Chapter 823

The limiting conditions given by He Lingchuan were already very specific.

"The result?"

"There really is such a group of people, very consistent." Boss Situ Han ate a wonton, "These ten or so people really came about eight months ago, with accents from somewhere unknown, stayed at the Boxi Inn for five or six days, and were quite generous. I was on duty and patrolled a few times back then, so I have an impression; later they bought a big house in Heishuicheng to live in, telling everyone they were here to do business, and even took over a horse station, but that business was done on and off, never soliciting customers; a legitimate merchant would have starved to death doing that."

"What else do they usually do?"

"They usually stay in the house, rarely communicating with outsiders. They pay the half-yearly taxes on time and never fall behind. Their leader is surnamed Zhang, called Zhang Lianhai, and he is very arrogant, used to looking at people with his nostrils, and at least three or four followers follow him when he goes out." Boss Situ Han added, "The brothers at the city gate say they often see them entering and leaving the Beimen."

"Entering and leaving the Beimen?" He Lingchuan pondered, "Heading north?"

"Yes, they go for many days before coming back." Boss Situ Han said, "To the north is Red Cliff Road."

He Lingchuan smiled: "To the north is the Panlong Desert. Since the anomalies appeared in the Panlong Desert, have they been going more frequently?"

"Yes, they only came back two days ago!" Boss Situ Han winked, "Eldest Young Master, guess where they bought the house?"

"Where?" He Lingchuan saw him smiling until his teeth were visible, and suddenly had a bad premonition, "Damn, could it be?"

"Yes, it's your former residence!"

Seeing He Lingchuan's eyes widen, he hurriedly changed his words: "Ah, ptooey, ptooey, what am I saying? Former residence, it's your former residence!"

He Lingchuan let out a long sigh, feeling a bit depressed.

So his old nest had been occupied by this group of people.

Back then, the He family didn't think about coming back when they moved to Xiazhou, so they entrusted the local assets to someone to sell.

But this also side-reflected that these people had good taste; after all, the layout and scenery of the He Mansion were created by Lady Ying herself, and it was a rare boutique residence in Heishuicheng.

He Lingchuan asked about other situations.

Boss Situ Han could answer them all.

He could be considered half a local snake on Red Cliff Road and in Heishuicheng, eating both red and white ways. If there was any movement in the city, ordinary families wouldn't feel it, but he already knew.

"By the way, they were originally ten or so people, and later I don't know when, many new faces appeared."

He Lingchuan's gaze narrowed: "Added people?"

"That's not very clear, my brothers and I have been going out a lot recently." Boss Situ Han had his own business to attend to and couldn't watch this group of people every moment. Speaking of this, he looked left and right and lowered his voice, "Eldest Young Master, the matter you ordered me to handle has been done."

"No one discovered?"

"How could that be discovered?" Boss Situ Han smiled, "Look at which rumors can be traced to the root? Besides, the Panlong Desert has always had anomalies, so we aren't spreading rumors, just chatting a few more words in crowded places."

The rapid spread of the strange events in the Panlong Desert had his contribution.

He Lingchuan patted his shoulder with satisfaction and stuffed a banknote into his hand: "Well done! Take some hard-earned money for the brothers for me."

The wontons were finished, and the extra-large bowl of wide noodles was also finished; Boss Situ Han wiped his mouth: "I'm going back to work, Eldest Young Master, just give orders if you have anything!" After saying this, he jumped up, snatched the bill, and left.

Just as He Lingchuan walked back to the inn, the Soul-Capturing Mirror asked its master: "Hey, you wrote to this Boss Situ fellow, who exactly did you ask him to investigate?"

"People from the Tiangong."

"Ah?" The Soul-Capturing Mirror didn't expect to hear this word in a frontier town of the Yuan Nation, "Tiangong?! We have to deal with the Tiangong here too?"

"Yes." He Lingchuan squeezed it, "What are you afraid of? We are on the Yuan Nation's territory. The Tiangong envoys don't have home-field advantage now."

Although they hung the two characters "Tiangong," these people were just visitors now and could never act as domineeringly as they did in Lingxu City. Was this stupid mirror scared out of its wits by them at Xushan?

The mirror was stubborn: "Who's afraid! I just don't understand what they are doing here!"

"They have been here for a long time." He Lingchuan set up a barrier as soon as he entered the room and scanned everywhere with the mirror, "I triggered the Heavenly Net Star to shine at the ruins of Thousand Star City and Bai Sha Trench, and I snatched the pot lid from Xushan; which one isn't related to the Great Fanghu? The Heavenly Gods have long known that the Great Fanghu is hidden in the Panlong Desert, so of course they would send people to check, and they won't withdraw for a while."

Not being able to take the Great Fanghu didn't prevent the Tiangong from sending people to watch here.

"So the time limit is within eight months?" The Soul-Capturing Mirror thought for a while, "Eh? How did you know they would definitely buy a house here?"

"Staying in an inn for months, can you stand it?" What grade were the inns in Heishuicheng? Could he, the local snake, not know?

It could stand it. It was just a mirror, only able to act according to the host; staying anywhere was staying, what couldn't it stand? He Lingchuan seemed to hear its inner muttering and patted the mirror: "I've dealt with many people from the Tiangong; they think they are a cut above others and are never stingy with food, clothing, housing, and transportation. We saw the pomp of Bai Ziqi returning to Lingxu City from Bai Sha Trench all the way; even Fushan Yue wasn't as good as him. In Heishuicheng, how could these Tiangong envoys tolerate a small and cramped inn?"

Since they wanted to monitor the Panlong Desert for a long time, they would definitely find a comfortable place to stay.

The funds allocated by the Tiangong were sufficient; how could envoys going out lack money? So finding a cover of doing business wasn't done with heart, and a local snake could see the clues at a glance.

So even if He Lingchuan hadn't been there in person, relying on the understanding from having dealt with them, he could remotely control Boss Situ Han to find the people from the Tiangong.

The mirror only felt it was strange: "What are you looking for the Tiangong people for?" If someone else did this kind of thing, wouldn't they be most afraid of the Tiangong? "The stage is set." He Lingchuan said lightly, "How can this performance not have their part?"

The next day, He Lingchuan took Qiu Hu and the others to change to camels, exited through the Beimen, and stepped onto Red Cliff Road.

Since the purpose of this trip was to "evaluate the Red Cliff trade route," the work that needed to be done still had to be done. He Lingchuan had to take Hu Qin and the others to walk Red Cliff Road once, observe it on the spot, and then return to Heishuicheng to verify the tax revenue of previous years.

(End of chapter)