Where Immortals Once Walked

But a spellcaster hidden in the crowd began chanting under his breath. All at once, the ground beneath Xuguang softened and collapsed like wet mud. The beast was simply too massive. After a couple of steps, it sank until its legs were submerged and could not free itself.

He Lingchuan shot Wu Jinsong a look and jerked his chin toward the spellcaster. Wu Jinsong and the other two immediately started climbing down the tree trunk.

The spellcaster was protected in the middle of a tight ring of soldiers, making it hard for them to get hit by a stray arrow.

Once his companions were in position, Xu Dongdong flicked his wrist and threw something toward the spellcaster.

A soldier saw an object flying in and assumed it was a loose arrow. He casually swatted it aside with his weapon.

The instant it struck metal, it exploded.

A sharp, rancid, and indescribably nauseating stench instantly spread outward from the point of collision.

The nearby soldiers had no time to brace themselves. One after another, they doubled over and vomited.

The spellcaster could not maintain his technique either. He lurched toward the gate and started retching so violently he could barely stand.

It was a perfect opening.

Wu Jinsong and the two who were with him had already taken aim, and they fired at once.

His luck was absurd. The spellcaster just so happened to turn his head, and the arrow punched straight through his mouth. For the moment, his mouth was forced shut.

However, Wu Jinsong and the others quickly realized that their arrows could not truly kill these evil ghosts. At best, they could destroy the paper bodies the ghosts were riding.

That soul-and-spirit-invading stench was unbearable. The soldiers scattered, and the trapped giant bull seized the chance to kick hard, forcing itself back onto solid ground.

This time, it had well and truly been angered. It did not bother with a long, running start. It just pivoted and slammed straight in.

More than ten defenders were crushed on impact. With a soft pop, the defensive array shattered, and at the exact same time, the training yard’s wooden gates exploded into splinters.

Now!

With the formation broken, He Lingchuan launched himself from the tree and landed right beside the crimson bird.

Third Master Gan, who was outside the mirror and currently staring at the battlefield, went pale. “This is bad.”

He started forming a hand seal, clearly about to unleash a divine technique, but then he froze mid-motion. “It costs three years of my lifespan? No, absolutely not!”

“If he gets out, you’re absolutely dead!”

Third Master Gan let out a cold laugh. “What’s that got to do with me? You’re the one scared he’ll come for payback!”

He muttered under his breath as if playing two roles at once. If anyone had been there to see him, they would have assumed that he had gone completely mad.

Meanwhile, that brief hesitation was enough for He Lingchuan, who was in the mirror, to make it into the training yard.

He tossed something at Qing Xu’s feet, and then he spun, drew Fleeting Life, and brought it down on another spellcaster with everything he had.

He gathered his essence, qi, and spirit into this one strike. Paradoxically, it carried not a shred of murderous aura, silent as rain soaking into earth.

And thanks to the soul-masking powder, he remained “invisible” right up until the instant his blade bit.

The spellcaster was bracing a mirror and channeling power into it. Out of nowhere, an unseen force surged in. He did not even have time to feel danger when a red glow flared over his body, then shattered at once.

His protective magical artifact blew apart instantly.

And right after that, his head went flying.

With the controller gone, the mirror’s light died instantly, and it clattered to the ground.

Meanwhile, the object He Lingchuan had thrown down at Qing Xu’s feet finally hit the ground and grew, and it was none other than the golden-armored copper man!

Once enlarged, it stood over five meters tall. It was thick-limbed and impossibly solid, and the first thing it did was punch Qing Xu clean off his feet.

With that kind of strength, if the blow had landed on an ordinary person, it could have sent their head flying straight off.

Qing Xu had a protective magical artifact, so his head did not just get sent flying, but it also did not stop his entire body from being launched nearly ten meters away.

However, his position had mattered. The moment he was sent flying away, his mirror lost its hold as its light collapsed.

Two mirrors down.

The crimson bird seized the opening. With a violent wrench, it broke free, twisted its head, and spat several blasts of true fire at the remaining spellcasters in revenge. Its body then immediately swelled back toward its original size.

