I Failed the City of Fools

Old Train entered the Dangkou Army's encampment and spent about ten minutes giving the place a rough sweep. He didn't care about the night soil inside, but the corpses had to be cleared away, and every last dandelion seed had to be retrieved. None of these could be left for the Inner States. As Old Train emerged from the camp, Old Xu stepped forward to greet him. "Eighteen Wheels, when did you run back from the Inner States?" Old Train smiled faintly and nodded. Xu Han frowned. "I asked you when. What does nodding mean?" Old Train pointed at the encampment overhead, indicating that it was about to fly away. Old Xu nodded. "I know encampments from the Inner States can fly, but with your skills, shouldn't you be able to pin it down?" "I—" Old Train paused, then doubled over and threw up, retching until he had vomited out every last drop of bile before finally stopping. Old Xu asked, "What are you throwing up for? Did you get seasick on your way here?" "You're asking me what I'm throwing up for?" Old Train fumed. "The stench you cooked up is unbearable! I held my breath the moment I went in, and even that wasn't enough to withstand it!" Old Xu grinned. "It isn't often that the Inner States brings such a massive force over. Shouldn't I give them a proper welcome?" "How generous of you. Why don't you send that whole room of golden broth back to the Inner States, then?" Old Train said, leaving the rest unsaid. With his current abilities and lacking the methods of an artisan cultivator, he couldn't stop the encampment from returning to the Shang State. Old Xu didn't press the matter. He leapt into the encampment and drew back all the remaining night soil, leaving behind not a trace of the smell. Old Train snapped, "Why couldn't you have recalled it earlier instead of disgusting me like that!" Standing on the boat and puffing on his pipe, Xu Han looked out at the rolling waves. "I've been a farmer my whole life, yet here I am making a spectacle of myself by the sea. I feel a bit embarrassed, to tell you the truth." Old Train laughed so hard he began to cough. "Are you waiting for me to praise you? You really fought well, but there's something I need to make clear. I took a look at the corpses earlier. These Inner States men have thin skin and haven't matured yet; they can't be considered a fully formed Dangkou army. Besides, the Inner States mobilized in a rush and didn't assign many cultivators to the battalion. If they'd had a wind cultivator on hand, this battle wouldn't have been so easy for you. Qiao Yi isn't the sort to suffer the same loss twice. Next time, you'll have to change your tactics." Xu Han shook his head. "Next time, I won't be the one changing tactics. Someone else will." He turned his gaze toward Zhang Wanlong, watching him for a long while. Li Banfeng gave Zhang Wanlong five Xuanyun Pills and twenty sunflower seeds, and also generously rewarded Tan Jinxiao and Xiao Genzi. Zhang Wanlong gazed up at the sky. "How wonderful it would be if these five islands could stay here forever. Where there's sunlight, I can grow so many more good things." Li Banfeng glanced up at the Inner States' encampment. "That thing will leave before long, and the five islands will have to return to the cavern." "The cavern is fine too. We have plenty of tricks up our sleeves." Zhang Wanlong smiled and shared a peach with Li Banfeng. Three days later, the massive sphere hovering in the sky slowly faded away. The five islands moved swiftly across the sea, and White Falcon Commandery was about to return beneath the cavern once more. Old Train surveyed the surrounding scenery. He had once studied the mechanics behind these five islands, but those memories did not reside within his current body. *** When the encampment returned, the gates swung open to reveal complete emptiness. Not a single living person could be found, nor a corpse, nor even traces of a struggle. Yet Qiao Yi already understood the reality: the Dangkou Battalion's maiden battle was a total defeat, with the entire army wiped out. Sitting in his manor, Qiao Yi rubbed his brow, looked at Nian Shangyou, and said, "I underestimated White Falcon Commandery." Nian Shangyou reminded him, "My Lord, this battle wasn't like the ones before. We must give an account." Whenever they attacked White Falcon Commandery in the past, they had sent slaves laden with bladed weapons down to slaughter and bleed; if slaves died, they were simply