Zhongsun Mou immediately said to Fan Sheng, “Brother Fan, there’s no need to rush. I’ll do it myself.”

He Lingchuan smiled and said, “Let’s be clear first, I’m not taking merman pearls. You can produce those yourself anyway. You’ve got as many as you want.”

The old saying about merfolk weeping pearls was, at this moment, nothing but naked mockery.

Zhongsun Mou shot him a cold, sinister glance. What he took out, however, was not a magical artifact, but a thick stack of treasure notes. “Fifty thousand taels of silver.”

The smallest-denomination note in the stack was worth three thousand taels, and the largest was ten thousand.

The moment he slapped the notes onto the table, the noisy Chao Lake Tower fell silent.

A single wager of fifty thousand taels?

That was a record-setting bet for the Lotus Festival in Baishajue.

“Your turn.” Zhongsun Mou waited in a leisurely, composed manner, wanting to see how He Lingchuan would respond. “If you can’t produce the money, you can always stake that round shield of yours.”

“My shield?” He Lingchuan froze. This guy’s actually taken a fancy to the Soul-Stealing Mirror?

Then it made sense. Lately, He Lingchuan had often been using the mirror to test divine technique mechanisms.

The mirror itself was shrieking in his ear, “No, no! Don’t do it! I hate being soaked in water!”

Zhongsun Mou was a merman. He spent at least half his life in water. And the mirror, being a mirror, loathed rust spots!

Of course, only He Lingchuan could hear its cries. He slipped a hand into his robe and stroked the mirror for a long while, his face full of reluctance.

Seeing that pained expression, Zhongsun Mou sneered inwardly. Just some poor drifter from out of town, waving Fushan Yue’s token around and trying to act important? One move, and I’ll knock you right back to your true shape.

In the end, though, He Lingchuan still took out the mirror and held it forward. “You mean this?”

Zhongsun Mou took it naturally and inspected it with care.

The mirror surface was polished enough to reflect a person clearly, and its style was simple and ancient. It was obviously not a modern magical artifact. It also felt a little damp. Has this guy been sweating all over it?

Zhongsun Mou grimaced and wiped his hand twice on his pant leg.

“Yes, that’s—”

Truth be told, the moment he held the mirror, he already hated to part with it. But after only a couple of turns in his hands, He Lingchuan suddenly snatched it back.

Fan Sheng, standing behind Zhongsun Mou, had his view blocked by Zhongsun and did not react in time to stop him.

“Forget it. This treasure is worth far too much. Even if you added three more fifty-thousand-tael wagers, it still wouldn’t compare to this!” He Lingchuan went back on his word on the spot and started rummaging through his robe again.

Zhongsun Mou clasped his hands behind his back and mocked him. “If you can’t afford to gamble, then forget it. I won’t force you.”

Cen Boqing smiled as well. “Lord Envoy, why don’t I lend you a bit first?”

Even the nobles and aristocrats watching nearby had started whispering among themselves and pointing.

Those in the tower included both Lingxu City’s powerful elite and old gentry from the State of Chiyan. Their positions and allegiances differed, so the looks they gave He Lingchuan were complicated. The people from Lingxu City echoed Cen Boqing’s mockery without restraint, while the people from Chiyan wore worried expressions and privately blamed He Lingchuan for stepping out to stir up trouble only to find himself unable to finish what he started.

Fifty thousand taels. Even if the place was filled with the rich and powerful, who in the world would casually carry fifty thousand taels around on them?

That was fifty million copper coins!

Xiang Yan could not bear to watch any longer. He gave a light cough and was just about to speak when He Lingchuan waved him off and at last fished three fist-sized, deep-red profound crystals out from his robe!

He looked visibly relieved too. “I’ve got too many things on me. I had to dig around forever before I found these smaller ones. They’d be valued at eighty thousand taels, but I’ll just treat them as worth fifty and match your wager.”

The buzzing chatter around them stopped dead.

Jiao Yu split its jaws wide. It did not make a sound when it laughed, so no one else could tell, but Commander Lu directly raised a thumbs-up. “Lord Envoy!”

He Lingchuan set the profound crystals on the table and said to the Baishajue County Magistrate, “County Magistrate Tian, I’ll trouble you to act as our witness.”

