Chapter 392: Hired Help

“The city’s probably caught quite a number of monsters and humans these past few days, right?”

“Yep, there were plenty who lost their minds and started breaking laws. There were also plenty who took the chance to start looting, and plenty who used the chaos to kill those whom they had been wanting to kill,” Wu Jinsong said. He then asked the server for a bowl of tea. “The government office is practically overflowing with complainants. All the clerks and constables are being worked to the bone. And get this, a little boy got eaten by the pig his family was raising, can you believe it? By the time the constables arrived, there was only half of him left. Anyway, where did you go to receive the imperial nectar?”

“Out of the city, to the northeast, far from even the outskirts of the city.” He Lingchuan cupped his hands toward Wu Jinsong. “Speaking of which, I still have to thank Grand Tutor Sha for his guidance.” Without Grand Tutor Sha’s early notification, there was no way he would have come out of this imperial nectar eruption with such a haul.

Wu Jinsong smiled and said, “I’ll pass on your thanks. Oh, and did you go to Three-Heart Plain? There’s a central area in it with three connected lakes.”

Three-Heart Plain?

He Lingchuan’s heart jumped.

So the place where I went to collect imperial nectar is called Three-Heart Plain.

“I ran over fifty kilometers northeast out of the city,” He Lingchuan said carefully, face solemn. “I’m not even sure exactly where I was. I just know it was pretty much the wilderness, and there really was a big lake.” He looked straight at Wu Jinsong. “Did something happen?”

“The guardian spirit of Three-Heart Plain is dead,” Wu Jinsong said. “The Grand Tutor received word that the monsters’ unrest over there did not stop after the imperial nectar ended, and it actually even spread. Not only did foreign envoys get hurt, but nearby villages and towns got dragged into it, too. As of the moment, we’ve received reports of over two hundred casualties, as well as countless patches of farmland trampled flat.”

Wu Jinsong took a sip of tea, then continued, “After things got that bad, Fufeng City sent people to investigate. The first official report just came in, stating that the local guardian spirit is already dead. With no one holding them in check, and with the imperial nectar stirring up their ferocity, the monsters and beasts over there have gone mad.”

“The guardian spirit is dead?” He Lingchuan’s eyebrows rose slightly.

So the fighting on the night of the imperial nectar eruption had been savage enough to kill even a guardian spirit.

Was one of the monsters that died by Three-Heart Lake the local guardian spirit?

“The strange part is it didn’t die until the second night after the imperial nectar eruption.” Wu Jinsong set his tea down. “Even the Grand Tutor finds it hard to believe. The guardian spirit of Three-Heart Plain had been killed by someone, or something.”

“What was special about it?”

“It had a lot of bodies,” Wu Jinsong said. “The Three-Heart Plain’s guardian spirit was unusual. It was not the typical tiger, wolf, or lion type, nor a tree monster either, but rather... a man-eating fungus.”

He Lingchuan’s hand paused mid-lift. “A fungus? You mean mushrooms?”

There’s no way. There simply can’t be that big of a coincidence, right?

“Yeah, something like that. I haven’t seen it myself. I just know it had dozens of bodies scattered throughout the forest, so it’s especially difficult to completely kill. Anyway, the authorities thought its talent was extraordinary, so they granted it the post of guardian spirit. Supposedly, on the Three-Heart Plain, even the fiercest monsters don’t dare provoke it because it’s one to hold grudges, and sooner or later it would come back for payback.”

“Then how can you be sure it’s dead?”

“I heard that night, dozens of the man-eating fungus’ bodies all exploded at once. I guess that counts as... not even leaving so much as bones?” Wu Jinsong’s face turned serious as he continued, “Anyway, someone or something had been able to cause it to blow apart in one go, and it had only been around fifty kilometers from Fufeng City. And right now, we have no idea what it is. The government office can’t help but feel uneasy.”

