Where Immortals Once Walked

Lian Deng did not even need to dismount. Tilting his head to study the ground for a moment, he said, “The state troops passed this way.”

The western road had many forks, and the state troops must have deliberately chosen this one.

Further ahead, massive trees lay toppled along the roadside, tangled one atop another.

“Hm, look at this,” Lian Deng crouched low. “Something heavy was dragged across. Whatever it was, the weight scraped the very skin off the earth.”

“These redwoods?” He Lingchuan examined the stumps. “The cuts are fresh. The sap is still wet. They were felled less than two hours ago.”

“The state troops used them to block the road. Clever.”

For all that praise, unease prickled through both men. If the logs were this fresh, then they were already within two hours’ march of the column. But what of Lu Yao? How far behind was he?

He Lingchuan’s face turned grim. “We need to move faster.”

They crested the next slope and were then swallowed by fog.

Lian Deng swore, “Fuck! What a thick fog! I can’t even see the road!”

He Lingchuan glanced at him, eyes narrowing. “You can’t see?”

“Eh, I can’t even see my fingers when I extend my arm away from my face,” Lian Deng muttered. Then he blinked and added, “Wait, there’s light coming from you.”

“Light?” He Lingchuan looked down. Sure enough, his body glowed faintly, wrapped in a hazy aura.

Origin energy?

This meant that he was within range of his father’s mandate token, or at least the zone where its power extended to the troops.

Before leaving Heishui City, He Chunhua had temporarily conscripted his eldest son into the army, granting him the rank of deputy commandant. It was a petty title, hardly worth mention, but it qualified him to receive the benefits of origin energy.

And in that glow, the fog thinned to nothing. To He Lingchuan’s eyes, it was no more than a pale veil drifting between the trees.

Just then, Lian Deng veered toward the forest on the right. He Lingchuan grabbed his arm. “Where are you going?”

Lian Deng blinked in confusion. “Walking down the road.”

“The road’s here.” He Lingchuan pointed ahead. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Isn’t that a cave entrance?”

“...I see.” He Lingchuan immediately understood what was going on. “Stay with me. Whatever array my father set here, only origin energy can reveal the path.”

Lian Deng had no choice but to obey, though his jaw dropped at every step.

“Heavens, you just went straight through a tree!”

And yet they passed through unscathed.

Wu Shaoyi might have sworn loyalty to the royal court, but until he met He Chunhua face-to-face, he and his men were not formally soldiers, and so they could not receive the blessing of origin energy. In Lian Deng’s eyes, it looked as though He Lingchuan was leading him into trees, through stone, even straight toward the empty air over sheer cliffs. His guts clenched at every step.

And yet, they walked on unharmed.

So this is the power of origin energy. Lian Deng sighed, remembering the days when he, too, had once enjoyed its protection.

Then, He Lingchuan suddenly stopped. “Huh?”

“What is it?” Lian Deng saw only a looming wall of stone.

“I can see Lu Yao. They’re on the road across the ravine.” He Lingchuan’s voice was grave. “Pei Xinyong is with him. They’ve got an army that’s of at least a thousand and seven hundred men.”

He kept his voice low. In this hooked ravine, echoes carried easily.

They and the enemy were like two strokes of the character “几.” He and Lian Deng were on the short left curve, Lu Yao and Pei Xinyong on the long hook opposite. A deep ravine split them apart, but the air was clear, and for He Lingchuan, every detail of the opposing force was plain.

Lian Deng whispered, “Are they also walking in circles?”

“...No.” He Lingchuan watched for a moment longer, then shook his head. “They’re on the right path. They aren’t taking any detours nor are they going around in circles.”

Lian Deng was baffled. “Huh? That can’t be right. We’re all in the Righteous Army. If I’m blinded by the fog but Lu Yao isn’t, how’s that fair?”

He Lingchuan sneered. “He’s holding a cloth rope, tethered to the sky... Hm. There it is, I see the falcon. There’s a falcon flying overhead, leading them clear of the fog.”

Lian Deng’s eyes widened. “Of course! Birds can soar high enough that the array can’t deceive their eyes!”

If the falcon could completely disregard the illusion, then the array would not be able to hold Lu Yao.

What should I do?

“Do you think you can shoot it down from this distance?”

Lian Deng shook his head firmly and answered, “It’s too far. If we were closer, then maybe I could. But to be honest, my archery isn’t all that great.”

He Lingchuan gave him a look of pure disdain. What the hell is up with all that nonsense? Just say that you aren’t good enough.

“There’s a side path. We can close the gap first, then think of a solution later.”

The column that the He Family was traveling in was moving slowly. At this rate, the brigands would catch them sooner or later.

The two urged their horses, looping around the great hook of the ravine. A hundred paces behind the brigands, a narrow trail cut into the mountain.

This path was rough with branches thick overhead. After about two hundred meters, the horses could go no further. They abandoned them and pressed on foot.

Soon, they were running through the forest halfway up the mountain, nearly parallel to the brigands, but about fifteen meters higher in elevation.

They dared not climb all the way to the ridgeline as the bare rock up there would make them completely vulnerable to the falcon’s keen gaze.

“There’s our chance!” Though Lu Yao’s men moved along the road, the falcon’s rope shifted constantly. They dared not gallop with the terrain being so treacherous.

