Chapter 619: Slipped Away

In his dream, he returned to more than a decade ago when he was supervising the construction of the Xushan Spirit-Gathering Array. The transformation of Xushan took a long time, but the construction feasibility study before starting work actually only took three months. Things that both the Heavenly God and the Emperor wanted to do, no one in Beijia could stop.

Works Zaifu Kua still remembered that during these three months, his colleague and friend Mei Shufu argued with him until the sky went dark over the construction of the array.

"Nonsense, doing it this way is too dangerous!"

"This is the decree of the Emperor himself, and it is also the result of the Heavenly God's calculation; what do you have to doubt?"

"But, but..."

"But what 'but'? We just need to resolutely implement and fully supervise the construction!" Works Zaifu Kua sneered, "If you or I dare to change even one spot, and something goes wrong, are the heads of our whole families enough to be chopped off?"

After saying it a few more times, Mei Shufu also gave up.

But no matter how careful everyone was, on the day the array eye was installed, an accident still happened...

Although more than ten years had passed, Works Zaifu Kua still remembered the fire bombs shooting everywhere on Tianzhu Peak that day, the roaring shaking the sky; the apocalyptic scene scared everyone silly.

Fortunately, he was still some distance away from the explosion point...

But Mei Shufu on Tianzhu Peak was gone on the spot.

Sigh, everything is fate, not a bit up to man.

Works Zaifu Kua slept until the afternoon of the next day before waking up.

Seeing his eyes staring blankly at the canopy of the bed, the concubine couldn't help but worry: "Master?"

"It's nothing, just remembering people and events from the past." In the first few years after that bastard Mei Shufu unfortunately died, he could always dream of the other party coming to find him to complain, but after going to the temple to request a peace-of-mind talisman, it was fine.

How could he dream of this person again after more than ten years?

However, he couldn't remember clearly what the two of them said in the dream; it was probably just that bit of old nonsense, right?

It seemed he had to go to the temple to request a spirit-calming talisman again.

But after going to the temple, the fortune teller from last time came to read his face again, and upon meeting, he called out "Congratulations."

Works Zaifu Kua said unhappily: "What joy is there?" He even dreamed of that short-lived ghost Old Mei last night.

"I once said that Lord Zaifu would have a calamity at seventy-four."

"Yes." It even made him brood for so many years.

"Observing Lord Zaifu's brows today, that bit of ominous energy has already dissipated." The fortune teller bowed deeply, "Congratulations, Lord Zaifu, your calamity has already passed safely; a hundred years of life can be expected!"

Works Zaifu Kua was startled first, then overjoyed: "It's over? My calamity has passed just like that?"

In normal times, he would be half-believing. But he suddenly dreamed of Mei Shufu, whom he hadn't seen for a long time, last night; did this old friend help him in the dark? Regardless, this was a good thing, a huge good thing!

"Reward!" Once Lord Zaifu was happy, the fortune teller immediately received a generous reward of a hundred taels of silver.

"Hold a banquet, must hold a banquet!" Works Zaifu Kua beamed, "Seven days later, no, five days later, hold the banquet! Invite my old friends to come."

The attendant agreed and carefully reminded him: "Master, your seventy-fifth birthday is next month."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Works Zaifu Kua didn't care, waving his hand, "Hold it! Hold them all!"

He Lingchuan also slept until the sun was high before getting up.

As soon as he opened the courtyard door, there were two Heart-Unity Guards standing guard outside.

Clearly, his residence was being given special attention.

The fierce tiger Jiao Yu didn't know where it had wandered out from and stretched beside him.

"There are still people watching you in secret; I can smell their scent." Passing by a large tree, the fierce tiger stood on its hind legs, its ten sharp claws scratching the tree, making a screeching sound, "I really want to eat them all!"

The feeling of being watched was particularly unpleasant. It was a dignified Commander of the Hundred Mountains...

