Where Immortals Once Walked

Dou Wuxing, however, was quiet and sparing with words. Over the course of a drinking session that lasted more than two hours, it would already be a rather generous estimate if he were counted to have spoken thirty sentences. And of those, twenty were about farming and sericulture.

Yes. He had studied all kinds of plants in depth, especially crops, soil, earth qi, and climate.

He also told He Lingchuan that Lingxu City would see several rounds of “curtain-call rain” soon, because once these few rounds of freezing rain ended, central and northern Beijia would officially enter winter. After that, the world would belong to snow.

He Lingchuan listened especially carefully. “You mean all of central and northern Beijia will have rain?”

“Yes, from east to west.” Rarely did an outsider show willingness to listen to such things, so Dou Wuxing’s spirits rose. “It will start from northern Chiyan and push all the way toward the State of Xuluo.”

“Starting from Lingxu?”

“No, no. It begins in the State of E’Ling, passes through Lingxu City, and then continues west.”

“I see. Can it arrive early or late?” He Lingchuan rubbed his chin. Back in his original world, this would be called a rainband. Its coming and going had seasons and patterns.

“Of course.” Dou Wuxing smiled. “But it won’t be off by too much. Once it starts raining in Lingxu City, it should soon be about the same for the cities farther west. They won’t be separated by more than a few days.”

He Lingchuan gave a long “oh.” To think he could unexpectedly pick up important information at a drinking table. His luck really was quite good.

After a few cups of wine, everyone’s tongues loosened.

He Lingchuan had a great reputation and an open, straightforward manner, so others were happy to befriend him. He took the opportunity to ask, “Pardon the question, but I heard Beijia’s eastern front is currently at war with the State of Mou. Are things here not being made difficult for the two of you?”

As far as he knew, whenever Yuan went to war with other states, it expelled all people from the opposing side from its territory. Even some foreign affairs personnel were included, and those who remained were placed under strict supervision.

The Dou brothers exchanged a glance, then shook their heads. “Lingxu City is known for being open-minded. We are only students, and we don’t serve in any key institution, so we aren’t restricted. As long as we don’t wander around core areas, it’s unlikely for anyone to come up and question us.”

Dou Wuxing then said, “However, now that the two states are on bad terms, if we want to seek office in Lingxu City, it will likely be much harder than before. I’m afraid we won’t even pass the first stage of background screening.”

Dou Wenguan also sighed. “My younger brother prepared for many years for this trip to Lingxu City. It wasn’t easy for him to come here to study, but who would have known war would begin first? Ah, the world is hard to predict.”

Dou Wuxing had originally wanted to enter government service in Lingxu City, find work, and establish a foothold here. Who would have thought the difficulty would suddenly rise severalfold?

With a single movement from a major state, the fate of a minor person could be rewritten at once. That was what it meant when they said all things were fate, and not a single scrap was left to man.

He Lingchuan kindly offered a few words of comfort.

He had done his homework and knew that the State of Mou did not border Beijia. Between them lay the vast Earth Sea, as well as two small states.

Its territory was twice as large as Yuan’s, and its resources were rather abundant. Over the past few decades, it had suffered few disasters or calamities, so logically, it should have been quite wealthy. Unfortunately, several wars had occurred one after another.

Like Yuan, Mou also strictly forbade rites of divine recompense, and Daoist sects stood everywhere there. East of the Earth Sea, it was the state with the largest number of Daoist sects.

Beijia and Mou had long detested the sight of each other, but there were plenty of states that worshiped monarchs and gods. Beijia should not have been ready to start throwing punches over this alone.

The Dou brothers told him that the two states had actually been competing with each other all along.

Two small states stood between Beijia and Mou: the States of Peng and Ouzeng.

Peng was firmly controlled by Beijia, while Ouzeng was very close to Mou.

These two small states bordered each other, and they held a deep blood feud. Peng had once captured Ouzeng’s ruler and made him a prisoner, humiliating him in every way possible. As retaliation, Ouzeng slaughtered 200,000 Peng civilians in one sweep...

