Where Immortals Once Walked

“Beijia calls itself the strongest state in the world today, and the other states have no objections. The Heavenly Palace, meanwhile, styles itself the heavenly gods’ earthly abode. Even within Lingxu City, it is regarded as sacred ground.” He Chunhua sighed softly. “If Zhang Lianhai went to the Yuan capital to meet the king, His Majesty would still have to receive him warmly.”

Zhang Lianhai himself was not important. What mattered was the power he represented.

Qiu Hu suddenly said, “Wasn’t Lingxu City and the Heavenly Palace thrown into complete chaos less than half a year ago? I heard the casualties numbered at least 100,000, and even now, they still haven’t caught the real culprit.”

“I’ve heard the same.” He Chunhua nodded. “We have no way of knowing what hidden complications were involved, but the Heavenly Palace’s strength is still beyond question.”

He did not know how many mysteries lay behind the upheaval in Lingxu City. However, Beijia’s strength was very real, and the strong deserved sufficient respect. He Chunhua had always been a pragmatist.

Afterward, he and He Lingchuan separately visited the teams sent by the State of Baling and the Jianyang Sect.

The tiny Heishui City now contained representatives from the Heavenly Palace, Baling, the Jianyang Sect, and the Rongshan Sect. Including He Chunhua, that made five separate powers.

The Andong forces outside the city also coveted the Generous Pot.

And that was not even counting the other factions that were probably already making their way through the desert toward the Panlong Ruins.

By this reckoning, the Panlong Desert was unusually lively at the moment.

For that reason, the He father and son did not have to expend much effort to persuade the Baling and Jianyang Sect teams to join the fighting.

The trick to winning over these outside factions was simple. They simply had to demonstrate control over the battlefield.

Everyone only wanted to stand with the winner.

If He Chunhua appeared insufficiently confident, these people might very well switch sides outright and join the Andong forces instead.

After all, they only needed to help whichever side was going to win.

It did not particularly matter who that happened to be.

The He father and son also found time to return to the inn for a brief meeting to discuss tactics against Andong.

“The best approach would be to have these groups attack from the east and draw the Andong forces’ attention, while we take the opportunity to break out through the north gate.” He Chunhua carried a sand table with him, and now set it on the table. “I brought a hunting falcon. It has already flown out several times to scout the enemy. The Andong forces have established their main camp beneath Mount Hulu—”

“Mount Hulu?” He Lingchuan froze. Why does that name sound so familiar?

“Yes, the same Mount Hulu where you fell off the cliff.” He Chunhua moved a finger across the sand table. “The terrain is good, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Any thoughts?”

He Lingchuan’s first remark was, “From what I can see, the Andong army probably isn’t all that strong either.”

“What makes you say that?”

“If they were strong, why wait twenty years before trying to retake Heishui City?” He Lingchuan smiled. “Great Yuan didn’t only start showing weakness in the last couple of years. Andong must have been watching for a long time. It was only after the Panlong Desert changed that they finally made up their minds to attack.”

As far as he was concerned, Andong attacking a Yuan city was basically just two weaklings brawling with each other.

“...” He Chunhua could find no flaw in the logic.

“Andong isn’t strong either. That’s good news for us. With the Heishui City garrison plus the other reinforcements we’ve picked up, as long as we can smash through Andong’s flank forces, there’s a good chance they’ll panic.” He Lingchuan then continued, “But we can’t expect the Heavenly Palace, Baling, and those other teams to truly put their backs into the fight.”

He Chunhua understood that perfectly well. “Right, the moment they have a chance to leave the city, they’ll go without hesitation.”

Their goal was merely to get out of Heishui City.

They had no intention of living and dying alongside it.

“So handing the eastern front directly to them would be unwise.” He Lingchuan pondered for a moment. “I think it’d be better to place them within the southern force.”

“It would be even better if we send them to raid the enemy rear.” He Chunhua pointed to Mount Hulu on the sand table. “The Andong troops came a long way with light cavalry and minimal baggage. Harvest season hasn’t arrived yet, so most of their food has to be transported down from the north.”

“Burn their grain, and they won’t be able to stay here long. They’ll have no choice but to retreat north.” He Lingchuan immediately understood his father’s plan. “If they can’t take Heishui City, and there’s nothing but desert to the north, then without food, they’ll have to withdraw.”

