Chapter 686: Chopping Board
He Lingchuan blinked. “Huh? You’re going back this soon?” Perfect.
“Well, the elixir of youth case has already been settled. State Preceptor Qing Yang isn’t getting away, and neither are those seven families. My royal father is extremely pleased!” The ruler of the State of Chiyan rarely praised his eldest son so lavishly, leaving Fushan Yue rather unused to it. “The task he gave me is complete, and whatever happens next is out of my hands. Besides, the Lord Emperor has no choice but to deal with State Preceptor Qing Yang, so he must be furious inside. He hasn’t given me a pleasant look these past two days. I have no interest in staying around and testing his temper!”
“As excellent as Beijia is, it isn’t where my heart longs to be,” He Lingchuan said with a smile. “Looks like this is where we part ways.”
He had too many secrets, too much karmic baggage. Lately, he was even planning to destroy Mount Xu’s Grand Spirit-Gathering Array. After that, there was no way he could remain in Beijia.
Fushan Yue looked reluctant to part. “You really won’t think it over? Once I return in triumph, the old man will definitely reward me handsomely. Your share won’t be small either!”
“Reward?” He Lingchuan gave him a sidelong look. “What reward can you give me? Something practical, please.”
Fushan Yue rubbed his nose, embarrassed.
In the end, State Preceptor Qing Yang’s fall, the resolution of the elixir of youth case, and the collapse of the Zhongsun Family were all because He Xiao had discovered Kong Jiaxiang, the living witness from Qingfu Temple. That had given Bai Ziqi his breakthrough evidence.
His contribution was huge. For a moment, even Fushan Yue had no idea how to thank him properly.
“That’s why I said you should come back to Chiyan with me.” Fushan Yue harrumphed. “Your merit is so great that I think only my royal father can reward you properly.”
Fushan Yue could not bestow official posts himself. At most, he could make “recommendations.” Who knew whether his old man would even accept his suggestions for promotion?
In truth, he was not very confident in swaying his old man.
He Lingchuan shook his head and said, “Forget it. I’ll take the loss. Convert it into money for me.”
Fushan Yue’s face fell. “Money, money, money. That’s all you ever talk about. Are you really that short on money?”
“My family has no mine, and I’ve got no path for money to fall into my lap.” He Lingchuan sighed deeply. “That fire at the Mount Pan Residence basically burned away hundreds of thousands of taels of my silver.”
“Didn’t you get Fragrant Snow Residence afterward?” The Mount Pan Residence had burned down, but this guy immediately got the Minister of Finance’s Fragrant Snow Residence. That estate’s enormous, and it isn’t something some cash could buy.
“I did, but can I sell it right now?” He Lingchuan gave him a sidelong glance. “Everyone outside says the Minister of Finance gave it to compensate you. I don’t want the house anymore. Convert it into money for me.”
“...Fine. I’ll convert all the benefits into silver.” Fushan Yue added kindly, “Or tell me where you’re headed. My family might have property there too. I can transfer some to you.”
“I don’t even know where my road leads.” He Lingchuan did not accept the kindness. He only stretched out his hand. “So money is still the most practical.”
Fushan Yue rolled his eyes. “Fine, fine. I’ll scrape it together once I get back.”
A sum that large was not something he could just produce on demand. Could he write an IOU first?
Watching Fushan Yue take the lead, He Lingchuan’s smile suddenly vanished.
Now that the elixir of youth case had settled, the shield that was the Chiyan Crown Prince was about to leave as well. From here on, the eyes of the court and the public would surely focus on the fallen officials, while “He Xiao’s” popularity would rapidly decline.
In Lingxu City, he had neither authority nor influence. He was just some ordinary nobody. If not for the elixir of youth case protecting him over the past two months, which high-ranking noble would have spared him a second glance?
Public attention came in waves. Once the public forgot him, would those forces waiting impatiently in the dark not rush out to settle accounts with him?
If he did not hurry up, pull off one big job, and leave, was he supposed to wait until they turned on him?
Still, before handling that major matter, he wanted to enter Panlong City once more.
There were still people he wanted to see, as well as farewells he still wanted to say.
* * *
Light snow drifted down, landing on the tip of his nose with a chill.
That tiny cold sensation knocked He Lingchuan out of his daze. He found himself back in Panlong City again.
He had not entered for quite a few days, not since he had begun urgently refining the Mount Xu Plan. For once, the Generous Pot had been considerate, allowing him to prepare properly without distraction.
Now that action was imminent, he wanted to come in one more time.
This was his home. People he cared about were here.
If the Mount Xu operation failed, this dream would count as his final farewell.
At this moment, he stood inside the Martial Review Hall. It happened to be the grand tournament held once every fourteen days. The fighting onstage was fierce, while the soldiers and civilians below roared frenziedly. Even the streets outside the hall were packed so tightly that a can of sardines would probably fail to compare.
A little falling snow could not extinguish the spectators’ enthusiasm.
The city was still the way it had always been—warmth and harshness side by side, vitality and order coexisting.
He also saw Skinny struggling through the crowd.
At the same time, Skinny spotted He Lingchuan and pushed toward him with great effort, like a man swimming against a school of sardines. “Who are you betting on today?”
He Lingchuan swept two glances over the platform. “One-Eye. One hundred taels.”
The burly man’s left eye had been pierced through in the great battle at Yuheng City, after which he had given himself a new nickname. Though he was called One-Eye, his strength had not declined.
Skinny hissed. “That much?”
In the past, Broken Blade usually bet half a tael or one tael, never more than two taels. He always covered up his stinginess with the excuse that “small bets keep things fun.” With that being the case, Skinny could not help but wonder why Broken Blade was so generous this time.
