Chapter 458

It was also capable; in this situation, it could actually fly backward. He Lingchuan was annoyed and shot three flying knives with a "whoosh."

The crow leader dodged nimbly, avoiding two of the knives, but the third knife pierced its wing, pinning it to the wall with a "thud"! Outside the window, the sound of crows was clamorous; those dozen or so crows all wanted to break through the window to rescue their leader.

However, a lithe figure flipped over the wall from outside, spread its wings with a "swish," and its steel claws went straight for the crow flock.

The natural enemy had arrived.

The crows were terrified and scattered in all directions.

He Lingchuan reopened the window, and the goshawk folded its wings and flipped over, entering lightly from the bottom of the window.

It stood on the cabinet shelf, only a foot away from the crow leader; a stretch of its steel beak could chisel through its head.

And it looked very willing to do so.

He Lingchuan ignored the noise of the crow flock outside and only said to the crow leader: "Now, why don't you name a price again and let me see?"

"No need, no need!" The crow leader, no matter how unwilling, was terrified seeing the eagle beak on the side, "I'll tell you!"

It cawed twice, and the crow flock outside went quiet, landing on trees one after another, no longer restless.

He Lingchuan had dealt with this group of crows in less than ten breaths, very neatly.

"About five or six days ago, my children discovered many remains in the mountain forest, some human, some beast," the crow leader said, "Or rather, they might be monsters."

"You know, finding human or monster remains alone isn't strange; it's strange that they are mixed together," it continued, "There are a few Zuanfeng Beasts inside."

"Where?"

"Zhitian Township, thirty-two li away," the crow leader tilted its head, "Originally they were all buried, but it seems they were dug up again by wild dogs. Because there are dog paw prints in the nearby soil."

"Can you lead the way?"

"Yes."

He Lingchuan pulled out the flying knife and asked it again: "Since you had this clue, why didn't you report it to the government, but instead sat and watched Wang Mazi and the others wait for death?"

"Who would push away meat that's about to reach their mouth?" The crow leader flapped its wings, feeling it could still fly, "Besides, the government... hehe!"

It sneered: "Half a year ago, Xiao Qi also went missing. We went to report it, but the county magistrate hasn't given us a response to this day. They only do things for humans and never care whether we live or die!"

The county town of the Beijia Kingdom had a special official position called the "County Magistrate," specifically for handling monster affairs, including complaints, accusations, and so on.

The County Magistrate himself was served by a monster, so he could empathize.

"You have companions here too, missing half a year ago?" He Lingchuan's gaze moved, "Did they become monsters?"

"Already became monsters," the crow boss answered truthfully, "It was thanks to that burst of Emperor Flowing Pulp at the end of last year."

"The Emperor Flowing Pulp became a life-shortening talisman instead." He Lingchuan hummed, "These guys specifically catch monsters. If they aren't eliminated, you are all in danger."

This is the kingdom of monsters; how could someone be so bold as to dare to catch monsters here? Once exposed, it would be a crime that nine deaths couldn't redeem.

"Specifically catch monsters?" The crow leader flapped its wings, "Don't try to fool me; didn't they eat people too?"

This guy really wasn't easy to fool. He Lingchuan didn't argue with it and switched the topic: "Lead the way for me, and also be my eyes and ears. As a reward, you can receive one hundred jin of fresh beef and mutton every month, and thirty Baoling Pills, supplied for one year."

If this had been said before the action, the crow leader would only have mocked him for his wishful thinking; but now, it felt that this condition seemed quite good. When food was scarce in winter, there was fresh beef and mutton to eat, no need to dig through snow to find food, no need to peck at unripe berries, no need to look for frozen corpses everywhere; it could be considered quite happy...

"It's a deal!" It handed the feather that the flying knife had knocked down to He Lingchuan as a token of its promise.

Since the Sanxinyuan incident, He Lingchuan hadn't had a good impression of crows; they were truly greedy and snobbish opportunists. But he had to admit that the eyes and ears of crows were everywhere.

He even heard that Lingxu City had a Sky Crow Legion specifically for spying.

With this group of guides, He Lingchuan set off immediately for Zhitian Township.

Zhitian Township was thirty li northwest of Shuangyi Town.

As He Lingchuan traveled along the way, he found that the farmland by the roadside was getting less and less, replaced by various crops, and, medicinal herbs.

"Eh?" He pointed to the fields by the roadside, "Is that Lingzhi?"

Don't Lingzhi mushrooms grow under tree roots? Why were they growing on the field ridges like wheat here?

"This is Zhitian Township." The fierce tiger Jiao Yu was also sitting in the carriage, explaining to He Lingchuan while looking at the scenery, "They use cut wood to grow Lingzhi."

Yes, Zhitian Township was famous in the north-central part of Chi Yan for growing medicinal herbs, which could be seen from its name.

"The local energy of this township is particularly suitable for the growth of medicinal herbs. Thirty percent of all conventional medicinal herbs in Chi Yan come from here." Jiao Yu stretched, the inside of the carriage was narrow and not enough for him to stretch his limbs.

He Lingchuan simply leaned on him, using him as a tiger-skin armchair. Oh my, comfortable! And it was self-heating and vibrating.

"Especially around certain hot springs, the medicinal herbs grown are unique in the Chi Yan Kingdom."

Supplying thirty percent of the medicinal herbs for the Chi Yan Kingdom was a very high market share.

While talking, the carriage passed a large shed; at least that's what it looked like to He Lingchuan. It was made of bamboo and wood as a frame, covered with cloth and hemp, and then coated with oil ash to keep warm.

