Chapter 658: The Gradually Forming Vortex

Who would have thought that after one bite of the leaves, its temperament and figure would change drastically, and it would be so violent?

Everyone was still shaken.

When it came to questioning A-Qing, everyone spoke at once, answering truthfully.

Finally, the government official confirmed: "You mean, the old things of the original owner fell to the ground, which triggered the mutation of the oak tree, right?"

A-Qing said with a mournful face: "I don't know if it was because of them." It sounded like it was her fault?

"Anyway, something was broken, and then the oak tree mutated?"

"Yes... I guess?"

"What were those things?"

A-Qing tried hard to recall; after all, she had only glanced at them casually: "Some bottles and jars, and some wood, cloth dolls, and the like... they were all old things that were going to be thrown away, I, I didn't look closely either."

"This residence just changed hands?" The official looked back at the fur merchant's house. Wow, the building, garden, and pond were all gone; except for the strange tree, nothing was left.

"It was sold only, only ten days ago."

The official asked the key question: "Then who was the previous owner?"

It seemed that it was the previous owner's old things that triggered this riot.

"It was General Nian!" A-Qing said. "The full name seems to be Nian Zanli; I heard he is a provincial governor in the west!"

Before dark, the news of the strange event in the Lower City district reached the Pianxiang Villa.

Soon, Old Shan arrived.

Li Qingge ordered him to bring many gifts, first to be sent to Fu Shanyue to express sincerity for the newly concluded cooperation project, and only then to find He Lingchuan.

After such a formal itinerary, the Tongxin Guard wouldn't feel anything unusual.

He Lingchuan sat in the pavilion by the lake and frowned at Old Shan: "Was this matter handled too excessively?"

As soon as he heard words like the crazily growing strange tree and the mad sheep eating people, he knew it was the work of divine blood.

He had handed the divine blood obtained from Dong Rui to Li Qingge to deal with.

The Master of Songyang Prefecture always handled things with great discretion; He Lingchuan hadn't expected it to be so explosive this time, with people dying and streets being destroyed. It seemed that by tomorrow night, the news would spread throughout the entire main district of the Lower City.

"Lingxu City is so vast, and so many things happen every day, big and small. The Heavenly Gods don't even take a look. The Lord said, if you don't make a big commotion, how can it reach the ears of Heaven?"

He Lingchuan sneered.

What Li Qingge said was an objective fact. To alarm the Tiangong, the matter first had to be serious, terrifying, and have discussion value.

"Strange tree grows violently and mad sheep eat people in Lingxu Lower City"—ordinary people wouldn't know the inside story, and the government office would be confused, but after the Tiangong received the news, they should instantly understand what was going on.

After all, the Heavenly Gods knew better than anyone what kind of manifestations divine blood would cause in ordinary creatures.

Li Qingge showed all her softness and beauty in front of He Lingchuan; the appearance of being threatened by Nian Zanli and suffering grievances was pitiful, making it easy for people to forget that she was not only a successful businesswoman but also the head of a sect and the master of Songyang Prefecture.

Her decisiveness and ruthlessness were by no means comparable to ordinary women.

He Lingchuan thought for a moment: "How did the one surnamed Nian react?"

Planning all this was ultimately to set Nian Zanli up.

"The government office has already sent people to find him once, but they left soon after; it might just be a normal inquiry. After all, he holds an official position, and the government office cannot easily arrest him." Old Shan asked him, "The Lord wants to ask you, do you need to take action again?"

"No need." He Lingchuan shook his head. "Too many times and it won't look like an accident."

Li Qingge asking like this was because she was eager for revenge; otherwise, she could have figured out this little logic herself.

"Give it some time and let this matter ferment. Lingxu City is too big, and the Tiangong is too far from the commoners; it will take some time for the news to reach the ears of Heaven." He Lingchuan calculated. "Besides, there is no new progress in the Elixir of Immortality case for the time being, and the Tiangong might not want to alert the enemy."

"When Bai Ziqi returns, there will be a turning point in this matter." He said to Old Shan, "Please tell the Lord not to be anxious; you can start the next step."

"By the way, I'm going to the Fu Realm for a trip; help me prepare some things."

Old Shan said strangely: "You are also going to hunt in the Grass Sea?" At this time?

He Lingchuan nodded.

If he couldn't receive the Frost Pill, he would have to go there himself. The Fu Realm was dangerous; who dared to go empty-handed?

Old Shan noted his requirements and then took his leave.

In fact, He Lingchuan had recalled several times that the Qingfu Temple was suddenly hit by a big fire, but left behind such an important living witness as Kong Jiaxiang; this matter was fishy.

Kong Jiaxiang was in charge of the income and expenditure of the Elixir of Immortality; he must be a major figure in the Qingfu Temple. If the Qingyang State Preceptor wanted to silence him, he must be one of the key targets.

Even the life or death of such a person hadn't been figured out; would the Qinggong be so rash and careless in handling things? But He Lingchuan sent the Goshawk back to investigate, and there really was such a person in Yangshui.

So, did the Qinggong really fail, or did State Preceptor Frost Leaf have a better plan? Regardless, He Lingchuan could pretend he didn't know.

He was just a messenger; once he brought the words to Bai Ziqi, his mission was complete.

Two days later, Old Shan brought everything he wanted, saying it was a gift from the Lord and didn't need to be paid for.

