Where Immortals Once Walked

Chapter 578: Lingxu City’s Other Face

The box was exquisitely made, and on its surface was stamped a maple-leaf emblem. That was presumably State Preceptor Shuang Ye’s personal seal.

He Lingchuan opened it and found a white pill inside, sealed in wax.

“State Preceptor Shuang Ye handed it to me personally. He only refined it three days ago.” Fushan Yue smiled. “Swallow it now, and in a little while you’ll be running and jumping again.”

A ruler’s word was no jest. Since the Monster Emperor had entrusted this spiritual medicine to Fushan Yue on such an occasion, there was no reason to suspect it was false or harmful.

He Lingchuan closed the box and put it away. “Taking it straight away would be a waste. I’ll save it for a life-or-death moment later.”

At the same time, a question had been pricking at him. “Beijia has the Four Grand State Preceptors. What are their relations with one another like?”

“In Beijia, two of the four are human, and the other two are greater monsters. That old arrangement hasn’t changed in over five hundred years,” said Fushan Yue. “The state preceptors of the Spring Palace and the Summer Palace get along fine, while the Autumn and Winter Palaces are the pair that most often have dealings with one another.”

He Lingchuan nodded, then asked the crucial question, “And what about State Preceptor Qing Yang and State Preceptor Shuang Ye?”

Fushan Yue looked at him in surprise. “Why are you asking that?”

“Our case has already reached State Preceptor Qing Yang’s doorstep. Shouldn’t we understand these people a bit better?”

That answer carried a good deal of weight. Fushan Yue thought it over for quite a while. After taking a sip of wine, he replied, “The two of them are not exactly harmonious. State Preceptor Qing Yang has the longest standing and the greatest experience in allocating origin energy. State Preceptor Shuang Ye comes next. He’s the one most trusted by the gods, and also the state preceptor most often sent abroad. I’ve heard that he’s personally acquainted with several foreign rulers, such as the rulers of the States of Baling and Jing.”

He Lingchuan was astonished. “That’s allowed? And the Lord Emperor doesn’t mind?” A state preceptor of Lingxu City exchanging warm ties with foreign monarchs, and the Monster Emperor simply turns a blind eye?

“What is there to make a fuss over?” Fushan Yue laughed. “Do you think State Preceptor Shuang Ye would dare rebel? Besides, for all we know, the gods themselves may have ordered it.”

Who could say?

Then, lowering his voice, he added, “But the Late Emperor favored State Preceptor Qing Yang more.”

* * *

After lunch, He Lingchuan changed into coarse servant’s clothes as a disguise and slipped out the back gate with a plump cook, driving an ox cart loaded with rubbish.

A residence this large needed at least a dozen servants to keep it running. There had to be people to weed and water the garden, buy food and cook, and handle all the various daily chores.

And in Lingxu City, labor was expensive.

Madame Ying’s house in Dunyu, the capital of Xia Province, also required hired hands for daily upkeep, and the cost there was less than thirty percent of what it was here. But from now on, it was He Lingchuan who would be paying those wages.

He had only just moved into the Mount Pan Residence, and not many people knew of it yet, but in all his actions, he still tried to be as cautious as possible.

Once he had made sure he was not being watched, he parted ways with the household servant at a crossroads, turned into a carriage yard, and hired a donkey cart to take him to the South Li District.

The bighorn cliff ram was still in the back garden of the Mount Pan Residence, stealing mouthfuls of dew-wet grass. But its appearance was too distinctive, unsuited to He Lingchuan’s errand this time.

Fortunately, the Mount Pan Residence lay right at the edge of the Main City District, and south of it was South Li District. Even so, the donkey cart still took its time for a full two hours, ambling along at an unhurried pace and requiring three red carrots and a little oil along the way.

He Lingchuan’s destination was a little hill called Mount Fengchi, so named because from a distance it looked like a phoenix spreading its wings.[1]

Of course, there were no real high mountains within Lingxu City’s bounds. All the peaks here were squat things pressed close to the earth. The donkey cart clopped its way up the winding mountain road, and all that could be seen around them was lush greenery, with ancient banyans more plentiful than anything else.

