Chapter 447: Presenting Hatred, Presenting Retribution

Taozi whispered, "After finishing that bowl of blood soup, I got hungrier and hungrier, so I wanted to come out for a walk. But as soon as I came out, I smelled the scent of living people. It smelled so good, so I... I just followed." "You're fine." Fu Fu Shanyue took a light breath, the corners of his mouth curling upward, "It actually worked, hahaha, it actually really worked! You aren't a Earth Fiend Child anymore."

"What is it?" He He Lingchuan asked on Taozi's behalf, "Turned into a Ba?"

Fu Fu Shanyue rubbed Taozi's head: "Right!"

He had only been experimenting on a whim, never expecting to hit the mark on the first try! He was happy.

He He Lingchuan laughed in surprise: "I always thought Ba were all transformed from the corpses of the dead."

The world is vast, and nothing is too strange.

"There are exceptions, like me." Fu Fu Shanyue scratched his chin, "It's just that I was a Ba from birth, while Taozi was forcibly transformed by a living person absorbing Earth Fiend yin energy and then consuming the essence blood of a Ba."

"A living Ba?"

"You could say that." Fu Fu Shanyue stroked Taozi's hair, "To think I actually made a little companion. This trip wasn't a loss, not a loss at all."

"Is it because of the trip to the Thousand Star Ruins?"

"That should be it." Fu Fu Shanyue thought for a moment, "She is a descendant of the Abyss People, but she absorbed too much Earth Fiend yin energy; without human blood, she couldn't suppress it. My blood served as a further guide, helping her transform rapidly with the aid of the fiendish energy. It was good luck, all things considered."

He had just been giving it a try, never thinking it could really succeed.

The two searched the corpses but found nothing useful, only some miscellaneous items.

He He Lingchuan put them away casually and patted the rock sheep's large horns: "They wanted to steal you?"

The rock sheep walked to the edge of the cliff and peered down.

He He Lingchuan frowned: "Wanted to push you off?"

Yes.

Taozi reminded him once more: "They wanted to push me off, too."

"Strange. If the sheep theft failed, they should have just run away. Why kill?" He He Lingchuan looked at the rock sheep, "Would you honestly let them steal you?"

This guy dared to butt even a bear demon, and its movements were agile; how could two humans catch it so easily? The rock sheep bleated sheepishly a few times.

He He Lingchuan didn't understand.

Fortunately, the Soul-Capturing Mirror in his bosom acted as a temporary translator: "It says the other party brought out sweet red grass to lure it."

So that was it.

The rock sheep kept sniffing the soles of the corpses' shoes.

They usually didn't check this spot, but He He Lingchuan leaned in to look and found the soles of the dead sheep thieves' shoes covered in mud, grass, and some light red powder.

"Is there something special about it?"

The rock sheep couldn't say, but it really wanted to lick it.

He He Lingchuan simply took off the shoe and said to Fu Fu Shanyue: "How about you give it a smell?"

"Get lost!" Fu Fu Shanyue was furious, "What do you take me for?"

He He Lingchuan shrugged and had to take an empty bottle to scrape the substance off the sole and store it.

Fu Fu Shanyue had long since lost patience and kicked the corpse off the cliff: "It's almost dawn, let's go back."

The next day, when the clerks of the Stone Gate Chamber of Commerce went to buy breakfast, they heard other merchant caravans complaining that several demons traveling with them had not returned, causing everyone to wait in place for two days.

Traveling with them meant paying to follow the caravan. It wasn't just human travelers who did this; some demons with smaller builds or those not adept at long-distance migration also liked to do so.

As soon as the owner of the pancake stall heard this, he told them that demons had gone missing here before, also on rainy nights.

Didn't the government investigate? They did, but after investigating back and forth without finding anything, they just let it be. Besides, the missing demons were few and far between; more died from fighting in the wild every year than that, so who could say for sure what was going on?

Hearing this news, He He Lingchuan immediately said: "It seems the victims last night weren't just my sheep."

It was just that the Big-Horned Rock Sheep was luckier.

But why did the other party only target demons and not humans?

At this time, Fu Fu Shanyue also walked over and requested the caravan to slow down.

"What for?" Before Second Master Shi and Li Li Qingge could react, He He Lingchuan said with displeasure, "If you delay their cargo delivery, will you pay the damages?"

Second Master Shi secretly praised him for being thoughtful, thinking that Young Master He had learned a thing or two just by watching along the way.

Fu Fu Shanyue currently didn't want to touch the word "money" at all, so he had to say: "Then lend me your rock sheep for a few days. It's fast, so I can catch up with the team later."

He He Lingchuan gave a whistle, and the big-horned sheep came bounding over from not far away.

After the events of last night, He He Lingchuan wanted to help it calm its nerves, so its breakfast was alfalfa mixed with oats, plus a large bucket of pea soup. Its master had given it some extra dried meat as a treat and even ordered a washing and brushing package at the post station, even trimming the beard under its jaw.

It was feeling refreshed all over now, and the unpleasantness of last night had long been cast to the back of its mind.

"Carry this guy to run an errand." He He Lingchuan pointed at Fu Fu Shanyue, "You need to come back to find me in a few days, understand?"

The rock sheep nodded.

Fu Fu Shanyue then mounted the sheep's back, suddenly remembered something, and pointed at Taozi: "Take care of this little brat, and remember one bowl of pure blood every day."

With that, he turned and rode off, disappearing from sight very quickly.

Second Master Shi asked curiously: "Where is he going?"

He He Lingchuan shrugged: "He's going to handle some private business, don't worry about it, he'll catch up in a few days."

Li Li Qingge beckoned, and Taozi walked obediently to her side, smiling at her sweetly and adorably.

