Where Immortals Once Walked

He could only say that Fufeng’s concern over open-channel pollution was absolutely fair. After all, he had even seen a drunk back in Dunyu climb up onto a water channel and piss into it, who knows how many countless more instances there were of people polluting the waterways with such easy access to them.

The downside of underground canals was that they took a lot of labor to build and maintain, but Beijia had no shortage of burrowing monsters and beasts, so in Fufeng City, this barely counted as a problem.

What surprised him even more was that the city actually had something resembling a pipe system.

Lengths of bamboo with internal nodes punched through were joined end to end to form pipes that carried spring water straight from Mount Baiyun, which was north of the city, into people’s homes. This way, those with direct access no longer had any need to line up to draw water or to buy it by the bucket.

Of course, households that were hooked up with direct access to spring water from Mount Baiyun were anything but ordinary.

The Stone Gate Merchant Caravan did more than just wholesale; they also handled group purchases. Today, they were heading to the market to open shop. He Lingchuan knew their flagship products were sandalwood and a well-known balm called Lover’s Tears. The balm was made from amber-like resin collected from a fragrant tree unique to the State of Fu. Add just two more natural aromatics, and it produced a deep, lingering scent that was subtle yet profound. Best of all, it lasted a long time, making it perfect for sachets and hanging ornaments.

The market itself was a riot of oddities, but that was really only to be expected with the multitude of shops and stalls run by all kinds of monsters.

Monster-run businesses were rare elsewhere. Back in Shihuan, He Lingchuan had thought it novel just to see a Thousand-Heart Flow ape putting on a street performance. But here, in a monster state, it all felt completely natural.

He saw a weasel monster selling insect-repellent sachets, loudly claiming they could wipe out every mosquito, rat, and bug in a household in one go, while being completely harmless to humans. Beneath the claim, in bold, oversized characters, was a warning: Seal all doors and windows. Puncture and leave immediately.

The packages were swollen, bulging pig bladders that appeared to be pumped full of gas.

Holy shit. The moment He Lingchuan saw that familiar packaging, he knew exactly what was inside.

The market even had a labor exchange, with job seekers that included plenty of monsters.

Bear monsters and giant apes were common porters, capable of hauling loads several times heavier than humans. Many caravans hired them for short-term work. He Lingchuan even spotted two elephants.

There were also many lesser monsters looking for long-term employment. He saw two pairs of cat monster couples come with their children to seek work, advertising skills in catching rats, driving off snakes, and guarding homes. They were looking for a contract that lasted at least a year.

Hiring long-term or permanent workers here required standardized contracts issued by Fufeng City. The documents spelled out food provisions, duties, working hours, and more, and only became valid once stamped with a palm, claw, or whatever-else-could-be-used print.

He Lingchuan clicked his tongue in amazement, missing his own medicine ape more than ever.

On the way back, he noticed several temples with brand-new bright red couplets pasted on their pillars, and makeshift stages going up at their entrances, all in preparation for performances celebrating the Baoshu King’s birthday.

He could not help but wonder how many of the plays the Baoshu King could actually watch when so many stages were putting them on at once.

Even the old roadside trees were festooned with long strips of red cloth for a festive look.

At last, he turned to his real business and went to the large apothecary near the inn to purchase materials for refining the Godslayer Pill.

Following the advice of the grand apothecary Helian Chen, he planned to first refine the auxiliary ingredients into semi-finished products. Once he obtained imperial nectar, he could simply fuse them together. That would give him a much higher success rate.

Fewer steps meant fewer chances for something to go wrong.

He made no effort to hide his movements, strolling openly into the apothecary.

Before half a day had passed, his purchase list had already been copied and sent to the grand tutor’s residence. The list was strange enough that it was ultimately placed directly in front of Grand Tutor Sha.

Grand Tutor Sha stole a moment from his busy schedule to glance at it, and his brow immediately furrowed. “Why is there arsenic on here?”

Compared to the formula he had instructed Wu Jinsong to give He Lingchuan, only a few ingredients overlapped. Everything else had been swapped out. Most outrageous of all, over thirty percent of the list consisted of potent poisons, including arsenic.

Are these even ingredients for an imperial nectar formula, or is he planning to poison everyone in the inn?

And the list was unusually long. One item in particular made him pause.

“Skunk glands, too?”

What in the world is he going to use those for?

Grand Tutor Sha naturally had his own apothecary. The man took the list, glanced over it, and chuckled. “He’s probably planning to refine several different medicines and just bought everything at once. That aside, skunk glands absolutely cannot be taken internally.”

Grand Tutor Sha shot him a glare. Does that really need saying?

“Also, many of these ingredients have conflicting properties. They couldn’t possibly be used in the same formula,” the apothecary added. “Either he’s making multiple medicines, or he’s deliberately using this list to mislead us.”

Grand Tutor Sha hummed thoughtfully. “So he’s grown cautious?” Has that He brat realized that he’s being watched?

“Whatever he’s refining, our formula isn’t on this list,” the apothecary reminded him. “The recipe you gave him was a general imperial nectar formula, right? That one at least includes ground artichoke and bitter-eye lotus, but neither of them appears here.”

Grand Tutor Sha let out a soft sound of surprise. “So he’s capable of formulating something else himself?”

Without confidence, no sane person would dare tamper with an imperial nectar recipe. That was practically gambling with one’s life.

The apothecary shrugged. “It’s hard to say for sure.”

Grand Tutor Sha pondered for a moment, then asked Wu Jinsong, “You told him there’s no suitable site near the city to receive imperial nectar, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

Grand Tutor Sha smiled faintly. “Hoh, it seems that boy’s quite ambitious.”

“Grand Tutor?” Wu Jinsong was not quite able to follow.

