Where Immortals Once Walked

“Any casualties?”

“There were seven wounded, one of whom was severely wounded, but no one died,” the soldier answered. “The bandits were nothing but rabble, but their stockade was solid.” Bandits like the ones here were typically poor, and they had no origin energy to speak of. Facing a regular army, their fate would have been to lie on the ground and wait to be slaughtered.

Fu Xin spat to the side. “There were still people who got wounded? Still, there are villages everywhere. Why not just seize one of those instead? We’d have food and drink, and it’d be better than this barren mountain.”

Attacking honest villagers was always easier than doing the same to mountain bandits.

“This place is more concealed,” said Hong Chenglue as he stepped out from one of the row houses. “And we have food and drink here as well.”

Back when he had been stationed in Bailu Town, he had already known that this bandit den was the largest within fifty kilometers, and it was more than three hundred strong. With so many mouths to feed, they could not possibly rely solely on robbery. Rumor had it they colluded with merchants down at the foot of the mountain, exchanging loot for grain.

Even with Hong Chenglue leading a lightning assault, it had still taken eight to ten hours to bring them down. When they broke open the storehouses afterward, they found no shortage of grain and supplies. The troops had been overjoyed.

Any farmer understood the logic that if the harvest was poor and you could not steal from your neighbors, you might as well go dig up the field edges and check the rat burrows. You might find a surprise there that was enough to keep the family fed for several meals.

Clearly, the “rats” they had killed this time had been diligent hoarders. Even in a bad year, they had still managed to set something aside.

“Hong!” Fu Xin’s eyes went red the moment he saw Hong Chenglue. He lunged forward, grabbing the front of Hong Chenglue’s coat. “You left us in that mine to die! What was that for?”

The personal guards behind Hong Chenglue started to move, ready to pull Fu Xin off, but Hong Chenglue raised a hand to stop them.

“I ordered a full retreat. You refused to withdraw,” Hong Chenglue said coolly. “So now that the whole unit was almost wiped out because you disobeyed orders, that’s my fault?”

“You never even went down the mountain to intercept the enemy troops. Why?!”

“We did go down to intercept enemy troops, but we found no trace of the enemy. I wasn’t about to return empty-handed, so I carried out Marshal Nian’s overall directive, which was to strike behind enemy lines and burn their supplies. Is there a problem with that?”

Fu Xin glanced around, still just shy of losing his head entirely. “So did you succeed? Did you? You used us as bait. You let that provincial governor’s troops kill us off, so did you at least manage to kill him and burn his grain, huh?”

His shouting grew louder and louder, until it became a hoarse bellow. Soldiers began filing out of the row houses one after another, drawn by the commotion.

Hong Chenglue seized Fu Xin’s wrist and twisted it outward. With his other hand, he drove a fist straight into the man’s chest, sending him staggering back five full steps. Fu Xin nearly fell to the ground.

The personal guards behind Fu Xin surged forward.

Hands folded behind his back, Hong Chenglue asked, “Where’s General Baili? At the very least, you could have withdrawn through the mine tunnel and escaped through the back of the mountain, could you not?”

He had not left Baili Qing and his men a dead end. As long as they reacted in time, the general still had a chance to pull out.

Fu Xin pressed his lips together and said nothing. One of his guards answered in his place, “The Xia Province troops circled around to the back of the mountain, blew up the mine exit, and used smoke to flush them out. General Baili... was captured. From the mountainside, we saw a commanding officer of the Xia Province’s troops execute them all.”

An uproar rippled through the stockade. Even a vein on Hong Chenglue’s forehead twitched.

They killed Baili Qing and everyone who surrendered? Ruthless.

But when he thought about it, it made sense. On the march, hauling grain and supplies, there was no better way to deal with prisoners. Killing them all was the simplest solution.

He fixed his gaze on Fu Xin. “Then how did you survive? Were you afraid to die, so you ran early?”

Rage flared in Fu Xin’s eyes, but something in Hong Chenglue’s cold stare made the hair on his neck rise. He stiffened his spine and said, “We seized a moment when they were distracted and carved our way out!”

