Where Immortals Once Walked

Chapter 563: The New Version of the Dragon Punishment Pillar

“The divine blood you use to make monster puppets has to come from somewhere, doesn’t it?” He Lingchuan glanced around. The nearest diners were still outside, eating and chatting, with no attention on this corner. “I’m not asking where you got it. I just need a tiny bit of divine bone. Just a tiny bit!”

“I don’t have anything like that!” Dong Rui turned to leave, but He Lingchuan caught him in one swift grab.

“This is for an emergency. It could save a life!”

“Whose life?”

“Mine.” He Lingchuan pointed at his own nose. “I’m about to walk straight through the gates of hell. If I can’t get through it, then all my plans in Lingxu City are finished, and you can forget about extending the lives of your monster puppets too.”

The chain of cause and effect was just that simple.

Dong Rui hesitated.

That single hesitation gave He Lingchuan hope. He had only asked on a whim, never expecting to land right on the real source.

How could his luck be this good? Truly, the divine bone amulet must be blessing him.

He thrust out a hand toward Dong Rui. “Hand it over. Quickly!”

“This is extortion!” He had lost to this man over and over again and had long since given up resisting properly. At last, Dong Rui reluctantly took out a tiny crystal vial from his storage pouch.

The vial was filled with a transparent liquid. Suspended inside it was a short black fragment, about the length of a little finger.

“What’s this?” He Lingchuan had seen divine bone before. “Shouldn’t it look more like bone or metal?”

“That black stuff on the outside is flesh still clinging to it...” Dong Rui said irritably. “You’ve seen divine bone before, and you still dare question me?”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, I wouldn’t dream of it.” So there’s still tissue attached to this bone. Fascinating. He Lingchuan was delighted and reached out to take it.

The moment the vial appeared, the divine bone amulet began to heat up. That meant that what Dong Rui had taken out was very likely genuine; he was not trying to cheat him.

It seems that this Brother Dong of mine has finally become a solid, honest man.

But Dong Rui drew the vial back before He Lingchuan could take it. “It doesn’t come free!”

He Lingchuan was equally straightforward. “Name your price.”

“A hundred thousand taels of silver.” Dong Rui spoke as if he were naming ten or fifteen taels, not a full hundred thousand. “I’ve been researching something recently, but I’ve been quite tight on money, so I haven’t been able to afford the materials.”

Without even thinking, He Lingchuan counted out banknotes worth one hundred thousand taels and handed them over. “Take it.”

It had not been easy for him to earn that money either, but now was not the time to cling to silver. Dong Rui wanted only money, and that was the best possible outcome.

It was a thick stack indeed. Dong Rui swept it into his storage pouch with great speed. Seeing He Lingchuan hand over one hundred thousand taels without so much as blinking, Dong Rui began to regret that he had set the price too low.

But by then, He Lingchuan had already snatched the vial in one swift motion, taking it so fast that Dong Rui could not react before his hand was empty.

Young Master He beamed. “There. Goods delivered, payment settled.”

In truth, both of them understood that trading one hundred thousand taels for a piece of divine bone still meant He Lingchuan had come out vastly ahead.

Was divine bone the sort of thing one could simply buy with money?

More importantly, what He Lingchuan needed was divine bone that still retained some vitality.

What Dong Rui had produced looked to be in even better condition than the fragment from the ancient palace city in the State of West Ji. That alone made it worth the price.

With one hundred thousand taels in hand, Dong Rui’s mood improved enormously, enough that he even tossed in a bonus piece of information. “By the way, it seems one of your enemies is in Lingxu City too.”

Divine bone was rare, yes, but for the moment, he had no use for it. It was simply much better for him to exchange it for actual currency that he could use to buy materials.

“Which one?” He Lingchuan found that rather odd. He did not know all that many people. How was it that he suddenly seemed to have enemies everywhere?

“Nian Zanli,” said Dong Rui. “Apparently, Nian Zanli came back to Lingxu City on some business, and he’s also recuperating here.”

