Chapter 2940

She had been remodeled by Miti's divine power and no longer needed sleep to restore her vitality. This, He Lingchuan had envied to this day.

"Not needing sleep doesn't mean I don't need rest." The Red General leaned back slightly, looking down at him from above, then extended her slender jade finger to poke his chest, "Besides, I need to find a place to take a hot bath."

She braced her hands on the table, about to push off and leap up. He Lingchuan gently pressed down on her hand:

"Just joking, just joking. There's a heavenly dew pool right behind this Dew-Picking Terrace, with warm, clear spring water—no need to go elsewhere."

The Red General wondered: "Such a high table—where did the pool water come from?"

"Since it's called the 'Dew-Picking Terrace,' it comes with a built-in micro-formation that continuously absorbs moisture from the air and condenses it into dew." He Lingchuan raised his hand and lightly touched her neck, "You have a bit of bloodstain here."

The Red General had previously splattered blood from killing, and under the warm lamp, it looked as if several blood-red blossoms had bloomed on her jade neck—dangerous yet alluring.

"I'll go in a moment. By the way—" Sun Fuling recalled something, then took out a small bamboo tube from her bosom and handed it to He Lingchuan, "Just received a flying message from the west, meant specifically for you."

The tube's mouth was sealed with a lacquer stamp, the seal ink pressed into the shape of a pine needle.

He Lingchuan took it, opened the sealed bamboo tube, pulled out a slip of paper from inside, and first looked at the signature.

"Why is there no signature?"

"Because it's not needed." Sun Fuling picked up the bamboo tube, deliberately pointing at the stamp for him to see, "Confidential letters usually don't have signatures—this represents the Songyang Prefecture."

For many years, the Divine Bone Necklace had been the eyes and ears of the Grand Vase, and also hers. He Lingchuan forgot things, but she remembered them crystal clear.

"Songyang Prefecture rose together with Cangyan, and now it's not only spread throughout Cangyan and the Yangshan Islands, but has also expanded into many other countries—it's one of the most successfully developed sects in the past twenty years. All thanks to you, Emperor Jiuku." She tilted her head, a strand of black hair slipping down from her forehead, "Do you still remember the Prefect of Songyang?"

He Lingchuan immediately shook his head: "No impression."

"She was a beautiful woman like a flower, and you knew her even when you were in the Yan Kingdom. Well, calculating it this way, your relationship has also lasted over twenty years." Sun Fuling smiled charmingly, "Initially, the Floating Life Sword you brought back from Panlong City was broken—was it she who helped you reforge it? How about it, any memory now?"

He Lingchuan answered righteously and firmly:

"Even less so!"

Sun Fuling stared at him fixedly until He Lingchuan felt guilty in his heart, then she said: "What did she say?"

She had clearly glanced at it once and read the whole thing, yet insisted on asking him. He Lingchuan just pretended she hadn't seen it:

"The letter says that originally, four Willow Houses were to be delivered in two months, but now they must be postponed."

He thought for a moment, as if he had no concept of this term:

"Willow Houses? Did I order this kind of thing?"

Emperor Jiuku handles myriad affairs daily, with thousands upon thousands of documents passing through his hands—having no impression is quite normal, right?

Sun Fuling paused, then explained to him: "Willow Houses are military barracks, named so because their layout resembles willow leaves. The Willow Houses you ordered from the Songyang Prefecture half a year ago are actually magical artifacts fixed in place using the Mustard Seed Divine Ability, allowing people to live inside. They're only the size of this teacup on your desk, but inside there are four hundred single rooms, each accommodating four people, plus warehouses, kitchens, mess halls, and thatched huts. As long as you fill them with supplies and personnel, they become a complete camp."

"This thing isn't cheap, is it?" He Lingchuan looked bewildered, "Cangyan isn't short on land—why did I buy these? Playing house?"

"They're used at the Three Zhang Pass, White Cloud Hollow, and three other outposts. These strategic locations are excessively steep, especially White Cloud Hollow, where there's not three feet of level ground—no space to build barracks, so the guarding soldiers had nowhere to stay, which is why you came up with this odd idea."

"Oh, right—soldiers living in Willow Houses don't take up outside space." He Lingchuan felt pleased with himself, "This idea isn't bad at all—no wonder it's mine."

"Why delay delivery?" Sun Fuling glanced at him with the corner of her eye, "Your order—hasn't the Songyang Prefecture always prioritized and rushed production for you?"

Huh, killing intent!

After all, she's the Red General—without wearing that mask, just this one gaze stings He Lingchuan's face with numbness. He unconsciously touched his face: "Isn't this how one should treat a major client?"

He hurriedly continued: "Oh, the letter also mentions the reason—Songyang Prefecture often collaborates with the Skillful Artisan Clan in Between Between Between Beijia's Nine Bends Town, Floating Dye, and Jia Yu. Recently, it seems they've all been summoned away and haven't returned. The artisan family of Jia Yu, the Shan clan, had twelve master craftsmen leave half a year ago, and those from Nine Bends Town have had no news for three months."

Songyang Prefecture excels in Mustard Seed Technique—logically, in this era of abundant spiritual energy, it shouldn't be rare. But few contemporary sects can make it both reasonable and practical. This is the result of many years of technical iteration, and it won't be completely surpassed by others in just twenty years.

Simply put, other sects' work is too rough, so for now they can't shake Songyang Prefecture's position.

The core technology of Willow Houses is in the hands of the Songyang Prefecture Prefect, but it also requires many categorized components made by skillful artisans. These three families are Songyang Prefecture's main partners in Between Between Between Beijia, and their artisans have all gone out to work, delaying the progress of Songyang Prefecture's orders.

"Who summoned them away?"

He Lingchuan flipped the letter: "She doesn't know either—when asked about these families, they all said the clan head suddenly received a mysterious big job, then summoned the clan's artisans and left. Where they went, what they did, for whom—no word was leaked."

"The Songyang Prefecture Prefect can only go find new artisans, but other renowned artisans from five or six places have also been lured away with high pay. What she can find isn't top-notch skill. So she can only delay delivery and keep searching." He Lingchuan finished speaking, then reached out to summon a map of the area near Lingxu City in Between Between Between Beijia on the sand table, "These places are far or near Lingxu City, and the only clue is that they excel in carving, construction, talisman formations, and infusion of spirit."

"Is it official action?" Sun Fuling crossed her arms to watch, "This is still the Songyang Prefecture Prefect visiting those artisan families she's gone to—those she hasn't visited, or those conscripted, we don't know how many more there are. Being able to make them leave silently without a word—ordinary nobles and magnates can't do that."

"Who cares." He Lingchuan shrugged, "Even if something's happening, it's happening in Between Between Between Beijia—none of our business."

The Northern Demon Kingdom is so vast—every day who knows how many unspeakable, shady things happen, not worth them, far away a thousand li, worrying about.

Sun Fuling looked at him, half-smiling.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Sun Fuling played with the small bamboo tube holding the slip, deliberately turning the pine-needle-patterned stamp toward both of them.