dead. But this time, they had dispatched scions of the royal clan, so an explanation was unavoidable. After a moment of thought, Qiao Yi instructed Nian Shangyou to draft a dispatch: "Han Qing disobeyed military orders and advanced rashly in pursuit of glory, leading to the defeat of this campaign with all three thousand soldiers lost. As Han Qing perished in battle, he is spared punishment, and pensions shall be granted to the fallen soldiers' families according to regulation." Nian Shangyou quickly finished the document, handed it to Qiao Yi for review, and immediately forwarded it to the Ministry of War. The Ministry of War knew perfectly well that this expedition had nothing to do with advancing rashly for glory, but pinning the blame on Han Qing left no room for dispute from a dead man. Giving an account to others was simple enough, but giving one to himself was far harder. This had been a catastrophic defeat, and Qiao Yi needed to understand why he had lost. Investigating the truth was nearly impossible, for Qiao Yi had no way of knowing what had actually transpired on the battlefield. Setting aside his opponent's actions, however, Qiao Yi realized that his own side had made several critical errors. First, he had placed too much faith in the Thousand-Men United Force Array. The soldiers of the Dangkou Battalion lacked sufficient training and were ill-equipped to endure a bitter struggle. Second, his prejudice against White Falcon Commandery ran too deep. He had assumed that its isolation kept it stagnant and unchanging, treating this great clash far too lightly. "Had I not acted in such haste and waited a bit longer, it never would have ended in total annihilation," Qiao Yi sighed repeatedly. Then another matter crossed his mind. "The news from Pillow City—is it true or false?" Nian Shangyou had no desire to bring this up, but faced with Qiao Yi's inquiry, he couldn't deflect it. "This subordinate asked the scouts. They reported that those who previously woke up have fallen back asleep." *Fallen back asleep.* Falling back asleep meant the local god had returned, which proved that Zhao Lanmeng was not dead at all. Then what was with the previous intelligence? Qiao Yi scrutinized Nian Shangyou from head to toe. Under that piercing gaze, Nian Shangyou felt as though a blade were slicing through the gaps between his bones. Qiao Yi added another item to his list of personal failings: acting imprudently, relying on inaccurate intelligence, and listening with biased ears. Observing this inward shift, Nian Shangyou felt only helpless frustration. Certain matters were destined to remain inexplicable. For Qiao Yi to call himself imprudent was nonsense; he had cross-referenced intelligence from various channels back and forth multiple times. As for the reports being inaccurate, that was hard to dispute—Chu Shaoqiang's intelligence certainly had issues, but could their own scouts' reports be wrong as well? What rankled most was the accusation of listening with biased ears. Biased toward whom? Believing whom? This was practically shifting the blame squarely onto Nian Shangyou's shoulders. Nian Shangyou hadn't gathered the reports on Pillow City himself; some came from Chu Shaoqiang, some from Ma Chenxing, and others from Qiao Yi's own scouts. Nian Shangyou was merely the messenger. There was no reason the blame should fall on him. Yet from Qiao Yi's perspective, every one of those reports had come out of Nian Shangyou's mouth. Under Qiao Yi's stare, Nian Shangyou trembled for a long time. Suddenly, Qiao Yi let out a heavy sigh. "In the end, it was my own impatience. How is the land reclamation progressing on those thirteen parcels of newland?" Nian Shangyou replied, "Progress is decent. About twenty percent has already been cleared." Qiao Yi asked, "Has the peddler inquired about it?" Nian Shangyou made a point to emphasize, "I heard from Shu Wanjuan that the peddler went to look, but said nothing." Qiao Yi nodded. "Those thirteen parcels of land were promised to He Jiaqing by the peddler himself. Since he has given his tacit approval, we have no need to hold back. Urge Shu Wanjuan to recruit more hands and step up the reclamation." With Shu Wanjuan's matters addressed, Qiao Yi asked further, "How many days did Shan Chengjun conduct harassment operations in Puluo Province?" Nian Shangyou answered cautiously, "Two days." Hearing this, Qiao Yi offered a faint smile. Before the battle began, Qiao Yi had ordered Shan