Chapter 522: A Death Sentence May Be Avoided, But a Living Punishment Is Hard to Escape

Even while imprisoned, he did not forget to threaten He He Lingchuan.

Yet, this threat was quite effective.

The two large spiders caught in the net together vanished with a "pop."

So, were these spiders merely conjured by divine abilities?

Why did they feel so full of flesh and blood?

At this moment, Jia Yu's voice came from the lotus wall: "My lord, Special Envoy, my lord!"

He He Lingchuan turned his head to look and saw another boat approaching; Jia Yu and the person on the boat were locked in a struggle.

He He Lingchuan leaped over and landed two punches, and the man went limp, collapsing onto the boat.

He He Lingchuan directed Jia Yu to tie the man to several lotus stalks, then reached out his hand and said, "The Overlord Lotus."

"Oh, oh, here you go!" Jia Yu finally snapped out of his daze.

What had just happened? It seemed like Lord Fan suddenly emerged from the water to attack the Special Envoy, the Special Envoy disappeared, then several large spiders crawled out of the lotus wall to battle Lord Fan, and a giant metal puppet also emerged from the water to catch Lord Fan in a net...

Now the Special Envoy had reappeared and was even sitting on the puppet's shoulder, which meant the Special Envoy had won, right? Then he himself was no longer in danger.

Jia Yu immediately felt relieved and allowed the Golden-Armored Bronze Man to grab him and place him on its shoulder.

Standing high, one can see far.

"W-what do we do now?" He was still holding the Overlord Lotus. "Ah, Special Envoy, you are wounded!"

He He Lingchuan was covered in wounds, especially on his left waist, where his clothes were completely soaked red, which was very obvious.

"It is nothing, I will handle it myself." He He Lingchuan took the Overlord Lotus and put it away, then said to Fan Sheng, "As a dignified Deputy Commander of the Heart-Unity Guard, why are you not guarding the south gate of Spirit Void City instead of running here to obstruct my investigation?"

Fan Sheng glared with raised brows: "Who told you to hurt my third brother!"

If looks could kill, He He Lingchuan would have died a hundred times over by now.

His ambush of He He Lingchuan this time was more careful and meticulous than the last, yet he hadn't even crossed blades with the man himself! He had been captured without even a single clash of weapons? Clearly, his own primordial power was more abundant, and his advantage was greater.

Nets, spiders, hidden needles, broken boats—what kind of trash was the man throwing out! The one surnamed He hadn't fought him properly or uprightly even once! Fan Sheng was so frustrated he felt like he was suffering internal injuries.

"Let's be reasonable, you were the one who helped Lord Zhongsun plot against me first." He He Lingchuan sat on the Golden-Armored Bronze Man's shoulder and took out medicine to treat his wound.

This fellow's strikes were no joke; he had been extremely cautious and used the "substituting a peach for a plum" technique in time, yet he was still a split second too late and was wounded in the waist by the qi on the axe.

Facing such an offensive, the Soul-Absorbing Mirror's full-body protection was not comprehensive enough.

The wound was half a pinky-finger deep, but fortunately, it didn't hit his kidney.

When the disinfectant was poured on, He He Lingchuan's face turned pale, and he hissed in pain.

"The Spirit Void City messenger case is a mission assigned to Chi Yan by the Emperor, and then personally delegated to me by the Crown Prince of Chi Yan. You obstructed me in my official duties, which ultimately harms Spirit Void City. When the Chi Yan monarch submits the rights and wrongs of this matter later, how will you defend yourself?"

Fan Sheng said coldly, "Don't try to pressure me with big labels."

"The case is nearing its resolution; Lord Zhongsun Mou is colluding with the mastermind, and none of them will escape the net of justice." He He Lingchuan then slowly applied the medicine to himself. "You insist on jumping into this dye vat at such a time—or is it that the Heart-Unity Guard has long been in cahoots with the mastermind, and you are here to silence me?"

Fan Sheng was furious: "What nonsense are you spouting? I don't know any mastermind!"

"Then what did you come to Bai Sha Fu Jue for?"

Once the entire Heart-Unity Guard was involved, Fan Sheng became a bit impatient: "I was handling official business in Qingding City and visiting relatives on the side, but I received a message from Lord Zhongsun Mou saying you were using your five hundred soldiers to abduct a high-profile criminal from Spirit Void City, treating him, the Inspector, as nothing. He asked for my help, so I came."

"The Heart-Unity Guard is so fond of helping others?" He He Lingchuan asked curiously. "Then if I tell you to go back, will you?"

Fan Sheng was incensed by his retort: "My eldest brother owes the Lord Zhongsun family a great favor, and they often use it to brag and threaten us, so I wanted to pay it off."

"Are you not afraid of causing even greater trouble for Grand Commander Fan?"

Fan Sheng was speechless.

The lotus-picking lottery at Bai Sha Fu Jue saw people get injured in the scramble every year; he was just taking advantage of the situation. How much weight could a mere Crown Prince's Special Envoy from Chi Yan have? He thought that beating him half to death would be a sufficient lesson.

Even if he crippled him, how much trouble could it really cause?

He He Lingchuan suddenly stood up from the Golden-Armored Bronze Man and shaded his eyes with his hand to look toward the Chaohu Tower: "Huh, it's a bit noisy over there."

The mirror hummed in his chest, and of course, only He He Lingchuan could hear it: "Pretend, keep pretending!"

Fan Sheng naturally heard the commotion at the Chaohu Tower too. But he was in no position to save himself, so how could he spare the thought? A breeze blew from the opposite side, and Jia Yu also heard the movement: "It seems, it seems I hear someone screaming. I don't know what happened."

