Where Immortals Once Walked

For nearly everyone, Songyang Manor sold weapons only in a single way. They set them out on the shelf, and you could buy them if you want, and not if you do not.

This was what you called style, style in the sense of putting on airs with elegance, to which the key was making it look effortless.

Second Boss Shi sprang to his feet at once and made him a deep bow. “I solemnly apologize for any affront I may have made just now. I have eyes, yet have failed to use them properly. I ask for Young Master He’s forgiveness. Might I ask which noble line Young Master He hails from?”

Come to think of it, a young man like this escaping the Demon Nest Swamp unscathed, then even having the Spider Queen hand him a travel token, is already anything but simple.

“I’m a traveler from far away, swept by the Han River flood straight into the Demon Nest Swamp.” He Lingchuan waved it off. “Here I’ve no roots. I’ve no proof of identity, and no one knows me.”

Second Boss Shi beamed and said, “No matter, no matter. For the next few months, the Stone Gate Merchant Caravan will be Young Master’s home. We’ll deliver you safe and sound to Lingxu City.”

He Lingchuan glanced toward the Gan Residence and said, “When I fell into the river, I lost my baggage. As I said earlier, I’ve nothing on me, not even a way to prove who I am.”

“That’s easily handled. The government office can reissue papers.” Second Boss Shi clapped his hands. “Why don’t I take Young Master He to the yamen right now and get your identity settled in one go?”

“That would be perfect.” He Lingchuan nodded, then added, “But Third Master Gan was here a quarter-hour ago. He said if he doesn’t nod his head, I’m not leaving Wuze County.”

“Third Master Gan? A quarter-hour ago?” Second Boss Shi paused as if surprised, then waved and laughed. “It’s nothing. Let’s go.”

Third Master Gan had already come and threatened Young Master He?

Heaven is practically smiling upon our Stone Gate!

Second Boss Shi’s heart practically bloomed. He had to spend real effort not to laugh out loud.

He Lingchuan smiled and rose.

Before he ever fell out with Third Master Gan, he had already decided to switch caravans for Beijia. The road was long, so who knew when the Gan Family might seize a chance to retaliate?

They had just come downstairs when a carriage was already waiting for them at the tavern entrance.

Wuze was only a county city, after all. The government office was barely a quarter-hour away from Yuanzhi Tavern.

With Second Boss Shi lending a hand, getting He Lingchuan’s identity papers was effortless. In truth, merchant guilds frequently recruited outsiders—drivers, hands, porters, guards—and had long since developed a complete routine for helping such people settle documentation.

Chatting in the carriage, He Lingchuan learned that the Stone Gate Merchant Guild had been founded thirty years ago. The current Big Boss or First Boss, Shi Congshan, and Second Boss, Shi Congshui, were blood brothers who had taken over from their father seven years prior and kept grinding forward.[1]

This time, the identity that Shi Congshui arranged for He Lingchuan was a distant Shi Family relative named He Xiao, who had come from his hometown to Wuze to seek refuge with the Stone Gate Merchant Guild and work for them. Three other men who were “processing paperwork” were brought on-site as well, and He Lingchuan was simply slotted among them.

“He Xiao[2]” had been He Lingchuan’s childhood name, and had been used until age three, before it was changed.

A quarter-hour later, He Lingchuan walked out of the government office holding fresh papers.

Second Boss Shi smiled and said, “We’ve reserved a private bathing room at Purple Bamboo Garden. Brother He has come from far away, so you should go wash off the dust and fatigue first. Tonight, we’ll talk by lamplight at leisure. What do you think?”

However cold the Gan Family had been to He Lingchuan, the Stone Gate Merchant Guild was just as warm.

“Then I won’t decline.” He Lingchuan did not put on airs, laughing and accepting the offer. “It seems you’re spending quite a bit of money on me, Second Boss.”

The Spider Queen giving him the travel token was effectively handing him the right to choose a merchant guild. All of this was what he deserved. If anything, the Gan Family’s reaction had been the strange one.

