Where Immortals Once Walked

Alongside the wagon trails were countless smaller footprints, many of which clearly belonged to mountain folk in rough-soled shoes.

Pei Xinyong and Lu Yao rode side by side, each nursing their own schemes. For a long while, neither of them spoke.

At last, Pei Xinyong broke the silence and asked, “So, according to you, General Wu fell for official surnamed He’s ruse and ended up getting killed by you?”

It wasn’t just Wu Shaoyi who fell for the ruse, but you too! The thought burned on Lu Yao’s tongue, but he swallowed it. Pei Xinyong commanded twice his numbers. For now, the priority was pursuing the official forces.

“I didn’t kill him. The Crocodile God bit him down personally.”

“Speaking of which, why was the Crocodile God at your side in the first place?” Pei Xinyong’s suspicion ran deep. Wu Shaoyi had been formidable, yet still fell into Lu Yao’s ambush. That meant Pei Xinyong himself was hardly safe.

What had Lu Yao brought the Crocodile God to Immortal Spirit Lake for?

“I invited it to be our witness,” Lu Yao sighed. “After the Divine Master’s death, it was seeking a new lair. When I told it that Immortal Spirit Lake was rich with fish and boundless waterways, it was tempted to come.”

Pei Xinyong nodded, though he did not believe a word that came out of Lu Yao’s mouth. There were countless rivers and lakes across Yuan, so why would the Crocodile God be tempted to come to this specific one? The Crocodile God was born in the north, and it knew nothing of Yuan’s waters. Without Lu Yao’s persuasion, it would never have come.

Was Lu Yao’s plan to use the Crocodile God to cow my and Wu Shaoyi’s armies into submission when we met at Immortal Spirit Village?

But Wu Shaoyi was now “dead,” and his men had either scattered or been absorbed by Lu Yao. In the current situation, how was Pei Xinyong to place himself?

Should I slay Lu Yao and take all his forces?

Pei Xinyong smirked inwardly. There was no doubt in his mind that Lu Yao entertained the same idea about him.

Then Lu Yao suddenly said, “Wu Shaoyi had no ambition. All he wanted was to return south, hole up on a mountain, and play a petty chieftain. Now that he’s dead, there’s no need for elaborate alliances. I, Lu Yao, will serve under General Pei. From this day forward, with one heart and one mind, we may yet carve out a future!”

Pei Xinyong was taken aback. “You... you’ll submit to me and allow me to become supreme commander?”

“Exactly!” Lu Yao laughed grandly. “From here on, this hundred kilos of flesh that makes up Lu Yao is yours to command, Supreme Commander Pei. Drive me as you will!”

Pei Xinyong was moved. “Brother Lu, you honor me!”

But he never uttered the expected protest of “this is too much, I cannot accept.”

The two clasped each other’s shoulders, grinning widely, even as both of them cursed the other in their heads.

Further along, they encountered several massive redwoods fallen across the road.

The trunks were so thick and overlapped so tightly that no horse could leap over them. The brigands had no choice but to dismount and heave them aside.

He Chunhua had ordered only the largest trees cut, and these trunks were ponderous, stacked askew. Even with the combined strength of both armies, it took over half an hour of grueling labor before they managed to drag them clear, leaving everyone panting.

Neither Pei Xinyong nor Lu Yao stood aloof like some haughty commander. Both of them had leapt down to work with their men. Pei Xinyong plucked splinters from his palms and turned to Lu Yao. “You good?”

Lu Yao had already fought Wu Shaoyi, been wounded in many places, and bled heavily. His wounds had torn open again. After attacking the rearguard back at the western mountain road, he had ridden hard all the way here. And now, he had been forced to toil like a common soldier. Even iron would have bent under such strain. Now his breath came in ragged gasps, his temples pounded, and his head swam.

But with Pei Xinyong’s army double his own, he knew that he could not show any weakness, so he laughed carelessly and said, “All good.” Right after saying that, he pointed forward and added, “The fog’s rising. We need to hurry or we’ll lose them.”

As Pei Xinyong turned his head, Lu Yao discreetly slipped two blood and qi-replenishing pills into his mouth.

In the mountains, fog came without warning, thick and sudden.

The brigands had barely mounted when the white fog rolled in. At first, it only dampened their faces, like a fine spring drizzle in March. But within moments, their clothes were soaked through.

The world around them vanished into blank whiteness. Beyond a single pace, nothing could be seen.

Both generals’ hearts grew heavy. With visibility cut to nothing, their horses could not run at full speed.

“Those damn state soldiers sure are lucky that this fog suddenly appeared.”

The brigands hurried downslope, passing a crooked locust tree.

And so a quarter-hour went by.

In this shrouded maze, the landscape felt uncannily familiar.

Another quarter-hour passed.

Hooves clattered to a halt beside the same crooked tree. Lu Yao stared at the axe marks in its trunk. “We’ve come back again. This is already the third time!”

A villager they had dragged along as a guide from Immortal Spirit Village was shoved forward.

“What’s going on?”

The man’s face was ashen. “I-I don’t know, General. I’ve walked this road for decades. I could find my way blindfolded! This, this shouldn’t happen!”

“It’s a ghost wall[1],” Pei Xinyong muttered darkly. “The state troops must have laid a bewildering array here.”

Simply put, they were trapped in a maze.

The trick to shaking off pursuers was obvious. If they could not run faster, then they had to make sure that the pursuers ran slower.

