Chapter 517

The guard went to the backyard and found a waiter to ask: "Did you deliver water to the guest upstairs?" This waiter had taken his money and told everything: "I did, the guest wanted to bathe."

"And then, was there anything unusual in his room?"

"No, he bathed, and we carried the dirty water out to pour it away, that's all."

"No one else entered or left?"

"No, just him and that tiger demon lord, they almost never left the room."

Only then did the guard set his mind at ease; was he really being overly suspicious?

￥￥￥￥￥

The next morning.

Although there was no sunlight, the rain that had lasted for many days finally stopped, which made Bai Sha breathe a sigh of relief.

If it had rained heavily, where would there be any popularity for the Lotus Fragrance Festival? Relying on water for a living, after this festival every year, the local specialties of Bai Sha would be sent by merchants to all parts of the country, so getting a good start was very important.

He Lingchuan got up early to regulate his breath and practiced his saber for another half hour, and Jiao Yu came to find him:

"We should set off."

He Lingchuan heard the sound and put away his saber; the blade of the Floating Life Saber turned, reflecting the owner's determined face.

Today was the key to breaking the situation.

After today, this case was destined to become a loud thunder, even shaking the distant Lingxu City.

If he wanted to get away again, it would become increasingly difficult.

Then, let the storm come even more violently.

"Let's go." He stroked the tiger's head. "Don't keep them waiting."

Jiao Yu flicked its tail, always feeling that his saber technique was overflowing with killing intent and exceptionally fierce.

Strength comes from the heart; what's wrong with the special envoy today? The sky was getting brighter.

He Lingchuan, Jiao Yu, and Commandant Lu were all invited to the Chaohu Tower to watch the ceremony; the repaired tower looked even more imposing.

Unlike festivals elsewhere, the Lotus Picking and Drawing Lots activity must be held before the opening of the Lotus Fragrance Festival. Therefore, the festival guests would first climb the Chaohu Tower to watch the progress.

No matter how sturdy the Chaohu Tower was, its load-bearing capacity was limited; only the wealthy and powerful, as well as special guests like He Lingchuan and Zhongsun Mou, could go up to watch the ceremony on this day.

He Lingchuan also saw Xiang Yan; the old man smiled at him from afar, and He Lingchuan also nodded in greeting.

When He Lingchuan climbed the Chaohu Tower again, he saw that a large area of green had appeared in the southwest corner of the lake, occupying a full third of the lake's surface.

Chaohu was a large lake that couldn't be seen from end to end even from a distance, so one-third of the lake's surface was quite vast.

"That's lotus leaves and... duckweed?" That piece of water was completely occupied by green, and He Lingchuan didn't know how this activity was going to start.

When he climbed the tower last time, that water area was still empty. It had only been a few days, so why did so many plants suddenly grow? Someone on the side answered: "These plants are all catalyzed by the lotus demon. After the competition starts, the duckweed will disappear on its own, clearing the waterway."

He Lingchuan looked back; wasn't this Cen Boqing? Wu Kai was standing behind him.

"Lord Cen, is your mansion also sending boats to participate?"

"Of course, my family participates every year and has drawn the lotus lot at least twice." Cen Boqing's demeanor was relaxed, as if he were chatting with him casually. "Doesn't the special envoy want to try? People from outside come to participate every year."

He Lingchuan looked at the dense lotus leaves; the leaves were as wide as umbrellas, and the stems were thicker than any lotus leaves he had seen elsewhere, at least four or five feet above the water surface. If a boat could sail in, it would be no different from entering a maze, with the view completely blocked.

"No, it's good to stand here and watch others work hard; why bother getting into the field yourself?" He Lingchuan said with a smile. "What do you think, Lord Cen?"

Cen Boqing replied: "Yes, not everyone understands the principle of keeping oneself clean."

The two looked at each other and smiled.

He Lingchuan thought to himself, this guy is very calm, even running over here to show off his power; is he sure I can't catch his weak point?

Commandant Lu, with four or five subordinates, stood around He Lingchuan and interrupted: "My subordinates also went. Look, right there! Number ninety-seven!"

Looking in the direction of his finger, more than a hundred small boats were parked by the lake, two people per boat, all ready for battle.

Seeing that the time had come, the Chaohu Tower was crowded with nobles, and the bottom of the tower was full of commoners.

Just as everyone was looking forward to it, the Magistrate of Bai Sha County stepped forward and personally rang the large copper bell under the tower eaves.

*Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling*, the lake breeze carried the soothing and pleasant bell sound to the front of the pebble beach.

In the Yuan Kingdom, this kind of festival activity involving the whole people is usually signaled by a string of firecrackers, which is truly lively.

But in the Beijia Kingdom, one can only ring bells or clappers, and fireworks and firecrackers are prohibited.

The official explanation is that this thing easily causes fires, destroying houses and burning buildings, leading to accidents.

However, actually, everyone understands that the prohibition of fireworks is mainly because demons don't like them.

Humans like liveliness, but most demons, especially small demons, only feel disgust and fear when they hear sudden explosions.

Beijia is called a demon country after all, so it still has to comply with the general feelings of demons.

If a few people strongly oppose something, and more people don't care, then this thing will eventually be prohibited.

Therefore, festival activities in Beijia, including the New Year, don't have fireworks.

He Lingchuan had known this for a long time, because the second master Shi Er had complained to him on the road that in such a large demon country, there was no one to do fireworks business with it.

