Chapter 531

The Nightmare returned silently, floating around him, not knowing if it was staring at him.

He He Lingchuan never wanted to take this thing lightly. He said calmly: "Found a clue?"

"See for yourself."

After saying that, the Nightmare turned into a cloud of smoke; after the mist slowly dissipated, a picture actually rippled out in the middle.

First it was the blue sky, then the distant mountains, as clear as a slide show.

The picture changed again, a wide road, with several horse carriages in front.

At this time, a woman's voice joined in:

"Kang'er, don't stick your head out, be careful of others bumping into you!" Then the field of vision was pulled into a carriage, with a young woman sitting opposite, dressed in plain clothes.

He He Lingchuan knew that the Nightmare was showing him a fragment of the memory in Wu Kai's grandson's mind, perhaps just what he saw during the day.

As the saying goes, what you see during the day, you dream at night.

The woman said again: "No noise allowed! As soon as we arrive, Grandpa will buy you something delicious."

Arrive? Where? The mountain in the background of the picture just now seemed to be in the north of the city, but from the angle, it wasn't due north.

The picture changed, and everyone got off the carriage.

It was already evening, the sun had set but night hadn't fallen, and the surroundings were all wasteland, with lush wild grass by the roadside, and reeds taller than an adult. He He Lingchuan heard the sound of water.

The carriage driver walked in front holding a lantern, while the mother and son followed behind.

After walking a dozen steps, an old man came to meet them, his hair half-black and half-white, his eyes drooping.

Wu Kai!

This was the target of the city's soldiers' pursuit. After Lord Zhongsun Mou was murdered, he immediately ordered people to take his grandson out of the city, successfully evading the capture of both Fu Fu Shanyue and Cen Poqing.

He himself also escaped in the chaos when Commandant Lu besieged the Cen Mansion, and the family reunited at a wild ferry crossing.

Wu Kai held his grandson in his arms and comforted him with a few words.

The four of them actually walked to a ferry crossing.

Baishajuan had plenty of water, with lakes, marshes, and rivers. This was the middle section of the river bend, the wind was small, and twenty or thirty fishing boats were docked here, with light shining from the cabins.

The fishermen lived and ate on the boats.

The strong young man went to the side of the boat to ask, and after asking only two boats, he found a boatman willing to carry passengers.

Silver is a good thing.

The picture only went this far before turning back into gray mist.

"That's it, I only found out this much." The Nightmare expressed helplessness. "A child's head is empty, it can't hold much."

It was a clever woman unable to cook without rice.

He He Lingchuan pointed to the Julao tree branch: "Alright, go in."

The gray smoke circled the room twice, full of unhappiness.

But the small arm couldn't twist the thigh, and it finally had to enter reluctantly.

Strictly speaking, the Julao tree branch wasn't its dwelling place, but a fast track between the Panlong Ancient City and reality.

"Either let me go, or find me a place to live, hurry up! Otherwise, I won't be able to return to reality or help you in the future." The Nightmare disappeared after finishing its words.

He He Lingchuan immediately went to knock on Fu Fu Shanyue's door.

Just as he knocked once, the guard at the door blocked him: "Wait for us to go in and report..."

"What's the matter?" A breeze flashed by, and Fu Fu Shanyue jumped out himself, still in the same casual clothes as in the afternoon, his hair meticulous.

This fellow hadn't rested either.

"I've found Wu Kai's whereabouts." He He Lingchuan didn't beat around the bush, getting straight to the point. "After dark, he boarded a boat at the river bend outside the north of the city."

"How did you..." Fu Fu Shanyue was stunned, but immediately said, "Reliable?"

"As if I saw it myself."

"Then what are we waiting for, let's go!" He knew He He Lingchuan had some tricks up his sleeve.

"Slow down!" He He Lingchuan stretched out his arm to block him. "You can't go, otherwise what if Cen Poqing takes the opportunity to escape again?"

If Fu Fu Shanyue left the city, and Cen Poqing tried to break out like last time, who would dare to truly step forward to stop him?

Could they count on Commandant Lu, or Magistrate Tian? Before being convicted, Cen Poqing was still a superior official of Lingxu City.

Reminded by him, Fu Fu Shanyue also quickly calmed down: "Fine, I'll keep a close eye on him. The task of chasing Wu Kai is left to you. Must—"

He said word by word: "Must catch him back!"

He He Lingchuan nodded.

Now he and Fu Fu Shanyue were grasshoppers on the same line; if they couldn't catch Wu Kai to convict him, Cen Poqing and even the Grand Minister of Agriculture would inevitably counterattack afterward.

There was no time to lose, He He Lingchuan set out in the middle of the night. Fu Fu Shanyue assigned him dozens of soldiers to follow, and a companion guide named Lu also followed.

The so-called companion guide was actually a tour guide. Baishajuan was full of tourist attractions, and there were many wealthy guests, which gave rise to the business of specialized companion guides—from food, lodging, carriages, and sightseeing, anyway, all the requirements put forward by the guests, the companion guide had a way to satisfy.

This Lu fellow was found by Magistrate Tian for the Crown Prince during the day, saying he knew the whole county like the back of his hand.

He also knew where the river bend was, so Fu Fu Shanyue ordered him to follow He He Lingchuan.

Dozens of horses' hooves thundered, galloping on the empty streets, disturbing people's dreams in the middle of the night.

There was only one big river in the north of the city, winding along the mountains, with gentle terrain on both banks.

But the one where the ferry crossing was very close to the dock was only the Lower Hewan.

"The target has already boarded the boat, where will they go?"

Companion Guide Lu said: "That naturally goes downstream, it's more energy-saving, and the boat goes faster."

