Where Immortals Once Walked

Li Qingge shook her head. “However, Mao Qijun truly was capable. Once he died, the State of Shanyu’s internal chaos could no longer be suppressed, and that’s how it eventually developed into what it is now.”

He Lingchuan smiled and said, “So these entrenched old ministerial families are just going to sit there and wait to be slaughtered? Why not strike first?”

“Fushan Yue has been surrounded by attendants lately and never goes anywhere alone. Why do you think that is?” Li Qingge poured herself a cup of tea. “He’s not stupid. If he survives this period, he’ll have power firmly in hand. Besides, he definitely has supporters inside the royal court.”

If some people were going to suffer, then others were certain to profit.

“No wonder everyone’s scrambling to curry favor with him now. They’re afraid that if they move too late, they won’t make it in time.” He Lingchuan then said with a hint of amusement, “Even if the King of Chiyan knows about it, he can’t do much about it. He can’t feel good about that.”

“And so what if he doesn’t? The only thing he could probably do would be to abdicate the throne.” Li Qingge shook her head. “However, even if he were willing to do so, Lingxu City and the gods probably wouldn’t allow it. You saw what happens when you defy Lingxu City. You passed the ruins of Qianxing City on the way here, didn’t you?”

“Mm, the phantom I saw there was incredibly vivid.” The Qianxing Ruins, the Twilight Plains, and the existence of the pariah slaves were like an ugly scar, constantly reminding Beijia’s people that Lingxu City’s might was supreme, and it could not be challenged.

* * *

The next day, Fushan Yue surprisingly showed up at the inn again.

When he showed up, Second Boss Shi and the others were already packing, preparing to continue on the road. Even He Lingchuan was surprised at his arrival. “Why are you here?”

For the past several days, Fushan Yue had been basking in spring breezes. He had been busy receiving visitors, letting officials large and small flatter and fawn over him, as though he had forgotten He Lingchuan and the others completely.

Second Boss Shi had even begun worrying that his three thousand taels would never return, only for Fushan Yue to appear out of nowhere at that exact moment.

“Your three thousand.” Fushan Yue handed Second Boss Shi a thick stack of notes. “And another three hundred taels, call it a fright compensation fee.”

After all, three thousand taels in actual silver ingots would be painfully heavy. No one hauled that kind of weight around.

Second Boss Shi’s greatest worry vanished. He grinned so hard he could barely close his mouth. “The Crown Prince is magnanimous!”

Fushan Yue also greeted Li Qingge. The two chatted and laughed together, clearly in excellent spirits.

Listening from the side, He Lingchuan suddenly realized that these two were surprisingly familiar with each other.

Fushan Yue even cracked a few jokes with her, tossing out a short anecdote that made Li Qingge cover her mouth and laugh.

With his prickly, solitary temperament, he normally would not get this close to strangers. Yet now he was even inviting Li Qingge to visit the Chiyan capital again.

Those two had only met a few days ago, and only because He Lingchuan had introduced them. Yet in those few days, Li Qingge had already struck one or two deals with Fushan Yue, deals that could be implemented in the short term: Songyang Mansion opening a shop in the capital, contemporizing the equipment of the Western Court Guard, and so on.

Just as Li Qingge had said, the Chiyan Crown Prince was a vital connection worth investing real effort into.

And she had not forgotten He Lingchuan, either. She naturally tossed him a few lines here and there, so he would not feel neglected.

She was a beauty who could navigate two men with incredible ease, keeping both pleased and cheerful, and possessed an extraordinary level of social finesse.

After the small talk, Fushan Yue turned to He Lingchuan. “My royal father sent me a message. He wants me to handle something for him.”

Li Qingge heard and leaned closer. “The king met with you?”

“No, he only sent someone to deliver the words.”

Li Qingge immediately congratulated him. “If the king is assigning you errands, it means his anger has already drained by more than half.” Otherwise, he could have simply ordered someone else to do the job. Why use Fushan Yue at all?