Less than two quarters of an hour after they left, someone entered the government office, slipped a red packet to the clerk who managed the registers, and quietly instructed, “If, in the next few days, a tall, handsome young man around seventeen or eighteen comes to apply, deny him! That young man’s origins are unclear. He’s probably a bandit.”

The clerk weighed the red packet, found it to be about a tael of silver, and readily agreed. “Don’t worry, just leave it to me!”

If he wanted to refuse someone, there were a hundred reasons he could use.

* * *

When the carriage arrived at Purple Bamboo Garden, He Lingchuan realized it was Wuze County’s finest hot-spring bathhouse. Inside, slender bamboo surrounded the paths, birds called in the quiet hills, and sulfur hung in the air; human voices were often heard, yet people themselves were rarely seen.

There were public pools and private bathing rooms. The Stone Gate Merchant Guild had booked him a private room, giving him one steaming spring all to himself. If he was thirsty or hungry, he only had to ring a bell, and a big-eyed maid would enter to deliver food.

In a commercial hub like this, such bathhouses were favorites among officials and merchants: first, to relax; second, to talk in private.

After more than ten days sleeping rough in the Demon Nest Swamp—cold dips at best, and even then with one eye out for eels and crocodiles—how could he not revel in it? The moment he stepped into Purple Bamboo Garden, his skin practically itched. He hurried into the pool, soaked until bones loosened and tendons slackened, then scrubbed off layers of old grime.

The maid was unusually enthusiastic. She brought fruit in, then did not leave, offering to work his muscles loose.

She was used to seeing nothing but greasy-bellied middle-aged men with fat faces and oily skin. Once in a while, she wanted to rinse her eyes with a handsome young man whose figure was top-tier.

And to be fair, her technique really was good.

The pressure she applied was just right, and she found the acupoints precisely.

He Lingchuan chatted idly with her and asked about the Stone Gate Merchant Guild.

The maid was warm and answered anything. She told him that the previous guildmaster had been straightforward, not slick like most merchants, and until his death, the guild had been obscure in the county. It was only after the Shi brothers took over that things slowly improved.

At present, Wuze County’s largest merchant guild was still the Gan Family Merchant Guild. While Gan Qing lived, his methods were hard and his grip on resources absolute. Stone Gate was not even a quarter of their size, and it could not crack the county’s top five, but their business was still complete. The Shi brothers focused on lumber and miscellaneous trade, and ran things with some real shape.

Still, with the Gan Family present, Stone Gate could never really eat its fill.

“I heard their men say the best thing to praise is that they don’t dock wages,” the maid said. “When it’s time to settle, they settle. Other guilds always drag it out a bit, either delaying or splitting it into installments.”

“Even the Gan Family Merchant Guild does the same?”

“They do. It’s the practice everywhere.” The maid sighed. “Even for us. We sometimes have our pay held for ten days, or even half a month.”

Reputation was more precious than gold. Those two brothers cherished their signboard.

After the maid finished and left, the steam curled all around. He Lingchuan felt looser and looser, yet drowsiness rose like a tide. When he fell asleep, he did not even dream.

It was the best sleep he had had since the Han River flood swept him away.

Not long after, someone knocked.

Second Boss Shi arrived, and with him was First Boss Shi.

The three of them ordered a whole table of wine and dishes, and talked in the bathing room.

The Shi brothers had traveled north and south and seen every oddity under heaven, allowing them to tell the perfect drinking tales. And He Lingchuan had lived through enough heart-thumping scenes; so he only had to pick one or two, and it was equally dazzling.

He Lingchuan did not bring up his purpose for going to Lingxu City, and the Shi brothers did not ask. They did not probe his origin either, only repeatedly telling him that they would deliver him safely.

In truth, they already knew from Steward Zhao that he was from Yuan.

The two spoke with real finesse. They were comfortable to listen to, and clearly eager to befriend him. For example, Second Boss Shi openly suggested that Songyang Manor had a branch in Lingxu City, and hoped that after He Lingchuan arrived, he could introduce the two sides and build a bridge between them.

