"When money is scarce and resources are limited, unequal distribution is inevitable. Between prioritizing Bailie and prioritizing his second son, Lu Zhensheng chose the latter from the very beginning. Now he can only walk this path into the dark, gritting his teeth and seeing it through to the bitter end."
He Lingchuan understood Lu Zhensheng's dilemma well. If the patriarch vacillated now, he would likely end up with nothing on both ends.
Yet understanding was one thing; calculation was another.
"As for the battles on Bailie's eastern front, don't you have Third Master Lu and Sixth Master Lu pitching in to help? As long as the line holds, Lu Zhensheng won't be in any hurry," he continued. "Your clan patriarch sees the board clearly. The Ya Kingdom has no intention of annexing Bailie; they only want to extort some money. If they ask for a modest amount, he pays a little; if they open their lion's maw too wide, Bailie puts up a fight. An intermittent cycle of fighting and stalling, buying time until Lu Qinglin returns—after all, he will return in the end, won't he?"
Every word pierced like an awl straight into the heart.
What made it devastating was that He Lingchuan was right, leaving no room for rebuttal.
Lu Qingbang hesitated for a long while before speaking:
"Brother He has guessed correctly. In truth, the patriarch sent an order to the front line, demanding that we prevent the conflict from expanding and strive for peace talks."
Prevent the conflict from escalating? He Lingchuan's mind worked quickly, grasping the intent at once. "Fight, but don't fight too hard. Hmm, Patriarch Lu doesn't want to truly anger the Ya Kingdom."
The Lu siblings were newborn calves full of fiery vigor. If they were gripped by an impulse and battered the border army across from them too severely, the Ya Kingdom's pride would be stung. Should Ya dispatch elite forces to the border in response, the clash could escalate into a full-scale war, and the situation would deteriorate past control.
Bailie's overall strength was inferior to the Ya Kingdom's, and it could not afford to reach such an impasse.
As the head of Bailie, Lu Zhensheng naturally had his own considerations.
From another angle, however, Lu Zhensheng's order confirmed He Lingchuan's words: he truly intended to play for time, dragging things out until Lu Qinglin's return.
"The problem is, will Lu Qinglin actually make a triumphant return as a conquering hero? And when will he arrive as Bailie's savior?" He Lingchuan sighed. "If you want to break the current stalemate, you must either shatter Lu Zhensheng's wishful calculations so that he is forced to tilt resources toward the eastern front, or... you must take action yourselves to seize those limited resources."
Lu Qingbang's expression shifted. "Brother He, words like that cannot be spoken lightly."
He Lingchuan smiled. The young man was sharp enough to grasp the underlying meaning immediately.
"The secret stays strictly between us. Back in Lingxu City, you and I freely discussed state affairs without restraint. Why should we hold our tongues out here among the open islands?" He Lingchuan drew a small jar of wine and two cups from his storage ring, pouring a brimming cup for Lu Qingbang. "Peach wine, freshly brewed on the islands. Have a taste."
Lu Qingbang accepted it and drained the cup in one swallow.
"Brother Lu, you must think of your own future as well. Right now, the eastern front depends entirely on you and your sister. You bear tremendous merit through blood and toil; yet once Lu Qinglin returns in glory at the head of a grand army, his radiance will blot out everything else. Will the main family still have eyes for your achievements?"
Lu Qingbang poured himself another cup. "Good wine."
"What's more, the main branch knows nothing of warfare, and more than half the military power is in your hands," He Lingchuan continued to sow discord. "Even if you harbor no disloyalty, would the main branch not be wary? I've heard that Lu Zhensheng was originally from a cadet branch himself and used a few underhanded means to rise to the head of the house. Since that was how he gained power, wouldn't he be constantly on guard against others doing the same?"
Lu Qingbang drank down half the cup in a single breath, not uttering a word.
Just then, Lu Feiyan came dashing over. "Brother, someone is looking for you!"
Lu Qingbang rose to his feet at once, bowing slightly to He Lingchuan. "Brother He, please excuse me."
He Lingchuan smiled. "Go tend to your business."
Watching the brother and sister hurry back toward the bonfire, the soul-snatching mirror inside his robe spoke up: "Hey, isn't your instigation a little too transparent? Do you really think Lu Qingbang will listen to you?"
"Even if he only just returned from the front, do you think he doesn't know about the tension between Lu Zhensheng and me?" He Lingchuan rubbed his eyes. "Why did he seek me out to talk in the first place? Most likely, Sixth Lu put him up to it."
"Then what does Sixth Lu want...?"
"That's why what I said was exactly what they wanted to hear, and the clearer I made it, the better. They understand the Lu family's plight better than I do. It's a complete mess; Lu Zhensheng is straining every nerve just to keep up appearances, and the ones suffering aren't just Bailie's commoners, but the rest of the Lu clan as well."
"For the siblings, they can either sacrifice themselves selflessly for the clan until Lu Qinglin's grand return, or they must secure a status within the clan that matches their strength," He Lingchuan said slowly. "The brother and sister are just beginning to make a name for themselves. If they keep winning victories, Lu Zhensheng will be forced to rely on them, and he will have to give serious weight to any demands they make."
The soul-snatching mirror chuckled. "So we're back to the old dilemma: what do you do when resources aren't enough to go around?"