The flames could not kill them, but they left them scrambling, singed, and furious.

In that moment, He Lingchuan vaulted onto the golden-armored copper man’s shoulder and barked at Wu Jinsong’s group, “Get down here!”

The group of three dropped from the tree and clung to the golden-armored copper man’s shoulders and back.

While the crimson bird lowered its head to yank out the arrow, the golden-armored copper man, guided by He Lingchuan, leaped onto its back.

Outside the mirror, Third Master Gan finally seemed to “agree with himself.” He chanted under his breath, then pointed a finger at the mirror.

A shaft of red light dropped from the sky and locked onto He Lingchuan.

A beacon that huge might as well have been a sign reading: TARGET HERE.

At the far end of the street, General You arrived as well. The moment he saw that red light descend, he did not hesitate to grab his bow and shoot.

He Lingchuan had not even seen him draw, but a warning spike went off in his instincts. He ducked fast, sliding under the golden-armored copper man’s body.

The copper man had its arms wrapped around the crimson bird’s neck, its whole frame bowed like a drawn bow. There was no better cover at that moment.

A moment later, General You’s arrow arrived.

Thunk. It punched clean through the copper man’s arm, whistling just past He Lingchuan’s ear.

The force was undeniable. The copper man’s body had been forged with Wu Metal, a metal that ordinary blades could not easily damage, yet this single arrow still punched through its forearm.

With General You leading, the defenders surged into the training yard, leveling spears and halberds at the crimson bird and stabbing like mad.

Burdened by the heavy copper man, the bird tried to shake it loose. But the constant stabbing from below became unbearable. With a furious beat of its wings, it took off, choosing to get airborne first and deal with the fleas that were stuck to its body later.

An arrowstorm rose from below. The bird was especially wary of General You’s shots, so it climbed as fast as it could.

Wu Jinsong and Xu Dongdong crawled under the copper man’s chest plating to take shelter from the arrows. The third man moved a fraction too slowly, and so he was riddled with holes like a wasp nest and dropped straight out of the sky.

The two survivors could not even feel grief in their current state. They only shouted at He Lingchuan, “What now?!”

He pointed up at the moon. “Fly for the exit!”

The golden-armored copper man tightened its grip on the crimson bird’s long neck and hauled upward, forcing it to fly in a specific direction. The bird had no choice but to climb.

“You audacious insects!” the crimson bird suddenly said in a human voice. “Get off!”

All its strength was spent dodging the arrows below. It had already avoided two of General You’s shots. Once it was high enough, it intended to deal with the parasites on its back.

Wu Jinsong and Xu Dongdong stared blankly. They could not understand a word it said.

However, He Lingchuan’s long hours of grinding study finally paid off. In the immortal tongue, he answered smoothly, “Carry us up there and I won’t hurt you. Deal?”

“Hurt me?” The crimson bird laughed. “With you?”

The laugh was awful, shrill and crude, bearing not the slightest trace of immortal grace. He Lingchuan drew Fleeting Life and lightly dragged the blade across the bird’s back.

Its skin split, and its flesh opened.

The bird jerked, shocked by the sudden pain. “How can you hurt me?!”

Its body was supposed to be invulnerable. Even those idiots flying on artifacts could only restrain it, not kill it. How could this nobody break its defense with a casual cut?

He Lingchuan thought, You’re a paper bird trying to act like a phoenix. In front of Fleeting Life’s Void-Breaker ability, all that posturing was worthless.

He did not know how terrifying the real Crimson Luan[1] might be. He only knew this paper version could absolutely be pierced.

This was simply as per the laws of the world.

He slashed it twice more, and the crimson bird had no choice but to swallow its pride. “Where do you want to go?”

“Straight at the full moon.”

Are these people insane? The bird clearly thought so, but with a treasured saber at its throat, it could only comply.

He Lingchuan used the time to pry for answers. “You’re a Crimson Luan?”

“Obviously!”

“What’s General You’s full name?”

“You Shanming.”

“Why didn’t he kill you?” If he could shoot it down, then he probably has the ability to finish it, so why just trap it instead?

