Where Immortals Once Walked

Chapter 467: A Show of Reconciliation

He Lingchuan gave a light cough. “This is the State of Chiyan’s Feitian Vanguard General, General Ling.”

“General Ling?” Zhongsun Mou’s gaze sharpened. “Orders have already been issued. At this time, you should be on the road to the front. Why are you still loitering in Zhitian Township?”

“None of your—” General Ling almost snapped, but the words jammed in its throat the moment it remembered Zhongsun Mou’s authority. It forcibly swallowed its retort and changed course mid-sentence. “I’ll arrive within the allotted time. There’s still plenty of time.”

Zhongsun Mou could not arrest it directly, but if he sent a formal denunciation to the State of Chiyan’s capital, that alone would be nauseating enough. General Ling knew this, so it pivoted quickly, changing the topic before Zhongsun Mou could press. “The dead were also soldiers of my Feitian Army. I want an explanation! Where’s the killer? What’s their identity? How will they be dealt with, huh?”

“The case is not concluded. Confidential details cannot be disclosed. This is simply procedure,” said Zhongsun Mou flatly. “General Ling should focus on the war. When the time comes, Lingxu City will formally notify the State of Chiyan, and you will have your answer.”

General Ling had no intention of leaving. If it went to the front and came back, it would be months at minimum, and by then, the so-called answer would be worthless. It did not trust this touring commissioner for a single breath.

He Lingchuan stepped in to smooth things over. “Before I left, the Crown Prince ordered me to investigate thoroughly and deliver the final result, not this.” He pointed at the gilded letter in the guard’s hands. “If you have doubts, take them to the Crown Prince. I can’t just withdraw halfway.”

Zhongsun Mou bristled, and he was just about to snap back when someone entered through the courtyard gate, spotted the scene, and blurted, “Oh dear!”

It was an old man in his fifties, beard and hair half-gray, with two oiled-paper bundles still hanging from his hand.

One look at the collection of fierce, dangerous figures in the courtyard, and he turned to bolt.

Naturally, no one was going to let him go.

One of Zhongsun Mou’s guards rushed forward, clamped a hand on his shoulder, and dragged him back.

A quick probe with true energy confirmed he was an ordinary human.

Before anyone could bark out accusations, the old man folded instantly and spilled everything.

He was the caretaker of this property. As for Mr. Mai, who was the supposed owner of this place, he only came three or four times a year, stayed no more than ten-odd days each time, and then left. After he left, the entire courtyard would fall silent yet again. The old man’s duties were simple: sweep the ground, tend the flowers, and grow a few vegetables to snack on with wine. It was, in his words, a rather comfortable life.

When asked what Mr. Mai did for a living, the old man could not say clearly. He claimed to be a merchant, most likely. Because whenever Mr. Mai was in residence, visitors came every few days, sometimes with multiple groups in a single day.

They would go into the study and sit down. Mr. Mai would shut the door, and not even voices carried out.

General Ling asked him bluntly, “And you never thought about sneaking up to eavesdrop?” It seems that they erected a barrier to prevent others from eavesdropping.

“No.” The old man shook his head. “Mr. Mai even praised me. Said my greatest virtue was having no curiosity.”

Zhongsun Mou asked, “Do you know Mr. Mai’s full name?”

“I don’t. He never mentioned it.”

“And what does he do while he’s here?”

“Ah, he mostly stays in the study, reading and drinking tea. Sometimes he goes out, but I don’t know where.”

He Lingchuan asked, “How many days did Mr. Mai stay this time?”

“Five days... No, six.”

“And where is he now?”

“I don’t know.” The old man looked genuinely bewildered. “By rights, he should be at home. Mr. Mai likes taking a nap at midday.”

But when He Lingchuan arrived, the courtyard had already been completely empty.

Had this Mr. Mai smelled danger and fled early?

That doesn’t make sense, though.

