Where Immortals Once Walked

He Lingchuan raised his cup to Du Shan. “For those words alone, we ought to drink deep. Come!”

Du Shan smiled as well. The two raised their cups and drained them together.

He Lingchuan simply called the waiter over. “Bring five jars of Seeping Spring Fragrance and fill everyone’s cups. If five jars aren’t enough, bring another five.”

The students were delighted. “He Xiao is generous!” Not every Imperial Academy student came from a well-off family, and not all of them could afford five taels of silver for a jar of Seeping Spring Fragrance.

“After Crown Prince Huan set the fire, the Lord Emperor summoned Crown Prince Yue and me to the Heavenly Palace to soothe us.” He Lingchuan tossed a large silver ingot to the waiter, full of bold spirit. “What am I keeping this compensation money for? I might as well treat everyone to wine today!”

Everyone beamed.

However, the brows of Zheng Zewu, Gao Jilin, Du Shan, and several others furrowed.

The Lord Emperor usually remains at Heaven-Reaching Palace on Tianxin Island. Why would he summon those from Chiyan to the Heavenly Palace to soothe them?

Could the heavenly gods have been involved somehow?

The waters are deep indeed.

This round of drinking at Fragrance-Filled House lasted until the sun slanted westward. Only then did everyone decide to return while the mood was still high.

He Lingchuan went to settle the bill, but before he could even take out his money pouch, the manager smiled as warmly as a spring breeze.

“No need, Mr. He. Chief Steward Fang of Dun Garden already paid on your behalf.”

He Lingchuan found that strange. “He left a long time ago, and we drank so much more after that. How did he settle the bill?”

“Chief Steward Fang often hosts guests here. He usually puts it on his account and settles everything at the end of the month.”

Sigh, those with money really are different.

Just now, they had drunk at least thirteen jars of wine, which came to sixty-five taels of silver, or 65,000 coins!

By comparison, the cost of the food was hardly worth mentioning.

“Chief Steward Fang truly knows how to do things properly.” He Lingchuan understood that Fang Canran was giving him face in front of the Imperial Academy students. He did not make a fuss over it. Patting his sleeves, he was just about to leave when the manager lowered his voice again and said, “Chief Steward Fang also left you a note.”

With that, he handed over a slip of paper.

The Tongxin Guards who had followed He Lingchuan here were blocked by his back and could not see their hand movements.

He Lingchuan swiftly took the note and tossed it into his storage ring, then laughed. “Then I won’t refuse his kindness. I’m off.”

* * *

That night, He Lingchuan crept quietly to the rear mountain of Fleeting Thoughts Manor. Tall, dense firs had grown into a tight, solid wall of trees.

He passed through that tree wall, then felt his way to a real wall.

This boundary wall separated Fleeting Thoughts Manor from the neighbor’s estate.

The house next door had always been occupied. Its owner was surnamed Shi and also served as an official in the imperial court.

Tonight, the Shi household was brightly lit, and voices often drifted out. It seemed they were holding a banquet.

There was a small turret[1] on the wall, built for viewing the scenery. He Lingchuan saw someone inside waving at him.

Fang Canran.

He leaped over in two bounds and found that there was even a low stool inside the pavilion.

“Why did Chief Steward Fang invite me to a place like this?” It was dark, quiet, and remote, with few people ever passing by.

“I’m a guest at the Shi household tonight, so it happens to be convenient to meet you.” Fang Canran tilted his chin toward the main building. Laughter drifted over on the wind, and it sounded as though host and guests were all enjoying themselves. “They’re exchanging cups in there. For now, no one will notice that I’m missing.” He then took out a rectangular mirror before continuing, “The Heart-Piercing Mirror has been repaired and can be used as normal.” After saying that, he taught He Lingchuan the incantation for using it and explained its function.

This was one of the apologies he owed He Lingchuan.

He Lingchuan accepted it, carefully memorized everything, and then sat down. “What else did you want to talk about?”

