Where Immortals Once Walked

“Was Yao Xingning behind this?” He Lingchuan understood Fushan Yue’s difficulty as well. “If I remember correctly, that little Crown Prince isn’t very old, right?”

“Mm. Only thirteen. For its kind, that’s equivalent to infancy among humans. It only learned to speak human language last year.”

That young, and already doing things no decent creature would?

Right, the Monster Emperor’s child was never human to begin with.

Fushan Yue continued, “Its temper is violent. It kills people at the slightest provocation. The first tutor the Lord Emperor found for it was human—learned and knowledgeable, but unversed in divine techniques or martial arts. In the end, the Crown Prince found his constant lectures too annoying and swallowed him whole. The Lord Emperor’s scolding did nothing. Helpless, he had to find a greater monster to teach it instead, and only then did there stop being fatal incidents of tutors getting eaten.”

There was no reasoning with infants. The Crown Prince was precisely at that stage.

“And if Yao Xingning stirred it up with a few words...”

He Lingchuan’s brow furrowed. “What good does she get from urging the Beijia Crown Prince to make trouble at the Mount Pan Residence?”

“Venting anger, I suppose.” Fushan Yue finally could not help but sneer. “Cen Boqing’s conviction is already set in stone. It can’t be changed.”

“That’s also making trouble for the Lord Emperor.” He Lingchuan pondered. “At a time like this, it should be better to avoid extra incidents. Isn’t she afraid that the Lord Emperor will feel even more disgust toward her, and toward the Minister of Finance’s household?”

If the Lord Emperor disliked a person, that person was doomed to suffer.

If the Lord Emperor disliked an entire family, that family would not end well.

“She’s from a prestigious household. How could she not think for her family?” No matter how angry or grief-stricken a daughter of a great family might be, would she really lack even that much sense of the larger picture? “When I saw Yao Xingning in the Baishajue County Jail, she spoke with restraint and acted decisively. She didn’t seem like the kind of woman who loses all sense once her temper flares.”

Fushan Yue lightly swirled the wine in his cup. “You mean someone else may be behind this, trying to get at me?”

“It’s possible, isn’t it? Aren’t we surrounded by enemies on every side in Lingxu City?” He Lingchuan sighed. “A few days ago, we stayed at the post station, and the post station was bombed. Then we moved into the Mount Pan Residence, and now a calamitous star walks through the door.”

And this calamitous star was someone even Fushan Yue could not touch. All he could do was hide here and drink bitter wine.

“It looks like they don’t plan to let things rest.” He had thought too simply before. He had assumed that once he became the brightest figure beneath the spotlight, these powers would temporarily hesitate to move against him, giving him a little room and time to maneuver.

But the Lingxu Crown Prince’s actions had snapped him awake.

There were existences in Lingxu City that were simply not bound by rules or law.

His perspective had been too narrow.

His understanding of the word “privilege” was still far too shallow. He would have to reflect on that properly later.

His enemies indeed did not dare act personally, but they could borrow another’s blade to kill.

Whether or not Fushan Yue was actually caught by the Beijia Crown Prince at the Mount Pan Residence, he would suffer a major loss either way. Just thinking about how to resolve this conflict gave Fushan Yue a headache.

As for He Lingchuan, the Beijia Crown Prince might have simply ordered him beaten to death on the spot.

Tonight’s incident was a hard blow straight to He Lingchuan’s head.

The two continued eating and drinking.

He Lingchuan’s state of mind soon eased. Coming to Lingxu City meant facing violent waves and treacherous currents; he had prepared himself for that long ago.

The obstacles ahead would likely only grow harder. He had to deal with them carefully.

The anger on Fushan Yue’s face also gradually receded. He simply changed the subject, chatting with He Lingchuan about amusing incidents that had recently taken place in Lingxu City.

When they reached the ridiculous parts, both men roared with laughter.

No matter how furious he was, it would do nothing to help the overall situation. Why make things harder for himself?

Let alone the crown prince of a vassal monster state, sometimes even monster kings had to understand these two words deeply: accept fate!