The squirrel also passed on a piece of news: Nian Zanli was being followed by an unknown person.

Nian Zanli had discovered this himself. As a military officer, his spiritual sense was remarkable, but he hadn't caught the follower after two counter-attacks. In addition to anger, he was also a bit worried, so he asked people to inquire about the news to see who was plotting against him.

When he entrusted someone to inquire, it was a coincidence that he entrusted it to the long-armed ape Old Ge. So this intelligence was quickly sent to He Lingchuan's hands.

Who could the follower be? Sent by the Tiangong? The other party could likely link Nian Zanli to the divine blood; otherwise, they wouldn't be following Nian Zanli at this time.

He Lingchuan was worried that he would leave Lingxu in a hurry, but fortunately, this hadn't happened yet.

Nian Zanli should also know that the residence he sold had suddenly had a strange event, killing many people, but he didn't know the inside story, nor did he know what kind of trouble he had been involved in.

However, this vortex was about to take shape.

By the time he realized he was trapped, he wouldn't be able to leave.

￥￥￥￥￥

The next day, He Lingchuan and three Chiyan guards headed to the Grass Sea.

Every few years, the hunting rules of the Grass Sea had minor adjustments. The latest version of the regulations this year was:

First, the first five days of the opening of the Storm Gate were the competition time. Each team entering the Fu Realm was limited to ten people, allowed to go out but not to enter.

Therefore, the competition for hunting Danube beasts was most intense within the five days of the opening of the Storm Gate. Once the five-day limit was reached, the ranking was determined by the number of floating stones hunted by each team.

After five days, the competition ended, and the Storm Gate was open to everyone, free to enter!

The official still purchased floating stones at the original price until the Storm Gate closed twenty-five days later.

Because the Fu Realm on the other side of the storm rift was simply not suitable for the activities of human creatures. If team members were tired or injured, they had to return to the human world. After all, the official organizing this activity wasn't to harm people.

This Storm Gate had already been open for ten days, and the Chiyan team entering the Fu Realm had also changed two batches; He Lingchuan's was considered the third batch.

The Grass Sea today was far less lively than when the event opened.

The wind blew the reeds, the stars hung over the wilderness, desolate and bleak.

The shallows, once crowded with people, were now just a vast expanse of emptiness. Egrets strolled at will, undisturbed for a long time.

Only the guards guarding the Storm Gate and the logistics of each participating team remained here.

Since the Danube beasts near the Storm Gate had basically been slaughtered, there was no need to keep so many troops on guard, so the number of guards was greatly reduced, leaving only a minimum.

It had been like this for many years.

The guard handed over a pocket: "There are twenty Shuzhu beads inside. Please keep an eye on the inventory at all times, Lord He."

Each Shuzhu could last for a quarter of an hour of breathing, and twenty meant two and a half hours of life-saving. During this period, He Lingchuan had to collect new Shuzhu to continue his life.

"Understood." He took the bag and put it away. After reporting and being approved by the guard, he put on a mask and walked into the Eye of the Storm with his teammates.

To prevent personal vendettas and causing trouble, each participating team usually wore masks when entering the Fu Realm. Some nobles would even customize exceptionally exquisite masks for their own teams, making this competition extraordinarily gorgeous.

Of course, Fu Shanyue was too lazy to do this; the masks of the Chiyan team were gray and plain, without any features.

Ordinary, but safe.

The closer they got, the more astonishing the sound of the storm became. When He Lingchuan walked inside, the surroundings were chaotic, with no scenery, only gray and white colors.

Immediately afterward, his body felt light, and he felt dizzy.

He was sucked into the Fu Realm.

The Chiyan team disappeared into the Eye of the Storm.

After a few more breaths, the guard guarding the gate reported to his superior: "I have an urgent need, I need to go solve it!"

"Go."

The latrines of the Grass Sea were a bit far from the water's edge, and the guard ran all the way behind a low hill, where the army couldn't see where he was going.

Only then did he turn halfway, made six or seven turns, and quietly ran behind a tent.

He also looked left and right to confirm that no one was paying attention to him, and then said to the guard guarding the tent: "The General called me here; my surname is Gui."

Before the guard could answer, someone in the tent already said: "Come in."

The guard plunged into the tent and saw a person sitting on a low bed, as if he had just finished meditating.

"General. The person you ordered me to keep an eye on just entered the Eye of the Storm!"

This person stood up immediately: "Are you sure?"

"The name he filled out here is He Xiao, Chiyan team." The guard gestured. "Tall, with a decent appearance."

"Alright, you go back." This person thanked the guard.

"You are too kind! I have trained under you for three years and have even had my life saved by you; doing this little thing is not worth mentioning!"

After saying that, the guard bowed to him and ran back to join his team.

￥￥￥￥￥

The scene suddenly turned black. Before He Lingchuan could see the outside world clearly, he felt topsy-turvy, as if he were falling to the ground headfirst.

He instinctively stretched out his arms to support himself, exerted force in his waist and legs, and stood up after two forward rolls.

After such a set of movements, He Lingchuan immediately felt the difference between the two realms: in the Fu Realm, the body was particularly heavy; not only was it laborious to lift his hands and legs, but even his neck, chest, and abdomen felt a heavy pulling sensation.

"Are you okay?" He even caught a teammate by the way, avoiding him falling face-first into the mud.

It's May 6th... the second to last day of the double monthly ticket event.

Thank you all, mwah.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 659 =====