Chapter 390

Many shops and restaurants were closed, the footsteps of passing pedestrians were not as relaxed as before, and even the laughter of children had diminished. When He He Lingchuan appeared at the inn, the expression of Steward Shi Er clearly relaxed: "You're finally back! With the sudden Emperor Flowing Pulp, we were all afraid you'd run into big trouble out there!"

He He Lingchuan looked up and saw that there was actually a large hole in the roof of the inn's second floor, which the craftsmen were already halfway through repairing. "What happened here?"

"A few days ago, when the Emperor Flowing Pulp erupted, two monsters fought and poked a hole in the roof." Steward Shi Er also looked up. "There are too many broken and leaking places in the city, and there aren't enough craftsmen; they only got around to fixing it today."

"Was anyone hurt?"

"The shop assistant was hit by falling debris and is still lying in the medical hall." Steward Shi Er shook his head. "Fufeng City announced the Emperor Flowing Pulp half a day in advance, ordering civilians to stay at home and not go out, otherwise they would bear the consequences themselves. There were still monster troops patrolling that night, and even so, the city was a complete mess, with countless incidents of looting, killing, and smashing; the air was filled with the smell of blood."

So the authorities only issued the announcement half a day early? He He Lingchuan's heart stirred; it seemed that the Grand Tutor's Mansion notifying him three days in advance was a huge favor.

"It's about the same everywhere. On my way back, I saw the towns and villages also cleaning up the aftermath."

"Our whole team stayed together, keeping the doors and windows tightly shut. Halfway through, a few of the lads couldn't stand the fragrance of the Emperor Flowing Pulp and tried to rush out several times, so we had to knock them unconscious." Steward Shi Er still had lingering fears. "Outside, there was wailing and howling; we gripped our weapons and didn't sleep all night. After dawn, we went out to check the goods, and fortunately, they were mostly all there. It's lucky we were in Fufeng City; if we had been walking in the wilderness or staying in a village, there's no telling what kind of big trouble we would have been in."

"Quite a few people couldn't hold back and rushed out to catch the Emperor Flowing Pulp, and ended up losing their lives, sigh."

He looked at He He Lingchuan, always feeling that this youth was different somewhere, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Finally, he said: "You should go take a bath. Have you been rolling in the mud for the past few days?"

He He Lingchuan grinned: "Sorry, I came back late."

"No delay." Steward Shi Er waved his hand. "The original plan has changed; we have to stay in Fufeng City for a few more days and wait for things to calm down outside before we hit the road."

With the Emperor Flowing Pulp just passed and new monsters emerging, it was too dangerous to hit the road now.

"By the way, that Wu Wu Jingsong came looking for you once."

He He Lingchuan nodded and returned to his guest room to ask for two large buckets of hot water to wash away the mycelium and dust from his body. After drying his hair and changing his clothes, he went downstairs and slurped up a large bowl of steaming hot tomato and egg noodles, adding two sesame oil pancakes.

The cook was quite skilled, managing to bake several layers of flaky crust into a simple pancake.

He He Lingchuan was eating with great relish when suddenly a dozen people walked in, all of whom actually looked somewhat familiar.

They sat down to eat, and He He Lingchuan glanced over casually.

The leader also happened to look over, and the two met eyes; the other party smiled slightly, appearing very friendly.

He He Lingchuan also returned a smile, secretly startled in his heart: What a coincidence? These dozen people were exactly the black-clad youth and his subordinates, only this leader had changed into a set of light cyan brocade clothes, looking quite like a refined young master.

Their demeanor as they walked in did not look like they had specifically tracked him down.

Fufeng City was so big, why did they happen to come in here? Fu Jiu was saying to the youth: "Young Master, don't you love eating donkey meat? Don't look at this as just an inn; the pancakes and braised donkey meat made by their cook are excellent!"

"Is that so?" The youth said nonchalantly, "Bring a plate to taste."

Just as the shop assistant went down, a crow flew in from outside the window and landed on the leader's chair back.

The crow's tail feathers were a bit scorched, and He He Lingchuan found it familiar.

The leader didn't even lift his head: "Why are you still following me? You even lost the person you were chasing."

The crow raised its tail and said: "I have a new clue!"

"Oh?"

"The aura of the Sanxin Yuan mountains and marshes is very heavy; it's not something that can be washed away by simple water!" The crow said proudly, "I can smell its scent; it's right here in this inn!"

He He Lingchuan frowned.

The leader and his subordinates exchanged glances.

The explosion of the Sanxin Yuan mountains and marshes had sent mycelium and fungal powder drifting everywhere. People or monsters coming from there would be stained with this aura.

The crow flew half a circle in the dining hall as if confirming the source of the scent, then folded its wings and landed on He He Lingchuan's table: "You, you have the scent too!"

He He Lingchuan used his chopsticks to shoo it away, making a "shoo" sound with his mouth, as if shooing away an ordinary bird.

This sign could not be more obvious; the leader walked over and asked He He Lingchuan with a smile: "Can I sit here?"

He He Lingchuan refused: "No."

This person acted as if he hadn't heard, pulled out a chair, and sat down: "Many thanks."

"Why did you, Excellency, still linger in Sanxin Yuan the day after the Emperor Flowing Pulp erupted?"

He He Lingchuan took a sip of soup: "Speak human language."

"Humans usually don't stay there for long." This person laughed, "What hidden worries do you have?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, and I don't want to know." He He Lingchuan said lazily, "Looking at your appearance, you're not from Fufeng City, right?"

"How did you tell?"