He Lingchuan’s surprise interrogation of Wan Xianneng had taken very little time, and he had raced to Shuanglu Town immediately after. The entire gap was only a little over half an hour, so how could Mr. Mai have gotten advance warning?

So who leaked it, and when?

Zhongsun Mou asked a couple more questions, and seeing the old man had no useful information left to give, he waved a hand and ordered him taken away to provide a verbal description for a wanted poster.

The caretaker’s unexpected appearance gave both sides a moment to cool down.

Zhongsun Mou turned toward He Lingchuan and was just about to speak when Jiao Yu spoke first, “Lord Zhongsun, I propose we investigate jointly. That way we can pool our strengths.”

He Lingchuan smiled and said, “Either we see this case through to the bitter end, or you can send a letter to the State of Chiyan’s ruler right now and have the Crown Prince recall me.”

General Ling raised its voice. “Exactly! You’re standing on Chiyan soil, and you want to forcibly drive out the Crown Prince’s special envoy? You’ll have to ask whether we agree first!”

He Lingchuan shot it a sidelong look.

General Ling looked rash and blunt, but it was actually a remarkably cooperative bad cop.

What it was really saying was: even if you don’t agree, you’ll still have to swallow it. That token might scare others, but I’ll knock you out the door anyway.

Smart people feared the shamelessly reckless the most.

Zhongsun Mou, meanwhile, was calculating fast.

His feud with Fushan Yue ran deep; he had no reason to be polite to Fushan Yue’s subordinates. This so-called Crown Prince’s envoy refusing to budge felt laughable to him, as if someone were insisting on walking into hell with no way out. Fine, there will be plenty of chances later. If I can’t send the man away, then I can just make him carry the blame.

So after a brief pause, Zhongsun Mou’s expression softened. “Sharing information is fine. That way, we can both report upward with something in hand. What leads have you found?”

Zhongsun Mou’s sudden gentleness only made He Lingchuan more wary.

When He Lingchuan himself intended to cause trouble, he liked to do exactly this. He would start with pressure, then offer a soft landing.

Still, outwardly, he accepted the opening and eased his stance. “We’ve found several cases of missing monsters, dozens across Chiyan’s north-central region over the past half year, including General Ling’s younger kin. The pattern resembles the Lingxu City courier case.”

“You’re saying there’s a killer hunting monsters in large numbers, and the Lingxu City courier was only killed by accident?”

“They aren’t hunting openly but in secret,” He Lingchuan corrected. “Wan Xianneng of Zhitian Township has already confessed. He and his nephew worked together to kill monsters and extract beads.”

“Extract beads?” Zhongsun Mou frowned. “What beads?”

He Lingchuan stopped. “Lord Zhongsun, your turn.”

Zhongsun Mou exhaled slowly. “I traced the case down from the north. It isn’t limited to Chiyan. Several avian monsters saw the eastern imperial eagle fly beneath a cliff to shelter from rain. But at daybreak, it seemed not to emerge again. I questioned them repeatedly. They weren’t brave enough to swear to it. Later, I gathered evidence beneath the cliff. In the end, the trail pointed to Shuanglu Town of Zhitian Township, specifically... right here!”

General Ling cut in bluntly. “And then this Mr. Mai got wind of it and ran.”

Zhongsun Mou’s face hardened. “General Ling, watch your words.”

“I just want to know what we do now.” General Ling was nothing if not practical. “He’s gone. How do we keep digging?”

“We issue a bounty and a wanted notice for this man surnamed Mai,” answered Zhongsun Mou. “The sketch will be ready soon. Every nearby township will post it. With so many eyes watching above and below, he won’t be able to slip far.”

This was a monster state. Hunting bounties were not only for humans to see, but monsters of every shape and kind as well. Whether you were eating a meal or squatting in a latrine, you never knew what nonhuman eyes might be silently observing you from some corner. You could not guard against it.

Zhongsun Mou turned and walked out, taking only one guard with him. Over his shoulder, he said to He Lingchuan, “I have more information. Come with me.”

