Where Immortals Once Walked

Ling Guang whispered, “Otherwise, we’ll have to run tonight!”

Naturally, He Chunhua, who was standing nearby, heard him loud and clear. Left utterly speechless, he simply slapped a hand over his forehead.

Ling Guang also understood that this was no trivial matter, so he quickly hopped to the side of the bull.

At this moment, the bull’s mouth was frothing with bluish foam, all four limbs twitching uncontrollably. Ling Guang pried one of its eyelids open, then provided a preliminary diagnosis soon after, “The bloodshot in its eyes has faded. It looks like the medicine’s effect becomes very minimal after passing through two hands. This is a significant finding. Hm, let me draw some blood.”

He Lingchuan could not help but curse.

Although Ling Guang had clearly said that the effect had become “very minimal,” minimal was a relative term. The bull had clearly gone entirely off its rocker earlier. One more sniff of that leaf juice, and it probably would have swum across the river to the Xun camp just to pick a fight.

If three hundred bulls were to become just like this one...

Hm?

Wait, that would actually be quite extraordinary, wouldn’t it?

While the hornbill was off obeying Zhao Pan’s command to apologize to the leader of the bulls, promising compensation, and urging the herd to remain calm, Ling Guang fetched a hollow reed tube and drew a little blood from the bull on the ground.

Just a little amount of about a kilogram or so.

Immediately after acquiring the bull’s blood, it began adding ingredients to the blood. Its hands flew as it did; its movements were sharp and swift. Everyone watching, including He Lingchuan, was so stunned they could barely keep up with its hand speed.

The other bulls crowded in, snorting impatiently and stamping their hooves while watching.

He Lingchuan even caught Ling Guang dipping a finger into the mixture and sticking it into its mouth to taste.

“Hey—!” He Lingchuan lunged and grabbed it. If even the medicine ape went insane, then there would truly be no saving this situation.

Fortunately, Ling Guang remained coherent. It smacked its lips for several long seconds, then suddenly burst into delighted hops. “Got it! Got it! I figured it out!”

The He father and son, as well as their men, all let out long breaths of relief.

Next, Ling Guang began making an antidote.

Its entire body trembled violently, causing half the antidote mixture that it was currently concocting to spill onto the ground.

He Lingchuan said, “Can you stop shaking?!”

“No!” Ling Guang quivered from head to toe. “I’ve been affected, too. The original medicine’s effect hasn’t completely dissipated.” The fact that it was not currently screaming, flinging sticks, and charging into the woods showed a level of restraint bordering on saintly.

Zhao Pan’s army medic had been watching for a while. Now he hurried over. “Let me do it.”

So the ape gave the orders, and the man executed them—oddly enough, they worked together quite smoothly.

At last, the medicine was ready.

Under the intense stare of hundreds of bovine eyes, the army medic poured the antidote down the frenzied bull’s throat.

Barely ten breaths later, the bull’s mania subsided. It mooed weakly a few times, limbs loosening, movements no longer wild.

The hornbill landed on one of its horns and translated solemnly, “It’s lucid now. There’s no longer any need to continue keeping it held down.”

He Lingchuan loosened the ropes. No longer bound, the bull staggered to its feet, swayed forward a few steps, then toppled over again to pant heavily.

“Give it some time to recover,” Ling Guang instructed, signaling a soldier to bring a bucket of clean water. “It should be fine.”

“Alright, enough gawking!” The officers stepped out to disperse the crowd.

The bull leader lumbered over. Then, after confirming its companion was unharmed, it shook its head as it led the herd away to graze.

Zhao Pan finally allowed his shoulders to relax. He looked at He Lingchuan and said, “On account of the feats you’ve accomplished and for Lord He’s sake, I won’t punish you. But from now on, no playing around in my camp!”

He Lingchuan nodded vigorously, and the medicine ape promptly poured its own newly-concocted antidote down its throat.

At long last, the crisis died down.

He Chunhua gave He Lingchuan a light scolding, then patted his shoulder. “When I pushed you out earlier and told General Zhao he could do whatever he wanted to you, it’s because I knew he wouldn’t.”

Seeing his eldest son purse his lips in impatience, He Chunhua did not grow angry. Hands behind his back, he walked off with Wu Shaoyi and the others.

Watching his father’s retreating figure, He Lingchuan could not shake the feeling that the man was... pleased. Almost warm, even.

What’s he pleased about?

Is he pleased that his son caused trouble? As if I’m just like the old He Lingchuan?

Truthfully, ever since he had transmigrated, “He Lingchuan” had caused noticeably fewer problems than before. Could it be that He Chunhua, being too accustomed to the original’s antics, now felt uncomfortable when his eldest was no longer out stirring up trouble every now and again?

He shook that absurd thought away and carried Ling Guang back to his tent.

The rock wolf was already there, gnawing happily on a tattered leather belt it had found who-knows-where.

It had hidden itself expertly earlier. While the bulls charged around like a landslide, it had not shown so much as a whisker. What good was a wolf guard like this?

Ling Guang, having swallowed medicine, lay draped limply across the table, utterly drained.

“What exactly is going on with Dong Rui’s medicine?” He Lingchuan circled back to the original question. They had caused chaos on the scale of a small natural disaster, yet he still had not received an answer as to what exactly that red liquid was.

