Where Immortals Once Walked

Of course, He Lingchuan knew that after passing the Dharma Eye’s test, he might already have been crossed off the gods’ suspect list. Their surveillance of him would likely loosen considerably from now on.

But there was still Bai Ziqi.

Tch, that man always wanted to keep an eye on me, and for basically no rhyme or reason!

So He Lingchuan had to hurry and find Bai Ziqi something else to do.

Seeing him repeatedly rubbing his temples, Fushan Yue said, “Enough, rest first. Tomorrow, we’ll go take a look at Fleeting Thoughts Manor.”

He Lingchuan nodded.

After returning to his room, he shut the doors and windows tight, then took the mirror and swept it around, confirming that he was not being watched or eavesdropped on. Only then did he reach into his chest.

What he took out was a leaf.

It was the leaf from the juluo tree in Panlong City. Originally, it had been a beautiful gold-red. Now, however, it was withered and curled at the edges, covered with yellow spots.

At a glance, it looked no different from any fallen leaf picked up off the ground.

He Lingchuan examined it carefully and let out a soft breath. “One leaf blinds the eye.” So this was where Venerable Muling’s second prophetic line had been fulfilled.

The golden leaf had not been meant to block his vision.

It had been meant to block the Eye of Mulian.

With this leaf, He Lingchuan had successfully passed Miaozhantian’s lie test.

Thousands of years ago, during the ancient war, the immortals of the Grand Return Sect borrowed leaves from the Dao-Seeking Tree and defeated the greater monster Mulian.

Thousands of years later, He Lingchuan used the Dao-Seeking Tree leaf Venerable Muling had left for him to defeat Mulian’s remaining eyeball once again, preserving his own life.

Is every sip and bite truly fated in advance?

Toward Venerable Muling, that great senior who had calculated accurately across a thousand years and saved his life, He Lingchuan felt admiration down to the soles of his feet. He also grew curious about the final remaining line of the prophecy.

What sort of situation would that one match?

As He Lingchuan watched, the leaf slowly turned to ash and fell to the floor.

The Soul-Stealing Mirror said curiously, “What happened to the juluo tree’s leaf?”

“Its power was used up, I suppose.” Miaozhantian’s touchstone and Eye of Truth were not so easy to resist.

As for whether the gods would doubt the result of this test, He Lingchuan believed they would not, at least not in the short term.

The reason was simple. If they had no confidence in that eye, why carry out the test in the first place?

Never mind that the gods could easily invade his sea of consciousness. Mitian had said long ago that the barrier between the divine realm and the mortal realm was distinct and firm; crossing it in any form was not easy.

The strongest evidence was that Miaozhantian had asked him only three questions. Once the questions were done, the invasion had to end.

If they could remain freely in his sea of consciousness, then forget three questions; they could ask thirty or three hundred as they pleased.

Therefore, he was inclined to think that even for the gods, this invasion had cost no small amount of effort.

Since they had placed such hopes in the Eye of Mulian, the “truth” it produced should be enough to convince them for a period of time.

This was also the strategic opening He Lingchuan had risked his life to obtain.

In the end, he was still too inexperienced. He had underestimated the complexity and danger of opposing the gods.

If not for Panlong City and Venerable Muling lending him aid, nine times out of ten, the gods would have exposed every secret he had this time.

Strictly speaking, this contest had never truly belonged to He Lingchuan. It had been a confrontation between the forces behind him—Panlong City and Venerable Muling—and the gods.

More broadly, it could even be seen as a continuation of the struggle between immortals and gods.

For now, his side had gained the upper hand. He Lingchuan had gone for a stroll before the gates of hell and picked his little life back up.

The mirror clicked its tongue in praise. “As expected of a treasure from the City of the Dead. It actually blocked the gods’ Eye of Truth!”

He Lingchuan held his head and sighed deeply. “I underestimated the enemy!”

Looking back now, he had in fact already made the mistake of reckless adventurism before setting off for Tianshu Peak.

“I thought too well of them.” He had underestimated the heavenly gods’ will and methods.

Those circuitous schemes and careful calculations he had relied on might matter to the Monster Emperor, but the gods did not play that game at all.

They were powerful, tyrannical, utterly unrestrained, and acted as they pleased. Whoever’s head they wished to crack open, they cracked open. Whoever they wanted to test, they tested. They did not care whether the victim lived or died.

Nor had they especially targeted He Lingchuan. In their eyes, all humans were nothing but droplets in the sea, as lowly as ants at the base of a wall.

In any case, one press of a finger would kill them.

Fortunately, with Panlong City and Venerable Muling shielding him, He Lingchuan had survived this calamity.

He thought of Venerable Muling’s words, Young people should be allowed to make mistakes.

When Venerable Muling said that, his eyes had been fixed on the gold-red leaf. Only now did He Lingchuan feel that those words had been meant for him.

That wise man had to have exhausted so many resources and used all sorts of methods just to peer through Heaven’s machinations just to give He Lingchuan one chance to make a mistake without dying for it.

Just one.

He Lingchuan said firmly, “I won’t make this mistake again.”

In the future, no one would clean up after his errors. Just as Venerable Muling had said, what came after had to be left to those who came after.

“?” The mirror was confused the entire time.

It could no longer keep up with its master’s thoughts. What should it do?

He Lingchuan pressed at his temples and thought of the unreasonable god who had tried to seize his body at the final moment of the divine invasion.

Miaozhantian had argued with it, which proved that the gods were not a single solid block. They had disagreements and conflicts of interest too.

Well, that’s reasonable enough.

But most important was what the god had shouted after the azure mark lit up: “Why does he have Naluotian’s mark?”