Chengjun to harass Puluo Province in order to further disrupt the peddler's movements. Yet several days had passed since the battle ended, and only now had Shan Chengjun even reached Puluo Province. What he had gone to Puluo Province to do remained unknown. If he caused a major mess, Qiao Yi would still have to clean up after him. In Nian Shangyou's eyes, both Shan Chengjun and Shu Wanjuan harbored divided loyalties, which was undeniably Qiao Yi's fault. Yet Qiao Yi did not view it that way. He hadn't made a note of this offense, and he even intended to bestow commendations upon Shan Chengjun and Shu Wanjuan. "Shangyou, determine their rewards as you see fit. Since they have rendered great service to the court, we must not treat either of them shabbily." Nian Shangyou voiced his assent, entirely unable to tell which of Qiao Yi's words were sincere. Qiao Yi added another instruction: "Make sure their rewards are roughly equal, lest the two of them compare and compete later on." "Compare?" Nian Shangyou was even more bewildered. "My Lord, are you saying Shan Chengjun and Shu Wanjuan are in contact with one another?" "Of course they are," Qiao Yi laughed. "Believe it or not, the moment our rewards are delivered, the two will exchange word." *** Late at night, Shu Wanjuan met Shan Chengjun at Blood Tooth Mountain. "Did we really have to meet here?" Shan Chengjun found the place quite fitting. "What's wrong with both of us speaking the truth? Are you hiding something from me? Come on, tell me what news you have lately." Shu Wanjuan said, "I just received a reward from Chaoge—eight Xuanyun Pills." "What's so novel about that? I got a reward too, also eight pills." Blood Tooth Mountain remained completely still, proving Shan Chengjun spoke the truth; both of them had received eight pills. "Why such a coincidence?" Shu Wanjuan grew slightly uneasy. "What coincidence?" Shan Chengjun brushed it off. "Even when you hire an odd-job laborer, you have to pay wages. When we head out to work, shouldn't we take a few pills as our due? If they gave us nothing at all, wouldn't we just be slaves?" Shu Wanjuan shook his head. "One shouldn't accept rewards without merit. I haven't rendered any service to the court lately." Shan Chengjun's look shifted. "This is what I despise about you. So if you haven't rendered service, you can't take wages? Do you truly see yourself as a slave? What have you been working on recently?" Shu Wanjuan weighed his words carefully. "I am reclaiming newland." Shan Chengjun didn't quite understand. "What are you reclaiming land for? Don't tell me you want to return to Puluo Province to be a landlord?" Shu Wanjuan added, "It is the court's command." If he had spoken the sentence as a whole—*I am reclaiming newland for the court*—the stones of Blood Tooth Mountain would have shattered, for he was not reclaiming land on behalf of the court. Yet splitting the statement into two separate sentences made both of them true. "The court ordered you to reclaim land because they want to seize proper land!" Shan Chengjun chuckled. "The peddler didn't intervene?" "So far, I haven't seen him intervene." This remained the truth. Shan Chengjun slapped his thigh. "Being able to keep it hidden from the peddler proves you've done a fine job. If I were Qiao Yi, I'd reward you too." Sensing that continuing down this path would lead to a slip, Shu Wanjuan quickly diverted the conversation. "What did the court send you to Puluo Province to do?" "They told me to come cause trouble for the peddler, calling it some kind of harassment," Shan Chengjun scoffed disdainfully. "Qiao Yi wouldn't tell me why he wanted me to harass him. In his eyes, whatever I do is trivial. But I've been through this before; harassing the peddler is the same as betting your life against him. If he expects me to truly bleed for him on a task like that, Qiao Yi thinks far too highly of himself. My trip to Puluo Province this time is to confirm one thing: did Sun Tiecheng truly obtain the Xuansheng Red Lotus?" Shu Wanjuan answered, "As far as my information goes, it's true." "Then why are there reports claiming the Outer States got the red lotus?" Here at Blood Tooth Mountain, Shu Wanjuan had to speak the honest truth. "The news I heard is that the Outer States obtained the Xuansheng Red Lotus from Ye Songqiao, but on the way back to the Outer States, the red lotus was stolen. After passing through several hands, it ended up with Sun Tiecheng. That