Along the way, they passed several grand hillside estates, each one with its gates shut tight. Streams tinkled nearby, and the last light of sunset filtered through the dense leaves and long hanging banyan roots, casting mottled shadows over the high walls.

It was a picture of perfect serenity.

There were only ten households on Mount Fengchi.

However, none of those were He Lingchuan’s true destination. The donkey cart was only taking a shortcut. It turned off along a side road and soon rounded down the far slope of the mountain to the foot below.

The main road remained broad and level, but after branching from a side path by the market and going several kilometers inward, the dust came flying up in the face, together with a rank fishy stench.

This little lakeside town was small and dealt mainly in the collection and distribution of fish from the surrounding lakes and rivers, so the smell of fish had seeped into every beam and plank, every stretch of ground. No amount of washing or scrubbing could ever truly get it out.

It was here that He Lingchuan got down from the cart.

This was the sort of place the high and mighty would never visit in their lifetimes. Even ordinary commoners, passing through, would pinch their noses shut.

However, He Lingchuan did not so much as have an eyebrow twitch. He walked straight to the docks, found the oldest fisherman there, and held out two pieces of chewing tobacco and a leaf. “I’m looking for Old Ge.”

The old man was black and skinny, dry as though all the water had been wrung out of him. He had been sitting on a little stool on the fish raft, staring blankly out over the water. He Lingchuan watched him for a while and realized that the man’s eyeballs did not seem to move at all. He looked like a wooden carving.

Yet when he heard He Lingchuan speak, his hand shot out very quickly to take the chewing tobacco, and he at once peeled off a piece and put it in his mouth, chewing with steady satisfaction.

Naturally, he also examined the leaf He Lingchuan had offered him. Then he made a follow-me gesture and began limping toward shore.

The banyan leaf He Lingchuan had produced was unusual; its green surface was naturally edged in gold.

That was something formed by nature. Old Ge used it as his calling card, and no one was likely to forge it.

The old fisherman led He Lingchuan into town. His left leg was lame, and his left shoulder sagged, so his movements were awkward and unbalanced.

A shipment of over a dozen boats’ worth of fish seemed to have just come in, and the whole town was busy.

It was busy but quiet. The people here did not seem to like talking. As the old fisherman led He Lingchuan past, they merely lifted their eyes once, then went back to work.

All manner of lively, silver-shining fish, still fresh and jumping, formed a sharp contrast to the town’s tattered, shabby state.

How many people ever paused to think that before these lake delicacies were sorted, classified, and served onto the banquet tables of wealthy households, they first passed through the coarse, callused hands of the fishermen?

At the edge of the town stood a squat little house that looked from a distance as though it were made of stone. Only up close did one realize the outer walls were not stone at all, but compacted shell—clam shells and other kinds of shells pressed together. Even so, the house was relatively neat. The yard held no clutter, and there was none of the fish stink that saturated the rest of the town.

“Old Ge.”

He Lingchuan called once.

At once, shadows moved in the nearby treetops and on the low cliff behind the house.

There were humans, mandrills, and other monsters.

Clearly, the ape had no shortage of subordinates.

A shadow flickered inside the house, and the gibbon came out.

“Hoh, if it isn’t Mister He?”

With a lift of one hand, all those lurking shapes in the trees and on the cliff withdrew again.

He Lingchuan smiled. “You still remember me?”

“Of course I do!” Old Ge’s mouth stretched nearly to his ears, baring a mouthful of great yellow teeth. “You’re the special envoy from Chiyan, the one who came chasing the elixir of youth case all the way here. I heard the post station got blown up last night. Are you alright?”

The old monkey’s information network really is quite impressive.

He Lingchuan shook his head.

Old Ge glanced again at the old fisherman. “You didn’t come by the main road? You came by the lakeside way?”

“Yes. It saves time.”

