After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 12: Chapter 15: Panlong’s Past

Woling Pass was easy to defend and hard to attack. Now, the rebels were the defenders.

Hee Chunhua’s expression turned serious. He asked earnestly, ”What can I do to help?”

Such a shocking catastrophe had erupted in the Yuan Kingdom’s Central Region. The nation’s fate hung by a thread. If even a common man had a duty to his country, how could a high-ranking official like himself do any less?

It would be wrong of him to shirk his responsibilities now.

Just then, a servant came to replace the tea. Sunx Fuping took a sip and asked a seemingly unrelated question. ”Mr. Hee, you’ve been in Qiansong County for many years. Do you happen to know how the wilderness here became the Panlong Desert, or the origin of the Red Cliff Road?”

’Why is he asking about this?’ Hee Chunhua frowned.

”That’s a local legend. About one hundred and fifty years before the founding of Da Yuan, the land we stand on belonged to the Xiluo Kingdom. What is now the Panlong Desert wasn’t a wilderness back then; it was merely an area with little rainfall, but it still had forests and seasonal rivers. At the height of its power, the Xiluo Kingdom built four commanderies and twelve cities in its Western Realm to guard this vital, bustling east-west trade route. The largest of these was Panlong City.”

”Later, Xiluo gradually declined, suffering repeated defeats in foreign wars. The kingdoms of Baling and Xianyou vied to carve up its territory. Aside from the Panlong Wasteland, which held fast, the entirety of the Xiluo Kingdom’s Western Realm was occupied. The Panlong Wasteland thus became an exclave, isolated far outside the Xiluo Realm and a thousand leagues from its motherland.”

Hee Lingchuan listened quietly to this piece of history. Every person from Black Water City had heard the story of the Panlong Desert’s origin, and the previous owner of his body was no exception.

”The kingdoms of Baling and Xianyou attacked the Panlong Wasteland for thirty-two years, while the Xiluo garrison, led by the Commander-in-Chief of Panlong City, Zhong Shengguang, held out for those same thirty-two years, fighting for every inch of land!” Hee Chunhua turned to his eldest son. ”Lingchuan, do you remember the name of this army?”

”The Great Wind Army!” Hee Lingchuan nodded. ”More resilient than the desert poplar, a lonely loyalty with unfulfilled ambitions—that was the Great Wind Army, trapped behind enemy lines!”

The Great Wind Army was besieged by two powerful enemies, cut off from their motherland, and starved of food, water, and any shred of aid from Xiluo.

And yet, they held their ground for a full thirty-two years.

A legend like that never gets old.

”In the twelfth year of Panlong City’s siege, the Xianyou Kingdom and Xiluo reached a brief truce, and the Great Wind Army used the opportunity to send word to their motherland. The King of Xiluo, not expecting Panlong City to still be standing, issued a decree of commendation. At the same time, he recalled most of the Great Wind Army’s Elite forces to suppress rebellions back home.” His father had fallen silent, so Hee Lingchuan continued the story. ”But Xianyou’s relations with Xiluo soon soured again. The connection between the Panlong Wasteland and the homeland was severed once more, and the Great Wind Army was again trapped in a desperate situation.”

”After that, the Xiluo Kingdom was plagued by years of civil war and could no longer spare any thought for its western territories. The Great Wind Army, isolated, without support, and with most of its main force gone, held on for another twenty years.”

’The will of this army was stronger than steel. It was a shame their nation was so weak, wasting such fine soldiers.’

’The nation was not worthy of its men.’ Hee Lingchuan found the phrase especially fitting.

”Well said.” Nian Songyu applauded him lightly. ”But how did the wasteland turn into a desert?”

”The Great Wind Army fought to the last man, never surrendering. To vent their fury, the enemy nations sacked Panlong City and left no one alive.” This was the most classic part of the tale as told by teahouse storytellers. ”The battles were so brutal that the rage and resentment of the Heroic Souls soared to the heavens and seeped into the earth, extinguishing all life within a hundred-li radius of Panlong City and diverting the rivers. Thus, the wilderness slowly turned into a desert.”