Even if such a thing had happened in Beijia or Yuan, it would still have been shocking, let alone in tiny little states like those.

When He Lingchuan heard this, he could not help but click his tongue. “These small states are even more ruthless than the greater powers.”

“Who says they aren’t?” Dou Wenguan sighed.

Those two small states fought like two furious black-eyed roosters. Out of every ten years, they spent at least six at war, while the remaining years were spent preparing for war. You won today, I win tomorrow, and without much effort, both Beijia and the Mou were dragged in as well.

Neither state could sit back and watch its little brother be bullied. Back and forth it went, until what began as guidance from outside the field turned into both sides personally entering the fray.

Many more things happened in between, causing relations between the two states to deteriorate rapidly. The State of Mou also began openly challenging Beijia. However, until half a year ago, the battlefield had remained within the two small states. Beijia and the State of Mou were testing each other on someone else’s land.

Hearing this, He Lingchuan knew things had gone badly. “And then?”

“Two towns behind the western border of the State of Mou were attacked, and more than 3,000 townspeople were slaughtered. The slaughter was carried out by a Beijia army. The cause was that the beloved son of a major general from the State of Shanyu had been killed on the battlefield, so he led men around behind enemy lines to take revenge.” Dou Wenguan shook his head. “After that, the war escalated.”

Beijia had torn off the mask, stopped pretending, and joined the fight personally.

He Lingchuan remembered that just one month earlier, General Ling had led troops to the eastern battlefield.

After thinking for a moment, he asked, “Beijia hasn’t fought a war in some years, right?”

Gao Jilin pondered. “At most, there have been some scattered local conflicts. As for a proper war like this one against Mou, it’s been at least...”

“Forty years,” Du Shan said, taking over. “Beijia hasn’t fought a hard battle like this in at least forty years. By contrast, Mou only ended a long war five years ago. I hear it has famous generals in abundance, and its army is brave and skilled in battle.”

Jiang Tao was somewhat unconvinced. “Are you saying Beijia can’t defeat Mou?”

“War involves too many factors. Besides, we outsiders don’t know the inside details, so there’s no way to judge. Therefore, I won’t debate you on this.” Du Shan did not even look at him. “I only believe that Beijia won’t find it so easy to crush Mou.”

He Lingchuan thought for a while. “Beijia hasn’t fought a war in decades, yet now it has suddenly gone to war with Mou. I don’t know about you, but I find it strange.”

“They may not have fought before, but friction and conflict were never scarce.” Du Shan took a sip of wine. “Besides, great wars often begin over small matters.”

Just then, a bird of prey suddenly swooped in through the window.

Before anyone could react, it folded its wings and landed on the back of He Lingchuan’s chair, crying out clearly, “Lord Special Envoy, His Highness requests that you hurry to the Spring Palace at once!”

The goshawk had arrived. He Lingchuan put down his wine cup and asked, “What happened?”

“Deputy Cloud Envoy Bai has returned to the city and gone straight to the Spring Palace to arrest people!”

These words hit the table like falling stones. Everyone who heard them was shaken, and all drew out a long “ah.” There was too much information contained in that single sentence. He Lingchuan’s first thought was,

so the storm’s finally arrived.

He immediately stood and said solemnly to his friends, “It seems that business has called. I must take my leave. May we meet again another day!”

Gao Jilin and the others quickly told him to go handle his work.

He Lingchuan tossed down an ingot of silver, left the door, and jumped onto the cliff ram. The goshawk spread its wings and flew onto one of the cliff ram’s large horns, hitching a free ride.

That was its exclusive seat, and it was very used to it.

One man, one ram, and one goshawk vanished in the blink of an eye.

Du Shan and the others immediately urged their companions outside too. “Quick, quick. The Spring Palace isn’t far from here. Let’s go watch the excitement!”

* * *

From the tavern to Spring Palace, the cliff ram needed a quarter of an hour. That was just enough for He Lingchuan to ask what had happened.

