Chapter 2985: Beijia, Grief-Stricken and Shocked

The Jin Du Holy Mother softened her expression and coaxed him gently: "Don't be unwilling either. As your mother, I've already blocked many calamities for you." This Abuser-Eater was extremely intelligent. Intelligence meant communication was possible, and Chi didn't want his son constantly opposing him.

"Calamities?"

"Indeed. If I hadn't strenuously obstructed it, the Holy Sovereign would have long since designated you as the vessel for a certain Heavenly God and branded you with the Divine Descent Mark!" The Jin Du Holy Mother let out a cold snort. "All these years, haven't you wondered why the Divine Body experiments only took your blood, yet never seized you for experimentation? Heh, these are all the results of my reasoned contention before the Holy Sovereign."

Master Shuangye's eyes flickered: "Designating me as a vessel for Divine Descent would also require my consent, no?"

"True, but once I descend to the lower realm, you'll have to consent even if you don't want to." The Jin Du Holy Mother glanced at him. "Among the Lingxu masses, there are still gods who haven't given up, coveting your body to this day. They've sought me out countless times, and I've never nodded."

Shuangye was half-human, half-god, possessing both human form and divine power — the most perfect vessel for Divine Descent. Even the most exquisite charm-beasts fell far short by comparison.

This was a masterpiece of natural creation, not a product of artificial distortion.

"I see." Shuangye suddenly understood, and bowed to Chi. "Many thanks for Mother's grace of protection."

But in his heart he knew: the Jin Du Holy Mother regarded him as her most powerful weapon — how could she easily hand it over to someone else?

Unless Chi discovered this weapon was disobedient and hard to use, or other gods offered benefits that moved Chi's heart more.

In short, Chi forbidding other gods from occupying Shuangye's body was absolutely not due to deep parental affection.

"I set off for the Baoxiang Kingdom in three days. Right now the Baoxiang King is still wavering, and the Holy Sovereign wants me to go persuade him."

The Jin Du Holy Mother immediately said: "I'll go with you."

This was exactly what Shuangye hoped Chi would take the initiative to do:

"Good."

The two went to the Autumn Palace together; all the way there, motherly kindness and filial piety on the surface, each harboring ulterior motives.

$$$$$

Two days later, Beijia held a state funeral amid nationwide shock and grief.

Lingxu City immediately issued a proclamation of crusade against the Nine Nether Great Emperor, fiercely denouncing his vile assassination of a nation's monarch, plunging the peoples of two nations into misery, and explicitly listing Cangyan as an enemy state, severing all trade and cultural exchanges between the two sides!

It was well known that Beijia had maintained multi-faceted, high-frequency exchanges with Cangyan — one an established power, one a rising star, with much complementarity. Before this assassination, the Nine Nether Great Emperor had even invited the Beijia Demon Emperor for a meeting. In these exchanges, the greatest beneficiaries were the Baoshu Kingdom and the Chiyan Kingdom, because trade with Cangyan contributed forty to sixty percent of their total revenue.

Now, a single imperial edict from Lingxu City demanded they chop down their money tree!

The several kingdoms were naturally unwilling, but the old Demon Emperor had just passed away, and the Baoshu King and Chiyan King couldn't immediately stand up in opposition.

The new emperor promptly ordered the nationwide arrest of Cangyan spies!

Because Beijia and Cangyan had previously interacted frequently, there were large numbers of Cangyan people moving about or settled within Beijia. At the new emperor's command, searches for Cangyan people sprang up everywhere; many were arrested and thrown in prison without even needing to gather evidence, and their family assets, properties, and investments were sealed, investigated, and even confiscated.

For a time, panic spread throughout Beijia; Cangyan people were being hunted everywhere.

And the Baoshu Kingdom and Chiyan Kingdom had the largest numbers of Cangyan merchants within their borders. These two vassal demon kingdoms were unwilling to truly hunt and kill Cangyan people, so they gathered them up and, on the pretext of "repatriation," sent them aboard ships back into Cangyan territory. This conduct in turn drew angry questioning from Lingxu City.

But regardless, after the old Demon Emperor's passing, Beijia seemed to have no visible risk of internal civil war in the short term.

Temporarily.

After receiving the several edicts Beijia issued, Du Shan expressed concern to He Lingchuan during a remote contact:

"Beijia's Crown Prince will soon succeed the throne. He doesn't weigh pros and cons; he does whatever he wants, acts on whatever impulse strikes him — a typical spoiled brat's disposition, very easily exploited by Heavenly Demons. Looked at this way, Shen Kingdom is still in great danger!"

The old Demon Emperor was somewhat indecisive, but he excelled at balancing all sides' relations; overall his actions still proceeded from Beijia's interests, and he would never obey Heavenly Demons blindly. But this new flood-dragon ascending the throne — his hallmark is acting on whim, governance by venting spleen.

He only wants revenge; anyone can see that.

After the old Demon Emperor's passing, the dispute between Nie Xiaolou and others and the Heavenly Palace inside the Crown Prince's palace naturally reached the Nine Nether Great Emperor's desk as well.

Du Shan continued:

"Although the Crown Prince's words at the time didn't count for anything, Shuangye voluntarily stepped forward and blocked the attack on Shen Kingdom — the reason is unknown. Isn't he afraid of incurring punishment for defying the Lingxu Holy Sovereign's will?"

The Abuser-Eater's life is still in the Jin Du Holy Mother's hands.

"He must have his own calculations." He Lingchuan's understanding of Shuangye surpassed most people's. "With the descent of Heavenly Gods imminent, besides the old Demon Emperor, Shuangye's position in Beijia is also very awkward. Once large-scale Divine Descent begins, what he wants might be forever out of reach." So Shuangye is certainly scheming that matter.

He Lingchuan just didn't know what stage that fellow had progressed to.

Du Shan reported two more matters:

"Your Majesty, we recently conducted bottom-up investigations of seven major cities including Ju City, Ying City, and Sang Cong. We performed cranial examinations on some who died unnatural deaths or wasted away, and found no Green Mold attachment. There are occasional manic-depressives among the populace, but those also have nothing to do with Green Mold."

He Lingchuan was slightly surprised: "Not a single case?"

"Not a single case." Du Shan added, "But this is only seven cities; we're expanding the scope. Also, Shuang Kingdom has already detected it." Shuang Kingdom borders Cangyan, with frequent personnel exchanges between the two nations. If they've detected it, how could Cangyan possibly have none?

It's not that this disease spreads through interpersonal contact, but the Heavenly Palace's hands have reached into Shuang Kingdom — how could they skip Cangyan? Cangyan's dozen-plus major cities have extremely dense populations, and the Heavenly Palace's methods of releasing plague are very covert. Lingxu City detected it half a year ago, yet Cangyan has not a single case — what's the reason?

He Lingchuan was still pondering: "Cangyan's Xihe wells — no discovery of the seaweed flowers manufactured by the Life Godhead?"

"None. This is the second matter I must report to you!" Du Shan continued immediately. "The white flowers of Cangyan — that is, the Holy Sovereign of Lingxu's creations — which General Hong sent people to urgently bring back, failed to reach Ju City. Just as they entered Bailie, they turned to flying ash and dissipated."

He Lingchuan froze: "What?"

Something created by the Lingxu Holy Sovereign using a godhead — the moment it entered Cangyan it vanished into smoke?

"This matter also alarmed Mr. Dong; please wait a moment."

Before long, Dong Rui's face appeared in the mirror.

Recently he'd gained weight, so his face had grown round; coincidentally he was still busy working non-stop, so he called this "overwork fat."