Where Immortals Once Walked

Chapter 550: The Busy Gears of War

Panlong City.

The moment He Lingchuan stepped outside, the first thing he did was count the goldfish in the vat.

One through nine, all still alive.

That said, two of them seemed to have changed colors a little. He had no idea whether it was because the water bugs Sun Fuling had fed them made their scales more vivid, or because of something else.

The nodding clerodendron that had once hung above the fish vat had already finished blooming. Its snow-like blossoms were gone, so it had been ruthlessly removed. In its place now sat a pot of osmanthus.

The people of Panlong City liked planting osmanthus trees, but He Lingchuan’s courtyard was too small. He had no idea where Teacher Sun had even found one so compact, but it happened to be in perfect bloom.

Panlong City had already shed the heat of summer and entered the season of autumn winds. It was the ideal time to admire the osmanthus.

Its fragrance spilled out of the courtyard and drifted indoors.

From next door came the sound of wind chimes. He Lingchuan climbed up the wall to take a look, only to find Sun Fuling’s front gate tightly shut. It appeared that the owner was not home.

He looked up at the blue sky overhead. At this hour, Teacher Sun should still be in class.

The house on the other side, however, was full of noise. There were hurried footsteps, the sounds of something heavy being moved, and a child’s complaints.

He Lingchuan pushed open his own courtyard gate and stepped outside just in time to see a donkey cart slowly start moving. The male head of the neighboring household sat inside it, waving farewell to his family.

“No need to worry! In at most half a year and at least three months, I’ll be back!”

The neighbor’s wife stood there holding on to Little Fatty, watching her husband depart.

He Lingchuan did not want to interrupt their farewell, so only after the cart vanished around the corner did he step over and ask, “Even he has to go off on a long trip?”

The neighbor worked for the Panlong City government office. In He Lingchuan’s understanding, that made him a civil servant of sorts, living a relatively stable life without the need for long journeys. So why was he now leaving for three or five months?

The woman next door sighed. “Yuheng City is being rebuilt. He’s also been assigned there to help.”

Her son, Little Fatty, could not understand it at all. “But Dad isn’t a mason or a carpenter. He also doesn’t know how to build houses. Why does he have to go too?”

That little word “also” in the mouths of mother and son said quite a bit.

The woman stroked his head. “Your father’s going to help manage the expenses and keep the accounts straight. Otherwise, who’s going to pay the masons and carpenters their wages?”

The last time Panlong City went to war, it had completely wiped West Ji off the map. Although the ruler of West Luo had ordered Panlong’s soldiers and civilians not to return east, there was no way Panlong City was going to spit out land that it had finally swallowed down.

So the former territory of West Ji had naturally passed into Panlong City’s hands. Yuheng City was a border fortress in eastern West Ji, with only a single river separating it from the State of Jintao.

Jintao was close to the States of Baling and Beijia, and its relationship with Panlong City was also poor.

As a frontier city, Yuheng’s defensive works had been old and rundown to begin with. Even its river embankments had long fallen into disrepair. Now that Panlong City had destroyed West Ji and wanted to solidify its frontier defenses, Yuheng City naturally had to be properly rebuilt.

Of course, the former lands of West Ji already held many people of West Luo, and not a few skilled craftsmen among them. The neighbor being sent there was really just handling civic and administrative support.

In truth, this was only a small reflection of a much larger picture. Construction was booming all across the lands of the former West Ji.

Besides relying on the cities and fortifications already in place, such as passes and border cities like Dragon Throat Pass and Yuheng City, Panlong City also intended to establish several cargo transfer hubs and troop stations within West Ji.

West Ji’s plains were extremely fertile as well, well-suited to growing crops. That meant Panlong City had gained a new source of high-quality grain, in addition to the Chipa Highland.

But because West Ji lay too far from the Chipa Highland and too close to the State of Jintao, its security posed a serious problem.

Capturing land was one thing, while holding it was another. Panlong City could not possibly station troops there every single day in endless numbers.