Fang Canran casually set up a barrier that prevented their voices from leaking out before answering, “Juju.”

He Lingchuan froze and looked him over from head to toe.

The man came to see me in the middle of the night to talk about Mount Xu’s guardian beast?

“Is it really so surprising?” asked Fang Canran. “Didn’t you already know what I was going to say?”

He Lingchuan blinked. “Say what?”

When neither side had enough trust in the other, it truly was difficult to discuss matters. Fang Canran had no choice but to spell it out, “Juju asked me for some information and said someone needed it.”

“Oh—” He Lingchuan looked as though he were suddenly enlightened. “So it was you.”

In truth, when he had received the note from the tavern manager that afternoon, He Lingchuan had already guessed what this was about.

It had not required much rational analysis. His intuition had said as much.

Fang Canran had great ambitions in Lingxu City. He was unlikely to be absent from this kind of excitement.

“How did you know to come to me?” He Lingchuan asked him. “Juju shouldn’t have seen my face.”

“I wasn’t certain.” Fang Canran smiled. “But I thought I could come straight to you and test it. After all, you’re the only person who has mentioned Juju to me recently. See? Now it’s confirmed.”

Their eyes met, and suddenly both of them burst into laughter.

Between them was a game of scheming and counter-scheming. This time, Fang Canran had taken the upper hand.

Although the two of them had previously made a contract using the Chains of Oath, neither had been willing to reveal their mission in Lingxu City. Now, with Juju in the middle, that thin layer of paper had been accidentally pierced through.

Fang Canran knew He Lingchuan had come to Lingxu City to cause destruction, and He Lingchuan knew Fang Canran had secret contact with Juju and harbored ill intentions. Both matters were taboo to the Heavenly Palace.

Once they confirmed that they shared a mighty enemy, their relationship instantly grew closer.

Fang Canran’s smile faded. “What do you want to do?”

He Lingchuan leaned against the pillar and said leisurely, “I want to send the Heavenly Palace a grand gift.”

Back then, when Panlong City fell, it appeared on the surface to have been caused by the coalition army of the States of Xianyou and Baling. But He Lingchuan had long since seen clearly that the true driving force behind the scenes was Beijia.

For him, who had inherited the three-piece set and Panlong’s legacy, this was an old grudge.

When he first entered Lingxu, he had even come to do real, good work for the vast monster population of Beijia. In the end, without a word of explanation, the heavenly gods had invaded his spiritual sea and carried out a trial on him.

For him personally, this was a new hatred.

It was not that he would not repay it. The time had simply not yet come.

However, he would certainly find the most suitable opportunity. Even if old and new grudges could not be settled all at once, they had to be collected in batches!

The first settling of accounts would begin with sending the Heavenly Palace a grand gift.

Fang Canran did not quite understand. “A grand gift?”

“How about a lively, free, and unfettered Juju?”

Fang Canran stared at him for a long while. Only after confirming that he was not joking did he shake his head. “You’re trying very hard to get yourself killed.”

He understood now. This man actually wanted to sabotage the Grand Spirit-Gathering Array under the Heavenly Palace’s very eyes and release Juju.

This had been Juju’s wish for many years. Although Fang Canran had long since established contact with it, he had never dared truly put the plan into action.

If he had not traded blows with He Lingchuan before, he probably would have suspected the young man to either be genuinely insane or pretending to be stupid.

He Lingchuan rubbed his nose.

“How do you want me to cooperate?” asked Fang Canran. “Juju is extremely suspicious. I spent several years getting close to it before I obtained its avatar. You only went there once?”

“That’s right.” A wild cat was prowling around below, so He Lingchuan tossed a pebble down. The cat fled in a streak. “Juju has an old friend. I went there carrying that old friend’s token, so I suppose I took a shortcut.”

“I’ll say this first. I can cooperate, but your great undertaking is yours to handle.” Fang Canran raised one finger and shook it. “Don’t drag me into the water.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll only buy things and seek information from you. I don’t need you to act with me.”

