Where Immortals Once Walked

For this operation, He Lingchuan felt nothing could be kept off the table. That was the only reason he had sent someone as blunt and straightforward as Jiao Tai to report.

Of course, there was another reason. Out in the wilds, no one could beat Jiao Tai at finding his bearings. If his father decided to fight, they would need someone reliable to lead the way.

At this moment, Elder Liang of Cloud-Piercing Pavilion had also arrived and taken a seat to listen.

When Jiao Tai got to the part where the remaining Xun Province roving cavalry had holed up in an abandoned mine, and they themselves had explosives and had found the mine’s back entrance, He Chunhua could no longer hold himself back. He exclaimed “Good!” twice in a row, slapped the table, and rose to his feet. “You still remember the way to the mine?”

“Of course!”

At last, He Chunhua could make a clean decision. “You’ll lead us. We move out immediately!”

Saying the words loosened a knot deep in his chest. He then turned to Elder Liang and said, “I’ll have to trouble you with Xinhuang.”

Elder Liang signed with his hands, and the disciple beside him interpreted, “No trouble at all. Cloud-Piercing Pavilion is willing to do our part.”

He Chunhua gave the order at once for the army to ready itself.

Half an hour later, he personally led twelve hundred men out of Xinhuang, heading west straight for the abandoned mine near Bailu Town. Xinhuang’s camp was left in the hands of Wu Shaoyi, who kept five hundred soldiers to hold the town, with Elder Liang assisting on the side.

* * *

At the abandoned mine, Hong Chenglue was eating.

He took a bite of a coarse, yellow millet bun, followed it with a swig of hot water, and shoveled it down.

Yellow millet buns were rough-textured—dry on the tongue and scratchy going down. But to Hong Chenglue, the meal tasted almost sweet. This was the best steamed bun he had eaten in nearly two months.

Once they settled in his belly and swelled with the hot water, the buns filled him with a heavy, solid sense of satiety.

On the table, half a golden-brown roast pheasant still sat untouched.

The bird was far from perfect. Its feathers still clung here and there, and patches of the skin were charred black. But for a soldier playing cook in a hurry, this was already a commendable effort.

Hong Chenglue did not touch the roast chicken. He picked up the plate and carried it into Baili Qing’s makeshift sickroom.

The general was still unconscious.

The officer guarding him rose awkwardly when Hong Chenglue entered.

Hong Chenglue said, waving him down, “No need for formality. How is General Baili?”

“He’s recovering well. He should wake up soon.”

Hong Chenglue set the roast bird on the table. “Warm this up for him when he wakes.”

“Alright.”

He had just given away his share, and yet the officer’s thoughts turned only in one direction: He’s trying to win hearts. He did not even bother to say the expected “Yes, General.”

After all, he himself had been promoted under Baili Qing’s hand.

At that moment, boots thundered outside. A soldier ran up, panting. “General Hong!”

Hong Chenglue raised a hand to stop him, then stepped out into the open, closing the door behind him. “Speak here. Don’t wake General Baili.”

Sensing something amiss, the other officers converged as well.

“Large numbers of Xia Province troops have appeared at the foot of the mountain. There are roughly nine hundred to a thousand of them. They’re searching through the mountain. Their general direction points here!”

Everyone’s scalp tingled.

So the Xia Province army had still tracked them down.

As if on cue, the second scout they had sent to Bailu Town finally returned. He reported that the first scout had been found dead in Hong Chenglue’s abandoned home, and according to the villagers, men from the Xia Province provincial office had indeed come to question them about last night’s events.

Hong Chenglue’s fears had been confirmed.

The two officers who had argued with him earlier immediately looked his way, regret pricking in their hearts.

If they had relocated back in the afternoon...

Everyone now waited for Hong Chenglue’s decision.

His face was set and solemn as he spoke without hesitation, “Xu Yingxian, Tao Ze, you two will come with me to draw the Xia Province army away.”