Yet the new trade routes opened by West Ji were far too important. So over the past two months, Panlong City had continuously sent all sorts of personnel there to help the West Luo people in West Ji take charge of their own lands as quickly as possible.

The last few times He Lingchuan had entered the soulscape, he had already noticed that many of his comrades had been ordered to garrison or reinforce West Ji. Even Officer Xiao had apparently been sent there as an instructor and was said to be training fifty thousand new soldiers.

Rumor had it that Zhong Shengguang was also considering who ought to be appointed to Yuheng City in the long run, someone who could oversee stationed troops, training, and military farms all at once.

Autumn had already arrived now. Once the harvest ended, it would be the perfect season for drilling troops.

He Lingchuan had assumed he too would be sent to West Ji, but Broken Blade Squad had received no such orders for the time being.

As for the old royal capital of West Ji, it was currently crowded with civil officials, all trying to drag the war-ravaged region back onto stable footing.

Panlong City had rarely been as peaceful and uneventful as the Heishui City that He Lingchuan was used to, but even so, no one had expected the annexation of West Ji to bring such massive changes.

Every day, many people left Panlong City, and every day, many unfamiliar new faces streamed in. The gears of war had begun turning once again, but not for war.

Or rather, not for war for the time being.

New things and new opportunities had quickly distracted the city’s residents, easing the resentment of being unable to return east to their motherland.

This grand reconstruction of West Ji had also stirred great enthusiasm among the common people. The number of volunteers heading out to support it rose by the day.

The scene would probably continue for quite some time yet.

After casually slipping a few pieces of taffy into Little Fatty’s hands and chatting a little longer, He Lingchuan spotted a mounted messenger riding up from not far away. The man called out to him, “By order of the Red General, He Lingchuan is to report for duty at the Hall of War at the third quarter-hour of the hour of the horse[1].”

He Lingchuan accepted the order and set off toward the southern part of the city.

Ever since he had slain the ferry-crossing ghostspawn inside Panlong City and saved Wen Daolun, the trust Zhong Shengguang and the Red General placed in him had only grown. During the war against West Ji, he had led Broken Blade Squad in successfully completing their mission at Dragon Throat Pass, and his performance in the battle for West Ji’s royal capital and in the great war against the Xianba Coalition Army had also been outstanding. He had accumulated military merit repeatedly, and his distance from Panlong City’s high command had steadily shrunk.

The activities he now participated in came with ever-higher security clearance. Zhong Shengguang and the Red General no longer refrained from including him when they spoke.

For a soldier of the Gale Army, being assigned to stand duty at the Hall of War was itself an honor. It was an honor afforded only to the most trusted fighters qualified to guard the military secrets of Panlong City.

Since there was still time, He Lingchuan first went and made a detour through South Gate Square.

The juluo tree by the river had not changed much. The grotesque-headed nightmare, still bound in place by the branches, immediately began complaining the moment it saw him, “When are you going to let me go? I already completed the task you gave me!”

“Right now, you’re nothing but a weak little chick,” He Lingchuan said with a smile. “If you run around everywhere, another nightmare will probably gobble you up in one bite.”

“I need a dream land, or I’ll weaken myself to death!” Even a soul land isn’t a place I ought to stay for long, much less this place... whatever this place truly counts as.

“When I’ve got the time, I’ll help you find one.” He Lingchuan soothed it.

This nightmare had already seen the inside of Panlong City. That made it half an insider. There was absolutely no way He Lingchuan could simply release it back into the wild.

The Generous Pot and Panlong City were his greatest secrets. If either leaked, the consequences would be unthinkable.

He paid no attention at all to the nightmare’s pitiful howls and soon walked on, passing Wanglin Avenue.

As he passed Spirit-Nurturing Isle, he noticed that even more customers were coming and going now. It was not quite shoulder-to-shoulder, but the place was undeniably bustling. Despite the coolness of autumn, Fatty Bai was still so busy that his forehead gleamed, and it was hard to tell whether the shine came from sweat or oil.

The shop had hired two more assistants, and quite a few of the goods on display were new stock.