was Chu Shaoqiang's explanation to Chaoge. Whether it's true or false, I cannot say." Shan Chengjun said, "Slippery as Chu Shaoqiang is, I don't think he would dare lie about this. I plan to take a look at the City of Fools and discuss with Old Sun whether he'd lend me the red lotus for a bit." "You want to seek out Sun Tiecheng?" Shu Wanjuan could hardly believe his ears. "What's wrong with seeking him out?" Shan Chengjun considered it entirely reasonable. "After so many years, would he still hold a grudge? We went to such great lengths back then, yet neither of us gained anything in the end. Catching up with him now might even get me some Fool cultivator powder." Shu Wanjuan stared at the surrounding stones for a long while; not a single one cracked. "Old Shan, you were telling the truth just now?" Shan Chengjun glared. "Why would I lie to you? I've always wanted the Xuansheng Red Lotus—it's not like you didn't know." Shu Wanjuan waved his hands frantically. "Let me give you a piece of advice. Going anywhere else is fine, but if you dare set foot in the City of Fools, the peddler will never spare you!" Shan Chengjun burst into uproarious laughter. "Old Shu, you really are amusing. In this entire world, wherever the peddler catches me, would he let me off? Back then, if he had found solid proof that we annihilated the City of Fools, do you think we'd still be alive to see Puluo Province? What difference does it make whether I go to the City of Fools or not? Don't tell me you think that by staying away from the City of Fools your whole life, the peddler will bury the hatchet with you? Keep dreaming! I'll ask you one thing: I'm going to take the red lotus. Are you coming with me or not?" "I'm not," Shu Wanjuan replied flatly. Shan Chengjun glared. "Why not?" Shu Wanjuan explained, "The land reclamation task is extremely demanding." That was the truth. He Jiaqing was pressing him, and Qiao Yi was pressing him too; the workload was indeed heavy. Shan Chengjun chuckled. "You really intend to be Qiao Yi's serving maid?" Shu Wanjuan couldn't answer. He was currently being ordered about by more than just Qiao Yi. Shan Chengjun sneered. "Fine! If you don't go, when I get the red lotus, I won't let you use it either. Don't come drooling over it." Shu Wanjuan snapped, "I'm not drooling!" *Boom!* A rock on Blood Tooth Mountain shattered. Shan Chengjun pointed at Shu Wanjuan. "Look at you! You don't even dare admit you're craving it. How pathetic can you live? I feel aggrieved on your behalf!" With his head lowered, Shu Wanjuan prepared to head down the mountain. Shan Chengjun wiped down a stone table. "You came all this way; I can't let you leave on an empty stomach. Have a meal here." With that, Shan Chengjun called out. A gorgeously made-up woman swayed her slender waist as she walked over to Shan Chengjun, speaking in a soft, delicate voice: "Master, what are your orders?" "Are the drinks and dishes ready?" "They've been ready for a while." The woman smiled, revealing two blood-red fangs. She had two men carry over a table bearing a covered bowl and a jar of liquor. Shu Wanjuan looked at the two men, then back at the woman. "These two are?" The woman answered, "Both are Linli, newly taken under my wing." Shu Wanjuan found that odd. "Can Linli even be taken in? As far as I know, Linli are wild-born and bred." Shan Chengjun grew impatient. "I'm treating you to a meal, why all the chatter? Interrogating my woman on top of it?" Shu Wanjuan glanced at the stone table. "Just one bowl of food? This treat of yours is rather stingy." "Look at what's inside first." Shan Chengjun lifted the lid of the bowl, revealing half a bowl of Golden Origin Pills. Shu Wanjuan picked up a pill and examined it; the quality was top-grade. "I have no use for these anymore." "I know you don't need them. Take them and distribute them to others, so you don't have to handle every trifling chore of land reclamation yourself. It makes me cringe just watching you." Shu Wanjuan inspected the pill more closely; this had definitely not been concocted through ordinary means. "Where did these pills come from?" Shan Chengjun scooped up the pretty woman and pulled her onto his lap. "My lover refined them right here on Blood Tooth Mountain. Take them. Once I get the red lotus, I'll have even better things for you." *** Those pills proved genuinely useful. Using the Golden Origin Pills, Shu Wanjuan gathered a mixed crowd of people: fallen former