Chapter 620: Discussion

He Lingchuan liked to change locations after one shot; this time the two didn't meet at Chen Sao's Fish Soup Shop, but at the Yangbin Small Tavern two miles away. Behind the tavern was a river ditch, and the autumn wind blew open the reed flowers, shaking the light and shallow water into a feeling of covering the mountains and plains.

The tavern was named after this, and its signature dishes were reed-flower fish and shrimp, smoked duck, and soy-sauce meat.

The shop was small and could only set up five or six tables, but Dong Rui walked in and actually didn't see He Lingchuan.

His heart skipped a beat; a trap?

Just as he was about to withdraw, the squirrel said: "Walk inside, walk inside, hey, what are you afraid of!"

Actually being looked down upon by a squirrel, Dong Rui laughed in his heart, walked two more steps forward, and sure enough, saw another side passage by the wall, but the light in the shop was dim, so he hadn't noticed it at first glance.

Entering further, it was a small compartment.

Actually, it was just a corner partitioned off with boards next to the kitchen, winning by being small, only able to fit one table.

He Lingchuan raised his hand to him at the table: "Come quickly, I've ordered the dishes."

Dong Rui sat down and saw He Lingchuan's hair was damp, and couldn't help but frown: "Did you jump into the river ditch behind?"

"What are you saying?" He Lingchuan casually set up a barrier and then enthusiastically poured him wine, "I fooled around in the lake for a while." The fog on the mountain was too heavy today; after rowing for a while, his back and hair were all wet.

"..." Dong Rui thought, "If only you couldn't float."

Afterwards, he discovered he had accidentally said it out loud.

"How could that be?" He Lingchuan patted his shoulder, *slap! * "Back then we fell into the water together; you know how good my swimming is."

The strength was so great that Dong Rui's shoulder tilted.

The small squirrel took the opportunity to jump onto He Lingchuan's shoulder and said with disdain: "This person is so stupid! Doesn't even know how to walk."

"You led the way so poorly, I had already passed the alley before you said turn right!" The dishes on the table were ready, and Dong Rui was facing away from the aisle, so he took off his veil hat.

As soon as that face appeared, the small squirrel was scared and chirped, diving directly into He Lingchuan's clothes.

The veins on Dong Rui's forehead jumped: "Where did you pick up this little thing? How about you let me refine it into a monster puppet?"

"You want to refine my attendant?" He Lingchuan raised his chopsticks, "Don't mess around, eat."

The fish in the river ditch had a heavy earthy smell, so it must be fried first and then braised in brown sauce, using heavy flavors to cover up the fishy smell.

The Yangbin Tavern went a step further; a large fat crucian carp was first grilled over charcoal fire, then braised in sweet and sour sauce. When it was served on the table, it was red and oily, making one very appetizing.

He Lingchuan tasted a piece of fish meat and nodded.

No wonder it was a place locals often came to; they had some skills.

"Did you have a smooth time coming out today?"

"What could be unsmooth?" Dong Rui made a sound of disdain, "I walked straight out, and they didn't dare say anything."

He Lingchuan chewed on fried peanuts: "Then how long did it take you to shake off the tail behind you?"

"... About a quarter of an hour."

"Sure no one followed?"

"Nonsense." Dong Rui looked at him sideways, "I have more experience in shaking people off than you."

He was always on the run.

"Is the snail toad's injury healed?"

"Almost, it will be able to jump around in a few days." Dong Rui felt a tightness in his chest whenever he thought about how the snail toad was injured, "Fortunately, the 'Mud Palace' on its back is a rare treasure, and most of the explosion's power was blocked by it." If there was no treasure to protect the master, the snail toad would have long been torn apart and died.

"You called me out, what's the matter again?"

"Passing you a message, Zhu Erniang's remains are indeed in Xushan."

"Isn't this nonsense?" Dong Rui glared at him, "Didn't I say that last time?"

He had also gone to Xushan to look for it and hadn't been completely idle.

"I found the official who supervised the construction of the Xushan Spirit-Gathering Array back then. He said that this array was built according to the stars of the Big Dipper, and the array eye was suppressed using the remains of an ancient spider immortal."

Dong Rui's gaze froze: "Zhu Erniang's remains were used to plug the array eye?"

He Lingchuan picked up a piece of smoked duck and chewed slowly: "The array focuses on the interaction between heaven and man to gather spiritual energy from all directions. Three thousand years ago, the world suffered a catastrophe, and the stars changed. Only the star map on Zhu Erniang's remains is synchronized with the heavens and is constantly changing. Using it as the array eye is the only way to keep the Spirit-Gathering Array running continuously."

"So if we find the array eye, we find the remains?"

"Theoretically, that's the case." He Lingchuan said slowly, "But the array eye is usually hidden."

"What?" This was a bit unsportsmanlike, right? "The Spirit-Gathering Array benefits the entire Lingxu City, allowing all practitioners here to greatly increase their efficiency in absorbing spiritual energy; it is one of the most important arrays in the entire Lingxu City, so the array eye is not fixed, but changes with the position of the Heavenly Net Star."

"You mean, however the Heavenly Net Star in the sky changes, the array eye in Xushan changes?" Dong Rui was stunned, "Isn't that a disaster? The Heavenly Net Star is a dark star; it doesn't shine normally, so how can we observe it!"