He Lingchuan let out a slow breath, his expression turning serious. “Thank you for the warning.” Then he casually tossed a piece of broken silver onto the table. “This meal is on me.”

In the Battle of Han River, Nian Zanli had been one of the principal enemy leaders. Back then, Hong Chenglue had lent him the Verdancy Vase so he could drown Yuan’s army. In the end, however, Nian Zanli’s own Xun Province forces had not escaped disaster either, and their losses had been devastating.

The two parted ways at the street corner and each returned separately.

When Dong Rui got back to his residence, the two guards in the courtyard were still slumped over the low table, snoring away. He went over to the water vat, scooped up a basin of water, and splashed it across their faces.

Both men woke with a start.

Ah, what happened?

“You two were stationed here just to drink and sleep?” Dong Rui said darkly. “I’m out of white fragrant xie resin. Go buy some!”

* * *

As for He Lingchuan, it was not until the sun was slanting westward that he returned to the Jinkui Inn. At the front desk, he asked whether anyone had come looking for “Li Junyi.” Sure enough, someone had stopped by not long before and left a verbal message saying that the matter had been handled.

That was the code phrase he had agreed upon with Li Qingge.

In other words, Li Qingge had sent word that news had already begun to spread outward in Lingxu City, specifically that the Chiyan envoy “He Xiao,” the very one who had humiliated Zhongsun Mou again and again in Baishajue, had now arrived in the city.

The master of Songyang Mansion remained as efficient as ever when handling matters in Lingxu City.

The Soul-Stealing Mirror tucked against his chest said to him, “Hey, if you’ve changed your mind, you can leave Lingxu City right now. In another month or two, you could be out of Beijia entirely. Once the commotion dies down, you can come back for that molted shell or whatever it was.”

What it did not know was that He Lingchuan’s true primary goal had never been the spider molt in the first place.

Still, he replied in an intentionally lofty tone, “If I wanted to retreat, I would have done it back in Zhitian Township.” If he were still the young master of Heishui City, he probably would have slipped away long ago. But now? “Since I’m already here, how could I not see things through after all the effort I’ve spent these past months?”

How much had he struggled to reach this point? He finally had a chance to observe Beijia’s power structure from up close. To retreat now would mean all previous effort had been wasted.

The mirror wailed, “Before you go get yourself killed, can I switch to another master first?”

“What about the master of Songyang Mansion?”

“Oh? Th-that could work!” Songyang Mansion is quite good to divine artifacts, after all.

He Lingchuan flicked the mirror hard across the face.

“Ow!” The mirror hurriedly changed the subject, “Anyway, what are you planning to do with that divine bone you just bought for a hundred thousand taels?”

Its curiosity is worse than a cat’s.

He Lingchuan shut the doors and windows tight and then set up a barrier before finally taking out the little vial from his robes and examining that tiny fragment of divine bone.

At the same time, the divine bone amulet warmed up again.

“It took that much effort just to get such a small piece of divine bone. We won’t have a second chance to make a mistake.” He removed the necklace and set it on the table, then said each word with emphasis, “Don’t get greedy and swallow it. Make me a Dragon Punishment Pillar. If you lack materials, I’ll go get more!”

The necklace continued to radiate heat.

So He Lingchuan brought the vial close to it. With a whoosh, both the vial and the bone vanished.

At the same moment, the necklace stopped emanating heat.

He Lingchuan rose to pour himself a cup of hot water. He had only taken two sips when the mirror suddenly cried out, “Hey, hey, look!”

He turned his head and saw that, apart from the divine bone necklace, there was now something else lying on the table.

There was now a tube the length of a middle finger.

Hm? Is the production efficiency for Dragon Punishment Pillars really this terrifying?

On second glance, calling it a tube was not quite right. It looked more like a bare section of a branch, since the surface was covered in cracked, bark-like grain.

The moment He Lingchuan picked it up, he realized that it was actually made from a branch of the juluo tree!

