Chapter 514: Who is anxious, and who is not?

"This matter is a bit complex, but if you peel back the layers, you can still see the crux of it all lies with Wu Kai," He He Lingchuan said slowly. "It's not just us; Cen Boqing himself thinks the same way." Before the eyeball spider was destroyed, it had heard Cen Boqing's words clearly.

Although it was already known that the person behind the scenes was Cen Boqing, the difficulty for He He Lingchuan in handling this case lay in the lack of direct evidence to link the crimes to Cen Boqing.

Whether it was what Fu Fu Songhua said, the guards' confessions, or even the actions of Mai Xuewen, Cen Boqing could deny everything.

In other words, key evidence was missing.

Only by finding ironclad evidence that Cen Boqing could not deny would He He Lingchuan be considered the winner.

At this moment, he set his sights on Wu Kai.

This old man seemed to have no presence, merely following behind Cen Boqing, but the guards had already identified him as Cen Boqing's confidant, specifically handling matters entrusted by Cen.

Most crucially, the entire upper-class elite of Bai Sha knew this as well.

If a breakthrough could be found through Wu Kai, that would be the witness testimony they were so desperately seeking.

Jiao Yu subconsciously extended its sharp claws: "That's not good. What if Cen Boqing kills him to silence him?"

"Then that would be very troublesome," He He Lingchuan said, stroking his chin. "But if he doesn't, it just goes to show that this person, Wu Kai, is very important. Unless it's a last resort, Cen Boqing won't want to discard him."

He had already heard through the eyeball spider that Cen Boqing would rather take that risk than kill Wu Kai.

That meant Wu Bo's work was important and not easily replaced.

Hmm, and considering that it was Wu Kai who boarded the Chaohu Tower that day—to receive the pulp beads that Mr. Mai handed over regularly—He He Lingchuan had reason to suspect he was the person in charge of hunting demons and collecting beads.

If his guess was correct, whether Mai Xuewen was caught or not was no longer important; as long as they nabbed Wu Bo and made him testify, Cen Boqing would not be able to wash away the suspicion of his crimes!

Jiao Yu asked: "How do we deal with him? Strike when he's alone?"

"They are already on guard; Wu Kai won't be alone. Even if he is, it's likely a trap set for us." They could set traps, and the other side could too; it was fair.

"Then what should we do?"

"On the surface, we hold our ground for now," He He Lingchuan said leisurely. "We aren't in a hurry, so there will always be someone who is."

"Someone else is in a hurry?" Jiao Yu thought for a long time, its tail swaying behind it. "You mean, Mai Xuewen?"

It only realized after the fact that He He Lingchuan had been stroking its tiger head for a long time.

This texture was truly addictive.

"Mai Xuewen really shouldn't have sent this note over." He He Lingchuan picked up the note and burned it to ash. "He probably thinks I'm furious right now and will definitely use any clue I catch."

Jiao Yu thought to itself, shouldn't a normal person be like that? Just then, someone else came to look for He He Lingchuan.

This time, he received an oil-paper package. Opening it, there was a note and a few strands of hair inside.

He He Lingchuan was somewhat surprised when he saw it: "Old Mr. Xiang managed to get things so quickly?"

He had originally thought he would have to wait another day or two, not expecting Xiang Yan to be so efficient.

No wonder he was able to serve as an official in the imperial court for decades until he retired in peace.

When He He Lingchuan went down to the outhouse outside, another eyeball spider exploded in his ear.

"I didn't expect that Cen Boqing would actually discover your companion."

"Yes, he deserves to die!"

"Mm-hmm, I won't let him off; I will definitely make him pay for his crimes."

"No, no, no, just stay by my side obediently; you don't need to watch him." He He Lingchuan dug at his ear; the little spider's angry screeching was about to shatter his eardrums, yet only he could hear it. "He is already on guard, and I don't want you to be destroyed too."

Sigh, he only had one spider spy left. He didn't know if he could get more when he saw Zhu Zhu Xiuer in the future.

When it turned dark, the third guest arrived.

The inn where He He Lingchuan was staying was truly exceptionally lively today.

The visitor was actually the County Magistrate of Bai Sha.

"Magistrate Tian?" He He Lingchuan's surprise was not feigned. "Why are you here?"

"To deliver an invitation to you," Magistrate Tian said with a chuckle. "The day after tomorrow is the Lotus Festival, the grandest summer festival in Bai Sha, and the whole city celebrates. Would you do us the honor?"

"Interesting, I would be honored to accept." He He Lingchuan stroked his chin. "Who else of importance will be going? What about Lord Zhongsun Mou?"

"Lord Lord Zhongsun, Lord Lord Zhongsun has already agreed to go," Magistrate Tian stammered before saying, "He will also be giving a speech at the opening ceremony."

"Oh, he has such leisure and interest?"

"Yes, yes." Magistrate Tian put down the invitation and stepped forward, whispering, "The news you asked me to inquire about before—"

"Yes?"

"The news of Lord Lord Zhongsun's arrival in Bai Sha was first leaked by the Cen residence," Magistrate Tian said in a low voice. "It was mentioned casually during a gathering of the Cen family's relatives."

"So that's how it is." He He Lingchuan nodded. "Thank you for your hard work, Magistrate Tian."

"It was no trouble at all," Magistrate Tian added. "The Cen residence is sending people to search the whole city for Fu Fu Songhua. Bai Sha is only this big, and the Cen family knows this place like the back of their hand, I'm afraid..."

"As expected," He He Lingchuan said. "Magistrate Tian is very thoughtful."

"Not at all, not at all." Magistrate Tian was a sensible person; once he finished speaking, he took his leave.