He Lingchuan readily agreed to do them a simple favor in return for considerable goodwill. However, he could not help but wonder how exactly the Stone Gate Merchant Guild of the State of Fu would be able to latch onto Songyang Manor.

The brothers simply explained that the State of Fu actually had certain specialties that Songyang Manor needed, such as gold paste...

“The State of Fu produces gold paste too?” Fleeting Life had been “grown” from gold paste, and He Lingchuan still had a little left.

“No, no, gold paste is blended from multiple materials, and every artifact sect has its own secret recipe.” First Boss Shi Congshan chuckled. “Fu produces two foundational materials used in everyone’s gold paste. Every artifact sect uses them. If we can supply Songyang Manor, Stone Gate’s name will naturally rise.”

Since they wanted something from the young man in front of them, they would not dare ambush him on the road. He Lingchuan understood that this was them handing him a reassurance.

Whether it was the Shi brothers or Li Qingge of Songyang Manor, they seemed to like investing in potential stocks. If one day the stock became a dragon that flew high up in the sky, it would pull them up along the way.

Merchants hoped to plant goodwill widely, though the current Gan Family was clearly the exception.

When He Lingchuan asked about Third Master Gan, Second Boss Shi, who was already flushed from drinking, waved both hands again and again.

“That’s a ruinous good-for-nothing! A doting mother breeds a wastrel! No one in the Gan Family restrains him, and in Wuze County, there’s no one who can restrain him! He keeps a crowd of scoundrels around him! He’s even pulled in plenty of yamen runners and petty officials. In Wuze County, he’s practically a tyrant. Anyone who crosses him, or crosses the Gan Family, gets ‘fixed.’ Gan Qing liked that about him, so he never disciplined him. The upper circles—officials and nobles—won’t stoop to quarrel with him for Gan Qing’s face, either.”

Hearing that, He Lingchuan felt a little heat on his face.

Back then, he had been like that too.

Maybe there were things Gan Qing could not do openly, so he let his third brother do them.

That sort of doorway, He Lingchuan knew it far too well.

First Boss Shi stroked his chin and said, “When Gan Qing was alive, he had endless money to burn. Now that the pillar of the house has fallen, I doubt he’ll keep his shine for many days. Brother He will be heading west with my second brother to Lingxu City in a few days. There’s no need to let that scoundrel bother you.”

“Why keep bringing up that grasshopper after autumn?” Shi Congshui raised his cup. “Come, drink!”

If this trip went smoothly, the Demon Nest travel token would soon belong to the Stone Gate Merchant Guild, and they would also gain ties with someone like He Lingchuan. There was nothing but benefits for them.

The Stone Gate Merchant Guild badly needed a chance to hold its head high.

* * *

The next day, news of Gan Qing’s death spread through Wuze County. Every street corner and alley buzzed with talk of his death.

Old Madame Mao and Second Master Gan were submerged in grief, unaware of it all.

Third Master Gan, however, listened as the rumors grew wilder and uglier, and his face darkened by the hour.

These filthy commoners! They’re actually spreading slander that I hired bandits to kill my eldest brother!

And their only reason is that I’d quarreled with Eldest Brother before the departure, and servants had overheard it.

Why aren’t they saying it was that young man who got greedy, killed for money, and stole the goods?

Whether at home or out on the street, everyone seemed to be pointing and whispering behind his back.

Third Master Gan had already swallowed a bellyful of rage when his attendant delivered fresh bad news: the young man, who had walked out of Demon Nest Swamp with Zhao Fu, the same one who had humiliated him yesterday, had actually successfully gotten his papers issued on the same day.

Third Master Gan slammed the table and shot to his feet. “What happened?! Didn’t you say he wouldn’t be able to get them?!”

He slammed his palm on the table too hard, and it throbbed in pain.

1. Congshan (从山) and Congshui (从水) literally translate to “from mountains” and “from water” respectively. ☜

2. Note that the Xiao is 骁, which means brave or valiant, rather than the Xiao for little or small, which I feel that many of you would have thought. ☜