Where Immortals Once Walked

News and books from outside were quite difficult to bring in here.

“But the State of Yuān had one more peculiarity,” Sun Fuling went on at once, as though remembering an addendum. “Their new monarch was human. The previous demon king abdicated the throne to him on his deathbed. If he accepted investiture from the gods, then for the first time in history, one of Beijia’s twelve monster kings would have been a human king.”

“Yet he still refused. Why wouldn’t he accept divine investiture?”

Sun Fuling gave a small laugh. “Who knows? People have their own ambitions.”

“When the Son of Heaven is enraged, blood flows until it floats the shields[1]. After the monster emperor broke Yuān, he simply carved it up and divided it among five other monster states. Of course, the most vital core territory was kept for Lingxu City itself. You just mentioned the Baoshu King. It, too, received a huge stretch of excellent land.” She sighed lightly. “After that, Beijia established a new law: if war breaks out between monster states, the other monster kings may only watch from the walls. None are permitted to enter the fray.”

As she spoke, she stroked the sparrowhawk’s head as if it were an obedient cat. “I heard from the headmaster of Shumin State Academy that the Yuān King’s nephew was Commander Zhong’s classmate and close friend. They shared the same ideals. One of Commander Zhong’s treasured sabers was even a gift from him. When news of Yuān’s fall reached West Luo, Lord Zhong was devastated. He shut himself away for days.”

“A treasured saber?” He Lingchuan’s heart skipped a beat. “The one with the flood dragon-head ring pommel?”

“You ask me, yet who am I supposed to ask?” Sun Fuling laughed. “What famous general carries only one weapon?”

He Lingchuan’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Was that saber forged twenty-some years ago, too?”

“Who knows the exact year?” Sun Fuling said. “People say it has quite a background.”

He Lingchuan pressed, “And how did Commander Zhong end up studying alongside the Yuān King’s nephew?”

“Commander Zhong studied in Beijia for six years,” Sun Fuling replied. “Beijia is one of the few true great powers in the world. It’s rich in resources and wonders. Every state sends its finest students there. Even now, West Luo’s nobles—great and small—still treat having studied in Beijia as a badge of honor. In fact, it’s the same everywhere. If you have Beijia study credentials, you can usually return home to a high post.”

He Lingchuan nodded slowly, but inwardly he thought, So Zhong Shengguang’s lavish offering to the god Mitian wasn’t some spur-of-the-moment impulse from four years ago.

With this detail, the whole matter only grew murkier.

He lowered his voice as he said, “I heard something too. West Luo intends to relocate all the residents of Panlong Wasteland back home.”

Sun Fuling jolted. “Relocate them where?”

“Back to the motherland, to resettle.”

“Where did you hear that?”

“From Fatty Bai at Spirit-Nurturing Isle. He probably heard it from traveling merchants. It doesn’t seem widespread in Panlong City yet.”

“How is that possible?” Sun Fuling shook her head. “Leaving aside how far the journey is, and the fact there’s no route back, the motherland doesn’t even want us to return.”

He Lingchuan froze. “Why?” There’s no way that a state wouldn’t welcome its own people back home, right?

“Have you forgotten? Four years ago, the motherland wanted to transfer a batch of elite troops from Panlong City to suppress unrest back home. Lord Zhong ordered Deputy Commander Jing to lead forty thousand Panlong City soldiers east. All forty thousand were battle-hardened elites, and they also relocated thirty thousand civilians. At the time, Panlong City’s entire army numbered only one hundred thousand. That tells you how sincere Lord Zhong was. But once they returned, those forty thousand were broken up and scattered into different regular army units. Deputy Commander Jing was shoved into a useless sinecure. He no longer had the face to come back to Panlong Wasteland and meet Commander Zhong. Then the route home was cut off again. Panlong City was blocked on all sides, turning into an enclave once more, and communications with the motherland were severed. Because of that, Commander Zhong was so furious he fell gravely ill.” Then she looked up at He Lingchuan and asked slowly, “Tell me, do you really think West Luo wants us back?”

When she said “West Luo,” her tone went cold.

He Lingchuan could only sigh. “Why would they do that?”

“The royal court would never explain it to us outright.” Sun Fuling’s voice was quiet. “But if you comb through the histories, there’s really only one word for it: fear.”

The Panlong City army was an iron hammer. It could smash Baling, smash Xianyou. If Zhong Shengguang brought it back to West Luo, could it not then smash the capital and the king just as easily?

For any ruler, how could they not fear a commander beloved by the people and the army?

Sun Fuling’s expression grew thoughtful. “However, Panlong’s soldiers and civilians have been cut off from the homeland for more than ten years now. Hearts long for home. If that rumor is true, then we’re in real trouble.”

The Panlong Wasteland had only been peaceful for a few months. Now it looked like another storm was already gathering.

He Lingchuan raised his cup. “Then let it gather. Drink while you can, today’s wine for today’s drunkenness. Don’t worry about Commander Zhong so much.”

Sun Fuling smiled, clinked cups with him, and drank.

They lifted their heads and saw two slender blades of new green grass forcing their way up from the top of the low wall, with the fourth month’s bright blue sky behind them.

Everyone knew those shoots would wither under the ninth month’s frost.

But at this moment, they were full of life.

A person’s life is a brief season, like grass and trees, life and death decided by Heaven.

All you can truly grasp is the present.

He heard Sun Fuling release a sigh so light it was almost soundless.

They looked at each other in silence.

Time passed—as for how long, neither of them knew—until suddenly a clamor erupted overhead. Two dark, plump figures thudded down onto the wall.

Two fat magpies, fighting fiercely over a piece of rice cake, shrieking and flapping as if the world were ending.

The quiet of the little courtyard was shattered instantly.