“Exactly.” He Chunhua looked at his eldest son, concealing the complicated emotions in his heart.

How could his Chuan’er now understand one thing and infer three more, with such quickness and insight?

Sigh.

His eldest son smiled faintly at him, as though he could not see the worries in his father’s eyes at all.

The two of them were now father and son of one heart, standing together against a common enemy.

Would there still be moments like this in the future?

At sunset, at Hongyan Tavern.

All the factions invited by the He father and son had already arrived. He Chunhua personally analyzed the situation inside and outside the city, then assigned tasks to everyone present.

The plan was actually very simple. The Heavenly Palace, Baling, and the Jianyang Sect had a little over seventy people between them, and all would be placed with the force at the south gate.

“The main Heishui City force will meet the enemy from the east gate. Another unit will leave through the north gate and pretend to circle around behind them. Once the Andong troops have all been drawn away, everyone here will leave through the south gate and slip over to Mount Hulu to raid their camp!” He Chunhua traced the route across the sand table. “From the south gate to Mount Hulu is roughly three and a half kilometers. With your abilities, you can cover that distance in no time.” He then smiled and added, “The moment their rear camp catches fire, the army at the front will fall into disorder. We can then attack from both front and rear and rout the Andong forces.”

After hearing the plan, none of the factions raised much objection.

The greatest pressure in this strategy fell on the Heishui City army. They had to withstand the Andong attack long enough to buy time for the force at the south gate.

Zhang Lianhai, however, said, “You’ve placed all of us in the same unit. You aren’t planning to use us as bait, are you?”

“Mr. Zhang, how could you say such a thing? The force at the south gate bears an extremely important mission. Whether this battle ends quickly depends entirely on whether all of you can successfully raid the camp. Otherwise, the fighting will only drag on indefinitely.” He Chunhua waved a hand. “If you so wish, you may switch to the north or east gate. However, those positions will likely face the Andong army head-on.”

The various groups thought it over. No one requested a change.

Just as He Chunhua had said, the south gate assignment was easier in terms of direct combat, yet more important strategically.

And with that, the matter was settled.

He Chunhua then agreed on the signal for action with everyone before dismissing the meeting.

At that moment, Zhang Lianhai’s attendant suddenly interjected, “By the way, where is your son? Which route is he with?”

He Lingchuan had not appeared. Only He Chunhua had shown himself at Hongyan Tavern.

Governor-General He’s expression did not change. “He went to make preparations along the northern route.”

The pressure on the northern force would not be light either.

* * *

So where was He Lingchuan at that moment?

Since He Chunhua had publicly announced at Hongyan Goose Tavern that his eldest son was at the north gate, He Lingchuan naturally was not at the north gate.

One side of Heishui City remained quieter than anywhere else: the west gate.

It was the tallest and strongest of Heishui City’s gates.

The Andong forces naturally preferred easier targets, so their main attacks this time had focused on the north and east gates. They had only sent troops to encircle and watch the remaining two gates, preventing Heishui City from secretly slipping troops outside.

As a result, the west gate was remarkably peaceful.

The defenders atop and behind the gate and the Andong troops outside simply stared at one another, with little desire to fight.

Everyone was just standing guard and doing their assigned job.

He Lingchuan did not fling the west gate open and charge out to kill enemies either. Instead, he led Qiu Hu and more than seventy others to the most secluded corner inside the west gate.

The Li Family Coffin Home[1].

1. As per Wikipedia, a coffin home (义庄) is a temporary coffin depository where the coffins containing the cadavers of recently deceased people are temporarily stored while awaiting transport to the place of burial. However, this might be more of its other definition, as the words, written traditionally as 義莊 (pronounced somewhat like yih-jong), literally translate to “mansion of righteousness” and originally referred to any charitable organization. These charities were typically established by prominent families to promote their standing in the community. The designation yih-jong was first used by Fan’s Yih-Jong (范氏義莊), established by Song dynasty imperial chancellor Fan Zhongyan in his hometown Suzhou. Emulating Fan’s model, many prominent families founded yih-jongs between the Song and Qing dynasties to support their clansmen and local communities, offering charitable services such as orphanages, free schools, disaster relief, and mortuaries. Feel free to read more about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffin_home . ☜