boiled into porridge, coarse black steamed buns, at most some pickled vegetables, but fortunately all were hot.

He Lingchuan ate the vegetable porridge with steamed buns like everyone else; Xiao An watched him eat without changing expression, as if it were especially fragrant and sweet, couldn't help but break off a piece to try.

Ugh, that coarse bun, once swallowed, made her throat hoarse—it was simply hard to swallow.

He Lingchuan laughed and handed her the porridge bowl: "Eat this, the kelp has chew, and it's tangled with little shrimp and crabs."

Smoke Mist Bay often has large patches of kelp and purple laver washed ashore, and the Spirit Essence Palace also makes use of local materials.

The two hadn't finished eating when Dong Rui urged impatiently: "It's almost been a quarter of an hour already; wait a bit longer, and the overseer will wake up. Did you get any useful information from his dream?"

"What's the rush?" He Lingchuan said calmly, "Just wait."

After the nightmare returned, he then said:

"Overseer Wang is responsible for gathering materials for the terraces beneath our feet, so he often comes and goes; later he still has to escort some sea-disk carts over." He Lingchuan glanced up the mountain, "His residence is on the summit, a black-and-red striped house."

"People like Overseer Wang, the Spirit Essence Palace still has over a dozen, each managing their own divided area."

"What does that mean? Are there over a dozen terraces like this?"

"Yes." He Lingchuan pointed into the distance, "Beyond this are many mountains; the terraces we see are just the tip of the iceberg."

So this is a super-large project.

"Since the Spirit Essence Palace began digging terraces, the overseer has never left this place, staying longer than the laborers. Originally each overseer team had two people, watching and supervising each other, but the terrace expansion project required too much manpower, labor was tight, so they couldn't help but be split apart, one person assigned to oversee each group." He Lingchuan continued, "This place is very mysterious; he also has limited understanding, but last time Overseer Wang let slip, mentioning he can also enter and exit another small world called Lotus Valley."

"Are these places all small worlds?" Mingke Immortal suddenly understood, "Right, for lowly ones like the overseer, even upon reaching Cloud Terrace they can only enter the terraces, fundamentally unaware that other small worlds exist here. Their ignorance largely protects the existence of other small worlds."

The Soul-Capturing Mirror also clicked its tongue in wonder: "So many small worlds are clearly isolated, yet centered on Cloud Terrace, they interconnect. Such divine ability is truly remarkable!"

Who would have guessed that beneath the reefs of Smoke Mist Bay there are not only additional grotto-heavens, but even a whole bunch of small worlds hidden all at once!

And these small worlds are interconnected in a unique way, maximizing the protection of their mutual secrecy and safety.

Truly a stroke of divine genius.

But He Lingchuan said: "No matter how safe a place or how sound a system, there are loopholes, and these loopholes often lie in people."

The two quarters of an hour passed in an instant; the whip-wielding overseer also rose from the woods, yawning as he drove the people back to work.

"Damn it, sleeping this little doesn't quench thirst at all—it just makes me more tired!"

This stretch lasted another several hours; the laborers really couldn't keep going, three or four out of fourteen or fifteen collapsed on the ground, only able to pant, when the Blood Demon prompted He Lingchuan: "Overseer Wang is here."