"Hold it." He Lingchuan stroked the tiger's back, feeling the knotted muscles under the fur, "I told the kitchen to slaughter a fat sheep last night, wrap the mutton well and hang it in the cold water pool, just waiting for you."

The reason it wasn't hung in the lake on the back mountain was because it wasn't safe there.

Sure enough, as soon as the fierce tiger heard there was meat to eat, its anger dissipated.

He Lingchuan walked out and also discovered that there were several pairs of eyes watching him nearby. His spiritual sense was gradually becoming powerful now; once he was spied upon, a sense of abnormality would arise spontaneously.

Clearly, besides the open sentries, Fan Long had also placed secret scouts in Pianxiang Shanzhuang.

Entering the back kitchen, the fierce tiger got the slaughtered and cleaned fat sheep as it wished, while the enthusiastic cook stuffed a large food basket into He Lingchuan's hands.

Four food boxes, stacked together.

He Lingchuan said a few kind words to the cook, handed over ten copper coins as a tip, and then put both the food basket and the fat sheep into his storage ring, strolling toward the back mountain.

With Fu Shanyue's silver scattered out, Pianxiang Shanzhuang was looking more and more like a mountain villa.

The servants were sweeping the fallen leaves on the path, making a rustling sound; the fierce tiger couldn't help itself and rolled twice on the thick pile of fallen leaves.

Ah, so refreshing!

The pavilion on the back mountain was being repaired, making clanging sounds.

The late autumn sun shone on people, bringing a rare warmth.

A gap had already been beaten into the bushes behind the weasel's house, and a small pier had been repaired overnight, with the pleasure boat docked there.

He Lingchuan jumped onto the boat, untied the cable, and tapped the wooden oar against the pier's baffle.

Just as the fierce tiger leaped onto the bow, the pleasure boat left the shore, drifting leisurely toward the center of the lake.

It sat down, its large eyes staring straight at the shore, and suddenly said: "Those rats have really shown themselves."

Behind the bushes on the lake shore, figures were flickering.

"People are called Heart-Unity Guards, not rats." He Lingchuan looked at its gaze, always feeling it was like a cat staring at a mouse, even the tuft of white hair on the tip of its tail was shaking non-stop, "Time to eat."

The fierce tiger had this attitude toward the Heart-Unity Guard, mostly because Fu Shanyue was becoming increasingly impatient with these restrictions and controls from Lingxu City.

He Lingchuan grabbed the fat sheep, took a knife to cut it into several large pieces, and placed them on the bow to feed the tiger.

The space inside the cabin was a bit too cramped for a fierce tiger nearly a zhang long.

He Lingchuan opened the food boxes one by one; inside were a large bowl of braised noodles, a steamer of pan-fried buns, a large stack of scallion pancakes, a portion of small-pot fragrant pear soup, and a small bowl of crystal shallots stuffed in the corner.

The pan-fried buns had golden crispy skins fried on the bottom; scraping them with chopsticks made a sizzling sound. The bun skin was very soft and moist, and there were a few black sesame seeds on it. He Lingchuan wasn't afraid of the heat and stuffed one directly into his mouth, and it burst with juice with a "chirp."

As for the scallion pancakes, don't look at how thin they were; they were actually layered and crispy. When he rolled them up to eat, he added a few crystal shallots, and the taste improved by two grades instantly.

That bowl of braised noodles was even more impressive; not only were the toppings sufficient—dried shiitake mushrooms, shrimp meat, pork, squid, bamboo shoots, and daylilies were all put in—but the base was a high-quality broth made from pork bones and chicken racks. The soup was thick and sticky just right; taking a sip, it was incredibly comfortable.

Not to mention He Lingchuan, even an ordinary person would feel warm all over after eating the hot braised noodles.

His whirlwind eating style contrasted with the fierce tiger eating raw meat on the opposite side, which seemed gentle and elegant.