He He Lingchuan put on a stern face: "Not good, let's go back quickly."

He had finished applying the medicine and moved his body slightly before kindly reminding Fan Sheng: "Lord Fan, hold your breath. First, take a deep breath, come, like me—"

He made a gesture of taking a deep breath, and Fan Sheng looked at him coldly.

He He Lingchuan patted the Golden-Armored Bronze Man, and the latter immediately tied a slipknot in the net rope and flipped it into the water! Fan Sheng was forced face-down, bobbing up and down in the water with the large net.

A death sentence may be avoided, but a living punishment is hard to escape.

The Golden-Armored Bronze Man turned and walked toward the lake shore, over ten zhang away.

The boat was gone, but this mode of transport was also fast.

After reaching the shore, the Golden-Armored Bronze Man strode along the lake bank toward the Chaohu Tower, faster than a galloping horse.

If it were anyone else ambushing him like this, He He Lingchuan would never have been soft-hearted; but as for Fan Sheng... if he really killed him, it might play right into Cen Boqing's hands and create a powerful enemy for himself.

Besides, his subsequent actions required such an eyewitness to bear witness.

Fan Sheng was a Deputy Commander of the Heart-Unity Guard in Spirit Void City, holding a key position, with a Grand Commander behind him whose combat power and influence were even more off the charts.

For the sake of his subsequent mission and his own safety, unless He He Lingchuan fled Between Beijia and never went to Spirit Void City again, it would be difficult for him to just kill Fan Sheng.

Fan Sheng could use the lotus-picking competition to kill him, but he could not use the same excuse to kill Fan Sheng.

He hadn't even killed Lord Zhongsun Mou with his own hands; Fan Sheng, whose status was above Lord Zhongsun Mou's, was certainly even less of an option.

The halo of Spirit Void City was just that aggressive.

Regardless of whether the world felt aggrieved or willing, they all had to maintain constant awe.

Over here, Fan Sheng was submerged in the water; the Golden-Armored Bronze Man had specifically flipped the net over to keep him face-down.

Before entering the water, Fan Sheng had been forced to take a deep breath.

His cultivation was profound and his breath long; holding his breath underwater for half an hour was a trivial matter.

But the problem was, there were piranhas in the water! Before leaving the Chaohu Tower, Lord Zhongsun Mou had given him a fish pouch, only the size of a dried orange, but it would expand upon being thrown into the water, releasing sixty or seventy piranhas.

These piranhas could survive in the mud during the dry season, and even if the ground cracked, they wouldn't die, only coming to life when they encountered water in the coming year.

Enhanced by Lord Zhongsun Mou's primordial power, these things ignored protective qi and were known as tigers of the water, capable of gnawing a living person down to a skeleton in minutes.

If not for He He Lingchuan's mirror shield, he would have been riddled with holes earlier.

These piranhas were inherently ferocious, and having tasted blood just now, they only wanted to devour living things. Fan Sheng was just the owner of the pouch, not a merman, so he had no natural intimidation over them. These things circled the area, having eaten all the frogs, birds, snails, and fish, and were still hungry, so they set their sights on Fan Sheng.

The warm hospitality He He Lingchuan had previously enjoyed from them was something Fan Sheng would soon deeply experience.

These monsters opened their sharp teeth and snapped at him, specifically targeting skin not covered by armor, such as his face, neck, and wrists.

They especially liked to gnaw on facial features; Fan Sheng hardly dared to open his eyes, or his field of vision would be filled with mouths full of sharp teeth.

How could soft eyeballs withstand such destruction?

Don't forget that these things could penetrate protective qi. Not only could He He Lingchuan's protective qi not block them, but neither could Fan Sheng's! Although primordial power could reduce damage, reduction did not mean it was non-existent. Three or four types of light flashed on Fan Sheng's body, all from activated protective magic treasures.

How long could they last? He had no idea.

Fan Sheng tilted his axe blade, trying hard to cut the fishing net, occasionally spitting out two bubbles.

He exerted his true power, and frost would condense wherever the axe blade passed.

The fishing net was no exception.

However, the water flow carried away some of the cold, and even if a thin layer of frost formed on the mesh, it didn't become brittle or hard, remaining full of resilience. This was awkward; the axe blade was better suited for chopping than cutting, and the fine iron dagger in his bosom couldn't cut at all—it was like sawing steel wire.

It took a great deal of effort for him to cut through three or four knots.

Damn it, this net even had three layers, inside and out! He was still a long way from escaping.

What kind of net was this, to be so sturdy! If he weren't holding his breath, Fan Sheng would have wanted to curse out loud.

He didn't know that Zhu Zhu Xiuer's Cloud Brocade Cape was naturally impervious to water and fire.

After He He Lingchuan left, the stirred-up lake water gradually cleared, and Fan Sheng opened his eyes a few times, only to see some new things on the lake bed.

It seemed like something was growing rapidly, turning into dozens of long, water-snake-like things, and they were extending toward him.

That was... a lotus stalk?

The shockingly tall lotus flowers in the Lotus Palace were called King Lotuses, and their stalks could be as thick as a goose egg, with a texture so hard that even a dull woodcutter's knife couldn't chop through them.

Now these long, thick lotus stalks were reaching toward him, actually coiling around him like pythons.

The most insidious one was not going for his neck, but circling him with ill intent, as if looking for an entry point to attack.

Fan Sheng finally remembered that the water spirit of Bai Sha Fu Jue was a lotus demon, and also the creator of this maze.

(End of chapter)