Where Immortals Once Walked

Apart from a trail of bubbles, there was nothing else in the water.

There was no debris, no sand, and no plants.

Curiously, he found that he could breathe here perfectly, as if he were a fish in water.

But inwardly, he was fuming. Usually, he would never undertake such a perilous, pathfinding errand for someone else. This time, though, the aftershock from the Gale Army cavalry officer’s attack had knocked him straight into the pool. He had been sent in here before he could even react.

To put it bluntly, though, his cultivation was simply too weak.

Back in Heishui City, enjoying power and privilege, he had never truly noticed this. But after crossing paths with Nian Songyu and State Preceptor Sun, and now facing ever-greater perils on this Panlong City expedition, the limits of his strength became painfully apparent.

If only I were a bit stronger...

His body sank rapidly, darkness yawning beneath him like a bottomless pit.

Just as he was about to be swallowed by the boundless darkness, He Lingchuan caught a glimpse of something—a shadowy, dark red figure.

Whatever it was, it seemed enormous, looming indistinctly around him. The part he could see was cylindrical, like a water barrel, but magnified countless times.

Most importantly, it could move!

But before He Lingchuan could get a better look at what it was, his vision went completely black.

* * *

When he opened his eyes again, everything had changed.

He was standing at the edge of a brook. The water, barely over his boots, was crystal clear; the sand and pebbles at the bottom were pristine, and he could even see a tiny river shrimp bravely making a charge at his boots.

Alligator weeds and wild radishes sprouted lushly by the banks of the brook, and not far off, a few farmhouses sent wisps of smoke curling into the sky.

He Lingchuan felt his clothes. They were completely dry, and there was not a trace of the bloody pool on them. So that was just a passageway, nothing more.

He climbed up the low slope of the bank, but as soon as he lifted his eyes, he stopped dead.

A vibrant plain spread out before him, stretches of wheat fields just greening up, sparse trees dotting the field edges, the tallest reaching over ten meters.

Scattered guard shacks stood watch over the fields. He Lingchuan even spotted a waterskin hanging from a nearby tree branch.

And far off, a mighty river rolled through the landscape, dividing the plains.

On the far side, the land rose much higher. Viewed from where he was, it resembled a giant crocodile sprawled by the water.

Most importantly, the edge of the plain was a very distinctive, familiar shape.

Is that... the Chipa Plateau?

He Lingchuan hurried down the slope, heading toward the Chipa Plateau.

The sky was a brilliant blue, the clouds a dazzling white, and the air heavy with the scent of damp earth and grass. Walking through this rural paradise, his heart felt open and clear, especially after so much time in the desolate desert.

Yet, the more peaceful things seemed, the stranger it all felt.

He walked for hundreds of meters, passing through a village of about a hundred homes, yet he caught sight of not a single person.

For a village of this size, that was utterly bizarre.

Whether it be the fields or the houses, they were absolutely silent. He even went house to house, checking inside for anyone, but every single one of them truly was empty. In one kitchen, though, he found a tray of coarse steamed buns, freshly made and still steaming hot.

He did not dare eat it, but he did take one of them to examine. It was soft and almost too hot to hold.

Where is everyone? Where did they all go?

He walked past another wheat field, just as a pink butterfly fluttered toward him.

He Lingchuan stretched out a finger toward the butterfly, and, to his surprise, it passed right through it.

It was as if it did not even exist.

It’s fake?

He spotted a green grasshopper in the wheat field and tried poking it with his finger, only to find his finger passed right through it.

All these living creatures were illusions.

However, the wheat felt perfectly real to the touch. He pinched off a sprout, chewed on it, and tasted that familiar astringent bitterness—exactly what young grass shoots should taste like.

Just then, there was a rustling in the field, and something alive burst out.

Startled, He Lingchuan’s hand had already half-drawn his blade before he realized it was just a sand bandit.

This was Mao Tao[1], Situ Han’s second cousin on his wife’s side, nicknamed for his skinny, small frame and shaggy beard.

He froze when he saw He Lingchuan, then broke into delighted surprise. “Young Master, you’re alright!”

“Where are the others?” He Lingchuan looked around, seeing only this one companion. “And why are you missing a life fire on your shoulder?”

“The state preceptor took it and put it on a candle,” Mao Tao replied bitterly. “Then he pushed me in. Where are we? Are we in the Panlong... Wasteland?”

Anyone with eyes could see there was something off about this place. “This is all fake, right? An illusion?”

“Mm-hm.” He Lingchuan instantly guessed State Preceptor Sun’s plan. “They used you as a pathfinder, so they should be coming here soon.”

They walked on together, and He Lingchuan asked, “When you passed through—no, after you fell into the pool—did you see anything unusual?”

“Just pale red blood-water. I didn’t choke on it, though. I blinked, then I was here.”

“Nothing else?”

Mao Tao thought for a moment. “Nope. Did you see something?”

He Lingchuan shook his head.

Was the huge, unknown thing he glimpsed in that red pool just his imagination?

After another half hour or so, the two of them finally neared the Chipa Plateau.

Before them, the river flowed calmly. It was about ten meters wide, and the water within it flowed neither rapidly nor sluggishly. He Lingchuan figured this must be Panlong City’s moat, though it was nowhere near as deep or wide as he had seen before.

They followed the riverbank west for another quarter of an hour. At last, Panlong City came into view.

“Look over there!” Mao Tao pointed in the distance. “Is that Panlong City?”

Panlong City was still in exactly the same place, nestled at the foot of the Chipa Plateau. However, it looked nothing like the grand city of the desert.

The walls were not nearly as tall or thick, and there were not even crocodile teeth stakes on the battlements.

When they reached the natural stone bridge, they found the surface paved with bluestone. Many of the slabs were already cracked, and the gaps were stuffed with moss and grime.

The city gate was still there, but it was just a heavy wood door clad in iron, not ironwood.

This kind of fortification was no stronger than Heishui City’s gates.

But two people were standing beneath the gate, waving them over.

It was Nian Songyu and Sun Fuping.

He Lingchuan frowned inwardly at the sight but put on a face of surprise as he walked up. “Why is it just the two of you? Where’s everyone else?”

“A soul of the Gale Army went to get reinforcements. Commandery Administrator He stayed behind with his men, holding the enemy off at the pool,” Sun Fuping replied. “This is the Gale Army’s territory. We can’t fight them here.”

Otherwise, it would be a dead end for all of them.

I mean, that does sound reasonable enough. Still, He Lingchuan’s heart sank. He knew that he would have to tread especially carefully, though outwardly he put on a look of complaint. “My father’s got some nerve, leaving me stranded here alone.”

He Chunhua and the main force had not come down. Now, he was left to face Nian Songyu and Sun Fuping by himself. If they wanted to toy with him, he would be powerless to resist.

There was no point fighting the odds. It was wiser to go along for now.

Sun Fuping could not be bothered to respond and only asked, “How long have you been down here?”

“About... two hours?” He Lingchuan’s tone softened. He pointed back over his shoulder. “I found myself in that village and climbed out of the river.”

Sun Fuping’s face changed slightly. Nian Songyu then pointed at Mao Tao and said, “How’s that possible? I followed right after him. He came down just a few dozen breaths behind you.”

State Preceptor Sun mused, “The four of us entered one after another, but arrived here at different times. Time must flow differently here. This place is definitely more than just an illusion.”

Indeed, anyone who ended up here would naturally assume at first that this was only an illusion. However, was that truly the case?

1. This guy’s given name also translates to peach. ☜