And with a tether strung from sky to earth, there were other problems. The line sometimes snagged in tree branches.

Whenever that happened, the falcon had to dip, circle around the obstacle, and tug the rope free before it could resume guiding the brigands. If it did not do so, the brigands would be led straight into a ditch.

He Lingchuan whispered the situation to Lian Deng, “You can make use of that moment when it comes down. If it comes within twenty-five meters, can you hit it?”

Twenty-five meters was actually already being conservative. The highest trees ahead only stood about nineteen meters tall.

“I can!” Lian Deng’s confidence flared. “At that range, I could hit it with a slingshot.”

“Good, then stay close.”

The two shadowed the brigands’ flank, hidden beneath the dense canopy, waiting for opportunity to come their way.

And their way it soon came.

Barely half a stick of incense later, the tether snagged on a massive camphor tree.

Its crown was vast, and its branches were thick. It was no easy obstacle to slip around.

Lu Yao noticed the line go taut. He tugged twice and sensed no movement. He pursed his lips and whistled, signaling the falcon to descend.

The falcon folded its wings and dropped, preparing to circle the branches and tug the line loose. If it failed, the brigands would have to climb and untangle it by hand, which had already happened once before, so Lu Yao reminded it to be as thorough as it could.

For He Lingchuan and Lian Deng, standing on the mountain slope several meters above the road, it was a gift from heaven.

To miss now would be a crime against fate.

The falcon folded its wings and plunged toward the camphor’s crown.

At this moment, He Lingchuan whispered, “Now!”

They were quite close to the brigands right now, so if they were spotted, they had no hope of escape.

Lian Deng did not even pause to catch his breath. He drew in air, swung his bow off his back, nocked, aimed, and—

Twang!

The arrow whistled away.

Hit or miss, everything rode on this shot.

The arrow’s hiss through the air was faint, yet the red-tailed peregrine falcon was razor-sharp in its vigilance. Before the arrow could even touch it, it had already spread its wings, twisted midair, and slipped past it by the barest margin.

The arrow whisked so close it brushed the feathers on its belly, but a miss was still a miss.

Both men felt their hearts sink.

It was an absolute disaster. Not only had they failed to bring it down, but now the falcon would surely cry out in alarm. In the next instant, a thousand and seven hundred brigands would swarm them from below, tearing them apart in any way they pleased.

Useless! Useless, useless, useless! Fuck! He Lingchuan cursed Lian Deng furiously in his mind. In the next moment, he saw the falcon twist back toward them, its sharp eyes locking onto their hiding place. Its beak opened wide, ready to cry out in alarm.

No! Instinctively, He Lingchuan yanked the broken saber from his waist and hurled it at the falcon.

The saber spun away fast, but its path was crooked, wobbling in a broad arc, so wide it sailed behind the falcon.

The bird did not even bother to flinch.

But then, in a seemingly impossible turn of events, the saber curved back on its own.

The falcon tried to veer away, but it was too late.

A spray of blood burst in midair. The falcon shrieked once, then dropped like a stone.

What, what just happened?

Both men froze in shock.

He Lingchuan stared at his right hand, jaw hanging slack.

The right hand of god.

“Run!” Lian Deng did not have time to give him a thumbs-up. He grabbed He Lingchuan’s arm and yanked hard. “Run! Before we’re dead meat!”

Without another word, they bolted upslope, sprinting for the ridgeline.

He Lingchuan led the way, Lian Deng close behind. The dense fog became their best cover. Once they put enough distance between themselves and the brigands, they would be safe.

Below, the enemy had noticed the anomaly.

Lu Yao rushed forward, catching the fallen falcon in his arms. Half a wing was gone, and a deep gash split its belly so wide he could glimpse its entrails. He could not tell what weapon had caused such a wound.

An arrow? No, that doesn’t seem to be it.

He was instantly filled with both heartache and anger. He pointed a finger forward. “There! Someone’s there!”

The brigands surged toward the spot he pointed at.

But at the same time, Pei Xinyong pointed to the right. His voice was low and grim, “I heard footsteps coming from that direction. I also heard loose stones falling.”

“Inside this array, even sound can deceive us!” Lu Yao snapped. Yet even in anger, his mind was clear. “Split up! Just watch your footing!”

Without another word, the two grasped the ends of the tether, leading their men apart. One led their men to the front, the other to the right.

They both knew the truth. With the falcon crippled, there was no more guiding line. Their only hope of escaping the fog was to capture the attacker.

Only a scout of the officials could have struck the falcon within the array.

Meanwhile, on the ridgeline, He Lingchuan tore through the mist with Lian Deng at his side.

Lian Deng panted as he said, “Brother Chuan, why didn’t you just say you had a flying saber trick? Did you really have to have me make a fool of myself first?”

He Lingchuan gave a weak laugh. “I never practiced that move. I just did it. It was pure luck.” He had not even thought about it at the time; he had moved on pure instinct.

Lian Deng’s face scrunched in disbelief. Pure luck? And you landed a hit like that? What does that make of all my years of training, then?

But He Lingchuan’s thoughts were elsewhere. He thought back on that strange, elegant curve. The saber had arced through the air like a stroke of calligraphy, swinging back around to strike from behind, producing a surprise attack.