“He wants to claim me as the state’s guardian spirit beast.” The Crimson Luan’s tone dripped with contempt. “Delusional.”

He Lingchuan asked, “This Baixiang City we’re currently in, which state does it belong to?”

“Of course it belongs to the State of Pu!” The Crimson Luan sounded genuinely offended. Does this guy have something wrong with his head?

“And General You and Qing Xu, what sect are they from?”

“The Heavenly Evolution Sect.” The Crimson Luan sounded even more baffled now. “How do you not know anything?”

He Lingchuan rubbed his nose. “We’re innocent bystanders.”

Then Xu Dongdong said sharply, “Something’s chasing us.”

He Lingchuan looked down.

And sure enough, it was “people.”

Qing Xu and the others were flying after them on artifacts. They were slower than the Crimson Luan, so they could only trail behind, but their hands never stopped. One divine technique after another fired toward them.

Even with one wing damaged and heavy baggage, the Crimson Luan still managed to dodge again and again.

And as time passed, the moon grew larger, brighter, and closer.

Through that “full moon,” they could see Third Master Gan’s face, and they could see it so clearly that they could even discern the bulging veins at his temple.

The Crimson Luan, of course, paid it no mind. It said flatly, “I can’t go any higher.”

Above them was an invisible barrier. No matter how it beat its wings, it could not break through.

This was the border of the world inside the mirror, and it could not fly out.

Just then, Qing Xu sent a streak of sword light slashing in. The Crimson Luan failed to dodge it cleanly, causing two of its flight feathers to get cut away.

A bird such as itself was born with the ability to ride and control the wind, but with damaged wings, its dodges lost their sharpness.

In the blink of an eye, it took two more hits.

Outside the mirror, Third Master Gan formed another hand seal. Two bolts of lightning abruptly dropped from the sky, striking the Crimson Luan in perfect unison.

Then, Third Master Gan’s nose started bleeding. Forcing “heavenly lightning” into this battlefield clearly took a toll on him, too.

One bolt hit the Crimson Luan and fully smashed it down. The bird flipped and began plummeting.

The other bolt struck the golden-armored copper man. Electricity crackled over its entire body, but most of the damage was absorbed, and only a small fraction even made it to the three humans.

The golden-armored copper man, after all, had been forged with the explicit property of protecting its master.

The full moon was right there, and yet everything was about to fall apart.

He Lingchuan made the call instantly. “Let go!”

Wu Jinsong and Xu Dongdong gaped. “Huh?” The bird’s tumbling downward! If we let go now, we’d die.

“Trust me. Let go!”

Strangely, their missing souls became an advantage here. They were easily able to stop doubting him, stop worrying, and stop hesitating.

They released their grip.

The golden-armored copper man grabbed all three of them in one sweep, then hurled them toward the full moon with all its strength!

The next instant, the copper man and the Crimson Luan dropped away beneath them. Meanwhile, He Lingchuan and the other two shot forward, weightless as if riding clouds, the moon expanding in front of their eyes, and then they passed through it.

Bang! Bang!

The three of them crashed into the bamboo house. Xu Dongdong had the bad luck to smash his face into a wall, and then immediately became He Lingchuan’s human cushion on landing. He Lingchuan muttered a quick, silent apology. Using Xu Dongdong’s back as a springboard, he pushed off and lunged straight for Third Master Gan.

Third Master Gan, even though his whole body swayed as if he might collapse at any second, scooped up the mirror from the table and bolted. At the same time, two ferocious tigers burst into the room with their fangs bared and claws gleaming. As soon as they appeared, the two tigers lunged straight for He Lingchuan’s throat.

1. The Crimson Luan or Hongluan (红鸾) is a variation of the Qingluan (青鸾), which is a mythical azure-colored phoenix in Chinese mythology that is believed always to accompany the Queen Mother of the West (西王母) and serves as her messenger. If this sounds familiar to you, then you probably read and still somehow remember the reference/note I made back in Chapter 13. Also, I chose to translate it as Crimson Luan as it just sounds cooler than Red Luan, and it creates a better juxtaposition with Azure Luan, which is also the name I prefer for the Qingluan. ☜