The distance from Lingxu City to Yangshui was neither particularly near nor particularly far, but Bai Ziqi had made the round trip in only a few days. That was truly swift and decisive. Who knew how many fine horses he had run to death?

The goshawk was already He Lingchuan’s old partner, and it explained everything clearly in a few sentences.

Bai Ziqi had returned to the city around two hours ago.

The first thing he did upon reaching Lingxu City was not return to the Heavenly Palace to report as convention dictated. Instead, carrying a heavenly god’s decree and leading guards from the Heavenly Palace, he charged straight to the Spring Palace to arrest people!

He Lingchuan was startled when he heard this.

Clearly, Bai Ziqi had successfully caught Kong Jiaxiang, an important witness from Qingfu Temple, in Yangshui. On the way back to the city, he had interrogated the Spring Palace personnel involved in the case. The moment he arrived in Lingxu City, he moved without stopping to make arrests!

Why was he in such a hurry that he would not even return to his own headquarters first? Was he afraid that reporting up layer by layer would waste time and allow someone to warn the Spring Palace?

A long night bred many dreams. It seemed Bai Ziqi had done an excellent job maintaining secrecy on this trip south. His opponents had no idea he had even gone to Yangshui.

Now that he had finally seized this slight initiative, it was only natural that he could not allow himself to lose it.

Moreover, He Lingchuan also noticed that Bai Ziqi had mobilized the Heavenly Palace guards rather than the Tongxin Guard. Clearly, mobilizing the Tongxin Guard in the southern city would have been both more convenient and more proper.

Bai Ziqi was such a meticulous and cautious person. How could he possibly commit such a low-level error?

No matter how he looked at it, the Heavenly Palace guards were obviously his own people. They were easier to command and more reassuring to use.

“And then?”

“The Spring Palace locked down its gates and refused to let them enter,” the goshawk said. “After that, His Highness sent me to invite you over. I don’t know what happened later.”

Bai Ziqi held a divine decree in his hands, yet the Spring Palace dared to bar him outside? “What reason did the Spring Palace use to stop him from entering?”

“The Spring Palace disciples said that the state preceptor was currently taming a dangerous divine artifact, and outsiders who barged in might be caught in the fallout.”

He Lingchuan clapped lightly, finding it interesting. The excuse was very insincere. Clearly, Bai Ziqi’s surprise attack had caught the Spring Palace off guard.

The quarter-hour journey passed in the blink of an eye.

This was He Lingchuan’s first time drawing near the Spring Palace. It was a complex of buildings, ancient in style and charm, halfway up the mountain. At a glance, it did not differ much from a typical manor belonging to a great clan or family, except that there were more towering pagodas and the outer walls were much thicker.

He Lingchuan was stopped halfway up the mountain. Chevaux-de-frise had already been set up there as roadblocks. Heavenly Palace guards in bright armor stood on the mountain path holding polearms, and even a fool would know that idle people were not allowed to approach.

However, a dense crowd had gathered in front of the barricade, most of them onlookers who did not understand the situation.

To these onlookers, the Heavenly Palace and the Spring Palace were among the most important powers in Lingxu City, so they were very much curious as to why they had suddenly started tearing at each other today.

He Lingchuan knew there had to be hidden eyes and ears.

He even thought that, for such a historic moment, Xi Yunhe might be hiding in some nearby corner, secretly watching.

He and his attendants showed their waist tokens, and the Heavenly Palace guards let them through.

Chiyan had provided the most important lead, so Bai Ziqi had to show the Crown Prince of Chiyan at least some face.

The mountain pavilion before the Spring Palace’s main gate had already been occupied, with several tents set up as well.

When He Lingchuan arrived, Fushan Yue happened to be walking out together with Bai Ziqi. Seeing him, Fushan Yue smiled and said, “He Xiao, come witness Spring Palace’s stubborn resistance!”

He Lingchuan asked curiously, “What’s the situation now?”

Bai Ziqi jerked his chin toward the front. “The Spring Palace’s gates are tightly shut. Our first assault just ended. Their array is truly difficult to break.”