Where Immortals Once Walked

“General He is extremely diligent. He spends most of his time either at the palace or in the military camp, and he even takes his meals there,” Qiu Hu said. “It took me some effort to infiltrate the camp.”

He Lingchuan gave him a thumbs-up.

A military camp was nothing like an ordinary place. The slightest mistake could expose him.

“What about the small portion of his time he didn’t spend there?”

“The day before yesterday, he spent the entire day inspecting supplies. At dusk, he suddenly left the camp without any guards and took Steward Wu’s carriage to Sitong Town.” Qiu Hu added, “The carriage was plain and gray, no different from the ones used by ordinary carriage stations. It didn’t even bear your family crest. Only Steward Wu and the driver were aboard.”

“Sitong Town?” He Lingchuan had no impression of the place whatsoever.

As they spoke, the dishes arrived.

He had ordered either dishes that were quick to prepare or ones that had been partially prepared beforehand, so the kitchen brought them out quickly.

“Leave the capital through the western gate and travel another seven and a half kilometers. It’s a town of fewer than two thousand people, but its farmland is very productive.” The duck braised in sesame oil with old ginger smelled so fragrant that Qiu Hu swallowed instinctively. “Your family owns a large estate in Sitong Town. There were probably only a dozen or so people there by dusk.”

Many of the farm’s permanent and temporary workers were locals from the town. Once their workday ended, they went home for dinner, leaving only a few people behind to guard the gates and tend the grounds.

“My father is so busy that he can hardly breathe, yet he still made time to visit a country estate?” He Lingchuan scratched his head and sucked the meat from a stir-fried river snail.

When He Chunhua had returned home the previous night, he had even told Madame Ying that he had spent the past several days entirely in the military camp and had been unable to get away for even a moment.

He had even lied to the woman who shared his bed.

As the head of the household and commander of the army, there was nothing strange about He Chunhua being busy. But why would he make a special trip to a rural estate at such a critical time?

“I slipped inside to take a look. General He first sat down in the main residence, while Steward Wu went straight around to the rear and entered the kitchen. It was an extremely large kitchen, probably meant for preparing meals for more than a hundred people.” Qiu Hu paused. “Steward Wu went outside and gave a few instructions. Soon afterward, someone led a cow, a sheep, and a pig into the kitchen.”

He Lingchuan could not help but interrupt, “Alive?”

“All three were alive and walking on their own,” Qiu Hu recalled. “After that, Steward Wu dismissed everyone and told them to finish work for the day. Once they had all left, he invited General He into the kitchen, shut the doors and windows tightly, and even used strips of paper to seal the cracks. Then, he stood guard outside. There may also have been a barrier inside, because the fat pig’s grunting suddenly stopped,” he continued. “I didn’t approach. At that moment, I suddenly felt a warning in my heart, as though something dangerous was inside the kitchen and it would be better not to get too close. So instead, I held my breath, calmed my mind, and concealed my presence.”

He Lingchuan nodded. “Well done.”

Qiu Hu had a monster spirit accompanying him and possessed the keen instincts of a wild beast. If he said something dangerous was inside the building, then there was most likely something extraordinary there.

“About half an hour later, the kitchen door opened again, and a cloud of gray smoke poured out. The smell of fire and scorched wood was extremely strong, as if the kitchen had caught fire. Had anyone been nearby, the farmhands probably would have come running with buckets of water.”

“General He coughed several times after coming out and ordered Steward Wu to open the windows as well. I took the opportunity to glance inside. The kitchen was completely empty.”

“What happened to the pig, cow, and sheep?” They had vanished into thin air?

“They were gone,” Qiu Hu said. “Before General He crossed the estate and boarded the carriage, he exchanged a few words with Steward Wu. The first thing he said was, ‘I’ll leave the family in the rear in your care.’ Steward Wu agreed, then mentioned that Shan Youjun also wished to accompany you on the campaign. General He immediately replied, ‘Make him stay. He should remain with Chuan’er. He was Chuan’er’s subordinate to begin with.’ Then he gave a couple of cold laughs and said that military merit was difficult to earn, so naturally everyone wanted to fight over it.”