County Magistrate Tian nodded so fast it looked like he might shake his head off. “Of course, of course! Rest assured!”

The moment profound crystals, which were hard currency anywhere, appeared, even Zhongsun Mou had nothing left to say.

Both men’s stakes were now placed on the table, and County Magistrate Tian immediately ordered his subordinates to guard the area and keep everyone away.

Every year during the Lotus Festival, some big shot would show off his wealth, but none of those displays compared to this year. These people were outdoing one another in extravagance.

With the bets placed, He Lingchuan went over to Jiao Yu and Commander Lu and quietly exchanged a few words with them.

Then he jumped straight down from the tall tower and splashed into the water below.

Everyone saw him paddle twice through the lake, seize a horse from a constable on shore, and gallop at full speed toward a pebble beach.

He lowered his head and murmured to the divine bone necklace, “I’m counting on you. You’d better work hard later.”

Those profound crystals had been Fushan Yue’s advance payment on He Lingchuan’s wages.

Naturally, the divine bone necklace gave no response, but He Lingchuan acted as though it had heard him.

There were two of Commander Lu’s men seated in Boat 97. Once He Lingchuan explained why he had come, one of them immediately jumped off to give him his seat.

Jiao Yu had originally wanted to join the excitement too, but tiger paws were not convenient for rowing, and its weight would only slow the boat down, so it had no choice but to remain in the tower and watch.

But as soon as it turned its head, it saw Zhongsun Mou whispering a few words to Fan Sheng before the two of them went together to find Cen Boqing.

What are those three plotting now?

A sense of unease rose in the tiger’s heart.

Sure enough, Fan Sheng soon found County Magistrate Tian and pointed to the six or seven men behind him. “We’re joining the token contest too.”

County Magistrate Tian stared blankly. “Y-you... All of you lords want to participate?”

Fan Sheng said in a broad, swaggering tone, “That’s right. Is that not allowed?”

“Well, um, but...” County Magistrate Tian hesitated. Each race boat only carried two people. If seven or eight of them all joined, then four more boats would need to be added. Everyone on and off the tower had already finished placing their bets, so if the lineup suddenly changed at the last minute, the complaints would be deafening.

And the one who would get blamed would not be Fan Sheng but County Magistrate Tian.

Besides, County Magistrate Tian was not stupid. It was obvious at a glance that these men were entering for one reason only, and that was to deal with the Crown Prince’s special envoy.

To try bullying the envoy through superior numbers on Chiyan soil, openly scheming against him like this, they clearly had no regard for Chiyan at all.

“The special envoy guessed right.” The tiger stamped on Commander Lu’s foot. “Your turn!”

Commander Lu immediately shoved his way through the crowd and shouted, “County Magistrate Tian, I’ve got thirty men here who want to join as well!”

“Th-thirty?” County Magistrate Tian was overjoyed inside, though outwardly he could only feign astonishment. “But that would mean fifteen more boats! Besides, where are we supposed to find that many extra boats on such short notice?”

In truth, the Lotus Festival always had over a hundred official racing boats, plus more than a dozen reserves. Baishajue was a land of fish and rice, so saying they had no boats in reserve would have been laughable. At most, it would take a little time to allocate them.

But as host, once County Magistrate Tian firmly declared there were none, what could anyone else say?

Commander Lu gave a rough little laugh. “That’s not my concern. We want to go too.”

Why should Fan Sheng and his men be allowed to join if he could not?

The guests behind them had also begun discussing the matter noisily. The Lotus Festival had been held for many years, but nothing like this had ever happened before.

In the end, it was Xiang Yan who stepped forward. “My lords, this event is only meant to bring festivity and good fortune. If both of you enter, won’t you scare the other teams half to death?”

Another guest from Lingxu City also chimed in, “Things were fine as they were. Best not to stir up extra complications!”

“That’s right. Stop wasting time and get started already!”

No one in the tower was foolish. One look and they could all tell these two sides intended to start fighting inside the Lotus Palace. It sounded exciting, yes, but the Lotus Palace was too far away, and the lotus walls were too high. No one present would be able to see a thing.

And if they could not see it, it had nothing to do with them.

Besides, the bets had already been placed. Who would want more variables added at the last second?