nobility, rising upstarts, and gangs that had made names for themselves. Through these connections, Shu Wanjuan assembled a host of reclaimers to work across the thirteen parcels of land. With both sides pressing him and the peddler ignoring the matter, he figured he might as well expand the operation! He Jiaqing felt somewhat uneasy. "Senior, do you know all these people?" Shu Wanjuan said irritably, "How could I know so many people? If I only brought people I knew, wouldn't you be worried instead?" Having so many strangers around worried He Jiaqing as well, but watching the lands being cleared continuously, he was unwilling to slow the pace. When night fell, He Jiaqing relied on his stolen Opera Cultivator techniques to shift through more than a dozen disguises, probing the background of each plot one by one. On the land that originally belonged to Xin Rushuang, He Jiaqing entered a three-li parcel. The reclaimers had just set out their offerings, preparing for inspection the following day. Disguised as a white-haired elder, He Jiaqing walked among the reclaimers and asked, "Who is in charge here?" A young man stepped forward. "I am." The old man asked, "Young man, what should I call you?" "You can just call me Xiao Chu. Elder, what do you need?" "Xiao Chu, are you from the Chu family?" Xiao Chu smiled. "That depends on which Chu family you mean. Our family name is indeed Chu, but as for the greatest Chu family in Puluo Province, we can't claim any ties to them. If we could, we wouldn't be doing this life-risking business." He Jiaqing asked again, "Are you reclaiming land for yourself?" Xiao Chu shook his head. "What would we do with wasteland? This land is being cleared for the Eldest Young Miss of the Jiang family." "Which Eldest Young Miss of the Jiang family?" "The diva, Jiang Mengting!" He Jiaqing was taken aback. "She's a singer. What does she want with reclaimed land?" Xiao Chu said, "She doesn't want to sing anymore, obviously. Elder, you probably don't know, but Jiang Mengting comes from good stock. The Jiang family was once a prominent clan in Puluo Province, but they fell on hard times in recent years. Miss Jiang only went out to sing for a living. Now that Miss Jiang has saved up enough money, she wants to rebuild the family business. As long as we do this job well, we'll have hitched ourselves to the Jiang family's wagon, and my brothers and I will have a bowl of rice to eat in Puluo Province!" He Jiaqing nodded. "Splendid, young and ambitious. But Jiang Mengting belongs to Xiaoyaowu, and Xiaoyaowu is the territory of Li the Seventh and Ma the Fifth. Would the two of them let such a cash cow walk away?" Xiao Chu countered, "Now that's an unfair way to put it. Miss Jiang isn't their slave. What kind of men are Master Seven and Master Five? When working together, they get rich together; when parting ways, they part on good terms." "Well said!" He Jiaqing took his leave. *Jiang Mengting wants to establish her own household—is that true?* There had indeed been rumors recently about the Jiang family making a comeback, but would Li Banfeng truly leave it alone? The thirteen parcels were vast, and the pace of reclamation was swift; He Jiaqing couldn't investigate every detail indefinitely. Yet this particular matter, he felt, warranted a closer look. Once He Jiaqing was far away, Xiao Chu summoned his subordinate Xiao Zhong and instructed, "Head back to Green Water City and deliver word that someone came probing around." As Xiao Zhong prepared to set off, Xiao Chu specifically reminded him, "Go directly to the Great Gold Seal. Do not leak word of this to anyone else." In Green Water City, Xiao Zhong reported the matter to Qin Tianjiu. "Ninth Master, can we still continue reclaiming land there?" Ever since becoming the Great Gold Seal, Qin Tianjiu had grown considerably plumper, though his frame was far better proportioned than before. He asked Xiao Zhong, "Did you break any rules?" Xiao Zhong shook his head. "We followed all the proper rules of land reclamation." The chubby man said, "Then there's nothing to fear. I already spoke with Miss Jiang, and I'll notify Master Seven in a bit." *** Li Banfeng hung up the phone. Old Train, sitting beside him, asked, "Old Seven, was that about He Jiaqing?" "Yes," Li Banfeng didn't hide it. "I've had people keeping an eye on him." "You two knew each other before, right?" "We did. Quite well, in fact." Old Train pondered for a moment. "I shouldn't meddle in