The Yuan Kingdom didn't have this kind of technology; Beijia really had many fresh things.

"What is this?" He asked without shame.

"Shed house," Jiao Yu replied, "It's used to keep the medicinal herbs warm by placing heating stones inside."

The so-called heating stones were rocks that could generate heat on their own. Piling them in the corner of the room and pouring a few ladles of water over them guaranteed it would be as hot as a sauna.

He Lingchuan laughed: "It's midsummer now; aren't you afraid of dehydrating the herbs by adding warmth?"

"Medicinal herbs like Fire Cloud Beads and Dragon Flame Herbs originally live in volcanic craters; moving them to flat ground requires warmth and heating." Without a constant temperature above fifty degrees, they wouldn't grow, "But you're right, this kind of shed house is also used to dehydrate and dry medicinal herbs."

He Lingchuan laughed: "Master Jiao is actually so familiar with these things?"

Jiao Yu didn't deny it: "I served as an official in a neighboring county for a few years, and I'm very familiar with the area for ten miles around."

He rose to the rank of Left General and had spent some time training here before his promotion.

He Lingchuan understood. That guy Fu Shanyue really sent him a good helper; not only was his combat value powerful, but he was also familiar with the local human affairs, making it convenient for him to connect with the local area.

Sure enough, none of those who could become crown princes were good birds—no, none were truly boorish.

The goshawk stopped on the roof of the carriage; the crows feared it and could only stay on the horse's back, pointing the way for the driver.

He Lingchuan didn't expect General Ling to follow again, but this time he only brought a few guards.

Didn't they say that big shots like to sit in the rear and send little brothers out to scout for information? Why did this one go against the grain? But looking at the countless scars on General Ling's body, it was clear that he also liked to be the first sheep when charging into battle; it was probably just his nature.

The carriage soon left the main road and drove toward the mountain wilderness.

Zhitian Township had many mountains, with hills and dangerous peaks, rift valleys and stone forests; it was a complete geological encyclopedia.

The carriage wandered around in the towering mountains and ridges; sometimes the crows had to fly into the sky and circle twice to confirm the location.

Half an hour later, there was no road ahead, and the carriage couldn't move.

He Lingchuan switched to riding the rock goat, with the fierce tiger and Zuanfeng Beasts on the side.

This speed was much faster than taking a carriage, but it still took over an hour to reach the corpse-dumping point mentioned by the crows.

This was a dense forest at the foot of the mountain, where sunlight couldn't shine in at all.

The ground was covered with a thick layer of dead branches and leaves; stepping on it would sink to the ankles, and what came up were all rotten leaves and black humus soil.

The thick musty smell and moisture were twisted together, and the strange smell mixed in wasn't very pleasant.

The big crow flew to a thick tree branch and flapped its wings:

"We're here, this is it!"

This was already the shady side of the mountain; the rocks were covered with moss, and no matter when you reached out to touch them, they were wet.

He Lingchuan saw a large pit under the tree roots, filled with corpses lying in a jumble.

The crow was right; this had originally been buried artificially, but it had been dug up by wild dogs. There was loose soil everywhere, and dog paw prints everywhere.

He poked his head down to look; the large pit seemed to have only been dug up halfway, and there were still many bones that hadn't seen the light of day.

This was already a paradise for mosquitoes and flies; as soon as they approached, they buzzed and exploded.

Of course, no mosquitoes or insects were willing to approach He Lingchuan; he was wearing the insect-repellent sachet gifted by Zhu Xiuer. However, the local energy here was damp and cold, and the corpses were decomposing quickly, so the smell was particularly unpleasant.

If he hadn't been baptized by incense balls, demon nests, and various beast dens, He Lingchuan wouldn't have been able to guarantee he wouldn't have vomited from the smell now.

However, the fierce tiger, goshawk, and crows didn't care about the stench of corpses. Jiao Yu even went into the pit to continue digging, not stopping until he dug out two or three complete animal skeletons.

General Ling looked twice and said sadly: "They are indeed my children."

Human skeletons weren't easy to identify, but General Ling recognized the Zuanfeng Beast skeletons at a glance.

"These few little guys had been working under me for a long time. I didn't expect them not to die on the battlefield in the end." But to be buried in the wilderness without knowing why.

He Lingchuan also went into the pit to check, even reaching out to touch and pick: "Although there are traces of wild dogs gnawing, these corpses look like, uh..."

The goshawk stopped on the side: "Digested?"

He Lingchuan snapped his fingers: "Exactly!"

Although they had been covered by soil for many days, the surface of the remains was still a bit sticky, the flesh and blood were gone, only bones, fur, and hair remained, but they were all squeezed and wrinkled into a ball.

Wild dogs gnawing on remains couldn't do it so cleanly, not to mention there were a few corpses buried deep underground that hadn't been gnawed by dogs, which were in the same situation.

The reason the goshawk could describe it accurately was that the residue excreted after digestion by birds of prey was also generally like this.

General Ling turned his head in anger, cutting a small tree in half with his large horns: "When I find the murderer, I will definitely trample him into mud!"

"So our target is a monster with a huge appetite, capable of eating a dozen people and seven or eight goats at once. And then it specifically traveled thirty or forty li to find a latrine?" He Lingchuan asked the goshawk, "Among birds of prey, are there such big eaters?"

It's the second to last day of January, please ask for monthly tickets, and please everyone, prepare your base monthly tickets for next month~ Please cast them directly on February 1st, I am very grateful!

(End of chapter)