“Abandoning your commanding general and fleeing, by military law, that’s a capital offense.” Hong Chenglue’s words dropped like ice, chilling Fu Xin to the marrow.

Fu Xin’s heart lurched.

“However, we’re short on manpower, so I’ll give you a chance to earn merit and offset your crime.” Hong Chenglue’s tone shifted, almost sounding lazy. His saber flashed, and Fu Xin felt a sudden chill on the back of his left hand, and only then did the pain hit.

The severed tip of his little finger fell to the ground.

He let out a sharp scream and clutched his hand, blood spilling nonstop from the stub that was left of his little finger.

When his cries finally abated, Hong Chenglue continued, “If you stir up trouble again, whether by defying your superiors, sowing discord, or cowering from battle, what falls next will be your head.”

Fu Xin lowered his gaze. He did not dare meet Hong Chenglue’s eyes again. The muscles in his jaw, though, ground together so hard that his molars creaked.

Hong Chenglue swept his eyes across the gathered soldiers. Instantly, every head dipped.

Baili Qing was dead; this army now answered to Hong Chenglue alone. They had nowhere else to go. Behind them lay Xia Province’s secure rear, which was enemy land through and through.

Hong Chenglue ordered, “Take off your clothes.”

Fu Xin’s head snapped up in disbelief. “What?”

“Strip for inspection. I want to be sure no tracking spell has been placed on you.”

Under a hundred staring eyes, Fu Xin’s face flushed red. “No, I-I...”

He would rather die than strip bare in front of so many soldiers.

Deputy General Xu Yingxian hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over and suggested, “We can take him to one of the houses for a private inspection! General, that should be enough, right?”

Hong Chenglue nodded.

A few guards stepped forward, took Fu Xin by the arms, and led him away to a small house.

Hong Chenglue turned on his heel and walked off, his expression as dark and heavy as ice.

Wu Qing had been standing just inside one of the row houses, watching. Only now did he step out and approach. “General Hong, what are your plans from here?”

“Lay low and bide our time. He Chunhua’s seven hundred thousand kilograms of grain is sure to have reached the front line by now. We can’t intercept it anymore. All we can do is wait for the next opportunity to strike behind enemy lines. Hm, send some people to circulate through three or four counties and towns in the central-north region,” Hong said, already planning ahead. “Have them listen carefully for news. Also, ask Marshal Nian to send me another three hundred roving cavalry.”

The two men went inside. Once they were certain no one else was within earshot, Wu Qing lowered his voice as he said, “General Baili is dead, and Fu Xin escaped. That wasn’t an accident, was it?”

“Of course not.” Hong Chenglue snorted. “The Xia Province people let them escape on purpose to stir up trouble for me. As long as Fu Xin has more than a dozen men behind him, and considering we just failed to raid Xinhuang’s camp and our morale is low, this isn’t the moment to strike him down.” Hong Chenglue then lowered his voice further as he asked, “When does the leadership want me to return to Beijia?”

“State Preceptor Shuang Ye said to stay behind enemy lines as long as you can. The situation on the Han River front needs you to keep pressing.”

The situation on the Han River front? So, whether I can return to Beijia or not depends on how I perform here?

Hong Chenglue thought for a moment. “I’ve been away a long time. Which state preceptor holds the seal now?”

“At present, it’s State Preceptor Mian Bing’s turn,” answered Wu Qing. In Beijia, whoever held the seal had the power to make decisions, and the four state preceptors took turns holding it.

Hong Chenglue’s eyes narrowed slightly before he smoothed his expression. “What a coincidence. She held the seal when I left as well.” No wonder Shuang Ye’s tone sounded somewhat lacking in authority.

Wu Qing forced a smile and said, “Yes, yes. That’s true.” Inwardly, he thought, So the rumors are accurate. There really is bad blood between General Hong and State Preceptor Mian Bing.

They discussed logistics and supplies for a while longer. Soon, a guard came to report, “The inspection is complete. No tracking-type divine techniques or objects were found on Fu Xin.”

“I see,” Hong Chenglue said, waving the guard away. He knew perfectly well that, after this strip-search, Fu Xin’s hatred for him would have deepened to the bone.