matters between the two of you. He Jiaqing's way of doing things is often underhanded, but there are certain things he genuinely wants to do and ought to do. He should be given a chance." Li Banfeng nodded. "A chance has already been given, but there must be limits to everything." "That's true, there certainly should be limits..." The usually cheerful Old Train suddenly turned somber, seemingly over something other than He Jiaqing. After a long silence, Old Train spoke up: "I want to find a chance to do something as well." Li Banfeng asked, "Is it finding an opportunity to retrieve the other half of your body from the Outer States?" Old Train gave a series of bitter chuckles. "Old Seven, perhaps one day I'll have to take that half back, but I hope that day doesn't come too soon. If I truly bring that body back, I might not be me anymore. If I truly bring it back, you might end up hating me to the very marrow of your bones." *That terrifying?* Li Banfeng asked, "Then what kind of opportunity are you looking for?" Old Train didn't answer. Instead, he asked Li Banfeng, "Seeing Zhang Gunli brought back some of my memories. When you fought Zhang Gunli, I saw you use Fool cultivator techniques. Do you know where the City of Fools is?" Li Banfeng didn't answer either. He asked Old Train, "Why do you want to go to the City of Fools?" Old Train spoke with deep, heavy emotion: "I want to find an old friend and apologize to him. For what happened back then, the peddler was at fault, but it wasn't his fault alone. For the peddler to shoulder that burden all by himself for so many years... I've never been able to let it go." Li Banfeng had already deduced which incident he meant. "Sun Tiecheng died on the battlefield fighting the Dangkou Battalion?" "Yes." Old Train nodded. "Sun Tiecheng fell, and Shan Chengjun led men to sack the City of Fools?" Old Train nodded once more. Li Banfeng remained silent for a long time, then shook his head. "I don't understand." Old Train said, "Shan Chengjun had long coveted Fool cultivator techniques. That bastard is capable of anything." Li Banfeng said, "It's not Shan Chengjun I don't understand. It's the peddler. Why didn't he take revenge?" Old Train fell silent for a good while. "There are many things the peddler did that I disagree with, but on this one matter, he truly did nothing wrong. When it happened, the peddler was locked in a bitter struggle against the Dangkou Battalion. After it was over, by the time he rushed back, not a single living soul remained in the City of Fools. Though someone had gathered their souls, those souls had suffered memory damage and couldn't remember who the killers were. The bastards who took part didn't dare confess, and those who knew but didn't participate didn't dare accuse Shan Chengjun. Without solid proof, the peddler nearly beat Shan Chengjun to death, which already sparked public fury. If he had dealt a lethal blow, the army's cohesion would have shattered, the ranks would have scattered, and Puluo Province wouldn't exist today." Li Banfeng pieced the entire sequence together from start to finish, sensing far too many coincidences. "The peddler left, Sun Tiecheng left, and a hundred elites from the city left. Then Sun Tiecheng was killed, you lost your mind, and the peddler was pinned down in a bitter battle. Shan Chengjun struck right at that exact moment. Wasn't that timing a bit too perfect? How was Shan Chengjun's intelligence so thorough?" Old Train said, "It was a trap set by the Sage. Zhang Gunli acted as the broker, steering Shan Chengjun to attack the City of Fools. The ultimate goal was to make the peddler lose his reason and tear down his own insurgent army with his own hands." Li Banfeng asked, "What if the peddler had found solid proof back then?" Old Train answered, "He would have fallen right into the Sage's trap all the same. The peddler would have slaughtered a vast portion of the insurgent army's core strength, and the rebels would no longer have been a match for the court." "Couldn't someone have reasoned with the peddler to execute only the ringleader as a warning to the rest?" "Impossible!" Old Train shook his head. "The peddler isn't as softhearted as you think." Both men fell into silence. Li Banfeng was the first to speak: "Actually, there is another witness. A'yu's memories have remained intact all along. You should know this." "I know," Old Train nodded. "I hid her away, which is why I failed the City of Fools."