"Eh?" Li Li Qingge bent down to look at her, "Open your mouth again, let me see."

Taozi opened her mouth as told.

Li Li Qingge said in surprise: "Teeth grew in, so fast?"

She had seen with her own eyes that Taozi was missing several teeth yesterday, but now they were all grown in.

A mouth full of little white teeth, but the left and right canines were sharp, thin, and long, quite different from an ordinary person's.

"Is there anywhere else you feel uncomfortable?"

Taozi shook her head: "Sometimes it itches." She wanted to grind her teeth, but the urge for blood had already been suppressed.

He He Lingchuan took out the twig and examined it under the daylight.

The mucus had already dried; it was a bit hard and a bit brittle, and it also reflected light, like a soap bubble.

What exactly was under the cliff last night?...

A few days later, the group arrived at the capital of the Chiyan Kingdom.

The journey had been calm and peaceful, without any twists or turns. In fact, this was the norm for the Between Beijia trade route, but both He He Lingchuan and Second Master Shi sensed an atmosphere of a storm about to break.

A massive upheaval in the Chiyan monarch's family—how could it not affect this country?

They had also traveled a stretch by water, disembarking at the White Bow Pier. As it turned out, four or five people were already waiting there, their eyes burning as they stared at every passenger disembarking.

Several ships had finished unloading, but they were still standing there stretching their necks, clearly having failed to meet their VIP.

He He Lingchuan and the others didn't take it to heart and continued on their way.

But when they reached the next post station, it was the same situation.

Judging by their clothing and demeanor, those waiting here were all people of status and influence, and they were divided into two or three factions, keeping to themselves.

They were all waiting for someone.

Even when He He Lingchuan and Li Li Qingge left, they still hadn't waited for them.

Even upon entering the Chiyan capital, it was the same situation: those who were high officials and nobles themselves had either sent people or were waiting by the roadside in person.

He He Lingchuan said to Second Master Shi: "Bet five taels, they are waiting for Fu Fu Shanyue."

Li Li Qingge heard this from the side and chimed in: "Bet five taels, the Chiyan monarch is about to die."

Second Master Shi was startled: "Why?"

Li Li Qingge smiled leisurely: "If the Chiyan monarch were in robust health, would they be openly currying favor with Fu Fu Shanyue at this time? Unless they were tired of living?"

He He Lingchuan's heart stirred: "The Chiyan monarch is a powerful Ba, why would you think his lifespan is coming to an end?" Li Li Qingge must know something else.

"He is certainly a formidable warrior, otherwise how could he have founded the Chiyan Kingdom? But his health is poor; rumors of this have long been circulating in the capital." Li Li Qingge thought for a moment, "I heard that in the Battle of Thousand Star City and the Battle of Panlongcheng over a hundred years ago, this person's contributions were great. Otherwise, why would Lingxu City have partitioned a portion of the old Abyss Kingdom's territory for him to establish a new country?"

He He Lingchuan's face changed color: "What? The Battle of Panlongcheng?"

He never expected that the Chiyan monarch could be linked to Panlongcheng.

They were clearly thousands of miles apart.

But he suddenly remembered the history of Panlongcheng he had read.

In the final battle of destruction, the northern demon kingdom, at the request of Baling and Xianyou, directly dispatched a powerful demon army and demon generals.

Could the Chiyan monarch have been one of them?

Unfortunately, Li Li Qingge said: "I only know this much. In that battle back then, Panlongcheng was of course directly destroyed, and the other parties involved were also tight-lipped; even the history books only have simple records."

He He Lingchuan took a deep breath.

Having spent so much time in the Panlong dreamscape, he always subconsciously ignored the fact that it would eventually perish.

Li Li Qingge smiled: "You are very interested in Panlongcheng, aren't you?"

"That goes without saying." He He Lingchuan smiled, "I come from Heishuicheng, and I was a neighbor to the Panlong Desert for over a decade."

"That's right, your precious blade is a relic of Zhong Zhong Shengguang, no wonder it's extraordinary."

His precious blade, was it merely a relic of Zhong Zhong Shengguang?

The next time they encountered people waiting, He He Lingchuan simply walked over and asked to their faces: "May I ask, who are you waiting for?"

The man glanced at him: "It has nothing to do with you."

"Not Fu Fu Shanyue?" He He Lingchuan muttered, "Then it really has nothing to do with me." Then he turned to leave.

The man immediately called out twice: "Wait! Do you know the Eldest Young Master?"

"I know him, I've been traveling with him this whole way."

The man looked incredulous: "Then may I ask where the Eldest Young Master is?"

"He went back to handle some private business, he'll catch up sooner or later." He He Lingchuan looked at him, "Who are you?"

"My surname is Qian, and my father is a Junior Minister of Justice at court."

He He Lingchuan smiled and said, "In another three to five days, he should arrive. If you have the patience, you might as well wait here a while longer." Without caring whether the man believed him or not, he turned and walked away.

Five days later, Fu Fu Shanyue indeed hurried back to the capital and knocked on the door of He He Lingchuan's guest room.

"Your sheep has been brought back and placed in the stables at the rear."

He He Lingchuan lowered his head and noticed a small black stain on the corner of his garment, which looked like a bloodstain: "Did you go back to kill someone?"

Fu Fu Shanyue grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth: "Can't let it go to waste."

He He Lingchuan knew that with Fu Fu Shanyue's relentless and aggressive personality, it was impossible for him to just swallow his anger like that.

"The government runners who caused me trouble, I killed them all." Fu Fu Shanyue squeezed his fists, which made two cracking sounds.

"You really do have enemies all over the world."

"If you aren't envied by others, you're a mediocrity."

(End of chapter)