It was about two centimeters across and not a perfect cylinder. At the top, still crouched, was a carved beast head figure, though its shape was different from the one He Lingchuan had seen in Panlong City, and he could not tell exactly what beast it was meant to depict.

Embedded in the middle of the branch was a clear glazed panel, through which he could see that the interior was hollow. Beside it was a round button made of a material that was neither metal nor jade. That part looked much more like the divine bone He Lingchuan knew.

This should be the Dragon Punishment Pillar.

The simplified exterior was probably due to the fact that he had provided too little material, and the Generous Pot had supplemented the rest itself with whatever scraps it had on hand.

Perhaps it also understood that now was not the time to fuss over decorative finishing.

It did not matter if some features had been cut back. So long as the effect was not reduced, he could live with that.

He Lingchuan did not dare press the round button. Instead, he found a velvet-lined brocade gift box and fixed the item securely inside so it would not accidentally be triggered by jostling or vibration.

Mitian had once said that “certain” Dragon Punishment Pillars she made carried the aura of the Generous Pot, and that the very first time they were used, they would draw the attention of the gods.

That meant he could reasonably infer that, under the current circumstances, the Dragon Punishment Pillar he had just made most definitely carried the Generous Pot’s aura as well. If so, then the location of its debut would have to be chosen with great care.

Diverting the gods’ attention and lowering their interest in him was the key to his survival.

But to whom should he entrust it?

He Lingchuan sat there holding the box in a daze for quite a while, only to discover with considerable frustration that he seemed to have no other choice.

He simply knew too few people in Beijia.

And yet he was pressed for time.

* * *

So, a little over fifteen minutes later, He Lingchuan arrived once more at Songyang Mansion.

Li Qingge had a cloak around her shoulders and seemed to be on her way out. She looked somewhat surprised to see him. “What happened? Has someone come looking for trouble with you?”

He Lingchuan shook his head. “No. I’ve come to trouble you with another important matter.”

Why does it have to be “another”? Ah, well.

Li Qingge remained good-tempered, without the slightest sign of impatience. “I’m listening.”

He Lingchuan glanced to either side.

Li Qingge understood at once and waved the others away.

Only then did He Lingchuan take out the brocade box and set it on the table. “Your Lordship, have you ever been to the State of Jū?”

Li Qingge nodded. “I have. I once considered opening a branch there. It lies in northwestern Beijia, rich in iron and aluminum, and borders the Monster State of Xuluo. The State of Xuluo imports its crude iron from there.”

“Recently, a string of strange incidents has occurred in the State of Jū’s Wan’ge Swamp and Wan’ge Forest. The local government offices sent men to investigate, but the more they looked, the murkier things became.” He Lingchuan opened the box and pointed to the Dragon Punishment Pillar inside. “I would like to ask you to send someone you trust to the vicinity of Wan’ge Forest with this object, and then press this button.”

Li Qingge studied the unfamiliar object. “And what will happen afterward?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary. Everything will remain calm. Have him press it several times throughout the night. Then, first thing the next morning, he can leave. It would be best if he did not return to Lingxu City.”

Li Qingge blinked. “That’s all?”

“That’s all. It will not harm any person or thing.” He Lingchuan’s face grew serious. “But there is one thing that must be remembered and followed, before arriving at Wan’ge Forest, this box must never be opened, and this object must never be touched directly.”

“That’s simple enough.” Li Qingge thought for a moment. “Is this matter very important to you?”

He Lingchuan’s expression turned grave. “It concerns my life.”

“Very well. Leave it to me. As it happens, I have several men heading to the State of Xuluo. I’ll have them depart tomorrow morning.” Li Qingge took out some sealing wax and affixed a seal to the box on the spot. “But even at the fastest pace, it will take more than twenty days to reach Wan’ge Swamp from here. Can you wait that long?”

One could only blame the vastness of Beijia. It was no easy thing to traverse an empire of this size.

He Lingchuan gave a bitter smile. “Whether I can wait or not, I’ll have to.”