Where Immortals Once Walked

“You encountered those man-eating aberrant cicadas on your way here, didn’t you?” Elder Dao sighed. “Those damned things have been invading Rongshan territory with all their might. Our disciples are doing everything they can to block them, but they just can’t be killed off completely. Qiu Hu swore that he would exterminate every last one of those aberrant cicadas.”

He Lingchuan’s brows shifted. “What exactly is going on?”

At that moment, someone outside knocked lightly on the door to report.

Sect Leader Xue had other matters to attend to. After saying a word to He Lingchuan, he left first.

The two people in the hall continued their conversation.

“When Qiu Hu was brought back to Rongshan, he was only three years old. Elder Zhao entrusted him to White Village, where he was raised. To him, the only people he could call close family were Elder Zhao and his foster parents.” Elder Dao sighed. “Elder Zhao has already passed away. Two months ago, the aberrant cicadas invaded White Village. Not a single person survived, and Qiu Hu’s foster parents also...”

The aberrant cicadas had eaten them too.

“By the time he rushed there, the village was in ruins. That was where he made his vow.”

He Lingchuan thought for quite a while before saying, “If I can eliminate the aberrant cicada disaster, Qiu Hu will follow me?”

Elder Dao immediately sat up straight. “Does Young Master He have a way to deal with them?”

“I’ve only just arrived in your esteemed land. How could I say for certain now?” It was only his second day here.

“Qiu Hu is a child who repays every debt of gratitude and avenges every grudge.” Elder Dao also knew he had grown anxious, so he said sincerely, “If you want him to restrain his temper and serve obediently under you without causing trouble, you have to bind him with kindness. To put it bluntly, this is a good opportunity.”

His meaning was very clear. Only if He Lingchuan avenged Qiu Hu would Qiu Hu wholeheartedly follow him.

“I’ll do my best.” He Lingchuan agreed without hesitation. “Right, I heard these aberrant cicadas came from the northeast?”

“Mm, the earliest reports came from villagers on Rongshan’s northeastern border. They should have entered from there, and wherever they passed, not a blade of grass remained.” Elder Dao thought for a moment before adding, “But according to the observations of our disciples, over the past two months, the growth speed of these aberrant creatures has actually slowed.”

He Lingchuan frowned. “This is slow?”

From birth to adulthood to eating people, the aberrant cicadas had taken only a few dozen breaths!

“Two months ago, after eating people, they would immediately burrow into the ground and reproduce. Our Rongshan disciples observed that from laying eggs to larvae breaking out of the soil, these damned things took less than ten breaths!” Even Elder Dao, experienced and knowledgeable as he was, found this outrageously absurd. “What living creature reproduces at such speed?”

If they could truly maintain such efficient reproduction all along, that would be a disaster. In less than half a year, the entire world would be filled with aberrant cicadas.

He Lingchuan also said, “This should be the result of mutation. My companion identified them as seventy-year cicadas. Originally, their eggs and larvae had to remain underground for a full seventy years before maturing and coming to the surface. And seventy-year cicadas were originally herbivores, much smaller than this.”

The growth of seventy-year cicadas had suddenly gone from the slowest to incredibly fast, and their habits had completely changed. They even ate people now. There had to be something strange at work in between.

Elder Dao continued, “But over these two months, their reproductive speed has clearly slowed. From laying eggs to larvae breaking through the soil, it now takes six to ten hours.”

“Then the factor causing their mutation is rapidly losing effect.”

Mutation, mutation. Hm, what does that word bring to mind?

Elder Dao gave a bitter smile. “For two months, Rongshan disciples have been exterminating aberrant cicadas everywhere. Even as we speak, they are still rushing about. Ah, but we still have no way to eradicate them. Wherever these aberrant creatures pass, humans and livestock alike are left dead, fields and trees wither, and every commoner in Rongshan fears for their own safety. They have no heart for farming, and even merchants from outside no longer dare come.”