Isn’t this just an opening festival event? Keep it simple. Why make it so complicated?

The guests’ complaints came even sooner than expected, and County Magistrate Tian was inwardly delighted.

Fan Sheng murmured a few words to Cen Boqing. Cen Boqing then gave a light cough and said, “Adding boats at the last minute would indeed be inappropriate. Then let’s do this instead, we’ll keep the number of boats unchanged, and if Lord Fan really wants to go and have some fun, he can simply replace one member on my team.” He then turned to Commander Lu and said, “Special Envoy He replaced one of your men. Lord Fan can replace one of mine. That seems fair, does it not?”

In other words, each side got one replacement, and Commander Lu could forget about getting more men into the competition.

Everywhere around them were nobles and dignitaries with impatience written all over their faces. Commander Lu did not want to stubbornly make a scene either, so he took the easy way out. “Fine. That works for me.”

And so, in the end, Fan Sheng went alone, without bringing even a single guard.

He, too, jumped down from the tower and rode a horse toward the lakeshore.

That bastard isn’t going there for any competition. He’s going there to kill.

Jiao Yu and Commander Lu exchanged a glance, and each saw the worry in the other’s eyes.

Earlier, Special Envoy He had already anticipated this. Before leaving, he had leaned close and told them in a low voice: “If they want to go in a group, then you lot join too.”

With Commander Lu stirring things up like this, the best possible outcome had been to force Fan Sheng to go alone.

Fan Sheng was obviously confident that he could deal with Special Envoy He on his own.

And he had every reason to be confident. In terms of raw combat strength, he far surpassed everyone present, including both Jiao Yu and Commander Lu.

Last time, even when Jiao Yu and Special Envoy He had teamed up two against one, they still had not beaten him. Now the special envoy was going to face Fan Sheng alone. Could he really manage it?

Jiao Yu could only be thankful that the special envoy had entered the race so suddenly, catching Cen Boqing and Fan Sheng off guard.

It was certain that He Lingchuan had prepared in advance, whereas Fan Sheng had joined in a hurry.

Hopefully, the Lord Special Envoy can claw back at least a little advantage on that front.

Only after Fan Sheng had also arrived at the pebble beach and boarded the Cen Family’s boat did County Magistrate Tian begin ringing the bell.

This time, the bell rang with unusual urgency—

That was the signal to begin.

In an instant, a hundred boats burst forth from the beach, shooting toward the Lotus Palace like flying arrows.

He Lingchuan had already washed the mirror and his hands in the lake several times, yet he still did not feel reassured. He rowed hard, putting distance between himself and the shore as quickly as possible.

Just then, he heard a familiar tiger’s roar. It was deep, powerful, and resonant across the distance.

A tiger’s roar could carry very far. Mountain folk hearing it would not necessarily be afraid, because it might be coming from some distant peak across the valley.

He Lingchuan looked back toward Chao Lake Tower and knew at once that it was the signal from Jiao Yu. His expression darkened slightly.

As expected, Fan Sheng had not let this opportunity slip. What was bound to come had come after all.

* * *

Zhongsun Mou stood beside Cen Boqing, watching the boats below surge forward together, his face gloomy and silent.

Cen Boqing looked around to confirm that the others had all been kept back by the guards, then lowered his voice. “We’ve searched the city and found nothing. Outside the city, we’ve already investigated nine villages and towns. Only the last two remain. I think we’re close. At the latest, we’ll have good news tomorrow or the day after.” He then gave a cold smile and added, “You filed a complaint with Lingxu City too, didn’t you? The Crown Prince’s special envoy from the State of Chiyan abducting a major criminal, now that’s a rare scandal.”

“I filed it, but there’s been no reply yet. Best case, I find Fu Songhua myself and send him back as soon as possible to report in. Dead or alive, it doesn’t matter.” At the thought of Fu Songhua being snatched away, Zhongsun Mou grew irritated all over again. He had originally assumed the real hard battle would come in Lingxu City. Who would have thought that despite the plan having appeared perfect, the very first step had already gone wrong in Baishajue?

That was not a good omen.

Zhongsun Mou said darkly, “And that County Magistrate Tian has no sense of the times either. Even if he’s outwardly obedient, he’s inwardly defiant.”