After the Immortal Disappeared

The Celestial Pit where Wenxian Hall was located was shaped like a kidney bean. The mouth of the pit was ringed with lush green trees, and at its bottom, turquoise water flowed silently. A single beam of light shone down from above, illuminating a round stone in the center of the water.

This was the lecture platform. The unique topography provided the speaker with natural surround-sound amplification.

Tiers of stone paths had been chiseled into the rock walls of the Celestial Pit, serving as both seats for the audience and accessways.

Simple, yet full of charm.

Hee Lingchuan and his companion arrived late, and the audience seats were nearly full. From their vantage point, the sight of the ten-plus tiers of pathways on the circular cliff face, all bustling with people, was spectacular.

From boys of eleven or twelve to men in their fifties and sixties, every face showed a thirst for knowledge.

"So many people!" ’If someone wasn’t careful or got pushed, they could fall right into the deep pool at the bottom of the pit.’

Hu Min whispered to Hee Lingchuan, "This is nothing. You should have seen it when the Red General held a lecture. Now *that* was a full house. People were squeezing two to a seat on the cliff walls. Some would even hang in mid-air just to listen, and the pool below would be filled with boats!"

Hee Lingchuan’s eyes lit up. "The Red General gives lectures too?"

"Not on a regular schedule. It’s a matter of luck," Hu Min said regretfully. "The last time the Red General lectured, I was out on duty and missed it."

Hee Lingchuan suddenly remembered something.

"By the way, have any famous masters ever lectured on the principles of hexagram divination?" ’If so, I could find a master to ask in private. It would have to be better than relying on that undependable Old Turtle Demon, right?’

Hu Min looked blank. "I don’t think so?"

"Are you sure?"

"The topic of each lecture is always announced ten days in advance outside the Government Office and the military barracks," Hu Min told him. "I’ve been reading the announcements for a long time, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone lecture on hexagram calculation."

"Forget it." ’How strange.’

As they were speaking, Commander Xiao Maoliang appeared. He stepped onto the large, round stone, clasped his hands behind his back, and said, "To all my colleagues, present and future, good afternoon. I have been entrusted by Commander Zhong to explain the current situation in the Panlong Wasteland and the campaigns our army is currently engaged in..."

To think that Xiao Maoliang, who commanded with such ease on the battlefield, unfazed by life and death, would be so nervous lecturing at Wenxian Hall that he actually stuttered. ’Could this be his first time?’

Hee Lingchuan couldn’t help but smile. However, the content of Xiao Maoliang’s speech was too important. Even though his public speaking skills were subpar, Hee Lingchuan was completely engrossed.

"As you all know, Wei City fell a few months ago, and some of the brothers here today are from there. Now, the Baling Kingdom’s battle line has continued to push eastward, and they began harassing Puxi Gully a month ago..."

...

「Two days later.」

Hee Lingchuan went to visit Sunx Hongye.

The young man’s complexion was already ruddy. Once the poison was purged, all that remained was a flesh wound on his shoulder. The physician at Jinghe Hall had prescribed him five days of medicine, which he was to take home, brew, and consume himself.

Seeing Hee Lingchuan again, his attitude was much warmer than it had been two days prior. He bowed deeply. "Thank you for your care during my illness, Young Master Hee. I am eternally grateful!"

Hee Lingchuan waved it off. "It was the least I could do. You saved my family’s lives."

Sunx Hongye smiled. Since he had been injured at Luming Garden, Hee Lingchuan was the only person who had come to visit him.

He poured Hee Lingchuan a cup of water.

Hee Lingchuan saw that his home was a modest, single-story house. The furniture was old, the windows were small, and the half-courtyard was piled high with unswept snow.

"You live alone?"

Sunx Hongye nodded. "This is my third year since moving from the Northern Realm. The cousin I came to rely on has also passed away."

"What are your plans for the future?" Hee Lingchuan asked him. "Someone from the Hex Family was also at Luming Garden the day before yesterday. They already know you recommended yourself to General Ke."