No way around it, big cats are born unable to chew and can only cut the meat with their side teeth and swallow it.

He Lingchuan finished eating, and Jiao Yu's sheep hadn't even been gnawed to a quarter.

He grabbed the wooden oar and headed toward the north shore.

One man and one tiger were on the boat on the south shore of the lake; now going in a straight line to the north shore, the Heart-Unity Guards who were originally tailing them had no choice but to walk along the shoreline to the north.

But this lake was not small, and the shoreline was quite tortuous.

One Heart-Unity Guard was impatient, took off his outer garment, and was about to go into the water: "Let's swim over! Swimming is faster than walking!"

Swimming was also a straight line.

But just as he walked to the water's edge, before he even took off his shoes, his companion suddenly grabbed him: "Don't go down, look at the lake!"

This person glanced into the water, and just then a big guy leaped nearly four feet high out of the lake surface and fell heavily back down, the exploded water splashing gold and jade in the sunlight, spraying the faces of several people fiercely.

Several people reached out to wipe the water off their faces: "What is that?"

"Seems to be a big-mouthed catfish."

Catfish eat everything and are easily grown into large individuals; this one was even more than a zhang long, and when it came out of the water, its fish mouth was wide open, as if it could easily fit a person inside.

At this time, another big fish revealed its back on the water surface; it wasn't a catfish, but its size was not a bit smaller than the other, just the body color was slightly lighter.

It cruised around the shore for half a circle, and no one dared to go into the water anymore.

How could two fish kings suddenly appear in the lake water behind Qilin Mountain? Thinking about it, one knew it had to do with these Red Yan people.

Everyone had no choice but to honestly go around the shoreline to the north shore.

By the time they rushed over, the pleasure boat had already drifted into the tall grass on the north shore. The fierce tiger was still lying on the bow eating, with only a hind leg of the fat sheep left.

As for the cabin, it was of course empty.

The Heart-Unity Guards looked at each other, all feeling a bit annoyed.

This kid was indeed cunning, just as Vice Commander Fan said! On the first day of duty at Pianxiang Shanzhuang, they lost the person!

But the lake was so big, no matter where the guy surnamed He rowed the boat, it was very easy to shake them off. How to solve this problem? Just when they were at their wits' end—

He Lingchuan was already humming a little tune and arrived at the foot of Qilin Mountain. The big-horned rock sheep were leisurely gnawing on grass roots here, and seeing their master arrive, they happily rubbed against his arm.

He Lingchuan rode the rock sheep and ran toward the south.

Originally, there were many fish in the lake behind Qilin Mountain, but no monsters. It was he who asked the long-armed ape Old Ge for help to invite two fish monsters to move in.

These two fish monsters usually helped people drive fish into nets in the lakes and rivers, and after the harvest, they could get some share or remuneration. But the competition in this line was fierce; there were plenty of younger and stronger juniors, and humans pressed the price very hard, so the two big fish always felt they couldn't get enough to eat.

Now it was good; He Lingchuan invited them to move into Qilin Lake.

This lake surface couldn't be considered vast for the two fish, but the inside was deep and connected to the karst caves in the mountain, so the environment was very good.

The fish monsters in Qilin Lake had been cleared out long ago. For the two new fish kings, the food here was sufficient, and He Lingchuan also guaranteed to give them extra meals regularly, and the work content was particularly simple: don't allow others to go into the water, and occasionally help pull the boat.

And for He Lingchuan, monsters that can be bribed are good monsters.

Dong Rui walked on the street, dressed in coarse cloth, wearing a veil hat on his head, and a small squirrel lying on his shoulder.

The squirrel kept giving him instructions: "Go straight."

"Turn left, left! Not the right side!"

"Enter the alley."

"Walked too far, you idiot! Go back, that's not the road I said!"

Dong Rui: "..." Where did the guy surnamed He find such a little chatterbox? He really wanted to sew it shut.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 620 =====