Fushan Yue smiled and said, “That’s what I think too, but my situation is special right now, and there are still several things I need to deal with. I can’t leave the capital immediately, which I’m sure you’re also aware of—” He then turned to He Lingchuan and said, “So I want to ask you to handle it for me.”

At that, he stopped and glanced at the other two.

Li Qingge instantly said, “Ah, I haven’t packed up my rouge case yet.”

Second Boss Shi blinked, then added, “I should go downstairs and see to the wine.”

Both of them had sharp instincts. They made up transparently fake excuses and slipped out.

Now, only Fushan Yue and He Lingchuan remained in the room. Fushan Yue gave a low chuckle. “About two months ago, Lingxu City sent a courier here. The messenger vanished halfway and never arrived. Lingxu City can’t just let that go, and my old man can’t let it go either. This was originally assigned to Fushan Ji to investigate, but he’s dead. Now it’s officially in my hands.”

“Not doing it,” He Lingchuan refused without hesitation. “Handle your own business. I don’t have that kind of free time.”

“I’ll pay you.” Fushan Yue was prepared. With a flip of his palm, he produced two glittering objects. “Two mid-grade profound crystals.”

The profound crystals were a pale yellow, multifaceted, each about the size of a walnut. The color was not perfectly uniform, and one of them even shaded into deep green at the base.[1]

He Lingchuan also owned profound crystals and knew that this was their proper look. Natural profound crystals formed underground. Their color and quality depended on luck; anything too perfect looked fake.

The difference in contained energy between grades could be enormous. These two were better than any He Lingchuan had seen before. He had no idea which benefactor had gifted them to Fushan Yue.

They were worth a fortune.

Now that he’s back on his own turf, this bastard can finally afford to be generous, eh? He Lingchuan gave them one glance and snorted. “You think two profound crystals can buy me?”

“Then consider it helping your brother, as well as the State of Chiyan, out big.” Fushan Yue reached out and stacked a third profound crystal on top.

Also pale yellow, but larger.

He Lingchuan abruptly changed tack. “What kind of monster was the courier?”

“An eastern imperial eagle[2].”

He Lingchuan smiled. “And you want me to do that big a favor, for only three profound crystals? You really don’t treat me like a brother.”

Being this bastard’s brother has no benefits anyway. Hah, it would probably just raise your likelihood of getting killed.

Fushan Yue looked puzzled. “It’s just finding a bird monster. It’s not like you’re saving the world. If I weren’t tied down, I’d do it myself.”

He Lingchuan did not budge. “Oh? Then answer me this. What was Lingxu City sending a courier for?”

“To deliver a message.”

“What message?”

“Uh...” Fushan Yue hesitated before finally saying, “Screw it, it’s already been two months. I can tell you, it was military intelligence... from the eastern front.”

“Then it should’ve been important at the time, yes?”

“...Yeah.”

“That’s why they used an eastern imperial eagle,” said He Lingchuan calmly. “An eastern imperial eagle is a fierce bird of prey capable of long-distance migration, but they’re rare. I happen to know that Lingxu City’s couriers are divided into several tiers. Azure pigeons, swan geese, and feather cranes[3] can all serve as couriers, but only the most critical intelligence is entrusted to the fastest birds of prey with the greatest endurance.”

Other states might also tame bird monsters for long-distance dispatches, but not nearly with the same frequency as the northern monster state. This place was practically the homeland of monsters, after all. Lingxu City could afford to classify couriers into ranks.

He had learned that from idle reading in the Literature Pavilion of Panlong City.

Clearly, Panlong City’s research on Beijia was extensive as well.

Fushan Yue did not refute him, meaning that he tacitly agreed.

“So that eastern imperial eagle vanishing would’ve caused serious delay, wouldn’t it?”

“Of course.” How could it not?

“Such important intelligence wouldn’t be sent alone.” He Lingchuan pressed, “Why dispatch only one flying courier?” If something happened en route, as it had this time, the consequences would be severe.