Nor was Fu Xin alone. Many of the soldiers in this stockade held grudges against him. Hong Chenglue was from Beijia, while they were all roving cavalry from Xun Province. During his rounds, he had personally heard a few muttered comments along the lines of “Beijia’s generals don’t care whether Xun Province soldiers live or die.”

They were not his own men, so using them would never feel smooth.

He asked Wu Qing, “Any word from A’Jin? Is she settling in fine?”

Wu Qing chuckled. “Rest assured, that village is very secluded. The madame has two attentive old servant women looking after her meals and daily needs, and another to keep her company in conversation. She’s living far more comfortably than you are.”

Hong Chenglue was still uneasy. “I’ve been thinking, should we bring her here?”

“Best not,” Wu Qing said frankly. “We’re constantly on the move. We have no idea when we’ll have to relocate again. A delicate woman traveling with roving cavalry would suffer too much.” However, the main concern was that it would be terribly inconvenient.

Hong Chenglue exhaled slowly, then nodded. His reason agreed with the assessment, even if his heart did not.

Wu Qing went on, “The surrounding towns and townships have been arresting bandits and suspected spies nonstop. They’re checking strangers thoroughly, interrogating anyone with an unfamiliar face. I heard the jail in Haotian Township is already packed, and they’ve dragged several dozen people out to behead and display as a warning. The whole area is on edge and more tense than ever.”

“Have you been implicated, Mr. Wu?”

“No. My caravan holds official documents. No one can just arrest us at random. The harsher the year, the more important men like us become.” Wu Qing sighed. “The township officials are paying a great deal of money to send their agents into every mountain village, turning the soil upside down in search of Xun Province people. You have great foresight, General Hong. If you’d just seized some random village, we’d be scrambling to flee it in embarrassment right now.”

“This must be an order from the provincial government. They’re forcing local officials to act. I burned over seven hundred thousand kilograms of He Chunhua’s grain. He must be half mad with rage.”

Wu Qing smiled and said, “Indeed. The wanted posters for you are almost plastered across all of central and northern Xia Province by now.”

Hong Chenglue, however, was not worried about himself. “Have you seen any notices placing a bounty on A’Jin?”

“No. I haven’t seen any mention of her.”

When they finished hashing out their plans, the two men separated to attend to their own duties.

* * *

Benlei Village.

Spring water was rising, and the stream ran faster.

Two farm women stood by the bank, beating clothes against smooth rocks. One of them glanced up at the sky and said, “How’s it suddenly about to rain? It was sunny when we came out.”

A dark cloud had drifted in from who knew where, swallowing half the sky. Above their heads, the sunlight still shone bright, but the eastern horizon was already dark as dusk.

“Let’s hurry up with the washing, then go home.”

“I swear, rain just keeps pouring this spring. Just when the sun finally comes out, we only get several hours to work,” one of the women grumbled. “All the firewood’s gone damp, so starting a fire is a chore, and the smoke chokes you to death.”

“Aunt Liu, I’ve got a question,” said the other woman. “Aren’t you helping out in Village Chief Chen’s kitchen? I heard he’s got several relatives staying over?”

“Mm, that’s right.” Aunt Liu scrubbed the cloth harder, sending droplets flying. “Seems like some noblewoman from a big household in the south fell ill, so they sent her to the countryside to rest.”

“I heard there were quite a few of them.”

“There are. Just the old servant women already number three, and there are several men, too—bodyguards or guards, I forget which. One’s skinny but still seems quite tough, and the other one’s built like a bull. They stare at people like they want to drill holes into them. They’ve definitely got some very fierce faces.” Aunt Liu added, “All of them are here to serve that lady.”

“What kind of illness makes you leave the city to recuperate in a village?” the other woman wondered aloud. “Everyone knows conditions are better in the cities. Out here, you’d be lucky to even have one or two barefoot doctors, and there’s no way they compare to proper physicians in a big city.”

“I don’t know either. I only know that the village chief gave them the big house. That noblewoman almost never leaves her room, so hardly anyone’s seen her face.”