Where Immortals Once Walked

“Isn’t that so?” Li Qingge had already thought it through. “If Nian Zanli also reported a victory to Beijia, his justification would probably be that he wiped out thirty thousand of Yuan’s elite troops. You know Yuan’s situation well enough. There aren’t many armies that can truly fight. Those thirty thousand men under General Zhao... really were among our state’s limited elites.” As she reached the end, she let out a quiet sigh.

The State of Yuan’s elite forces were either holding the western front against the former Minister of War, Dong Haoming, or guarding the northern front against Nian Zanli, the Provincial Governor of Xun Province. What remained was a small contingent to protect the capital.

Beyond that, there was almost nothing left.

As for the rest of the armies, their combat effectiveness was frankly abysmal, and this was something He Lingchuan knew all too well.

Even the Xia Province troops that He Chunhua had hurriedly raised and trained over just a few months still fell far short when compared with Zhao Pan’s army.

What Nian Zanli destroyed truly was one of Yuan’s pillars of strength.

“Each side claims victory, each side claims merit.” He Lingchuan smiled helplessly. “Who would’ve thought a single great battle could end up a win for both sides?”

“Victory and defeat depend on perspective.” Li Qingge rotated her cup in her fingers. “From each standpoint, there’s something to claim as a win. From what I see, the people of Xia Province are quite happy. Everywhere you go, they’re praising your father’s valor and wisdom.”

“So Father’s days in Dunyu must be much easier now, I take it?”

“Very much so.” Li Qingge chuckled. “Governor-General He’s orders flow smoothly, his prestige is soaring. None of the commanderies or counties dare disobey.”

He Lingchuan leaned back slightly. “Looks like I worried for nothing all this time.”

“How did you survive?” Li Qingge could no longer hold back her curiosity. “Yesterday, there was no time, but now you have to tell me everything!”

She and He Lingchuan were not exactly old, intimate friends, yet the way they chatted was natural and familiar, even carrying a faintly coquettish tone.

What was rarer still was that it did not grate at all. Instead, it made one feel oddly flattered.

He Lingchuan simply began with the Battle of the Han River, then spoke of meeting Zhu Erniang in the Demon Nest Swamp, his experiences in the State of Baoshu, then the Gale Tundra... all the way up to the present.

Naturally, some matters had to be left unsaid.

By the time he finished, at least four hours had passed, and the wine had been replenished three times.

Li Qingge clapped her hands. “Fascinating, fascinating. If only I’d had experiences like that myself.”

“You’ve traveled far and wide, Your Lordship. Your experiences must be richer than mine.”

“Too many trifles,” Li Qingge said, resting her chin on her hand. “How could it be as pure as the life you’re living? Once you’ve gone to Mount Xu in Lingxu City, what are your plans? Will you return to Dunyu in Xia Province?”

He Lingchuan hesitated slightly. “I’ll decide then. I just have a feeling this trip won’t be peaceful.”

He did not mention Zhu Erniang’s commission, though it would certainly affect Mount Xu.

He was a man who kept his word. Secrets meant to be kept would be kept.

Hearing this, Li Qingge’s gaze shifted subtly.

He Lingchuan still had things on his mind. “Right, how are my subordinates?”

At that, Li Qingge sobered. “Ah, I heard that after the Han River battle, the wolf monster disappeared. Afterward, it was... hard to find.”

He Lingchuan waved a hand. “So it didn’t die.”

He could still feel that the immortal pet contract he had signed with Lu Xin remained intact. If anything, he had been more worried about Ling Guang.

“Oh, right, your medicine ape has already returned to Dunyu, and I’ve invited it to Songyang Mansion.”

He Lingchuan was overjoyed. He rose and offered her a solemn toast. “Thank you for taking it in.”

Li Qingge then told him that during the Han River battle, Ling Guang had been hiding in a tree. When the flood surged south, it had no choice but to retreat west, never getting the chance to look for He Lingchuan. It was only after the waters receded and the fighting ended that it heard that He Lingchuan had been swept away by the flood.

With a deluge of that magnitude, churning with endless debris, anyone who fell in would be lucky to survive unless they were a god or an immortal.

Ling Guang searched the riverbanks with the Xia Province troops for half a month without success. Dejected, it finally returned to Dunyu with the army.

But once back, an awkward problem arose. Its employer was missing, presumed dead, and the employment contract dissolved on its own. The governor-general’s residence did not need a pill master, and a monthly salary of fifteen taels was rather steep. Ling Guang found itself with nowhere to go.

Somehow, Li Qingge had heard of this and decided to hire it. Songyang Mansion happened to need an experienced pill master.

“That little ape thought you’d been killed by its bad luck,” Li Qingge laughed. “It was depressed for days, swearing it wouldn’t harm anyone ever again. It’s staying at my mansion, but it hasn’t signed an employment contract.”

“It thinks it brought death upon me?” He Lingchuan burst out laughing. “With that bit of cultivation? It really thinks highly of itself.”

“Besides that, four or five of your subordinates, including Shan Youjun, survived and returned to Dunyu. With your whereabouts unknown, they were absorbed into the governor-general’s service. I think there was also a young man surnamed Sun.”

“Only four or five?” Before the Han River battle, he had taken more than ten personal mounted troops to the field.

“Yes, and your subordinate Jiao Tai is gone as well.”

He Lingchuan fell silent.

He had rescued Jiao Tai from the Dunyu prison, only for the man to survive less than a hundred days more.

Li Qingge had not stayed long in Xia Province, yet she was already astonishingly well-informed about Dunyu’s affairs. “That capable steward, Ding Zuodong, is temporarily working under Madame Ying.”