If he had come in by the main road, he would not have had to see the whole shabby bustle of the town. Looking at it now, it rather lowered his own air. Old Ge muttered that to himself inwardly, then waved a hand at the old fisherman, who turned and limped off woodenly.

“And what are you doing here?” He Lingchuan asked. “You seem to earn plenty of money, don’t you?”

“The biggest lake in the South Li District is right here. I’ve been staying here for decades.” Old Ge bared his teeth. “I couldn’t be bothered to move.”

“I noticed plenty of people live in the town who don’t work in the fish trade.” There were many ruined houses in the place, and all of them had occupants. Some people had no proper house at all and slept instead in nests cobbled together from torn canvas.

“They’re all poor wretches from outside. They think Lingxu City is paved with gold and come here dreaming of making a fortune. Then they arrive and realize they’ve been dreaming.” Old Ge chuckled. “Most of them don’t have two copper coins in their pockets all year round. If they didn’t stay in the shacks here, they’d be sleeping in the streets.”

If land prices in Lingxu City were high, rent could not naturally be cheap either.

In a place packed with nobles and magnates, life was even harsher for the poor.

He Lingchuan asked, “You said I could come to you if I needed something?”

“Yes, yes!” Old Ge grinned broadly. “Anything you need, just say the word. Whether it’s convenient or inconvenient, I can get it all done.”

“What about finding people?”

The gibbon thumped its chest hard enough to rattle. “No problem at all. Please, come in!”

He ushered He Lingchuan into the shell house.

Once inside, the gibbon straightened his chest and somehow carried himself with an entirely different air. “Who are you looking for? Alive or dead?”

The room here was kept clean too. The wooden table’s surface had been worn to a dark, glossy sheen from years of use, but on it sat a blue porcelain vase holding a small bunch of flowers.

This was probably a reception room, meant to maintain appearances. Through a half-open door toward the back, He Lingchuan could see a heap of clutter stuffed into the inner room.

Feeling He Lingchuan’s gaze drift that way, the old ape quickly extended one long arm and shut the back door.

“Alive yesterday, but today, not necessarily.” He Lingchuan withdrew his gaze. “You already know about the post station explosion last night.”

“Ah, I heard about it first thing this morning.” Old Ge scratched its head. “Nothing like that has happened in over a hundred years.”

“The room that blew up was mine.”

Old Ge’s movement paused, as if digesting that bit of information. Then he asked, “You want me to find the one who did it?”

“What do you mean, the one who did it?” He Lingchuan said, not batting an eye. “I want you to help me find two men. Both are small, dark-skinned, thin and wiry, with reddish eyes. One has large, bulging eyes like a frog. The other is always sniffling. Both have fish-scale-like peeling on their arms, and there’s a faint fishy smell about them.” He thought a moment longer before adding, “Their features resemble one another slightly. They’re probably brothers.”

The moment he finished, Old Ge nodded. “Then they’re likely men who make their living near the water.”

“That’s why I came to you.” He Lingchuan took out a silver ingot. “I want their names and addresses, and where they usually show up. Can you do it?”

“This carries some risk.” Old Ge’s expression turned thoughtful. “Anyone bold enough to bomb the post station has to be desperate and vicious!”

He Lingchuan produced a second silver ingot.

“With no names and no family names, I’ll have to send out more hands to search.”

A third silver ingot.

Old Ge’s brows practically stretched open in delight. “And afterward they may try to retaliate against me!”

This time, He Lingchuan stopped. Instead, he began drawing the silver he had already shown back toward himself. “So you’re refusing? Then I’ll go find someone else.”

“Hey, hey, wait!” Old Ge hurriedly grabbed the silver from his hand. “I’ll take it, I’ll take it! Mr. He is generous. I’ll have news for you in three days!”

“Too long, two days.”

“Alright, alright.” Old Ge grinned. “I haven’t received you properly. Would you like some fruit juice?”

With that, it took a small uncovered pot from a cabinet behind him, found a wooden cup, and filled it.

1. Fengchi literally translates to phoenix wing. ☜