Where Immortals Once Walked

“Big fish eat little fish. Small and medium-sized gangs like the Qiuhua Gang will probably disappear before long.”

Skinny asked, “What do you have in mind?”

He Lingchuan raised two fingers. “First, force the West Ji Puppet Army to declare war on Qianjin Stockade as soon as possible. Second, make sure that the Qianjin Stockade wins.”

Skinny did not understand. “What about the small and medium-sized gangs?”

“They’re expendable. They’ll disappear whether we interfere or not.” He Lingchuan thought for a moment. “These large gangs have all divided the trade route into their own territories, haven’t they?”

“Yup.” The Longchuan Trade Route was extensive, and only the largest gangs had the right to claim their own hunting grounds. “When the West Ji Puppet Army absorbed members from other gangs, they took over their territories as well. Qianjin Stockade and the Qiuhua Gang are extremely unhappy about it. That’s one of the main sources of the conflict.”

“How large is their territory?”

“From Jixin Pavilion southward, all the way to Turbid Dragon Ridge.”

“That much?” He Lingchuan was somewhat surprised. “No wonder Qianjin Stockade is furious. Does it include the Azure Wolf Post Station where we’re sitting now?”

“Yes. You and I are both sitting inside the West Ji Puppet Army’s hunting grounds.”

The two of them laughed.

“Excellent. From now on, Yuheng City’s army will concentrate its patrols throughout the West Ji Puppet Army’s territory and do everything possible to ensure they gain nothing at all.”

This was probably one of the most effective ways to intensify the conflicts within Longchuan.

“By the way, has anything changed regarding the information you gave me earlier?”

“Nope.” Skinny pointed toward the ground beneath them. “I overheard their plan. It’s happening today, right here.”

He Lingchuan nodded. “Good.”

Skinny changed the subject. “I heard Yuheng City lets soldiers exchange military merit now?”

“That’s right. The exchange office is called the Happy Grove. Commander Xiao planned it while he was still in Yuheng City, though it was only completed two months ago.”

“...Who chose that name?” It sounded like the name of a disreputable establishment.

He Lingchuan smiled brightly. “I did.”

Ms. Sun had spat at him when she first heard it too.

“Excellent!” Ignoring the lamb tendon wedged between his teeth, Skinny immediately raised a thumb. “Fresh and refined!”

“Who wouldn’t be happy while claiming rewards for military merit?” He Lingchuan clicked his tongue. “You should see those raw recruits when they’re making exchanges. They howl at the top of their lungs, wanting to redeem this and trade for that.”

They reminded him of his younger self.

Yuheng City had adopted Panlong City’s system. Military merit could be exchanged for cultivation techniques, combat techniques, weapons, and armor. It could also be traded for all manner of rare and unusual objects, or even converted directly into money and grain.

When the new army’s soldiers first saw the long list of available rewards, their eyes practically turned green, and their breathing grew heavy.

“The fact that the difficult campaign against the bandits along the Longchuan Trade Route has continued progressing is largely thanks to that system.”

In the soldiers’ eyes, bandits were practically synonymous with military merit. Only by suppressing more bandits could they obtain the equipment they wanted sooner.

Otherwise, once the bandit problem was finally resolved and the West Ji region became peaceful, who knew how long they would have to wait before another opportunity to earn military merit appeared?

It was just like the Panlong City army now. Aside from fighting major battles, completing ordinary missions made it extremely difficult to accumulate merit quickly.

At this point, He Lingchuan asked Skinny, “Can you gain access to the water bandits’ channels for disposing of stolen goods?”

Skinny shook his head and answered honestly, “No. I only joined recently, so they don’t trust me enough yet. But I’ve heard the higher-ups mention Bantou Town several times. It seems they regularly ship goods there.”

Bantou Town? He Lingchuan thought about it. That’s actually quite close to Yuheng City. “You can at least get near the stolen goods themselves, can’t you?”

“Of course.”

At that, He Lingchuan took out a transparent vial no larger than the tip of a finger and pushed it toward Skinny.