Then he turned to the other two officers. “You will stay and guard General Baili and the wounded brothers. If we cannot hold them off, you retreat to Xinqiao Township.”

The general had spoken in a moment of crisis. The two officers answered at once.

Inwardly, the soldiers felt a rush of respect.

Fortunately, the roving cavalry of Xun Province had long been accustomed to sleeping with armor on and weapons at hand, ready to spring into battle at any moment. In less than eight minutes, they were already in the saddle, armor buckled, weapons ready.

Hong Chenglue left fifty men to hold the mine and set out with roughly 280 cavalry.

They rode 650 meters down the slope and met no one.

Another six to eight hundred meters along the mountain path, and yet there was still no sign of the enemy.

Only when the unit was nearing the foot of the mountain did another sentry race up to them with news:

“Report! The Xia Province army has turned north.”

North? What was to the north? No one in the unit knew.

If Xia Province’s troops were no longer heading toward them...

The soldiers looked at Hong Chenglue with wide, searching eyes.

He beckoned Tao Ze over and murmured a few words in his ear, then picked out thirty men and sent them under Tao Ze’s command back the way they had come.

What now?

The men waited for the next command.

Hong Chenglue raised his arm. “Pass on my order. Full force, due east to Xinhuang Town!”

The soldiers were stunned.

What?

He turned his gaze on them, cold and sharp as a blade. “Well? Still not relaying the order?”

Someone, still not quite catching up, blurted, “Should we send word back to the mine?”

Xu Yingxian yanked him by the sleeve. “The commander has given his orders. Our job is to carry them out, not stir up complications.”

The nearly three hundred roving cavalry turned east at once, riding hard. They did not swing back to the mine. They did not send a single message back.

Seeing Hong Chenglue riding ahead alone, no one by his side, Wu Qing urged his horse forward until he was riding stirrup to stirrup. Only then did he ask quietly, “General Hong, did you do this on purpose?”

Hong Chenglue did not even lift his eyelids. “What?”

“You’ve avoided the shortest route to Xinhuang Town,” Wu Qing explained. He had done business across the northern region of Yuan and knew the local roads well. “This path we’re taking adds at least an hour to the trip.”

“But it’s safer.”

Wu Qing’s heart lurched. He thought it over and said, “You mean... someone is already in position on the fastest route? Xia Province troops?”

This was Xia Province territory. Governor-General He’s army could march proudly along the roads, whereas they could only move like thieves.

Hong Chenglue gave him a sidelong look. “Boss Wu is a sharp man. Nian Zanli should’ve invited you to serve as his strategist.”

“Heaven forbid. I’m lazy by nature.”

“When our scout failed to return, I assumed he’d been captured. That meant we had to assume our hiding place had been exposed. The safest choice would have been to relocate. However, those two subordinates of General Baili’s refused. If I were He Chunhua, the moment I learned that Xun Province’s cavalry was hiding in the abandoned mine near Bailu Town, I’d send troops to exterminate them.” Hong Chenglue’s tone was unhurried, but every word was precise. “The man loves his reputation. He came to Xia Province for fame and promotion. I burned over seven hundred thousand kilograms of his grain. He can’t explain that away to the front lines, and he can’t explain it to the provincial office. His pride must be in tatters. You know the state of Xia Province. It’s been under the thumb of the four great families for years. Only after two big victories has He Chunhua finally planted his feet here. If he slinks back after this defeat, his prestige will be cut in half at least. Do you think he’ll still have such an easy time controlling both the army and the civil administration?”

Wu Qing chuckled. “Indeed. The four great families would trip him so often he’d break a leg sooner or later.”

“And even if he doesn’t come after us now, we might still go after his next grain convoy. The rocky wastes north of Xinhuang are perfect terrain for an ambush. So he will certainly want to redeem himself. If he learns where we are, he won’t let the opportunity go.” Hong Chenglue tightened his grip on the reins, sitting relaxed in the saddle, yet his voice carried a killing edge. “I’ll oblige him.”