He Lingchuan fell silent.

In Yuan’s current state, the fastest and best path to accomplishment and promotion was to go to war and earn military merit.

So long as a person could win, they would rise through the ranks like a rocket.

However, anyone hoping to do so still had to follow the right commander. For instance, if one accompanied the General of Lasting Peace south to suppress the rebellion, the chances of victory were quite high. It was no wonder Shan Youjun had been tempted. He now had a wife and household of his own, so naturally, he wanted to secure a promising future.

“After that, General He boarded the carriage and returned to the military camp. I didn’t follow him inside. Instead, I turned around and followed Steward Wu. But Steward Wu merely boarded another carriage and soon returned to the He Residence.”

He Lingchuan nodded, pleased.

His original order had been to keep a close watch on He Chunhua, yet Qiu Hu had not carried it out rigidly.

This fellow knows how to think on his feet. After considering it for a moment, He Lingchuan asked, “In your opinion, what was my father doing inside that building?”

He’s asking for my opinion? Qiu Hu hesitated before replying, “There is no concrete evidence, so I do not dare say.”

Both men were intelligent. He Lingchuan understood at once.

He grunted softly.

The He Family had nearly been exterminated years ago, and He Chunhua himself had always been exceptionally cautious. Naturally, he would never leave behind an obvious flaw for someone else to seize.

Even if Qiu Hu suspected him of performing a rite of divine recompense, there was no proof, so he could not say it aloud.

Did leading several live animals into a kitchen and closing the door count as evidence?

A kitchen was a place where both living and butchered animals entered all the time.

Did shutting the doors and burning incense count as evidence? What a joke. Countless elderly women in the capital did the same thing every day.

Why had the live animals disappeared without a trace? What business was that of anyone else? Perhaps He Chunhua had simply placed them inside his storage ring.

Of course, from the moment He Lingchuan had learned that a mark of Naluotian had been planted inside his mind, he had suspected that He Chunhua had performed a rite of divine recompense.

He was not investigating a criminal case. Whether the evidence was absolutely conclusive did not matter greatly to him.

What Qiu Hu had witnessed two nights earlier had essentially confirmed his deduction.

The real question was, when had He Chunhua begun making offerings to Naluotian?

And had the He Family’s near extermination been connected to it?

“Alright. I understand. Eat.”

Now that the serious business was finished and the young master had given permission, Qiu Hu finally reached out. He seized the sesame-oil duck with old ginger that he had been eyeing for so long and tore it apart with both hands.

“Young Master, do you have any other tasks for me?”

“That will be all for the time being.” He Lingchuan took a sip of wine. “What comes next is my own affair.”

* * *

It was already deep into the night when Steward Wu finally dragged his exhausted body back to his quarters.

He also lived within the He Residence, in a small detached courtyard with its own gate. It stood less than thirty-three meters west of the courtyard occupied by the He couple, placing him even closer to them than the two He brothers were.

More than ten years ago, He Chunhua had cleared Steward Wu of a false accusation. From that day forward, the latter had served him with unwavering loyalty.

Everyone in the residence knew that Steward Wu was Master He’s most trusted subordinate. Some low-ranking officials who wished to meet He Chunhua even had to beg Steward Wu to arrange an audience for them.

This also meant that Steward Wu was one of the busiest people in the entire residence.

There were only four members of the master’s family, yet the affairs of the estate never seemed to end. Before returning to his courtyard that evening, Steward Wu had even dealt with two servants who had gotten into a fight.

By the time he arrived, the old woman serving him had already warmed the wine and prepared several dishes.

Steward Wu’s favorite meal was radish dipped in Dunyu’s spicy sauce, accompanied by two cups of aged wine and a few peanuts to nibble on. Once he had eaten and drunk his fill, half the exhaustion would leave his body.

The old woman asked, “We have money now. Why do you still eat things like this?”

After they moved from Xia Province to the capital of Yuan, He Chunhua had raised Steward Wu’s salary. It was a reward for his loyalty and years of tireless service.