Skinny held it up to the light. Aside from several white specks resembling sesame seeds, the vial seemed empty. Looking more carefully, however, he realized they were not sesame seeds. They were rounder and slightly translucent.

“What are these?”

They looked vaguely familiar, though he could not immediately remember where he had seen them.

“Brood-guarding bee eggs.”

“No wonder they look familiar.” Skinny put the vial away. “How do you plan to use them?”

Brood-guarding bees were native to the Panlong Wasteland. To protect their offspring, the parent bees would even dare to challenge wild beasts such as bears, tigers, and wolves.

“Hide these brood-guarding bee eggs among the stolen goods.” He Lingchuan smiled. “I have the queen bee. Wherever they’re transported, I should be able to track them.”

In later generations, Songyang Mansion had used the brood-guarding bees’ unique traits to create tracking compasses.

He Lingchuan lacked that level of craftsmanship, but he had ordered people to bring live brood-guarding bees back from Panlong City. They could achieve much the same effect.

Understanding dawned on Skinny. He raised his thumb. “Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!”

In the end, physical tracking methods were still the most dependable.

“If we destroy their channels for selling stolen goods, they won’t be able to turn their loot into money.”

He Lingchuan shook his head. “It isn’t that simple. Longchuan isn’t far from the State of Jintao either. If we block their route on our side, they can simply sell through the other side.”

Skinny did not understand. In that case, is there any point in targeting their distribution channels?

At that moment, a white bird flew over the Azure Wolf Post Station and circled twice overhead.

Skinny immediately lowered his head, allowing the bamboo hat to conceal his face.

Only after the white bird flew away did He Lingchuan look up at its retreating figure. His expression darkened slightly.

“You should head back.”

“Yup.” Skinny rose with a smile. “Thanks for the meal, Boss.”

With that, he turned and left without looking back.

Before long, the rapid clatter of a mount’s hooves sounded outside, quickly fading into the distance.

The thin, dark-skinned young man came over and cleared away Skinny’s cup and chopsticks.

He Lingchuan leisurely finished the remaining skewers, then ordered more than a dozen additional ones, along with another plate of crispy salted peanuts.

He Lingchuan added, “Remember, I want thirty percent fat and seventy percent lean. Use the finest pork belly from a black pig!”

His voice was slightly loud.

People who had drunk too much often failed to notice how loudly they were speaking.

Several tables of customers beside the lotus pond looked over.

The thin, dark-skinned young man froze for a moment, then immediately nodded. “Yes!”

During this time, two more merchant caravans arrived at the post station one after the other. One had more than thirty people, while the other had over sixty. Both groups stopped to drink tea and rest.

Several who found the smell tempting also went to the thin young man and ordered skewers before finding places to sit beside the lake.

He Lingchuan still had his head lowered as he drank when a muscular man in his early forties walked over and asked, “Can I sit here?”

Every other table beside the lake was occupied. Only He Lingchuan’s table still had an empty seat.

He Lingchuan looked up at him. “No. I paid for the whole table.”

The man laughed loudly and sat down anyway.

He had a thick beard, round eyes, and heavy eyebrows. One glance was enough to know he was not someone easy to provoke.

Just then, the fresh, steaming skewers were brought over.

He Lingchuan said displeasedly, “This is my table. You’re not welcome to sit here. Can’t you understand human speech?”

The man immediately raised one foot and planted it on the tabletop with a smack. Mud from the sole nearly fell into the plate of skewers.

“What are you going to do about it?”

Instead of growing angry, He Lingchuan smiled. “Since you no longer want that foot, I can help lighten your load.”

The man roared with laughter. “You?”

At that moment, another large group came clattering into the station grounds.

More than thirty strong, capable men arrived and immediately began watering their horses and drinking some water themselves. Two of them first circled the post station and inspected the surrounding area. Only after confirming that it was safe did they return.

They were patrol guards from Yuheng City, passing by the Azure Wolf Post Station on their route.