Ling Guang looked exhausted and seemed to barely have any strength left to even talk. Still, it forced itself to speak. “Dong Rui’s medicine, its main ingredient seems to have already been diluted and blended.”

He Lingchuan froze. “He already diluted it himself?” So Dong Rui already diluted it, then Ling Guang diluted it a hundredfold, and the phoenix tree still grew that wildly?

That bull merely lapped a tiny bit of leaf juice from the phoenix tree. It didn’t even get to properly swallow a single leaf, yet it still went into such a frenzy?

“Then what sort of raw material could this main ingredient be?!”

“It should be...” Ling Guang paused, seemingly to consider its conclusions once more, then it continued, “I can’t definitively categorize it, but based on my observations, it’s very likely a type of blood.”

“Blood?” He Lingchuan was staggered. “You mean blood from some creature?”

“I’m not sure if it’s blood that flowed out of a wound, as it could have also been extracted...” Ling Guang murmured weakly. “Yes. It should be blood. I guarantee it on my thirteen years as a pill master[1].”

“A tiny bit of blood, diluted repeatedly, and it’s still this potent?” He Lingchuan frowned. “Is it from an ancient divine beast? Or a true immortal?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never tested the blood of a divine beast.” Ling Guang shook its head. “But every organism I used for testing showed intense rejection. That’s why the rabbit grew three buttocks, and the phoenix tree’s bark turned blue-purple. These unnatural mutations stem from the test subjects being invaded, damaged, and forced into aberration under stress.”

He Lingchuan’s eyes narrowed. “Just like Dong Rui’s ghost ape and werewolf, and that strange bird?”

The ghost ape’s second pair of eyes behind its head, its additional set of arms, its terrifying defenses...

And that werewolf was even more extreme. It was half-transformed into a humanoid form, defying any normal biological rules.

Ling Guang added, “Because the mutation was too severe, all my test subjects died quickly. To put it plainly, to most living creatures, this substance is highly toxic.”

“So it could be a kind of poison?”

“I still lean toward it being blood, just blood with extreme catalytic power. Or rather, the test subjects were just too weak.”

“But the bull and you survived. That proves the potency does diminish from dilution.” He Lingchuan sank into thought. “Dong Rui must have long since grasped its properties. That’s why he can control those monster puppets of his and make them stronger without killing them. Hm, where exactly would he even get this kind of stuff?”

Could that be the deepest secret behind monster puppet masters?

“Give me some more time,” Ling Guang blinked. “I think the formula can be refined further. Maybe, one day, you can actually use this in battle...”

“In battle? And end up like you afterward?” Flat on the table like a half-paralyzed patient.

“...That’s why it still must be refined further,” Ling Guang said in exasperation. “Right now all five of my organs feel like they’re boiling.”

“Water! Bring water!” He Lingchuan instinctively shouted toward the tent flap. “Mao Tao, bring—”

Halfway through shouting, he froze.

The rock wolf raised its head and stared at him.

He Lingchuan fell silent. Then, Shan Youjun poked his head in and said, “Master, did you call for water?”

He then went to fetch some hot water. He Lingchuan held the ape up gently and helped it drink.

Ling Guang did not know what to say.

Afterward, He Lingchuan even wrapped it in a blanket and said softly, “Sleep.”

What a day.

Stepping outside, he stretched. When he looked up, the sky glittered with stars.

* * *

The moment he opened the window, a wave of cold air crashed into him.

He Lingchuan leaned out, and a clump of snow slid off a treetop and landed squarely on his forehead with a soft thump.

“Ooh, cold!”

In Xia Province, even the frozen soil of the front lines had thawed, and rivers flowed freely again. Yet here, the cold was still so bitter it cut to the bone. Just from that, he knew he had entered the Panlong Dreamscape yet again.

He had not entered the dreamscape in quite a few days. Somehow, its winter air always felt crisp, sharp, and so clean that it woke the soul.

For some reason, every time he entered the dreamscape, he felt unusually lucid.

Since he had no missions today, he planned to squeeze in some training. Marching in the real world had delayed his practice, so he felt he needed to catch up. He also hoped to search the city for a good blade.

When he had last fought a strange creature in the city, the creature’s hide had been too tough, and the changdao issued to him by the Bureau of Bright Prospects had snapped cleanly. Ever since, he had been without a proper weapon.

He reached instinctively to his waist and froze.

Huh? Wait!

This texture...

He Lingchuan looked down and saw a familiar hilt and scabbard. This was the same pair of hilt and scabbard that he saw every day in the waking world.

The treasured saber Fleeting Life hung at his hip.

He slowly drew it, and its inner radiance bloomed along its length.

It really is Fleeting Life!

Am I not in the dreamscape?

No, this is definitely in the dreamscape.

Is it because I repaired the broken saber? Or because I named it? Or is it because I prayed for a better weapon in the dreamscape last time?

Whatever the reason, the weapon he trusted most was here. It was like giving wings to a tiger.

He flicked the blade lightly. “You knew I needed a good weapon in here, didn’t you?”

The treasured saber answered with a clear, ringing hum.

A freezing draft blew through the window. He was just about to close it when—

Click, clack, click.

Three crisp sounds rang out in the darkness, as if someone were pressing a clicker.

1. This is a new term in this novel, though it’s probably the same as what has been termed as apothecary throughout the story. ☜