Chapter 571: Trying to Muddle Through

This guy took a step back? Fushan Yue looked at He Lingchuan and laughed: "I'd be honored." The three strolled into Qianjin Xiaozhu. The shop's storefront wasn't large, but the content was exquisite, and even the tea served to guests was "Lotus Fragrance First Grade."

There were many envoys in the post house, so there were always some stylish restaurants outside, convenient for lunch and dinner gatherings.

They drank green-red wine here, which was a type of rice wine, but the color was as mellow and bright as red amber, and the taste was long and soft, very suitable for friends to drink together.

Every bowl of food was small and exquisite.

Bai Ziqi picked up a fried crab and put it in his mouth, crunching as he chewed: "This shop specializes in red lees. You all try it, it has a unique flavor."

Of course, the lees used to brew green-red wine could be used for cooking. This kind of small freshwater crab called "crab-mite," dry and hard with no meat, was the best snack to accompany wine after being deep-fried and then added with red lees; crunching twenty or thirty of them in one go was a small matter.

There were also red-lees snail slices, red-lees eel, and the tastes were all different, not to mention the details.

Fushan Yue asked directly: "How is the follow-up on the Anti-Aging Pill case?"

He knew that although Bai Ziqi had only arrived in Lingxu City not long ago, the investigation process in Baishaju should have been sent back here by flying birds long ago.

In such a large bureaucratic system, it was impossible for Bai Ziqi to investigate the case alone.

"We are digging down along the clues of that actor. You might not know that during our return journey, two more fires occurred in the Xidui District of Lingxu City, and a witness dug out died suddenly before even entering prison." Bai Ziqi said leisurely. "The person behind the scenes is also following this case very closely."

He Lingchuan said: "That is to say, the person behind the scenes is indeed hiding in Lingxu City."

Otherwise, the other party's response wouldn't be so timely, cutting off the clues in time.

Fushan Yue heard something wrong: "Can we still investigate?"

"Yes." Bai Ziqi sipped his wine. "And we have another clue that the other party simply cannot erase. Do you remember I said that the giant shell carried by the Snail Toad might be a magic tool of an ancient demon immortal?"

Fushan Yue had a good memory: "Mud Palace? Seems it's also called Snail Dwelling?"

"Correct. And that portrait He Xiao found in Mai Xuewen's study." Bai Ziqi said. "Both of these things are related to the Qinggong."

He Lingchuan said neutrally and objectively: "Judging from Mai Xuewen's past methods, this might be him deliberately guiding us to the Qinggong."

Back then, in order to guide him and Zhongsun Mou to investigate Cen Boqing, Mai Xuewen often wore clothing materials produced in Baishaju and cooked specialties from Baishaju in his residence in Shuanglu Town.

This person's scheming was deep, not to mention that he could persist for years, and his patience was terrifying.

"Deliberate or unintentional, they all show that he is related to the Qinggong, and they are all clues worth investigating." Bai Ziqi smiled. "Besides, as long as we can find out the person behind the scenes, so what if we are guided by him?"

Fushan Yue ate a piece of eel: "I remember that more than ten years ago, the Qinggong had a batch of treasures stolen, which caused a huge stir in Lingxu City at the time, and there were even scandals about inside jobs, but in the end, not many were recovered, and it was left unsettled."

"Yes, I intend to go and look through the archives of that year." Bai Ziqi sighed lightly. "It's not easy; the Qinggong investigated this case itself back then."

"The Mud Palace magic tool is highly recognizable. A Lingxu City veteran like Envoy Bai would know it at a glance. Mai Xuewen is very likely deliberately using it to link to the old case from ten-plus years ago. Could this person have a grudge against the Qinggong?"

Bai Ziqi nodded: "Several people died in this old case, all of whom were Qinggong disciples. I have already started investigating their life experiences."

He looked at He Lingchuan, and the conversation turned: "I came to see He Xiao today because I still want to resolve the doubts in the case. I originally wanted to have Cheng Yu assist in another case, but he died suddenly after being arrested. Therefore, I must solemnly ask you: how did you escape Cheng Yu's sneak attack back then, and even turn the tables?"

He had asked this question in Baishaju, and He Lingchuan had pushed it off and prevaricated. But this was Lingxu City, the territory of the Heavenly Palace and the Cloud Envoy! Even with Fushan Yue on the side, as long as He Lingchuan didn't answer, Bai Ziqi could slap him with the charge of "not cooperating with the investigation"!

He Lingchuan exhaled and smiled bitterly. He knew he couldn't escape it.

"Does Envoy Bai really want to get to the bottom of it?"

Bai Ziqi said solemnly: "I want an answer."

Although there was no evidence, he always felt inexplicably bothered by this matter in his heart. Having investigated cases for many years, he had learned to trust his own spiritual perception. Sometimes this was more useful than evidence.

"Cheng Yu, entrusted by Cen Boqing, sent out a Yin God to take my life."

"Yin God?" Bai Ziqi asked him. "Do you mean, a Shikigami?"

It wasn't strange for a curse master to drive ghosts to kill. But Yin ghosts might have been powerful figures, great generals, or even great demons during their lifetime, and their divine souls were tough and skilled in supernatural powers, so they might not dissipate immediately after death. If a curse master could capture them and refine them with secret methods, there was a small probability of refining a powerful Yin God.

But such Yin Gods were powerful in life and arrogant in death, and their autonomous consciousness was very strong, not necessarily obeying the curse master, and even requiring people to worship them properly before they would do things.

Of course, in essence, they were still ghosts.

He Lingchuan had said before that Cheng Yu worshipped a golden statue in that inn.