"Will they go upstream against the current?"

"Upstream is all wild forest, there are no people for a hundred miles, it's tiring to go there." Companion Guide Lu shook his head. "Those who take boats there basically go downstream. There has been no wind for the past few nights, they won't go fast."

He He Lingchuan worried: "Will they go ashore halfway?"

"That's possible, but going downstream is safe and easy, and it's not easy to be intercepted." Companion Guide Lu grinned. "Usually they also carry some contraband downstream... uh!"

He had a habit of bragging to guests, speaking without thinking, but only after saying it did he remember that the person in front of him wasn't an ordinary person!

What kind of nonsense was he saying about smuggling in front of the Crown Prince's Special Envoy?

He He Lingchuan didn't even move an eyebrow, too lazy to argue with him. Companion Guide Lu hurriedly said: "Does the Special Envoy need to charter a boat? I have a way to find the fastest and best boat!"

"No need."

Thanks to his familiarity with the road, he chose a shortcut when leaving the city. The condition of the wild road wasn't as smooth as the official road, and night travel was inevitably bumpy, but Companion Guide Lu could remember every ditch and every bump ahead, allowing everyone to maintain a rapid pace in the dark.

His business was so proficient that even He He Lingchuan praised him: "You lead the way well."

Companion Guide Lu beamed with joy.

Getting a compliment from the Crown Prince's Special Envoy, his second half of life was secure.

The wild road with desolate grass came to an end, which was the Lower Hewan.

In the early years, the shipping of Baishajuan, whether it was fishing goods or passengers, all went through here, but after the Upper Hewan was repaired, the transport capacity migrated there, and the ferry crossing at the Lower Hewan became deserted, with only passenger transport going through here.

When He He Lingchuan led the crowd to arrive, the night was deep, and only two fishing lights were still lit.

The guard asked him for instructions: "My lord, should we split into several boats?"

He He Lingchuan ignored him and instead asked Companion Guide Lu: "What river is this?"

"Liu River." Companion Guide Lu laughed. "In the early years, someone panned for gold in the river, so everyone gave it this name."

The night was deep and the opposite bank couldn't be seen, and the river bend was a quiet flow of backwater, so everyone could only occasionally hear the waves hitting the shore.

Wu Kai's family had already boarded the boat in the evening, and they were going downstream, having gone an unknown number of positions ahead of them; was it still too late to catch up? More than one person had this question.

But He He Lingchuan clearly didn't intend to explain it to them properly, just grabbed a black cloud-shaped token from his bosom and handed it to the attendant who followed behind: "You do it."

The token began to glow when held in the attendant's hand, red with gold, burning brightly.

Except when marching in Panlong City, this was the first time He He Lingchuan had seen such abundant elemental power. Without a doubt, this was one of the symbols of Fu Fu Shanyue's status as the future Sovereign.

Immediately after, the attendant squatted down, pressed the token into the river water, and stirred it, while shouting in a low voice: "Liu River Water Spirit, come to see me quickly!"

Others suddenly realized that this was He He Lingchuan's idea. But he summoned the Water Spirit through Fu Fu Shanyue's token, unlike the Yuan Nation's Grand Preceptor Sun Sun Fuping or the Bitter Bamboo Magistrate who summoned the local mountain and marsh water spirits, which was so troublesome and required all kinds of rituals.

Probably because this was a demon kingdom, the mountain and marsh water spirits were more diligent than those in other countries and didn't dare to be lazy? After the attendant stood up, the water waves stirred up not only didn't subside but became more turbulent, waves hitting the shore in bursts, one wave more urgent than the next.

The originally quiet Lower Hewan actually appeared with the strange scene of waves surging without wind.

The fishing boats resting in the bay were inevitably affected, and the sleeping fishermen were all woken up and climbed up to check.

Soon a fisherman shouted:

"Water Spirit, the Water Spirit is here!"

The fishing lights lit up again, so He He Lingchuan saw thirteen or fourteen figures under the light of the water quickly approaching the shore, the longest less than two zhang, the shortest only six chi, which couldn't even rank in the body size among the water spirits he had seen.

But the speed was as fast as a torpedo.

The body size was... also quite similar.

Before he could think more, he heard a splash, and the river surface at the ferry crossing exploded with water, and these few figures actually jumped out, spun in mid-air, and entered the water again.

They actually knew how to suppress the water splash.

Of course, everyone also saw the true face of the water spirit:

Round head and round brain with a wine-barrel nose, silver-gray body with a streamlined shape.

Isn't this a finless porpoise? The leading finless porpoise was half the size of other peers, its skin gray with a hint of blue. It just poked its head out of the water, and a soft female voice sounded in everyone's heart: "The Liu River water tribe is willing to serve the Crown Prince!"

"I am the Crown Prince's Special Envoy." He He Lingchuan couldn't help but reach out and touch its long nose, slippery, "The heavy criminal is escaping by boat, going downstream from here, you help me find it."

"Please instruct the Crown Prince's Special Envoy, how many criminals are there, what are their characteristics, and what kind of boat are they taking?"

He He Lingchuan pointed to the boats in the Lower Hewan: "Two men and one woman, plus a seven-year-old boy. The boat was hired from here, the boat light is beige, with a 'Liu' character written on it, there is a large gap on the left side of the hull, and the boat canopy is patched with blue and white miscellaneous cloth."

This was the picture in Wu Kai's grandson's memory; the child was curious and looked at the boat body twice, which was noticed by He He Lingchuan.

He had already stated the most important characteristics of the boat body very clearly, and the water spirit nodded: "I will go do it right away. I have many clansmen in the river, I expect it won't be difficult to find."

(End of chapter)