Wu Jinsong sighed and said, “Also, the timing couldn’t be worse. Imperial nectar hits right before His Majesty’s birthday, so it’s good fortune and a headache all at once. Once the Three-Heart Plain guardian spirit died, the local monsters rioted. I’ve heard that of the dozen-plus envoy groups coming to Fufeng City to offer congratulations, four were injured over those two nights. The Grand Tutor’s been tearing his hair out dealing with it.”

The “unknown existence” smiled inwardly.

Yeah. It was a real frenzy. Every kind of monster crawled out of the cracks.

But he asked aloud, “Even envoy groups got caught up in the frenzy?”

“Of course they did.” Wu Jinsong lifted one shoulder. “Envoy groups have monsters with them, too. Monsters just have a harder time resisting imperial nectar than we humans do.”

He Lingchuan shook his head. “Sounds like it’s a miracle I made it back alive.”

“Survive a disaster, and you’ll have blessings to follow.” Wu Jinsong stood. “I just came to see if you’d returned. I’ve still got work. Tomorrow night, I’ll come drink with you.”

“Thanks for checking in.”

Once Wu Jinsong left, He Lingchuan immediately ordered a plate of donkey meat in sauce.

Wasn’t that what they’d just been praising? Might as well try it.

Anyway, the thing that had ambushed me in that cave was actually the guardian spirit of Three-Heart Plain?

Well, it’s a guardian spirit with no sense of honor.

However, He Lingchuan understood perfectly well that a guardian spirit was still a monster. It needed to eat, and it was not exactly obligated to follow human rules.

The man-eating fungus might have accepted Fufeng City’s investiture. Under normal circumstances, it might restrain the wild monsters and beasts a little, but on a day as important as an imperial nectar eruption? It would obviously put itself first.

That also explained how it had found him and struck so precisely.

After becoming the local guardian spirit, it could sense a lot of what happened on its territory. Maybe it had noticed how much He Lingchuan had harvested on Three-Heart Lake and could not resist, so it targeted him and made its move when he had been completely vulnerable.

Anyway, who said a fungus mat had to have morals?

Fufeng City’s scouts assumed some great power had struck and blown up dozens of the guardian spirit’s bodies at once.

In truth, it was simply that the fungus had failed to handle imperial nectar’s might, and even dozens of its bodies altogether could not take it.

Thinking that far, He Lingchuan felt a cold shiver creep up his spine.

He was finally starting to understand that the piece of imperial nectar he had taken to refine had been too big and too pure. It had been so perfect that it had nearly killed him.

Imperial nectar was so rare these days that when Helian Chen wrote the formula for him, he never would have imagined He Lingchuan would get his hands on something that high-grade.

If the guardian spirit had not “helped” by taking a considerable amount of the energy for him, He Lingchuan would have died of sheer good fortune.

Still, although most of the imperial nectar’s violent force had been dumped into the man-eating fungus, the stuff itself had a slow-release quality. Over the coming months, that warm, nourishing power of heaven and earth spirit qi would keep seeping out little by little, strengthening his cultivation.

After this lesson, he did not dare to be too greedy again.

Still, why were those people looking for me?

He believed about half of what Fushan said. By now, four or five days had passed since the imperial nectar eruption. Anyone who got their hands on a treasure like that would refine it and consume it as fast as possible. There was no point chasing after it anymore.

A formula like the one for the Hundred Virtues Pill, which allowed for the refinement of imperial nectar into a long-term supplemental medicine, was rare in the current world. Helian Chen had already confirmed that.

So if that group was still hunting him, then it was probably not for the imperial nectar.

But in that case, then what?

He Lingchuan stepped out of the inn and immediately spotted the crow perched on a rooftop across the street.

That thing still hasn’t given up?

A streak of viciousness rose in his chest.

If you never bare your fangs, people start thinking you’re sickly.

He thought for a moment, then headed to the market.

The crow kept circling overhead, tailing him.

But the market had lots of low buildings and covered walkways. Its line of sight kept getting blocked. It only knew He Lingchuan went into a short, single-story house, but as for what he did inside, it had no idea.