"The array eye operates according to this principle." He Lingchuan gulped down some wine, "You don't need to panic; the Heavenly Net Star starts to shine from autumn and winter until it hides its figure in the second or third month of the coming year. I estimate it will be bright for a long time soon."

Speaking of this, he was a bit dazed.

The period when the Heavenly Net Star is bright for a long time, doesn't it overlap with a climate he is familiar with?

"So during this period, the array eye will appear, which is also convenient for maintenance."

"Maintenance?"

"Houses need regular maintenance; such an important array, shouldn't it be maintained regularly?" He Lingchuan said, "One inspection every autumn, one inspection every spring, and then we have to wait until the next autumn."

Dong Rui's eyes lit up: "When does the next inspection start, can we mix in?"

"Logically speaking, the autumn inspection starts within the first seven days of the Heavenly Net Star shining. We can't get an accurate schedule." He Lingchuan shook his head, "Even if we got it, it wouldn't be easy to mix in. Whenever it involves the array, Lingxu City is extremely cautious; the inspectors are all assigned to posts by those above, and once there is a change, it must be reported layer by layer."

"Also, there is indeed a great monster in Xushan, a rock-fire monster born of heaven and earth, which is also the mountain spirit of Xushan."

"Is that so?" Dong Rui clearly had a deep impression of it, "I've seen it on Tianzhu Peak, an elemental monster born of heaven and earth; there's no way to make it into a monster puppet. Sigh, what a pity."

"That is a monster formed at the end of the ancient period, with high intelligence; it was once the guardian spirit beast of the Great Return Sect, but later defected to the enemy."

Dong Rui nodded: "That intelligence is indeed very high."

How could a dull creature have such an advanced idea as "betrayal"?

He Lingchuan picked up some small oily creek fish: "In the hundreds of years after it defected to the northern monster kingdom, it lived quite well, and Lingxu City did indeed provide it with sufficient supplies. But this guy has too big an appetite; in the last hundred years, Lingxu City's mysterious crystal mine production has been decreasing, and the cost of supporting this rock-fire monster has been increasing. I think Lingxu City might also be a bit unable to bear it, and this array also has a suppressing effect on it."

"The ridiculous thing is, the rock-fire monster also put in great effort in the construction of the Spirit-Gathering Array, moving mountains and peaks, but as a result, it was suppressed by it instead, and it could no longer throw a big tantrum like before. So the supplies Lingxu City gave it were visibly reduced." He Lingchuan laughed, "Of course, after the array was built, it realized it had lost out."

The rock-fire monster had a history of defecting, so Lingxu City would naturally guard against it.

The best way to prevent a fierce beast from biting people is not to keep coaxing it with food, but to tie it up or trick it into a cage and lock it up well.

"By the way, remember the big earthquake that happened in Lingxu City more than ten years ago?"

"Uh-huh."

"According to the official's confession, the Spirit-Gathering Array was basically completed at that time, only missing the last step, which was to move the array eye to Xushan and then activate it."

"Move?" Dong Rui was very surprised, "The array eye was moved up at the end, not built directly in Xushan?"

"They didn't dare." He Lingchuan laughed, "The construction process couldn't be silent; the mountain spirit would hear everyone's discussion. If it discovered the truth, the project wouldn't be able to continue."

"However, the accident still happened?" Otherwise, how could there be a volcanic eruption and earthquake that day? "On the day the array eye was installed, the Emperor ordered people to appease this rock-fire monster, ordering it to fall into a deep sleep." The landlord was asleep, so the construction team could quietly enter to grab progress. It was the Ke family that accepted this assignment, but He Lingchuan didn't name them, "Who knew that halfway through their work, the monster woke up, saw the trick on the spot, and was furious."

"Then the volcano erupted?"

"Uh-huh." He Lingchuan spat out a fish bone, "The Heavenly God didn't want the array to fall short of success, so he had to personally take action to suppress it. At that time, the former Monster Emperor was already old, and it was the current Emperor who personally took action to assist the Heavenly God, only then forcibly suppressing the rock-fire monster. Immediately after, the array eye was built, and the array operation took effect; the fire monster was finally controlled."

Honestly, when he learned this tortuous secret from Zaifu Kua's dream last night, he felt that the current Monster Emperor's ability to ascend the throne probably had some connection with his proper handling of this crisis and receiving the Heavenly God's commendation.

Xushan erupted, the new Emperor succeeded to the throne; these two events were not far apart.

Dong Rui made a sound of "hehe": "Listening to it this way, the legend of Lingxu City is not wrong; that big earthquake was indeed caused by the monster in Xushan."

"Rumors are not necessarily groundless." Many rumors, after being debunked, become true.

"But whether this mountain spirit is willing or not, it is clearly the most powerful guardian of the array." He Lingchuan said in a low voice, "We have to bypass it to find the array eye. Is there any way to delay its actions?"

When Zu Ju was furious, he could force the Heavenly God to descend to the mortal world, so he never thought about fighting this rock-fire monster himself.

Dong Rui shook his head: "It represents the anger of Xushan; do you think conventional means are useful once such a monster gets angry?"

"Then you come up with a way."

"Doesn't it have intelligence, and it's very smart." Dong Rui shrugged, "Why don't you, Young Master He, use your silver tongue to persuade it?"

"What conditions to offer it?" He Lingchuan stroked his chin, also thinking of this point, "Help it undo the array's suppression?"

"Right." Dong Rui said as a matter of course.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 621 =====