Sun Fuling casually picked up a pebble, curled her fingers, and flicked.

Pa!

The pebble struck the low wall beside the magpies and exploded into eight fragments.

The two magpies, in the heat of battle, did not even react.

The sparrowhawk, who had been hiding behind the low table and sneakily stealing meat, sprang into the air and spread its wings, charging them.

Ignoring me, huh?

Only now did the magpies notice the predator. They no longer dared keep the rice cake, nor did they dare keep fighting. With frantic calls, they launched into the air and fled.

Two feathers drifted down, light as breath.

The sparrowhawk pursued them and disappeared into the sky.

The ground was tense and awkward, so it felt it better to fly off and “digest” for a while.

Watching the magpies’ panicked retreat, both of them laughed.

Sun Fuling, seemingly from nowhere, produced a flute and began to play.

The melody started airy and bright, like a lively kingfisher spreading its wings and darting between lakewater and fresh grass. Then it rose, higher and higher until it became like rustling maple leaves staining a frost-white sky.

In a single tune, she wandered through the four seasons.

But at winter’s final chapter, she ended with a lifted, playful note, then turned and smiled at him.

He Lingchuan tapped his fingers in praise. “Beautiful. You’re remarkably optimistic.”

She waved the flute lightly. “When you’re trapped in a city of sorrow, worrying only adds to it.”

“That flute’s a little unusual,” He Lingchuan said. He had been watching it for a while. It was shaped like bamboo segments, yet the whole thing was bone-gray, with a faint sheen like polished ivory.

Most striking of all were two bright red rings near the end of the flute that resembled the eyes of an aberrant creature.

“I made it myself. A few years ago, a patrolman set up a stall in the market. He had a section of a heavenly centipede’s spine. I thought it would work, so I bought it and turned it into a bone flute. The tone turned out surprisingly good.” Sun Fuling smiled and said, “Typical centipedes don’t have bones. Only heavenly centipedes that are over three hundred years old will grow a little hard bone segment behind the head, out of seemingly nothing, like this.”

He Lingchuan asked, “And the two red rings?”

“They’re marks left behind after it was wounded and healed. I thought they looked nicely symmetrical, so I kept them.” Sun Fuling held the flute out. “Want to try?”

He Lingchuan was honest. “I can’t. I can’t play anything.”

He could play a harmonica, but there was no place for that here. As for the original young master of the He Family, he was even more hopeless.

“The Hall of Inquiry offers music classes,” Sun Fuling said, glancing at him. “The instructor’s a great beauty, apparently. Every session is packed. You’ve never heard of it?”

“No.” He Lingchuan coughed. “They have classes like that?” On the Hall of Inquiry notice board, he only ever cared about cultivation, rare objects, history, military matters, and even herb identification. As for music... Had it been posted and he just never noticed? “Next time I’ll find time to sit in.”

Sun Fuling gave him a sideways look. “If you want to learn, I can teach you.”

“Sure,” said He Lingchuan, then an idea struck. “Oh, right. I want to learn the xun too. Can you play it?”

He had almost forgotten that he still had a xun on hand, also known as: Zhu Daniang’s eye socket.

“Wait here.” Sun Fuling stood, planted one hand on the wall, and vaulted neatly back into her own home.

When she reappeared, she was holding a ceramic xun that had seven holes.

“Uh, do you have a nine-hole one?” Zhu Daniang’s eye socket was a nine-hole xun.

“It’s the same,” Sun Fuling said briskly. “Once you understand one, you understand them all.” She casually played a short phrase. The xun’s sound was ancient and earthy, completely different from the flute’s clear, floating brightness.

“Alright, you try.” She handed it to him. “Let’s see your musical sense.”

Seeing her expression unconsciously turn serious, He Lingchuan suddenly remembered something.

Oh, damn. Is something wrong with my head? Why did I volunteer to study?

This woman is a teacher who demands high standards and strict discipline!

* * *

Another day passed, during which the Stone Gate Merchant Caravan completed its purchases and finally left Tong City, continuing north.

Remembering the fierce look on Fushan Yue’s face before he had gone, He Lingchuan had asked the inn staff to keep an ear out for unusual disturbances in the city and the surrounding area. Nothing major seemed to have happened, except that on the night in question, a village outside the city had caught fire, burning several people to death.

Two more days on the road, the caravan finally crossed out of the Baoshu Kingdom’s borders and entered the Twilight Plains.

This land had once belonged to Yuān. After the fall of Yuān, it was placed under Lingxu City’s direct jurisdiction, with local officials even appointed straight from the royal court.

He Lingchuan noticed that once they reached the Twilight Plains, the atmosphere in the entire caravan relaxed. Everyone’s steps grew lighter. People clustered together to whisper about something, then burst into laughter.

Even the driver, Old Liu, who was always silent, was asked how many hours he wanted to sleep, and he simply held up two fingers.[2]

He Lingchuan asked Second Boss Shi, “Why are they so happy?”

Second Boss Shi chuckled. “How could they not be? Up ahead is Tongluo County, the Twilight Plains’ famous money-burning paradise. These boys all have a bit of cash in their pockets now, and they’re planning to go enjoy themselves.”

They had been out on this trip for more than half a month, experiencing one accident after another. Passing Mount Fengmo, they had nearly died. Now, with a gentle paradise ahead, who would not want to unwind?

“But we’ve been to Fufeng City and Tong City. We had everything we needed there. Why weren’t they this excited?”

“Aiyah, it’s not the same,” Second Boss Shi said with a knowing grin. “Tongluo County is cheap and good. You’ll see once you get there.”

1. The latter half of this line is supposedly a saying, though I honestly haven’t seen or heard it much. Anyway, it simply means there’s a lot of blood flowing. ☜

2. Note that his holding up two fingers probably means four hours. ☜