But before long, the goshawk flew back with another report, “His Highness the Crown Prince of Beijia has set off back to Tianxin Island. But before leaving, it ordered its guards to kill over a dozen servants, then set fire to the residence!”

With a crack, Fushan Yue crushed the wine cup in his hand.

He Lingchuan also shot to his feet. “Let’s go back.”

* * *

They had not yet reached the Mount Pan Residence when He Lingchuan saw flames surging into the sky ahead, staining the night red.

The fire was fierce.

The Mount Pan Residence and the Mount Lan Residence were five kilometers apart, and they had rushed back as quickly as possible, yet the blaze was now burning at full strength.

The crowd of onlookers had packed the front gate so tightly that not even water could pass through. He Lingchuan simply patted the cliff ram, and the beast took two running steps before leaping high, sailing over everyone’s heads and landing directly in front of the estate gate.

Fushan Yue’s guards were blocking the entrance and dispersing people. Seeing a flying ram descend from the sky, they were first startled, then breathed out in relief. “Lord He!”

Fushan Yue was even more direct. He simply stepped across the heads of several spectators who had come to watch the excitement. After landing, his gaze froze.

He had nearly a hundred guards, all staying at nearby inns. But after the Beijia Crown Prince broke into the Mount Pan Residence, the goshawk had flown over with orders, telling all the guards to remain where they were and not move recklessly.

Even though the other side had fewer people, once Chiyan’s guards came into conflict with the Beijia Crown Prince, they would still suffer the loss.

However, the instant the Beijia Crown Prince left, they rushed back to put out the fire and carried the two corpses outside the main gate back into the residence.

Even so, the ground from the Mount Pan Residence’s gate inward was covered with blood. The sight was horrifying.

No wonder the onlookers could not be driven away, no matter what.

A vicious incident like this, unfolding in full public view, was extremely rare in the Main City District.

After all, everyone who could live here was either wealthy or noble.

He Lingchuan rode the cliff ram through the gate, letting it gallop at speed.

The Beijia Crown Prince’s guards had carried out their task thoroughly. Every building had been set ablaze, so the Mount Pan Residence’s towers, terraces, pavilions, and halls were all burning fiercely.

By the time Fushan Yue arrived, He Lingchuan had just rushed out of a burning room, carrying two people under his arms.

They were both alive, though coughing nonstop.

The crowd went in and out, and in total, they rescued five servants.

All the other servants were dead.

After He Lingchuan asked around, he learned that these few had hidden elsewhere and had not gone to the main hall. That was why they had managed to keep their lives.

The others had already extinguished the flames in two buildings, but the remaining fire was still being blown toward the garden by the north wind.

The Mount Pan Residence’s most stunning feature was its garden scenery. Now dozens of trees had caught fire, crackling loudly as they burned.

He Lingchuan swung his blade and chopped down two trees, barely cutting off the fire’s path.

Fushan Yue shouted, “Everyone, fall back!”

The guards quickly withdrew.

Then Fushan Yue patted his chest. A whirlwind flew out from his necklace and began circling the burning buildings at high speed.

The wind was fierce, as though a category one hurricane[1] had risen on the spot, yet its range covered only the Mount Pan Residence.

It did not reveal its signature form, but He Lingchuan knew that it was the little Wind Demon.

High-intensity cold wind could rapidly cool the area while cutting off the air around the buildings.

In just a few dozen breaths, the fire noticeably weakened.

A short while later, the open flames vanished.

Wind could feed fire, but it could also extinguish it. This was one thing subduing another.

Having completed its task perfectly, the Wind Demon flew back to Fushan Yue.

The blaze had been put out, but what remained of the Mount Pan Residence was scorched black.

The garden that had been refined and maintained over more than a hundred years was already half destroyed.

He Lingchuan walked a few steps, kicked aside several charred pieces of wood, and sat down on a large garden stone. His fist slowly tightened.

The Mount Pan Residence had once been extremely comfortable to live in. It was practically the ideal residence he had dreamed of in his previous life.

With one fire, the Beijia Crown Prince had burned away that dream from his previous life.