It did not dare swoop in for a closer look.

That night, there had been more than one human active on the Three-Heart Plain. The bandit who had stolen the imperial nectar paste had worn a mask. Still, the crow found He Lingchuan’s back more and more familiar the longer it watched.

I didn’t follow the wrong guy. I didn’t.

I have to keep watching him!

Before long, He Lingchuan came out carrying a basket. It was covered with cloth, so the crow could not see what was inside.

He Lingchuan returned to the inn where he was staying, shut the doors and windows, and did not show his face again.

Afraid he might slip away, the crow dropped onto the inn’s roof, where it could watch both the front entrance and the rear courtyard for any suspicious movement.

* * *

The crow stayed on lookout for four full hours, waiting until night fell.

He Lingchuan’s door remained tightly shut, and it seemed as if he had gone to sleep inside.

The crow counted the time in its head.

Once the night gets a little deeper, those people should make their move.

Then, suddenly, a harsh creaking sounded from the courtyard below and startled it.

Two guests had pushed a door open and come out, arms thrown over each other’s shoulders as they laughed loudly.

The crow ruffled its feathers in irritation.

That tiny distraction was all it took. The door’s creak covered a faint, unnatural sound behind it.

A dark figure had been lying in wait for a long time. The moment the crow’s attention shifted, the shadow lunged and slammed a paw down over its wings.

The crow jerked in alarm, and the dark figure dove forward and bit down with perfect precision on the back of its neck.

Fffrrrfff!

The crow beat its wings frantically, trying to wrench free.

But then two more figures rushed out from the far side of the roof and piled on. One bit its leg, the other bit its wing, pinning it hard against the roof tiles.

Only then did the crow get a clear look at what the assailants were. It turned out to be three cats!

One was big, two were small, but they all had black bodies with white paws. They looked like they had been stamped from the same mold.

The big one was a cat monster, nearly the size of a village dog. Against the crow, it presented an overwhelming force.

The crow shrieked, panicked. “Let go, let go! Whatever he’s paying you, I’ll pay double!”

But the cat monster had professional standards. It did not even react. A few quick snaps later, it had torn through the crow’s windpipe.

Bird-hunting was their specialty.

The two smaller cats looked hungry, but the big cat would not let them eat. It grabbed the crow in its mouth, hopped down onto He Lingchuan’s windowsill, and scratched twice with a paw.

At the signal, the window opened immediately.

He Lingchuan saw the crow’s corpse and could not help but give the cat monster a thumbs-up. “Badass!”

Just like that, it took care of the rooftop eye for him. Truly, every creature had its natural predator.

The cat monster dropped the prey on the sill and let out a satisfied mrow.

With the mission completed, it was now waiting for its pay.

The two little cats jumped down too, making it very clear that they had contributed and expected equal compensation.

He Lingchuan immediately brought out a big, bulging bag of dried fish. He held it up so they could see it first. “All sun-dried creek fish from the river east of the city. They’re each about three centimeters long and unsalted.”

Beside the dried fish lay a gold ingot.

Not bad, this employer’s quite generous.

The cat monster nodded, satisfied. He Lingchuan hung the bag around its neck, then tossed them the crow’s body as a bonus.

The three black cats sprang up onto the roof and vanished into the night.

But He Lingchuan knew they had not truly left. The mission contract he had made with them included more than just this.

He shut the doors and windows again, walked around the corridor, and went to the room across the way, pushing the door open.

He had rented this room too, just under the name of one of the caravan workers.

From here, he had a perfect view of his original room.

He poked a tiny hole in the window paper, dragged a chair over, and sat down by the window, saber in his arms.

The eyeball spider had already scouted out that tonight, he might have another round of guests.

The night deepened, and the moon tilted. The world was silent.

Only the crickets in the haystack below kept chirping.

In another hour, it would be dawn.

And that, ironically, was when people slept the deepest.

He Lingchuan’s ears twitched. Outside the inn, he heard two short, sharp crow calls.