”There’s another story. Zhong Shengguang, the Commander-in-Chief of Panlong City, was a powerful Mage. Knowing he couldn’t hold out alone, he gathered the power of tens of thousands of Heroic Souls as the city fell and laid a curse upon the land, turning it into a barren waste.” Hee Lingchuan shrugged. ”This way, even if Xiluo couldn’t keep the Panlong Land, the kingdoms of Baling and Xianyou couldn’t take it either. And in fact, the desert belongs to no nation to this day.”

”Is there more?”

”But Zhong Shengguang also left a single path of survival for living creatures entering and leaving the desert: the Red Cliff Road. That was the route the Great Wind Army used to travel.” Hee Lingchuan looked at Nian Songyu. ”There are many more details. If you want to hear the rest, we’d best start the banquet and discuss it over a meal.”

National Preceptor Sunx Fuping turned to Hee Chunhua. ”Mr. Hee, is this version of events familiar to you?”

”More or less.” Hee Chunhua sensed something was amiss. ”What are you getting at, National Preceptor?” ’Don’t keep me in suspense.’

”The Great Wind Army was a Steel Division, true, and Commander-in-Chief Zhong Shengguang was a formidable man, also true. But after their Elite core was recalled, on what grounds could the Great Wind Army possibly hold out alone for another twenty years? By then, the armies of the Xianyou Kingdom could sweep across half of Xiluo; even Xiluo’s most famous generals couldn’t stop them.” National Preceptor Sunx said calmly, ”You and I both know that sheer passion cannot accomplish such a feat.”

’Victory and defeat in war are determined by strength alone. The cruelest truth is that no matter how passionate the weak are, they can never escape the fate of utter defeat.’

The enemy was powerful—especially the Xianyou Kingdom, with its elite soldiers and brilliant generals. They launched over three hundred assaults on Panlong City. At the height of the conflict, they attacked fifteen times in a single month.

Lacking food, water, men, and weapons, how could the Great Wind Army possibly have endured?

To this, Hee Chunhua could only reply, ”The historical records are insufficient to make a judgment.”

No matter how stirring the tale, it was an event from over a century ago. Future generations might sigh with regret, but how many would bother to investigate it thoroughly?

Hee Chunhua, at least, had not. He had more important matters to attend to.

”National Preceptor Sunx, what connection does the history of the Panlong Desert have with Da Yuan’s current crisis?” ’These two couldn’t have traveled a thousand leagues just to hear him tell stories.’

Now came the main event. Sunx Fuping rose, took two steps forward, and locked eyes with him. ”That is precisely my point. The key to the Great Wind Army’s endurance may also be the key to turning the tide at Woling Pass and lifting the siege on the National Capital! Hee Prefect, this is a duty you cannot refuse!”

Hee Chunhua’s expression grew solemn. ”Please, elaborate.”

’Hee Lingchuan, however, felt they were finally about to reveal the dagger. But first, they were pinning this massive responsibility on his father, and he wasn’t sure if the old man could bear the weight of it.’

”A Chief Clerk in the Great Wind Army named Hex Jian followed Zhong Shengguang for many years but died of illness before the city fell. After the Xianyou Kingdom conquered Panlong City and took inventory of his possessions, they discovered a brief record he had written about this history.”

”Hex Jian’s notes were passed down through the ages, and after changing hands many times, they eventually found their way into the Yuan Palace.”

Hee Lingchuan couldn’t help but interject, ”So the truth has been hidden within our own kingdom all this time? Why has it never appeared in any historical records?”

Every kingdom had its own historical archives, which collected records of their own nation as well as of previous dynasties—especially the latter. A kingdom’s own history was often glossed over, but scholars delved deeply into the histories of prior dynasties, from secret anecdotes to the intricacies of human nature. The reason for this was an open secret.

Furthermore, the fruits of such research were often made public, especially heroic tales of loyalty like that of Panlong City and the Great Wind Army. Such stories should have been promoted as paragons of virtue to edify the populace, exerting a subtle yet profound influence.

Nian Songyu smiled. ”Because it could not be told!”

”By then, the manuscript was so badly damaged that few complete sentences could be made out, making it impossible to reconstruct the full history. However, one matter was recorded with absolute clarity—”