In other words, it recognized the owner of that mark.

This confirmed He Lingchuan’s long-standing guess. The one who had left the mark deep in his sea of consciousness was indeed another god.

Only today did he finally learn the other party’s name: Naluotian.

Now I have a name to investigate. Good.

* * *

Thanks to spirit medicines that soothed the mind and spirit and nourished the brain, He Lingchuan woke the next morning without a headache.

He and Fushan Yue took Jiao Yu and the other guards up Mount Qilin to inspect their newly acquired residence.

Fortunately, the road up the mountain was still broad, even, and well-maintained, with no damage to the surface. Clearly, the materials used back then had been solid.

Compared with the Mount Pan Residence, Fleeting Thoughts Manor was actually closer to the center of the Lower City. Its area was roughly half that of Dun Garden.

Occupying half of Mount Qilin was already very large.

It faced south from the north, taking up half the sunny side of Mount Qilin. By rights, the first ray of morning sunlight should have fallen upon the manor’s pavilions. But the gardens had been abandoned for years. Grass and trees had grown wild, and great clawing trees blocked the sunlight from reaching the courtyards.

The rear mountain behind the residence was even gloomier. Wild grass grew so thickly that people could hardly step through it, and small animals darted back and forth from time to time.

He casually grabbed two handfuls of dirt from beneath a tree.

Wet.

The fierce tiger sniffed everywhere, rolled twice in a grassy hollow, and actually discovered a nest of over a dozen weasels, as well as a large flock of storks and cranes.

These two kinds of monsters showed no fear upon seeing people. Instead, it was the tiger that frightened them into squeaking and scurrying away. Only after hearing that Fleeting Thoughts Manor had a new owner did they beg Fushan Yue to renew their contract.

It turned out these were monsters the Chunyu Family had raised in the rear garden, specifically to remove insects, snakes, rats, and ants for the household.

The Chunyu Family had met with disaster, but they had not. They had continued living in Mount Qilin’s rear garden all these years—quite comfortably at that—and did not want to move.

Fushan Yue had no objection, but demanded that they clear out every annoying little creature in the great residence within two days. After all, the house had been empty for seven years. Vast and hollow, it had long since become a paradise for snakes, insects, rats, and ants.

Both groups of monsters patted their chests and guaranteed they would complete the task. This was originally their proper duty anyway.

The weasel even blinked its small eyes and asked Fushan Yue, “I have a few mountain goat friends who are very skilled at trimming garden plants and trees. Would you like to hire them too? Meals included is enough, plus a little pocket money. Their wages are much cheaper than hiring people.”

“...Fine.”

Though unkempt, Fleeting Thoughts Manor’s main residence remained grand and imposing. Its beams and pillars had not been corroded by earth qi, and most of the furniture was complete. Clearly, the materials used in its construction had been excellent.

Because the weasels and other monsters had been around, few thieves had broken in.

Overall, with a little tidying, it could be occupied.

After descending the mountain, Fushan Yue immediately sent people to the broker’s office to hire servants.

For such a large manor to operate, it would need at least a hundred people managing it.

* * *

Fleeting Thoughts Manor could not yet be lived in, and Fushan Yue went off to deal with other matters. He Lingchuan still returned to the inn.

After dinner, an inn waiter came to deliver tea.

“Leave it there.” He Lingchuan did not look back.

The man did not leave. He stood motionless in place. “He Xiao.”

That stiff voice alone told him who had come. He Lingchuan sighed. Troubles were coming one after another, without even a moment’s peace. He did not even have time to catch his breath.

He walked out of the room and dismissed all unrelated people.

“How is it?”

“The state preceptor agreed, but there is one condition.”

“Please speak.”

“Nian Zanli must not know that you are acting as the intermediary, or even that you are involved in this matter,” said Xi Yunhe. “The state preceptor asked you to handle this because you have no connection to us and no interests involved, so any clue you submit will be clean and credible. Nian Zanli borrowing troops from the state preceptor is too large a movement. In the end, it will certainly reach the Lord Emperor’s ears. If the Lord Emperor discovers that you helped make the connection, your relationship with us will be exposed.”

He Lingchuan nodded. “Don’t worry. I won’t show myself, and he won’t know.”

Xi Yunhe had been responsible for negotiating yesterday. Today, he had only come to pass along the message. “Good. Then the state preceptor will borrow 30,000 troops from the State of Baling, along with two generals, all to be placed under Nian Zanli’s command. This matter will be completed within five months at the latest.”

Success! He Lingchuan drew in a quiet breath.

“The state preceptor’s methods are vast indeed. Even such a major matter can be settled almost overnight.” He said admiringly, “However, words alone are no proof. How are we to gain Nian Zanli’s trust?”

“The second alley east of Tian Street, the paper shop at the very end. There’s a pair of white stone horses by the entrance. Go in and tell the shopkeeper that you want ten sets of South Treasure Pavilion’s inkstones and Autumn Lake Mirror’s paper, at the agreed price of forty wen[1]. He will give you the state preceptor’s token and handwritten letters.”

“Give those two items to Nian Zanli, and he’ll be able to go to the State of Baling to request troops.” Xi Yunhe added, “The token cannot be forged. There are two handwritten letters. One explains the situation to Nian Zanli. The other is sealed with wax and must be presented to the ruler of Baling. It cannot be opened along the way.”

He Lingchuan was moved. “The state preceptor has actually considered it so thoroughly!”

As expected of a political veteran over a hundred years old. He’s truly considerate. Everything He Lingchuan had thought of, and even the things he had not, had already been prepared for him.

1. One wen is a thousandth of a tael, so 40 wen = 0.04 taels. ☜