The fierce tiger licked its paws on the side: "This intelligence is already outdated."

They had long known that the Cen residence was the mastermind.

"I didn't expect Magistrate Tian to get any useful intelligence," He He Lingchuan was clear-headed. "As long as we confirm he isn't involved, we can have one less obstacle."

Magistrate Tian himself wasn't important, but the fact that he didn't stand on the opposite side of He He Lingchuan was very important.

After all, he was still an official of the Chiyan Kingdom.

Midsummer rain comes as it pleases, but once it arrives, it refuses to leave, falling in a dense, continuous drizzle for the better part of the day.

Surprisingly, several more waves of guests came to the door.

He He Lingchuan hadn't expected that the visitors were all officials of the Chiyan Kingdom, some retired, some currently in office. Several even came together.

Everyone used the same excuse: The Special Envoy has been working hard on the case, so we came to pay a visit; it's just a small gift, please don't take offense.

All the officials came smiling, talked smilingly, and left smilingly.

He He Lingchuan didn't understand; what kind of act was this? Jiao Yu flicked its tail; it was rare for this Special Envoy to have something he couldn't understand: "It means they are all on our side. It seems these elites of Lingxu City like Cen Boqing are not popular locally either."

He He Lingchuan let out a long "Oh."

After the guests left, he was too lazy to move; besides cultivating, he would sit and watch the rain hit the banana leaves, or else play the flute or the xun.

The flute was a bamboo flute he had bought casually at the market; the sound quality was mediocre, a far cry from Sun Sun Fuling's bone flute.

In any case, his skill level was also mediocre.

Ahem, actually, it was an improvement compared to the previous days; at least he could play a complete tune.

There were still breaks in the middle, so let's not even mention rhythm for now.

When it came to music, he truly had no talent.

Every time this happened, the fierce tiger would find an excuse to leave. Only the Soul-Consuming Mirror was left to suffer in silence: it had no legs, so it couldn't leave!

From the view on the second floor, one could see a small lake ten zhang away. The tender lotus buds were washed by the rain, looking shy and timid, and were knocked about by frogs, causing the branches to tremble.

Seeing these frogs that organized a chorus whenever they had nothing to do, He He Lingchuan couldn't help but think of that snail-toad.

Mr. Mai was probably also hiding in some corner of Bai Sha, silently watching the storm he had stirred up himself, right? Just then, a dark little thing flew in from outside the wall, skimming diagonally toward his window.

He He Lingchuan thought it was a bat because it flapped its wings. But when it flew closer, something was wrong—

It was a mechanical bird.

This thing was only a little bigger than a pigeon, the workmanship was relatively rough, and when taken apart, there were only a few parts inside, plus a wind-driving formation.

This gadget could fly at most a hundred zhang; it couldn't be compared to the mechanical flying pigeons in Wu Wu Shaoyi's hands that could fly over ten li.

It couldn't even manage a normal landing; it flew into the window with great effort and then crashed.

He He Lingchuan stepped back two paces, prepared for it to explode.

However, the mechanical bird just lay crookedly on the floor, flapped its wings twice, and then stopped moving.

The fierce tiger Jiao Yu, who was just about to go out, turned around and pounced over, extending its claws to paw at it twice: "There's a seam on the belly."

He He Lingchuan reached into the mechanical bird's belly, and sure enough, there was a hidden compartment. Opening it, inside was another note: "Three hours from now, at the rain-shelter pavilion on the east bank of Red Luan Lake, please come alone."

The fierce tiger saw it too and let out an "Eh": "Could this be...?"

"It's probably Mai Xuewen." He He Lingchuan was very familiar with the handwriting on the note; it was indeed similar to the one in the ledger. "We haven't moved for only a short while, and he's already anxious."

"Are you going to keep the appointment?"

Logically speaking, He He Lingchuan shouldn't go.

These were extraordinary times; Lord Zhongsun Mou, the Cen residence, and the newly arrived Fan brothers were all watching him, and there was no telling how many eyes were outside this inn. If these people discovered him meeting Mai Xuewen in private, the consequences would be unimaginable.

He He Lingchuan could already imagine Lord Zhongsun Mou laughing wildly as he splashed dirty water on his head.

But Mai Xuewen clearly knew more inside information, which would help him break the current stalemate.

Moreover, He He Lingchuan always kept one thing in mind, which was not to be spoken of to outsiders:

The painting in Mai Xuewen's study, and the bone flute in the painting.

He looked at the rain outside the window.

"Stealing in the rain, not in the snow; this weather is actually a good time to go out." The pedestrians on the street were all holding oil-paper umbrellas, blocking their faces from view. "So—"

"—I'm not going."

Jiao Yu understood him somewhat by now and was surprisingly not shocked: "You're really going to go alone? That's too dangerous... Hmm? You said you're not going?"

"That's right."

"..."

"Mai Xuewen sees me lying low these past few days and can't figure out what's going on; perhaps he thinks I'm afraid again," He He Lingchuan said lazily. "He's anxious, so I'm even less so."

This guy really had nerves of steel. The tip of the fierce tiger's tail flicked; just as Xiang Yan said, He He Lingchuan was currently in a dangerous situation, and Lord Zhongsun Mou and the others were doing their utmost to kill him.

It had thought that He He Lingchuan would immediately strike back after being attacked twice in a row. Perhaps the other side was also waiting for such a reaction.

However, there was none.

He He Lingchuan nodded and recalled one thing: "Right, according to the reply from Fushan Yue, he should..."

"Soon."

"That's good."

Ah, this month only has 28 days, so today should be the fourth to last day of February, so~ please vote for the monthly ticket!!!

(End of chapter)