He Lingchuan handed him ten taels of gold. “If he wins, give me one hundred thirty taels. The extra is my treat for your nieces and nephews to buy candy.”
If he failed to return, the money would be of no use anyway.
“Boss He is magnanimous!” Skinny praised him fiercely before asking in concern, “Did something happen?”
“Can’t I be generous when nothing’s happened?”
Skinny scratched his head. “You look exactly like Chopping Board before he went into battle.”
“Chopping Board?”
“One of our squadmates. He died five years ago. Back then, who knows where you were?” The surroundings were so noisy that Skinny had to shout. “He was a bachelor. Before the big battle, he entrusted all twenty taels of his savings to me and said that if he died in battle, I should donate the money to build a temple for Lady Mitian!”
“And then?”
“Then those twenty taels went toward building a temple for the heavenly goddess. There’s a carved brick in front of the shrine that was built with Chopping Board’s money.”
He Lingchuan punched him in the back. “Tsk, are you cursing me?”
Just then, an officer near the arena also saw He Lingchuan and asked him, “Broken Blade, are you going up today?”
He Lingchuan was also an arena master, but his final defense period had not yet passed. He could choose freely whether to step onto the platform.
Not today. He wanted to hurry home and see Sun Fuling one more time.
“No...” Hm, isn’t this kind of weather perfect for heartfelt conversations?
He hoped his heart might settle because of it.
The surroundings were too noisy, and the officer did not hear He Lingchuan’s refusal. Instead, he went on, “The Red General is here too.”
“Huh?” The Red General’s here too?
He Lingchuan leaned out from the edge of the arena and looked over. Sure enough, he saw the Red General dressed in black light armor, standing on the second floor of the central hall and watching the fights.
Today, she wore her taotie mask. Others could identify her at a glance.
No wonder all the arenas were packed today, and everyone who went onstage fought like they had been injected with some berserk serum.
So they all just want to perform well in front of the Red General.
Just then, several Gale Army soldiers ran in from the street outside, escorting someone toward the back door of the Martial Review Hall.
Though He Lingchuan only glimpsed him briefly, he clearly saw that the person bound hand and foot was a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy. He was thin and frail, looking like a little chick in the hands of those sturdy soldiers.
Soon, a personal guard approached the Red General on the second floor and whispered a few words.
The Red General immediately turned and went inside.
Huh? What does the arrest of the small, young boy have to do with the Red General?
Curious, He Lingchuan squeezed toward the central hall as well.
Someone guarded the stairs leading to the second floor, barring idle people from entering.
Of course, He Lingchuan was not barred.
When he reached the second floor, he happened to see the soldiers forcing the boy to his knees while reporting to the Red General, “This kid went mad at the southern gate. He should have been arrested and thrown into prison, but he kept mumbling that he wanted to see you. He called out your honored title, and kept shouting something about Shinantian.”
The boy’s eyes had rolled back until the whites showed. His lips were blue, and his entire body trembled nonstop. Now, he was crying, “Don’t kill me.”
Despite the falling snow, his head was drenched in sweat. He looked badly frightened.
Others could not see it, but He Lingchuan knew very well that Three Corpses Worms lurked on Panlong City’s walls. They could identify those who entered the city with ill intent and drive them mad. The people of Panlong City had given this condition a very down-to-earth name: city-gate hysteria.
One look at the boy’s condition told him that hysteria had struck.
Three Corpses Worms could amplify the emotions in a person’s heart and force them to erupt all at once. Clearly, the emotion within this boy right now was fear.
“Shinan[1]?” The Red General bent down and examined the boy’s eyes. Then she said, “Come out.”
The boy kept muttering to himself. So many people stood right before him, yet he seemed unable to see a single one.
He did not react to the Red General’s words at all.
But in He Lingchuan’s eyes, several Three Corpses Worms immediately swam out from the boy’s ears and nose. They circled the Red General once, then drifted south.
It was snowing outside, and there was no sunlight, so they could swim openly through the air.
After the last Three Corpses Worm left, the boy woke as if from a dream. Looking around in terror, he cried out, “Who are you? Where am I?”
The Red General asked him, “Where did you come from?”
Awed by the Red General’s presence, the boy answered instinctively, “L-Linshuang City.”
He Lingchuan had heard of Linshuang. It lay farther south than White Sand Bay and was not within Panlong City’s territory.
“You aren’t from West Luo?”
The boy shook his head.
“Did Shinan send you here?”
“Shi... nan?” The boy looked bewildered. “Who is Shinan?”
He doesn’t know who Shinan was, yet he eagerly rushed all the way to Panlong City? Linshuang City should be several hundred kilometers away from here.
He Lingchuan saw that his clothes were shabby, his shoes worn through until his big toes stuck out. Two dark circles hung under his eyes, making it apparent that he had not slept well, or even at all, for quite some time.
“Who sent you here?”
The boy shrank back and fell silent.
The Red General smiled faintly and turned her head. “All of you, withdraw.”
Her personal guards and the other soldiers went down the stairs to the first floor. He Lingchuan was about to turn away as well when the Red General said, “Broken Blade, set up a wind-blocking array.”
“Yes.” He Lingchuan stopped, took out several bamboo tablets, and stuck them into the floor. Before long, he had laid a wind-blocking array around the captive and the Red General. Otherwise, the central hall’s second floor had no windows, and wind leaked in from all sides.
1. Note that the tian at the end of some of the names that appear here and there seems to just be some signifier that they’re a god. ☜