The two sides of the story matched.

"Yes." He Lingchuan pointed to his own eyes. "But he didn't know I was born with Yin-Yang eyes and could see ghosts and evil spirits. With such a huge Yin God pouncing on me, how could I turn a blind eye?"

He did have Yin-Yang eyes, but they weren't given by heaven, but a benefit the Divine Bone necklace gave to the wearer.

Bai Ziqi listened carefully: "What kind of Yin God was it?"

"Covered in dozens of faces, men and women, old and young; as soon as it yelled at me, my head felt dizzy." He Lingchuan stroked his chin. "By the way, it could also split into several clones."

"Dozens of faces? Did it devour other ghosts?"

"Perhaps."

"And how did you repel it?"

He Lingchuan hesitated, and Fushan Yue said unhappily from the side: "With me here, what are you afraid of?"

He didn't say "With Envoy Bai here."

Bai Ziqi glanced at him and smiled: "Don't worry, I just want to get to the bottom of it, no other intentions."

He Lingchuan looked at Bai Ziqi and then at Fushan Yue, before taking something out of his storage ring and throwing it on the table:

"By this."

With a dull thud, it was quite heavy. The two looked closely and saw that it was a purple-gold pestle, with a monster with bulging eyes and a big mouth carved on the top, stepping on four hanging rings, with treasure light flashing all over its body.

Seeing this precious pestle, Fushan Yue nearly couldn't keep his face straight. Good kid, actually possessing such a heavy treasure?

He couldn't help but pat the monster carved on the top of the pestle, and this thing suddenly roared, the sound like a tiger or an ox, making people's eardrums ache; not to mention Fushan Yue and Bai Ziqi were startled, even the other guests outside the private room looked at each other, not knowing which monster was acting up.

Fortunately, Fushan Yue was calm enough not to shrink his hand back.

Bai Ziqi didn't need to hide it, looking surprised: "Divine artifact? No, this is a quasi-divine artifact!"

What He Lingchuan took out was indeed Sun Fuping's purple-gold pestle.

The Great State Preceptor Sun was defeated by the heroic spirits of Panlong City and finally died in the Panlong Desert, so this treasure became He Lingchuan's trophy, and he exchanged it with the Songyang Prefecture for materials to repair his broken blade. This was a quasi-divine artifact; He Lingchuan also saw that there was some entanglement between Li Qingge and Sun Fuping, so the Songyang Prefecture shouldn't have sold the purple-gold pestle easily.

He tried to borrow it, and it was actually borrowed.

Why didn't he try to prevaricate with the Soul-Taking Mirror? Because the mirror spirit confessed itself that it was a treasure of the Beijia nobility and quite famous, only to be stolen later. If Bai Ziqi had heard of it, He Lingchuan would have to bear the name of a treasure thief, making it even harder to explain.

"Correct." He Lingchuan pointed to the beast head on the pestle. "This is Yazi, who hates evil and spirits, and will definitely drive them away upon seeing them. Other sword handles and sword hilts are often cast with Yazi, all for the sake of a good meaning. But this precious staff is different; it is truly fused with a wisp of the divine soul of the ancient giant demon Yazi and refined into an artifact spirit."

He didn't have much knowledge when he was in Black Water City; Sun Fuping used this pestle to summon wind and rain, and he only felt it was amazing; later, as his experience grew and his understanding of these magic tools and demon beasts increased, he understood that this pestle was truly amazing. No wonder it could shock Li Qingge when he took it to the Songyang Prefecture for appraisal back then.

Sun Fuping took this pestle to find the Great Fang Hu because the Panlong Desert had many resentful spirits, and the pestle was just the right counter. Otherwise, when they formed a formation in the Panlong ruins to deal with the heroic spirits of the Great Wind Army, how could He Chunhua's hundred-plus soldiers have managed? The purple-gold pestle also contributed a great deal.

Such a heavy treasure had already left the category of ordinary magic tools and couldn't be simply calculated in gold and silver. He Lingchuan originally exchanged it for the Yujin to repair the broken blade, one hundred thousand taels of silver, and a master craftsman to cast the blade for free for three months, thinking he had made a huge profit; in fact, Li Qingge behind the scenes must have looked at him like a big fool, right? No wonder she laughed so heartily every time she saw him later.

Who wouldn't be happy laughing at a fool? "This pestle is extremely rigid and yang, once belonging to a state preceptor, saturated with Yuan power, and is the nemesis of ghosts and evil spirits." He Lingchuan exhaled. "That Yin God didn't know I could see it and came up carelessly, thinking it was easy to harm me, but was instead ambushed and injured by me. That battle was truly difficult, but in the end, it retreated in low spirits."

Fushan Yue stared at him, and He Lingchuan interpreted his gaze as: You didn't take it out before because you were afraid I would take it?

Bai Ziqi made a gesture of reaching out: "May I?"

He Lingchuan said, please do as you wish.

Bai Ziqi gently stroked the beast head, and Yazi seemed to enjoy it, actually not making a sound. The runes on the pestle seemed to be about to fly, as if they were about to rise into the air.

This thing didn't hate strangers touching it the most? He Lingchuan gave it a disdainful look; so it only welcomed those who opposed him?

This thing had looked down on him from the past, and it was still the same.

Bai Ziqi knew it was a genuine quasi-divine artifact after one stroke, and couldn't help but be moved: "Good treasure, these runes on the pestle are powerful demon-subduing spells!" It was truly an ancient treasure; with his knowledge, he couldn't figure it out for a while. "I didn't expect you to use such a heavy treasure to repel a Yin God."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 572 =====