“Most of the land around Fufeng City has already been claimed. If that He boy planned to stay within the city to collect imperial nectar, there’d be no need for all this preparation,” said Grand Tutor Sha with a smile. “He intends to go farther afield, that’s the only reason why he’d be making these many preparations.”

Well then, it looks like we’ll just have to simply wait and see how things turn out.

He was swamped with state affairs, so this relatively minor matter was soon forgotten.

For the rest of the day, He Lingchuan stayed shut in at the inn, focusing on refining auxiliary ingredients and taking care of miscellaneous tasks.

Alchemy was not his strong suit. Using only the small furnace he had bought from the apothecary, he ruined four or five batches before finally getting the hang of it and producing semi-finished materials he was satisfied with.

Fortunately, the refinement itself was not very difficult. Otherwise, he would have needed to come up with another solution.

Second Boss Shi claimed to know the area around Fufeng City like the back of his hand. He Lingchuan discussed things with him for over two hours, then mentioned that he planned to leave the city to explore and would not be back for three days.

Fufeng City was a crucial stop for any caravan. The Stone Gate Merchant Guild had to unload, sell, and settle accounts here, so they were staying for a while. Many of Fufeng City’s specialties were in demand in the State of Fu, but since the caravan still had to head northwest, they were not buying spot goods. Instead, they placed advance orders, with payment to be settled and goods picked up on the return trip from Lingxu City, so essentially a futures arrangement.

With the Baoshu King’s birthday on top of everything else, Second Boss Shi was run ragged these days. How could he possibly spare attention for where He Lingchuan went?

Before long, he received excellent news.

A major deal that had originally been handled by the Gan Family Merchant Guild had been reassigned to the Stone Gate Merchant Guild by the grand tutor’s residence, in recognition of He Lingchuan’s favor.

The scale of the deal itself did not matter. How much profit the brothers could squeeze out of it did not matter either. What mattered was that the Stone Gate Merchant Guild had made contact with the grand tutor’s residence and earned its trust.

This was an honor, as well as an enormous opportunity.

This was the career turning point the Shi brothers had been hoping for all along.

Big Brother’s judgment really was spot-on. Getting close to He Lingchuan is bringing nothing but benefits.

Second Boss Shi was over the moon when he heard the news and immediately wanted to drag He Lingchuan out for a drink. He Lingchuan just laughed. “I’m busy.” He did not even let him through the door.

Second Boss Shi craned his neck to peek inside and saw that He Lingchuan’s room was full of women of practically every age group imaginable. He had no idea what all those women were in there for, but it was not really his place or business to ask, so he simply minded his own business.

It was not until that afternoon that He Lingchuan finally rode out of the city alone, heading northeast.

According to the information he received from the grand tutor, the earliest that the imperial nectar would erupt was tomorrow night.

Fufeng City truly lived up to its status as the capital of the State of Baoshu. Even the nearby towns were thriving, with farmland, orchards, forests, and workshops everywhere you looked, with humans and monsters working side by side. It was almost impossible to find a place without people.

He Lingchuan rode farther and farther, observing carefully along the way.

At last, signs of habitation thinned out, replaced by stretches of wild forest.

He tried guiding his horse toward a small mountain. It looked like unclaimed land, with no traces of human activity.

But before he even reached the foothills, there was a rustle in the trees. Several massive blackwater deer[1] emerged to block his path, and they spoke in human tongue.

“By order of the prime minister of the state, this area has been temporarily designated as territory of the Black Horn Clan. No outsiders are to approach for three days.”

The towering deer looked down at him, as though ready to kick at the slightest provocation.

He Lingchuan did not linger, turning and leaving at once.

He tried several other sites after that. All were already claimed, sometimes by monster clans, sometimes by humans. Wu Jinsong’s information had been accurate.

As a newcomer, He Lingchuan had no desire to clash with local powers. He continued northeast, camping in the wild at night, then riding again from dawn until midday the next day.

Finally, he reached his destination.

It lay over a hundred kilometers from Fufeng City, a stretch of open ground beside a lake.

In fact, he had already left the city’s outskirts the night before, beyond the spheres of influence of various factions. But to be safe, he had traveled another half day, even steering clear of official roads.

This place was desolate. The nearest human settlement was over twenty kilometers away, and there were almost no signs of human activity nearby. As for monsters, this was a monster state, so who could say?

Still, wild monsters in the mountains were limited in scale, nothing like those around Fufeng City.

Zhu Erniang and the other greater monsters of Demon Nest Swamp were obvious exceptions.

He Lingchuan had chosen this spot with care. The shimmering lake before him was called Three-Heart Lake, named such because it consisted of three connected bodies of water, one large and two small.

The largest covered several hundred hectares, while the smallest was only about a fourth of a hectare. The disparity was enormous.

Second Boss Shi knew of the place because, on one trading run, he had tried to push too hard and travel at night, straying farther and farther off course until he blundered in here. It took him two days to find the road back to Fufeng City. The experience had left a deep impression.

Standing by the small lake, He Lingchuan silently thanked the heavens.

As it had not rained here in quite some time, the water level had dropped significantly, and the channel connecting this lake to the larger one was nearly clogged with mud and silt, forming a natural low dam.

Unless there were several heavy downpours, fish from the big lake would not be able to get through.

Deep water nurtured big fish; deep pools bred flood dragons. What kind of serious monster would choose to live in a tiny lake that was not even half a hectare?

The shoreline was ringed with a belt of sucking mud. One step and you would sink to the knee. The forest lay more than thirty meters away.

No one in their right mind would choose a place like this to receive imperial nectar.

1. Note that this is a literal translation of the characters in the original word, 黑水鹿. In the real world, the term more typically translates to sambar deer. ☜