After the eaves bell sound spread, He Lingchuan saw the duckweed on that large lake surface sinking into the water one after another.

"Eh?" How was this done? "Before the competition, the duckweed covers the water surface, and no one can see how to walk to the Lotus Palace." Commandant Lu introduced: "Before the competition starts, the fish demons in Chaohu will direct the fish schools to bite off the duckweed and pull it to the bottom of the water. This way, the waterway can be quickly cleared for the participating boats. The tradition of picking lotus lots has been insisted upon for nearly a hundred years; the fish demons are experienced and know how to cooperate."

He Lingchuan clicked his tongue in wonder. In the whole world, probably only Beijia knows how to "make the best use of demons."

He looked into the distance, and sure enough, the water surface was like boiling, and he didn't know how many fish were moving underneath; occasionally large fish jumped out of the water, and even from such a distance, he could see their bodies, which were at least five feet (1.6 meters+) long.

Before long, the duckweed in that whole water area was basically cleared, and the efficiency was much faster than human hands.

Standing on the water surface, only endless lotus leaves remained.

Looking from the perspective of everyone on the tower, one could see countless twists and turns among the lotus fields, which actually formed the shape of a maze.

He Lingchuan asked: "How is it considered a win?"

"Whoever can find the 'Overlord Lotus' hidden in the lotus field is the winner." Commandant Lu smiled. "This is a prize placed by the lotus demon in the maze, and it only grows out before the competition starts. As for its location, only the lotus demon itself knows. Once someone finds it, the program on the shore can continue."

"Will it definitely be found?"

"With more than a hundred boats, someone will always find it." Commandant Lu coughed. "But one year was unlucky; everyone searched from morning until evening, and it wasn't until it was almost dark that someone found it."

Jiao Yu said: "Could it be that the lotus demon is letting water?"

"Who knows?"

Listening to the conversation between the two, He Lingchuan suddenly felt a burst of heat in his chest.

*Hmm*, no way, right? The divine bone hadn't brushed its presence for a long time; does this lake also have the treasure it cares about?

"You just said, the Overlord Lotus just grew out?" This was the only change, should the divine bone want it? "Yes, it only grows out before the competition starts, so as not to be picked by mistake first." Commandant Lu added, "The boat race is about to set off, we can place bets."

"Can this also be bet on?"

"Why not?" Commandant Lu exchanged five taels of silver from his bosom and called a buyer over: "Buy boat number ninety-seven to win."

"Alright, number ninety-seven!" This buyer was very tactless and actually added, "The odds are very high."

Commandant Lu's face turned black at once.

At this time, people on and off the tower also placed bets one after another.

Listening to the waves of sound coming up from below, He Lingchuan finally understood that any activity that had anything to do with gambling was extremely lively.

Everyone is happy.

Cen Boqing also smiled and bought his own racing boat, betting one hundred taels.

Actually, betting can also be done by number segments; for example, buying boats number fifteen to thirty, and if the winning boat is among them, you can get money.

But playing like this doesn't earn much; in order to support their own boats and show their wealth, the nobles usually buy by pointing at the number, just like Cen Boqing.

He was asking He Lingchuan: "Special envoy, don't you want to play this too?"

He Lingchuan thought to himself, there are a hundred small boats here, I don't know any of them, isn't throwing money in like throwing it into the water? But facing Cen Boqing's provocative gaze, he didn't want to admit defeat.

Just then, more than ten people approached, and the one being surrounded was Zhongsun Mou and Fan Sheng.

He Lingchuan realized belatedly that this guy Zhongsun Mou really likes to be surrounded by people; every time he appears, the scene is not small.

Heh, very good.

He smiled and greeted Zhongsun Mou: "Lord Zhongsun, haven't you placed a bet yet?"

Zhongsun Mou's skill in smiling without laughing was not as good as Cen Boqing's; as soon as he saw this annoying He Lingchuan, his face sank instantly.

"No."

"Let's bet against each other, how about that?" He Lingchuan turned to ask the buyer, "Can we do one-on-one here?"

"This..." The buyer was also clever, "As long as you nobles like it, there's nothing that can't be done."

"Good, good, I just like that sentence of yours, there's nothing that can't be done." He Lingchuan laughed loudly. "Brother Zhongsun, dare to bet?"

Zhongsun Mou sneered: "Fine, how do you want to lose?"

Fan Sheng stood on the side without a word, just staring coldly at He Lingchuan.

He Lingchuan thought for a while: "I'll participate too, I'll board Commandant Lu's boat—" turned to ask Commandant Lu, "—is that okay?"

"Of course no problem!" Commandant Lu was startled and overjoyed. "I'll pull one person down, you go up."

"Then I'll bet on myself to win."

He Lingchuan turned to leave, Zhongsun Mou stopped him: "Wait! What's your stake?"

"Oh, right!" He Lingchuan patted his head, turned back to Zhongsun Mou, and took out a turtle bead from his bosom, placing it in his palm: "A spirit turtle bead with three hundred years of cultivation, what about you?"

"Just this?" Fan Sheng suddenly spoke. "A dignified special envoy only taking one turtle bead as a stake, it's too shabby."

He Lingchuan stroked his chin: "Lord Fan's tone is so big, could it be that you want to put up the stake for Brother Zhongsun? Truly brothers."

(End of chapter)