Wu Qing’s smile thinned. General Hong was treating Baili Qing, his two subordinate officers, and nearly a hundred wounded and debilitated men as bait. When He Chunhua brought his army to swallow that bait, Xinhuang’s rear would be empty.

And General Hong would rush in to burn their grain.

It would be akin to a strike at the bottom of the cauldron, brutal and effective. Xia Province troops had thought those wounded Xun Province riders were a burden on Hong Chenglue. In the end, they had become his lure.

As for how ruthless this was toward Baili Qing and his men, Wu Qing did not need to say it aloud.

Ever since Nian Zanli’s orders had been passed on, Wu Qing understood the whole picture. Originally, Xun Province’s roving cavalry had been under Baili Qing’s command. But then, Hong Chenglue had suddenly descended from above, stripping him of his command. How could Baili Qing not resent him? The two had been at odds these past few days.

From another angle, once He Chunhua helped remove that disgruntled commanding officer and his wounded, Hong Chenglue would be able to take over the roving cavalry with clean hands and a clear conscience.

One army could not heed two voices.

Wu Qing had originally thought Hong Chenglue might try a softer hand, soothing them with courtesy and patience. However, it was clear that he had no such patience.

* * *

He Lingchuan was sleeping soundly when a hand clapped down on his shoulder.

“Young Master, wake up!”

He Lingchuan jerked, rubbed at his eyes, and grumbled, “What is it?” Still no dream in Panlong City, huh? Boring.

“Something’s happening below,” whispered Mao Tao. “It seems to be troop movement.” The eldest young master truly has an impressive talent for sleep. Wrapped in a cloak for a pillow, lying on bare ground, he was snoring in no time. His ability to sleep is simply unmatched..

He had no idea that, with He Lingchuan being part of a patrol squad in the Panlong Dreamscape, eating wind and sleeping rough had been standard practice. His body had long since adapted.

“Troop movement?” He Lingchuan woke up at once. “How many?”

“They brought all the horses in from the woods. Most of them are saddling up.”

Where are they going?Is Hong Chenglue planning a raid on our supplies?

He Lingchuan’s eyes narrowed.

After defeating Wu Shaoyi’s forces, he should have more than enough grain for the short term, enough even to spare some for the people of Bailu Town. Is he going out for medicine?

But even that shouldn’t require so many riders.

Unless...

Shan Youjun murmured, “They might be preparing to pull out.”

“That’s possible.” He Lingchuan thought it over. “Their scout to Bailu Town never returned. Maybe this Hong fellow really is that cautious.”

The three of them quickly agreed to shadow the movement.

However, the Xun Province roving cavalry’s next move left He Lingchuan somewhat puzzled.

The main force mounted in full gear and thundered out of the mine.

Yet the sentries around the pit remained in place. When Mao Tao scouted again, he reported that there were still men below.

More than just a few, too.

So they aren’t relocating the camp?

But then, where is that unit of more than two hundred riders going?

The three of them withdrew quietly, fetched their horses, and trailed the enemy from a distance.

The main body of the Xun Province troops descended the mountain and seemed to loop around, cutting a wide arc. Their intentions were anyone’s guess.

Dusk deepened, and the forest grew darker by the moment. Traces of the cavalry—hoofprints, piles of dung—became harder and harder for Mao Tao to pick out.

He Lingchuan’s hand closed habitually around the hilt of Fleeting Life. The blade’s cold grip helped him think.

That was when his heart suddenly lurched, a prickling sense of imminent danger flooding through him.

He Lingchuan’s ears twitched. In the hushed mountains, he heard the strained, suppressed breathing of not just one person but several people!

He could not hold back a sharp warning. “Watch out!”

The word had barely left his lips when an arrow hissed down from the sky, slicing toward Mao Tao with a vicious whistle.