He Lingchuan nodded. None of this surprised him. With the eldest son swept away by the flood and likely dead, what was strange about He Chunhua inheriting his assets and taking in his people?

Li Qingge continued, “You said that greater monster Zhu Erniang gave you some spider silk she produced herself?”

“Yes.” He Lingchuan’s heart thumped as he remembered that she was the lord of Songyang Mansion and a true authority in craftsmanship. He quickly took out the cloud brocade and spider fangs from his storage ring.

Li Qingge held the cloud brocade up for careful inspection, even igniting a small wisp of true fire to test it. Only then did she sigh and say, “Young Master He truly is remarkable. Everything you take out is of this caliber.”

From the broken saber, to Sun Fuping’s violet-gold pestle, to the cloud brocade personally crafted by the ancient greater monster Zhu Erniang, the treasures that He Lingchuan produced were things even Yuan’s nobles could scarcely hope to touch. Her investment in him now seemed poised for even richer returns.

He Lingchuan, of course, was not about to say something like “If you like it, just take it” to please a beauty. After a moment’s thought, he removed the grappling hook from his sleeve arrow mechanism and set it on the table. “Grandmaster Li Fubo’s grappling hook works wonderfully, but I’d like to separate it from the sleeve arrow mechanism.” Back at the Han River, I fell into the water partly because I lacked a grappling hook. “Also, can spider silk be woven into the cord?”

“Leave it to me.” Li Qingge agreed without hesitation. “Your cord is already very sturdy. Add a greater monster’s spider silk, and I doubt anything could tear it apart.”

“That would be perfect.” He Lingchuan then took out another bolt of cloud brocade. “Let this one be your payment. How about it?”

He could not very well take advantage of her for free.

Mutual benefit was the only way for a business to last.

“For such a small bit of handiwork, Young Master is truly generous.” Despite her words, Li Qingge accepted the cloud brocade without the slightest hesitation, then picked up the two venomous fangs. “These would be perfect for forging a pair of short blades. They naturally have poison, and they’ve even got built-in blood grooves.”

“Then I’ll have to trouble you, Mansion Lord.” He planned to leave them for his clone to use.

“It’ll take at most three days,” Li Qingge said. From that alone, He Lingchuan knew her skill was no weaker than Li Fubo’s.

“Many thanks, Your Lordship.”

“If they’re not satisfactory, let me know right away. We can always improve them.”

He Lingchuan sighed. “I’m no longer the Young Master He of old. With Your Lordship being so generous, how am I to repay you?”

Half of it was a joke; the other half, a probe.

In the past, Songyang Mansion’s courtesy toward him could be explained as respect for He Chunhua’s standing. After all, the Governor-General of Xia Province wielded real power, and anyone wanting to do business there had to pay their respects to the local authority.

But now He Lingchuan stood alone in Beijia, without rank or influence. Why, then, was Li Qingge still offering him so many conveniences?

Opportunism was human nature, especially for merchants.

Faced with her goodwill, he found himself more wary than flattered.

Li Qingge smiled and said, “You helped connect me with Fushan Yue, making the Crown Prince of the State of Chiyan owe me a substantial favor. I should be thanking you instead. Doing business in the State of Chiyan isn’t nearly as easy as in the State of Baoshu. On the flip side, as long as Fushan Yue opens his mouth on my behalf, wealth will roll in, and competition will shrink by more than half. Tell me, shouldn’t I thank you?”

He Lingchuan laughed aloud. “So I wasn’t freeloading after all? Very well, I’ll accept without further ceremony.”

“Young Master He is far too formal.” Li Qingge covered her mouth as she yawned lightly. “Alright. We still have to travel tomorrow. I need to rest.”

He Lingchuan rose at once. “Sleep well. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Li Qingge shot him a smiling glance, her slender waist swaying gracefully as she left the private room first.

When He Lingchuan returned to his own room, he found that rain had begun to fall at some point, pattering softly outside.

* * *

By the hour of the ox[1], the rain had stopped, and the air was filled with the scent of grass and damp earth.

Before dawn, the cliff ram ambled out of the town, wandering into the outskirts to graze.

Grass blades heavy with morning dew were the tastiest, though the wild summer growth was already less sweet than in spring. The cliff ram wandered to the base of a tree to pick at fresh and tender mushrooms just pushing up through the soil.

Each night, He Lingchuan let it roam freely, so now it was little different from an ordinary wild ram monster.

It was eating happily, unaware that, a hundred paces away, two pairs of eyes were watching it from behind a thicket, whispering to each other.

“Is that a wandering monster?”

“Obviously.”

“You’re sure?” the first speaker murmured. “Let’s not cause trouble again.”

“Nonsense. That’s a white-striped cliff ram. You only see those in the State of Baoshu. If it’s here alone, it must be a stray wild monster.”

“It’s close to the town. Maybe it came out from there.” The first man still hesitated. “The higher-ups only allow us to catch newly born monsters spawned by imperial nectar...”

“They’ve also given us a monthly quota to turn in,” his companion cut in. “This month, we even have to deliver thirty extra cores. What choice do we have?”

“It’d make a fine mount. It’s kind of a waste to refine it.”

“If we don’t catch it, we won’t meet the quota!”

The two men produced a bundle of dark red grass from who knew where and circled the slope, scattering it evenly.

The grass gave off a faint fragrance. As the cliff ram ate, it drifted closer, then curled its tongue and began munching on the red grass.

This plant was called sweet red grass. It had mild hallucinogenic properties, making whoever ate it feel happier and happier, more and more addicted, until they felt light as a fairy, unaware of their surroundings. It was also known as goat-and-deer bliss grass.

1. 1–3 A.M. ☜