With that, it was settled.

“Then I’ll give you one piece of information first,” said Fang Canran. “I received a number on my end. Over the past seven years, the Heavenly Palace has purchased 30,000 kilograms of meat every month.”

“30,000 kilograms?” He Lingchuan paused. “How many people are in the Heavenly Palace?”

“Aside from a few leaders, there are 72 lamp guardians, 400 divine attendants, 900 Heavenly Palace guards, and 1,800 Mount Xu guards. In addition, there are 800 odd-job workers.” Fang Canran knew these numbers by heart. “Altogether, about 4,100 people. The total fluctuates occasionally, but not by much.”

“4,100 people consuming 30,000 kilograms of meat every month?” He Lingchuan counted on his fingers. “That’s 7.2 kilograms per person per month, or about 240 grams a day. Hoh, it seems they’re being fed well.”

Fang Canran laughed, knowing he was being sarcastic. “How many odd-job workers have you ever seen eating meat at every meal? Even divine attendants and guards don’t have such high rations.”

Those two thousand-plus people were only stationed troops, not fighting wars or training every day. How could their consumption be that high?

He Lingchuan remembered that commoners in Yuan’s capital could eat meat about once every thirty-odd days. In comparison, even the people of Lingxu City did not have the chance to eat meat every day. Taking ten steps back, even if the Heavenly Palace treated everyone equally and fed them all very well, counting 180 grams of meat per person per day, they would only consume over 21,600 kilograms a month, so what about the remaining 8,400 kilograms?

Fang Canran continued, “And among the meat the Heavenly Palace buys, they also separately purchase large quantities of hooves, tails, and heads from cattle, sheep, donkeys, and horses. Do you think that’s normal food?”

“It isn’t for Juju.” The rock-fire aberrant creature did not like blood food at all, so that could be eliminated directly. He Lingchuan rubbed his chin and thought for a moment. “Maybe some of the monsters guarding the Heavenly Palace like gnawing on heads and claws.”

Just as he liked eating duck necks and chicken feet, provided they were well-smoked and well-braised.

“But you’re right. Deliberately buying these scraps likely serves another purpose. Maybe the Heavenly Palace’s purchasing agents are even passing off inferior goods and lining their own pockets.”

“In any case, I’ve told you.” Fang Canran looked at him. “Mount Xu is heavily defended. In the past, so many experts wanted to infiltrate and sabotage it, but all of them failed. Juju knows this, yet still thinks you might be worth a try... Just what are you relying on?”

Now they had returned to the main point. “The Grand Spirit-Gathering Array is Mount Xu’s foundation. I have a way to shake it, so long as I find its array eye.”

Fang Canran shook his head. “The array eye is usually hidden in the void. Unless you take the teleportation array from Star-Plucking Tower directly over there, no one can find it.”

“No. Right now, it’s suspended above Mount Xu. It’s merely shielded from the perception of all living beings, so even Juju can’t see it.”

“Are you certain?”

“I don’t dare be certain yet. I still need to find an opportunity to test it.” Plans had to proceed one step at a time. “That is the premise of our operation.”

“Does Juju have a heavy role to play?”

“A very heavy one.” He Lingchuan’s expression turned serious. “Without it unleashing its might, I alone can’t overturn the heavens.”

“Its avatar isn’t here at the moment, is it?”

He Lingchuan shook his head.

Fang Canran then took out a pair of shackles from his robe and handed them to He Lingchuan.

“The Chains of Oath you wanted. This is the last pair I have.”

How to make Juju carry out the agreement exactly as promised was something He Lingchuan had been pondering repeatedly of late, and he had come up with several backup plans.

But none was as simple and straightforward as the Chains of Oath.

“I’ve personally seen Juju trick others before. You cannot repeat their mistake. Your choice is very wise.”

1. This is the older definition of a turret, something like a corner tower. ☜