"If you were from Fufeng City, you should be staying in the Residence Hall at this time, not running around everywhere." He He Lingchuan pointed to his temple, "People with problems here are all sent to the Residence Hall to spend the rest of their lives in peace."

That was the place Fufeng City used to house the mentally ill; he had only learned about it a few days ago.

A burly man stood up abruptly and walked over, but the leader pressed his wrist, signaling him not to take action.

He whispered to He He Lingchuan: "I recognize your aura. That move at the Wild Boar Cave was beautifully done!"

He He Lingchuan slurped and sucked up a noodle.

"Heavenly treasures belong to those capable of holding them." The youth looked at him and smiled, "How about we make friends?"

During the previous chase and escape, he only thought this fellow was nimble-footed. Meeting today, he realized He He Lingchuan was not a simple character.

He didn't know where this feeling came from, as the person was clearly just eating noodles unhurriedly.

When this was asked, the burly men behind the youth were all somewhat surprised. The Young Master had killed people on the street many times over disagreements, and every time he was able to retreat unscathed. Why did he suddenly change his temper this time?

He He Lingchuan put down his wooden chopsticks, looked slowly at the youth, and suddenly smiled: "Alright, what's your surname?"

Both knew that the Emperor Flowing Pulp they had fought over a few days ago had already been transformed into the other's cultivation base. Fighting again at this time was meaningless.

"My name is Fushan." The youth crossed his arms, "May I ask yours?"

"He."

Fushan laughed: "Then we're fine now?"

He He Lingchuan also smiled without any hard feelings: "We're fine."

Fushan invited him enthusiastically: "Why not eat together?"

He He Lingchuan waved his chopsticks: "No need, no need, I'm almost finished eating."

The two attitudes were abruptly good; the burly men behind Fushan were all a bit confused, having thought the Young Master intended to flip the table.

Fushan continued: "Since I've met you, I also want to ask you one thing..."

Just at this moment, the inn entrance darkened, and someone else walked in, looking left and right, and walked over as soon as he saw He He Lingchuan.

It was exactly Wu Wu Jingsong.

"Brother He, you're finally back! Hey, are you meeting friends?" He had sharp eyes and immediately felt that the scene was a bit wrong.

Why did the few guys standing there look so murderous? He He Lingchuan said leisurely: "Yes, these few were met in the suburbs a few days ago, and there were some small misunderstandings in between."

"Oh?" Wu Wu Jingsong immediately caught on, "Are those misunderstandings still there now?"

The past few days, in the suburbs? Weren't those the "friends" made from fighting over the Emperor Flowing Pulp?

He crossed his arms and looked down at Fushan: "Is that so? Where are you from?"

He spoke in an interrogative tone; a burly man with a thick beard opposite glared and was about to retort, but Fushan raised his hand to interrupt him, switching to a sincere smile: "I won't disturb the two gentlemen's interest; we'll leave first." After saying this, he cupped his hands and led his subordinates to leave quickly, not forgetting to take the freshly sliced braised donkey meat before leaving.

Walking into a deserted alley, Fu Jiu asked him in a low voice: "Young Master, this person?"

"Keep a close watch." Fushan's face darkened slightly, "The morning after the Emperor Flowing Pulp erupted, this He fellow was the first to leave the lakeside, yet he knew I was chasing behind. I think he must have left some monitoring means by the lake, and he might even know who we killed."

"That night, whose hands weren't stained with a little blood?"

"Mountain demons and wild monsters died, who cares? The key is that stupid python monster!"

They had killed the envoy of the Eling Nation, which was a trouble, especially for subsequent missions.

……

Just as these people left, He He Lingchuan picked up his chopsticks and shot them at the crow.

The latter had a deep trauma from this action, scared into a loud "ah" scream, and flapped its wings to fly out of the inn.

With this spy gone, He He Lingchuan pointed at the group, and an eyeball spider crawled out of his sleeve, moving its eight small legs, jumped into the belt of the last burly man to leave, and hid quietly.

Wu Wu Jingsong didn't stop them either, shaking his head: "Daring to find trouble here? Tired of living."

With chaos inside and outside the city these past two days, he didn't want to add trouble to himself, so scaring them away was enough.

He He Lingchuan gave him a thumbs up: "Truly worthy of being Officer Wu; you solved my trouble without even lifting a hand."

Wu Wu Jingsong was a guard of the Grand Tutor's Mansion, considered a local snake of Fufeng City. If he could borrow the prestige of the Grand Tutor's Mansion, why would He He Lingchuan have to rely on himself? "Brother He, don't tease me." Wu Wu Jingsong knew his ability, and looking at him twice more now, he was suddenly startled, "Eh, did you have some kind of breakthrough?"

He was also a martial artist, and seeing He He Lingchuan's eyes containing divine light, his spirit full, his demeanor was different from before.

The noodles were a bit cold, and He He Lingchuan put down his chopsticks: "Thanks to you, I've cleared the Ren and Du meridians."

"Congratulations, congratulations!" Wu Wu Jingsong was shocked; the two most difficult of the eight extraordinary meridians to clear, and the person in front of him had crossed them so easily? Then the rest wouldn't be a problem, just relying on grinding effort. The other party was not even twenty years old; this age was truly rare. "It seems Brother He has had a miraculous encounter."

He He Lingchuan asked him: "On the day of the Emperor Flowing Pulp, you didn't go out?"

"On duty. The higher-ups notified us to be on high alert." Wu Wu Jingsong's resentment and envy were about to explode, "If Fufeng City were to fall into chaos, that would be terrible."

(End of chapter)