A profiteer like Bai Guo naturally placed only certain things in the most visible spots: goods that were either very expensive, very rare, very useful, or very fashionable.

With a single glance, He Lingchuan spotted a conch shell among the neatly arranged wares. It was oil-yellow in color, larger than a man’s palm, and the surface carried markings almost like tiger stripes, while the mouth of the shell was lined with tiny serrations.

Although he was mixed in among the crowd, Bai Guo had sharp eyes and still recognized his landlord at once. He came running over. “You’re here!”

This man really knows how to deal with customers. No wonder he makes money. He Lingchuan smiled and said, “Boss Bai, business is booming, I see. You’re getting richer by the day. So tell me, don’t you think this rent ought to...”

The moment he heard this shameless landlord was thinking of raising the rent, Bai Guo instantly launched into a long complaint. “Ah, you don’t know! Sure, there’s more new merchandise lately, but the costs are higher too! Competition’s fierce as well. The shop across the street is already stocking things based on what I sell here, and their prices are even a little lower than mine. If not for the number of repeat customers I’ve got...”

He Lingchuan gave him a sidelong glance. “If I hadn’t tipped you off beforehand, would you really have dared take over that shop at the western corner of Wanglin Avenue?”

When rumors had been flying everywhere that the city might be abandoned, He Lingchuan had told Fatty Bai that Panlong’s soldiers and civilians definitely would not be relocating east. At the time, everyone’s nerves had been in turmoil, and shops on Wanglin Avenue were even being transferred out. After hearing that “inside information,” Fatty Bai not only gave up the idea of ending his lease, but he even gritted his teeth, stamped his foot, and went all in, taking over that other shop as well.

That was what it meant to let the bold eat their fill while the timid starved.

And now? Panlong’s people were not leaving. The former owner could only sit and regret it, while Fatty Bai raked in money every day.

Bai Guo hastily brought out a box containing five ghost-shadow cicada shells. “Brother He—no, Lord He—is mighty indeed. Just a tiny little gift, not worth mentioning.”

He Lingchuan did not stand on ceremony. He grabbed them in one sweep and tucked them into his robe, then asked curiously, “Every other time I asked you to stock a few cicada shells, you dragged your feet and complained they were too hard to get. Why are you suddenly being so generous today?”

Bai Guo wiped his sweat. “Before, these were rare goods. There was simply more demand than supply back then. Even if I wanted them, I might not be able to get any.”

“And now?”

“Well, didn’t we conquer West Ji?” Bai Guo’s grin stretched nearly to the back of his head. “That obstacle blocking the road’s been kicked away, so the southern trade route is open again. It may even be extended all the way to the seaports of the State of Song! Goods from outside can now come in, and the variety’s much better too.”

He Lingchuan understood at once.

Panlong City had always been an isolated enclave, hemmed in on all sides. By conquering West Ji, it had opened the southern trade route, which was of immense importance for Panlong City’s ability to connect with the outside world.

Bai Guo was right. If the trade routes extended farther, they might even reach the sea!

He Lingchuan even suspected that this had been Zhong Shengguang’s and the others’ true reason for taking West Ji in the first place, to secure outward connection and escape the predicament of being an enclave.

And if he was not mistaken, Panlong City would invest even greater effort in securing and developing West Ji from here on out.

For Panlong City, this was an entirely new opportunity.

“So that means you can sell cicada shells to me a little cheaper now?”

“Uh...” What a black-hearted landlord. “Sure, sure! Another ten percent off!”

Miserly. He Lingchuan shook his head, then pointed at the conch. “What’s that thing?”

“Oh, that’s a magic conch.” Bai Guo smiled ingratiatingly. “If you use it as a military horn, its sound can carry more than five kilometers. Your voice would basically be loud enough for the whole battlefield to hear. It can also memorize different sounds and play them back later, birdcalls, tiger roars, and the like... Would you like one? It’d be useful when carrying out missions too.”

“No.” He Lingchuan had already seen the price tag.

1. This should be at about 11:45 A.M. ☜