“These kinds of bewildering arrays all have an array eye to them. As long as we find it, the array will unravel. Still, finding it will take time.”

Lu Yao mused aloud, “I recall when the Divine Master fought at Little Nantian, his opponent had set up a Thousand Lantern Array. That’s an array that’s fiendishly complex to break, yet the Divine Master found another way to deal with it. Do you remember what he did?”

Pei Xinyong nodded. “He followed the scent.”

One of his men stepped forward and said, “I can do it, but I’ll need something that belongs to the one we’re chasing.”

Something that belongs to them?

A brigand grinned and produced a torn scrap of cloth for Lu Yao. “General, this is from the robe of that dog official’s son. When you were in the water, he tried to sneak up on you. I punched him back. I kept this in my sleeve since I thought that it might prove useful... for wiping myself in the wild. Well, I never thought it’d come in handy like this.”

Fortunately, his stomach had behaved since yesterday.

Lu Yao beamed. “Well done! Here are ten taels of silver as a reward!”

With He Yue’s torn sleeve in hand, the spell could proceed. Pei Xinyong’s subordinate sprinkled yellow powder over the cloth, kneading it while chanting under his breath.

When the incantation ended, he shook the cloth upside down. The powder drifted off in a faint yellow cloud, moving forward in the still air.

It worked.

If all went well, that little puff of guiding dust would lead them straight to He Yue.

Pei Xinyong gave the order, and two thousand men set off.

Another quarter-hour passed.

But still the fog pressed thick and endless on all sides.

Lu Yao frowned. “This isn’t right. Once we were outside the array, the fog should have lifted! The state troops ahead must be walking unimpeded.”

Then one of the brigands pointed at a locust tree. “General, we’re here again!”

This was the fourth time.

They were still trapped inside. Even the method that the Divine Master had once used had failed them. Shock rippled through the ranks. Was there truly someone among the state troops who could confuse even scent-tracking?

Pei Xinyong muttered in disbelief, “Is there really someone among that dog official’s men who harbors such skill?”

As they stood lost and helpless, a shrill cry split the sky. The fog stirred, and with the sound of heavy flaps, something descended.

Lu Yao’s face broke into a broad grin. “Pidan’s back!”[2]

As he spoke, Lu Yao pursed his lips and gave two sharp whistles.

The falcon circled, searching for his position, then darted through the fog before finally landing on his arm.

The red-tailed peregrine falcon had returned.

Lu Yao grinned with satisfaction. “This might be the key to breaking out of this array!”

He asked the falcon, “Did you manage to find the state troops?”

The falcon nodded.

“Can you point us toward them?”

The falcon spoke, “Not from here. But if I take to the sky, I can see them.”

The brigands cheered. Of course! No matter how elaborate a ground-bound maze, it would be nothing from above. With eyes sharper than any human’s, how could an array fool a falcon soaring in the open sky?

The falcon continued, “But when I mark the spot from above, it changes when I descend.”

“As soon as you near the ground, you’re caught in the array’s sway,” Lu Yao muttered. “That isn’t a problem. I’ll tie a red rope to you. Fly high, and guide us forward.”

In truth, the road from here to Qianteng Town was not complicated. It was the warped light and scent within the array that twisted their steps, sending them down crooked paths, into loops, or back the way they came.

But if the falcon flew high above and led them, the array would lose its teeth.

“Get me a rope!”

Awkwardly, no one had any. In the end, a few unlucky fellows had to tear their clothes into strips, knotting them together into a long rope. They tied the end to the falcon’s talon.

The falcon spread its wings and soared.

At first, it sensed something was wrong as climbing higher still did not allow it to break free from the fog.

Is the array capable of shifting itself? Could there be someone watching us from afar?

But even that could not hold it. The falcon folded its wings and let itself plummet. Then, snapping them wide, it beat against the air in the opposite direction, soaring upward once more.

In its own senses, it was flying level and straight. But in reality, the maneuver let it pierce the fog’s veil.

That was the array’s power.

Closing its eyes, it trusted its sense of gravity. Soon, the falcon broke through. Above a hundred and fifty meters in the air, the world below was clear as glass. Mountains, rivers, even the caterpillars on tree leaves were all laid bare before it. There was not a trace of fog in its vision at all.

It flew a short way ahead, leading the brigands in the direction of the state troops!

But directly ahead of its master lay a crescent-shaped cliff. If it guided them straight, they would plunge to their deaths. It would need to angle them around.

In Lu Yao’s hand, the rope tugged and shifted. He let out a laugh of relief. “That dog of an official thinks a mere fog maze can hold us? Onward!”

The rope pulled taut, pointing the way. The army followed the falcon’s lead, charging through the array in pursuit.

* * *

Meanwhile, Lian Deng, being a native of Qianteng Town, knew the land well. He guided He Lingchuan along a side trail for two to four kilometers until they rejoined the main road.

Of course, the road lay empty now.

“From here west leads to Horse-Mounting Slope,” he pointed, then gestured east. “The other way, Immortal Spirit Village.”

He Lingchuan turned his horse eastward. “If Pei Xinyong received General Wu’s message by mechanical bird, he’ll be waiting for us at Thousand-Year Cliff.”

The two rode side by side. Before long, they reached Langming Cave.

Fresh wagon trails still marked the ground.

1. This just refers to an imaginary type of wall that is difficult or impossible to get past. ☜

2. Pidan actually directly translates to preserved egg, but I’ve opted for Pidan since it’s easier to say. ☜