All the black smoke and charcoal seemed like a silent mockery directed at him.

Fushan Yue’s expression was no better, but he still came over and patted He Lingchuan on the shoulder. “This can’t just be let go! Stay at an inn tonight. I’ll enter the palace overnight and demand justice.”

He turned to leave after speaking, but He Lingchuan stopped him. “Wait.”

“Hm?”

“It isn’t appropriate to rush over now.” He Lingchuan looked up at him. His eyes were red; whether from smoke or rage, no one could tell. Yet his voice was unusually calm. “The matter has already happened. We need to give all sides a little time.”

“A little time?” Fushan Yue paused.

“The Chiyan Crown Prince’s residence has been destroyed for the second time. This news will spread through the upper and lower cities by noon tomorrow at the latest, and the impact will be extremely bad.” He Lingchuan slowly said, “Why not wait and see? If the Beijia Crown Prince leaves with his front foot, and you hurry up to Tianxin Island right behind him, I fear...”

Fushan Yue was clever to begin with. His blood had simply rushed to his head and driven away his calm. With He Lingchuan’s reminder, he immediately reacted.

“Mm, this isn’t a good time to go up to Tianxin Island. Letting it ferment overnight won’t be too late.”

He was the victim here, and he retained the right to pursue responsibility.

“Someone must pay for this,” he said, soothing He Lingchuan. “The Mount Pan Residence is destroyed. I’ll get you another good place to live.”

“No rush.” He Lingchuan waved a hand. “Nineteen people died in the residence. Their families must be properly compensated.”

“That’s only right.” Fushan Yue selected several groups of guards and ordered them to hire people to clean up the Mount Pan Residence and handle the funeral arrangements. Then he waved to the rest of his guards. “Back to the inn. We’ll go to Tianxin Island tomorrow!”

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning tore across the night sky, thunder rolling without end.

The weather had changed.

He Lingchuan lifted his head to look at the sky, thinking, Venerable Muling’s first prophetic line should already count as fulfilled, right?

If he had not gone out that morning, he would most likely have been blocked inside the Mount Pan Residence by Crown Prince Huan[2].

No, not quite. More likely, someone had decided he was inside the residence, which was why they had found Crown Prince Huan to deal with him.

Against an utterly unreasonable wielder of power, what little he had to rely on was useless. As long as he came face-to-face with Crown Prince Huan, no matter the result, it would be a disaster for him.

One sentence from Venerable Muling had allowed him to lightly and neatly avoid a major crisis.

It seemed the prophecy this ancient figure had specifically left for him truly deserved serious attention.

* * *

Lightning rolled across the sky. In the latter half of the night, torrential rain suddenly poured down.

On Tianxin Island.

Over a dozen palace guards stood watch in the rain at the Startled Swan Crossing. For the past six hours, they had been monitoring every person coming and going. Water streamed from all of them; their oilskin cloaks could not block such heavy rain, and they were soaked through from inside to out.

The palace guard leader came over for the third time to ask, “Still not here? His Highness is getting impatient.”

His subordinates shook their heads.

“He hasn’t already slipped through, has he?”

One palace guard said, “This subordinate has seen Crown Prince Yue no fewer than five times. I wouldn’t mistake him. Besides, he probably wouldn’t come alone. He’d bring at least some subordinates.”

The Crown Prince of Chiyan was a person of status. How could he enter and exit Startled Swan Crossing all by himself?

“He really hasn’t come? Dawn is almost here.”

The leader was growing anxious from waiting.

The Beijia Crown Prince had ordered them to intercept Fushan Yue here and had specially instructed that no matter how many people Fushan Yue brought up, they were to beat him viciously on sight!

It had burned Fushan Yue’s residence. Fushan Yue did not dare confront it face-to-face, but he would certainly complain to his father behind its back.

1. Note that this is as per the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale. The raws stated a wind level equivalent to this, though for a specific number, it should be above 64 knots or 119 kph. ☜

2. This should be referring to the Crown Prince of Beijia, though if this is actually his name, I’m not sure. ☜