Sunx Hongye gave a self-deprecating laugh. "Yes, and my carriage broke down on the way down the mountain."

The two events seemed completely unrelated, but he had a quick mind. Having spent the last two days idle in his sickbed, it was easy for him to deduce that Hex Shu had sent someone to tamper with his carriage that day, intending to cause him some trouble on a snowy night.

Hee Lingchuan walked over to the only square table in the room. "I have a problem I’d like to ask Brother Sunx to solve."

"Please, go on."

Hee Lingchuan dipped his finger in his cup and began to draw a map on the tabletop with the water.

"Puxi Gully is located one hundred li west of Dragon City. It has a population of fifty thousand and a force of over two thousand soldiers. The enemy often comes to attack Puxi Gully. Every time they launch a major offensive, Puxi Gully has to send a request to Dragon City for aid." Hee Lingchuan gave a brief explanation. "Over time, the enemy has changed tactics. Now, they only send a few squads to harass the surrounding area. The moment Dragon City’s reinforcements arrive, they quickly retreat. But they harass with high frequency, about six or seven times in a ten-day period. If Dragon City’s reinforcements don’t come, they merge their squads and attack Puxi Gully."

"As a result, the residents of Puxi Gully can’t fish, hunt, farm, or conduct business normally, leading to huge losses. Dragon City is also exhausted from providing support, as a round trip is over two hundred li," Hee Lingchuan said, before asking Sunx Hongye, "Please, Brother Sunx, devise a strategy for Dragon City."

"The enemy is using low-intensity, high-frequency attacks." Sunx Hongye pointed to a blank area on the tabletop map. "Can’t Dragon City establish a stronghold or an Auxiliary City near Puxi Gully and station troops there?"

Hee Lingchuan shook his head. "Aside from Puxi Gully itself, this hundred-li stretch of wasteland is a flat plain with no defensible terrain. Worst of all, there’s no water source."

Without water, you can’t build a stronghold or station troops.

Now Sunx Hongye became interested. "In that case, what about Dragon City stationing troops directly in Puxi Gully?"

’The name Puxi Gully sounds a bit familiar,’ he thought, but couldn’t quite place it.

"We’ve already sent an additional thousand men and a great deal of grain. That part of the wasteland is barren and water is precious. It can’t support any more troops."

This time, Sunx Hongye thought for longer before asking, "Then how far is the enemy’s stronghold from Puxi Gully?"

"Just thirty li west of Puxi Gully, much closer than Dragon City." Fortunately, Hee Lingchuan had paid close attention during the lecture, so he could answer smoothly. "Several months ago, Wei City was captured by the enemy and became their bridgehead for advancing east. That’s how Puxi Gully became the front line."

Deploying troops from Wei City was a round trip of no more than sixty li, which could be covered on horseback in less than a double-hour. It was, of course, far more convenient than coming from Panlong City.

"What’s the population of this Wei City, and how many troops are stationed there?"

’This kid’s questions are really detailed.’ "When Wei City fell, the civilians fled to Dragon City with their families. So there are very few civilians left in Wei City; it’s become a military town. The exact number of stationed troops is unknown, but it’s estimated to be between fifteen hundred and three thousand."

"Can’t Puxi Gully and Dragon City negotiate a truce with the enemy?"

"For the time being, that’s not a possibility." ’At least, not in this part of my dream.’

"In other words, the enemy won’t let go of this juicy piece of meat that is Puxi Gully." Sunx Hongye raised a finger. "I have one last question. Does Puxi Gully have any specialty products that are popular elsewhere?"

"It does. Several precious medicinal herbs are unique to the wasteland and can be refined into potent restorative elixirs. Puxi Gully also produces high-purity saltpeter, which the state needs for cannons and which wealthy families and merchants buy to make ice. So, merchant caravans are still willing to risk crossing the wasteland."

Having asked all his questions, Sunx Hongye said, "Alright. In that case, I have two strategies."