With a gaping hole smashed into the study door, it obviously was not the place for a confidential talk.

He Lingchuan and Jiao Yu exchanged a glance and followed him toward the main house.

General Ling came along as well.

It started to order the two drillwind beast guards to watch the study, but before the words left its mouth, He Lingchuan, almost as if he had foreseen what it was about to do, patted its long neck and murmured, “Don’t assign anyone. Leave it.”

General Ling actually swallowed the order back down and silently followed into the main house.

Zhongsun Mou shut the door himself and even raised a barrier. Only then did he lower his voice and say, “This case must be handled in a way that satisfies the Lord Emperor.”

The Lord Emperor was the ruler of Lingxu City, the monster emperor who governed the entire Beijia Empire.

Those words carried weight.

He Lingchuan caught the implication immediately. “And what would satisfy the Lord Emperor?”

“The timing of this case is suspicious. The Lord Emperor believes it is the work of foreign agents,” Zhongsun Mou said evenly, looking straight at He Lingchuan. “But the conclusion you’ve reached so far clearly has nothing to do with that.” He gave a short, scornful sound. “A Lingxu City courier was killed because someone was secretly hunting scattered minor monsters? Do you think a conclusion like that would convince the Lord Emperor?”

If the sovereign refused to believe it was an accident, his subordinates would be the ones to suffer.

He Lingchuan kept his tone humble. “Then what does Lord Zhongsun suggest we do?”

“We must dig in that direction, deeply.” Zhongsun Mou’s expression turned serious. “If, as you say, the eastern imperial eagle was only taken by chance, then once the culprit realized they had mistakenly killed a Lingxu City courier, they should have gone quiet and hidden themselves. At the very least, they should have waited for the heat to die down. So why would they commit crime after crime, one after another, growing ever more conspicuous, handing you clue after clue to seize?”

The man’s mouth was foul, making it sound as though the only reason they had found leads at all was that the culprit had politely delivered them gift-wrapped.

General Ling’s jaw moved. It looked like it wanted to curse, but in the end, it swallowed it down.

He Lingchuan, however, felt something shift in his mind. He was aware that Zhongsun Mou was not entirely wrong. Still, he said, “It could be a failure of communication, such as Wan Song not understanding the true intent of those above him. Or it could be that the quotas assigned from above were too heavy, and they gambled on luck.”

In any organization, getting orders to travel cleanly downward and results cleanly upward was difficult. Confusion, distortion, and chaos in the middle were normal, especially when everyone had private interests and those interests collided.

The larger the organization, the greater the deviation.

Those at the top believed themselves perfectly in control, as though their words were law. But the soldiers at the bottom could carry out an order so badly that they turned it rotten.

Good intentions producing disaster often came from exactly that.

General Ling glared and said, “If Lord Zhongsun insists this is the work of foreign agents, then the eastern imperial eagle’s route was known only to Lingxu City! Why don’t you go back to Lingxu City and investigate properly? What use is it prowling around the State of Chiyan?”

“There are already specialists investigating within Lingxu City,” Zhongsun Mou replied quickly. “The eastern imperial eagle went missing in Chiyan. Even if its itinerary leaked in Lingxu City, the strike was executed within Chiyan. Find the killer, and the doubts resolve themselves.” He then looked to He Lingchuan and said, “You say Wan Xianneng’s nephew, Wan Song, is the culprit. Where is he now?”

“I don’t know,” He Lingchuan answered briskly. “If you can track Water Buffalo Alley, I’m hoping you can track the culprit too.”

“Whether it’s the eastern imperial eagle or General Ling’s younger kin, they disappeared near Zhitian Township,” Zhongsun Mou said, lifting his chin. “The killer likes to operate here. Use Wan Xianneng as bait and fish him out.”

“That’s exactly my thought,” He Lingchuan said with a smile. “Then Lord Zhongsun should hurry back to Youtian Town. The fact that Wan Xianneng is under our control must not leak out. Otherwise, Wan Song won’t bite.”