The frozen soil of early spring had not yet thawed. If the cicada disaster continued raging, the spring plowing to come would be ruined.

“I understand the general situation.” He Lingchuan suddenly changed the subject. “Right, I heard that the Rongshan Sect is Yuan’s creditor. Yuan borrowed quite a bit of money from you?”

Li Qingge had been the one to reveal this information to him. When he first heard it, he felt it was unexpected, yet also reasonable.

In truth, this was also the reason he had chosen Rongshan as a source of assistance.

This turn in the conversation was rather wide. Elder Dao froze for a moment before coming back to himself. “Uh, yes, there is such a matter. Over the past thirty or forty years, Rongshan and Yuan have been friendly neighbors, and Rongshan disciples have also served as officials in the Yuan court. Ah, these past few years, Yuan has suffered repeated natural and man-made disasters and borrowed money from us several times. Last year, before they faced the Provincial Governor of Xun Province, they borrowed another two million taels of silver from our sect, along with some grain.”

“How much do they owe in total?”

“Oh, that matter is handled by my junior brother, so I don’t know the exact figure. But it must be around twenty million taels, at least?”

Twenty million taels? So Yuan owes that much to the Rongshan Sect, eh? He Lingchuan believed that with Yuan’s usual style, it would not have borrowed only from the Rongshan Sect.

Just how much foreign debt does Yuan owe?

“Have they repaid it?” No wonder before the Battle of Han River, the Royal Court of Yuan had suddenly gathered enough money and grain to support Zhao Pan’s army.

The Rongshan Sect was truly wealthy.

“Not yet.” Elder Dao waved a hand. “Yuan has been fighting on the western front and suppressing rebellions in the south. Again and again, they sent people to request more loans. This time, they prepared some collateral, but the sect leader refused all of it.”

“Collateral?”

“Yuan seemed to want to use mines, pastures, and docks as collateral. If they couldn’t repay the money, we would take those.” Elder Dao frowned. “I don’t think the sect had much interest.”

He Lingchuan sighed inwardly. To fight wars and still have to borrow money from foreign powers—Yuan was truly exhausted, its people poor and its treasury empty.

“Young Master He, why are you asking about this...” Elder Dao got halfway through the question before suddenly remembering that He Lingchuan was heading to Yuan afterward. “Is there some connection?”

“I’m from Yuan.”

Elder Dao froze and looked him up and down a few more times.

“What is it?”

“For Yuan to still produce a figure like Young Master He, it seems its fate is not yet exhausted.”

“The homeland is rotten and decayed. Sigh.” He Lingchuan stood. “Those two friends of mine both have done some research into aberrant creatures. I’ll go talk with them.”

* * *

When He Lingchuan went looking for the other two, he found that Zhu Daniang had gone off somewhere, while he found Dong Rui in a teahouse down the mountain.

Ever since he had gained a face that could be shown in public, the man had been drinking tea and listening to storytelling, enjoying himself immensely. He had even been willing to tip. The ghost ape sat beside him eating fruit. In the depths of winter, it was not easy for a person to eat a pear, let alone a monkey.

But the ghost ape finished one in two or three bites, then reached for the next.

Others glanced at the monkey a few extra times, but seeing that it was clean and did not move around randomly, they returned to their own tea. What was strange about a rich gentleman keeping birds and walking monkeys? The whole point was that they had something that others did not.

The storyteller at the front was keeping close to current affairs and speaking about the recent cicada disaster. However, he also understood that when rendering horror, one had to add a little hope. Otherwise, the people in the teahouse would listen until their hearts grew dark, as if death were already at their door. Would they still be willing to give him rewards then?

So he loudly praised the courage and fearlessness of the Rongshan Sect’s disciples, saying they chopped insects like slicing vegetables. He took the recent battles and embellished them lavishly, telling each one in great detail.

He Lingchuan leaned over, grabbed a handful of melon seeds from the table, and started cracking them. “You’re rather rich, aren’t you?”