"The lesser strategy can solve the immediate problem. One success will be enough to make the enemy quiet down for a while."

"Go on."

"Disguise soldiers as a merchant caravan, or set up an ambush using a caravan as bait. Lure the enemy in to plunder, then strike them hard," Sunx Hongye said. "You said Wei City’s army is less than three thousand strong. A single ambush would seriously damage their fighting strength and force them to lay low for a long time. That would buy Puxi Gully time to rest and recover."

"Mm, a conventional tactic." Hee Lingchuan had heard several audience members at Wenxian Hall suggest this very plan, so he wasn’t surprised. "And the superior strategy?"

"There’s an old saying: ’One can be a thief for a thousand days, but one can’t guard against a thief for a thousand days.’ Passive defense is always inferior. The best solution is to succeed in one fell swoop, retake Wei City, and remove this thorn in our side to eliminate future trouble."

"How would we do that?"

"Then you offer ’tribute’ to the enemy several times. Let them raid a few times and return with their bowls overflowing, just to lower their guard. To deceive the enemy, you could even stage a few more skirmishes, make them look intense. Afterward, spread a rumor that Puxi Gully is organizing a large-scale caravan for export and has requested a special escort from Dragon City’s army." Sunx Hongye shrugged. "The enemy must have spies planted in Puxi Gully, right?"

"This time, the cargo must be valuable, and the escorting army must be at least a thousand strong. The bigger and more ostentatious, the better."

Hee Lingchuan understood. "Lure the snake out of its hole?"

"Exactly. To swallow this shipment, the enemy would need to dispatch at least two thousand elite soldiers to have any confidence of success. At that point, Wei City would only have a few hundred troops left, leaving its defenses empty. As long as Dragon City launches a surprise attack with a special force, there’s a high chance of taking it!"

"It doesn’t sound difficult," Hee Lingchuan said with a smile. "But what if the surprise attack fails? Not only would we fail to take Wei City, but the entire caravan acting as bait would likely be swallowed by the enemy. That would be a classic case of trying to steal the chicken only to lose the rice for bait."

"Victory and defeat hang by a thread. Whether it’s a brilliant plan or a foolish move is only determined by the outcome." Sunx Hongye also smiled. "When leading troops into battle, who can claim they are guaranteed to win and never lose?"

He added, "I’m only providing a strategic outline. The specific implementation details for confusing, disrupting, and killing the enemy must be worked out by the Main General. A battle is a delicate thing where one move affects the whole; I cannot predict the unexpected."

Hee Lingchuan nodded. "Whether it succeeds or not, the unit acting as bait will have a hard fight ahead of them."

Sunx Hongye’s expression was calm. "Of course. When is war ever without a price?"

Hee Lingchuan looked at him and was reminded of the boy’s advice to General Ke: to take Baoo Pass and blow up Qing Dike. That, too, was a strategy that would cost a great deal of farmland, homes, and human lives.

In other words, it was a plan that defied the harmony of the heavens.

Sunx Hongye continued, "I am only responsible for devising the plan. As for weighing the pros and cons and deciding whether to act on it, that is the duty of the commander-in-chief."

Hee Lingchuan grunted in agreement. "Well said."

He glanced again at Sunx Hongye’s bare-walled home and finally made his offer. "We will be departing for Xiazhou in two double-hours. Brother Sunx, come with me. I will treat you with the respect due an advisor."

Sunx Hongye was not surprised. "Do my strategies suit Young Master Hee’s tastes?"

While recovering for the past two days, he had also heard the rumors in town: the new Governor of Xiazhou was posting Recruitment Commands everywhere, looking to hire capable people to go to Xiazhou.

"There’s no such thing as a perfect solution, and warfare requires taking risks. Your plans are very good." Hee Lingchuan smiled faintly. "If you stay in Shihuan, you’ll either be pushed aside by petty people or waste your years away in obscurity. In Xiazhou, you will have a place to put your talents to use."