“Uh... maybe they didn’t have enough bird-of-prey couriers?” Fushan Yue scratched his head. “By convention, they should send two. The same message was also delivered by a swan goose, but it arrived several days late. That caused Chiyan’s army to advance east too late and miss the best window to attack.”

“And if an outsider obtained the eagle’s intelligence?” He Lingchuan was thirsty, so he went back to his room and returned with a cluster of grapes, popping one into his mouth. “The worst part is that the disappearance of the eagle likely means that someone has already grasped Lingxu City’s courier patterns—departure times, flight routes, resting areas along the way. If they can intercept once, they can intercept countless times in the future. I’d wager that’s the real reason Lingxu City is desperate to find out what happened.”

Worse than the leak of a single message was the leak of the entire method.

“However, Fushan Ji couldn’t solve it before he died.” He Lingchuan glanced at him sideways. “With all his resources and connections, he still couldn’t find an answer, and you think it’ll be easy for me?”

Fushan Yue stared at him, speechless.

I’d only tossed out a supposedly simple errand. How the hell did this guy extrapolate all of this?

After a long while, he finally managed, “How did you even think of that?”

“It’s honestly really simple.” He Lingchuan smiled. “Your father’s still angry. What kind of task do you think he’d give you right now?”

Learn to identify the primary contradiction.

Fushan Yue’s eyes lit up. He clapped loudly. “Good, good, good. You’re smart. You’re amazing. That just means this job is absolutely yours. Fine, I’ll double the profound crystals, and I’ll also give you two jin of white distilled silver. You’ve got a golden-armored copper man, don’t you? Want to upgrade it?”

A jin was roughly half a kilogram, so two jin meant about one kilogram.[4]

White distilled silver was one of the essential materials for upgrading the golden-armored copper man. Only then did He Lingchuan finally look interested. “One ingredient isn’t enough. You cover the other materials too.”

Fushan Yue did the math in his head and felt his scalp go numb. “Your appetite is bigger than mine!”

Even real brothers had to keep accounts clear, let alone these two, who were more like flimsy brothers of convenience. After a ruthless, merciless round of haggling, the final agreement was that Fushan Yue would provide three materials, each a major bottleneck for upgrading the golden-armored copper man. The materials he was providing were rare goods that money alone could not buy.

And He Lingchuan was flat broke now.

If he tried to gather them himself, he would run his legs off just searching, never mind purchasing them. In the State of Chiyan, white distilled silver was not even openly for sale.

It was a critical strategic resource. Output within the State of Chiyan was extremely small. Whenever any was produced, it was taken directly by the monster king or a state preceptor. It did not circulate among civilians. It was vanishingly rare even on the black market.

For an outsider like He Lingchuan to acquire it here would be close to impossible. He even suspected it was not easy to buy anywhere in Beijia.

Merits Clerk Liu of Panlong City had been absolutely right that the full name of this art really ought to be the Bankrupt-Your-Household Golden-Armored Copper Man Art.

But with Fushan Yue’s help, everything changed.

He Lingchuan raised one finger. “I have one last condition.”

“That’s enough!” Fushan Yue’s temper was bad to begin with. Now, his face darkened. “Don’t push your luck!”

“Relax. For you, it’s a trivial favor,” He Lingchuan said with a smile. “Remember the flood dragon design we saw in the Qianxing City illusion? The one carved outside the official residences?”

1. Reminder that the green coloration for a profound crystal is for the low grade. ☜

2. This is the actual name of the bird in the real world. The characters that make up the word in Chinese, 白肩雕, would literally translate to white-shouldered eagle. ☜

3. The kind of feather crane is specifically the demoiselle cranes. ☜

4. I usually directly translate jin to kilos, so you don’t really have to worry about it, I just did not do so here due to the author adding this explanation. Also, a jin is actually more like 0.6 kilos, so two jin is 1.2 kilos. ☜