"Exactly. Due to Lu Zhensheng's flawed strategy, Bailie's finances have long been incapable of supporting expenditures on two fronts simultaneously. Funding Lu Qinglin means starving the eastern front; reinforcing the eastern front means being unable to satisfy Mou. That's why Lu Zhensheng is terrified of the eastern war escalating, to the point of ordering Lu Qingbang to yield to the Ya Kingdom and hold back on winning battles."
He let out a breath. "When the patriarch acts in such a disgraceful fashion, it's no wonder the rest of the Lu clan is dissatisfied."
The mirror was puzzled. "Then why did Sixth Lu send his son to sound you out?"
"He's still wary of Lu Qinglin," He Lingchuan said. "Lu Zhensheng's second son is indeed rising rapidly through the ranks in the Mou Kingdom, and the possibility of him leading an army back to Bailie cannot be ruled out. Sixth Lu wanted to ascertain my attitude because—"
He Lingchuan took a sip of wine.
"—I have troops under my command."
The Yangshan Archipelago had begun assembling the Yangshan Guard eight months ago, recruiting openly, and the Lu family had caught wind of it long ago. Because of the natural secrecy afforded by the islands, Sixth Lu did not know the exact numbers, but having interacted with He Lingchuan for so long, he knew this island lord was no pushover. As the archipelago's industries expanded, how could it lack the military force to protect them?
The soul-snatching mirror was startled, then delighted. "Has he finally come around? All your careful maneuvering hasn't been in vain!"
"Not necessarily. It might just be preparing for a rainy day; there isn't even a stroke on the page yet. As you know, connections and relationships have to be nurtured regularly; by the time you scramble to find someone in a pinch, it's already too late." He Lingchuan shook his head. "Everyone of Lu Zhensheng's generation seems to suffer from the same ailment: hesitation. Even when a golden opportunity is right before their eyes, they wait and hesitate until it rots away."
"Then what do you plan to do?"
"Perhaps at the crucial moment, we'll have to give them a push."
Afterward, He Lingchuan picked up some pebbles and went back to spooking crabs on the beach.
Yet from what the soul-snatching mirror knew of him, this fellow had almost certainly formed a plan already.
***
The following morning, before the residents of the Yangshan Archipelago had fully shaken off the revelry of the Chunhua Festival, He Lingchuan received good news.
An egret flew onto Centipede Island, folding its wings as it landed to report:
"Island Lord, the dock at Suoding Island reports two long-distance vessels arriving from the west! They're packed with beasts, and one of the ships is filled primarily with... with wild boar demons!"
A hold full of wild boars—what a sight that was! Even from a great distance, their grunting and snorting had carried over the water; it had truly been an eye-opener.
Pigs? He Lingchuan perked up instantly. "Have they come ashore?"
Lingguang's little blue pill had truly worked wonders. Though he had spent the entire night drinking, he woke up without a trace of a dry mouth.
"Not yet, they haven't fully docked. The harbor staff wasn't sure whether to let them land." That was why Huang Zhao had sent the egret to seek He Lingchuan's instructions.
"Don't let them land there. Tell Huang Zhao to hang a permit on the bow and instruct the captain to sail straight to Pansi Island!" He Lingchuan threw on his clothes and bound his hair. "I'll be there shortly!"
The waters surrounding Pansi Island were a restricted zone where outside vessels were forbidden to enter. Unless they obtained a temporary permit, they would be driven away by the yin hui.
He Lingchuan kept a private dock on Centipede Island, so he boarded a ship directly and made for Pansi Island.
Today, a gentle breeze stirred thousands of acres of turquoise waves.
He Lingchuan waited at the Pansi Island dock for quite some time before two large ships gradually came into view.
Their design was distinctly different from the local vessels of Blade Harbor, clearly built for deep-sea voyaging.
When the ships pulled alongside the dock, He Lingchuan finally saw a burly silhouette emerge at the prow.
What a massive wild boar!
Its bulk nearly rivaled Zhu Erniang's, its entire body encased in a layer of grayish-brown mud armor, and the protruding tusks beside its snout were longer than those of an ordinary elephant.
"King Siwen!" He Lingchuan laughed. "We've been expecting you for a long time!"
The last time He Lingchuan saw it in the Demon Nest Swamp, it had been defeated by Zhu Erniang and had stripped itself completely bare of mud armor just to slip away. Seeing it now, he noticed that King Siwen's mud armor was thicker, darker, and harder than before—perhaps out of a need to overcompensate.
When King Siwen leaped ashore, the entire pier shuddered violently under the impact, the timbers groaning beneath the weight. Fortunately, the construction was solid, and the dock did not snap on the spot.
The giant wild boar first looked all around, surveying its surroundings.
The island was broad and open, with rugged terrain and dense jungle, and it could catch the scent of fresh water. Hmm, this place was not bad at all.
It turned its head and let out a roar, and the wild boars aboard the vessel began leaping down one after another.
Large and small, of various sizes, all of them subjects of King Siwen.
One, two, three, four, five... He Lingchuan counted silently in his head until he reached thirty-six.
Huh, that seemed fewer than he had expected.
The wild boars he had seen in the Demon Nest Swamp were at least two to three times that number.
Had King Siwen brought only a small portion, or had something else happened...?
Various other beasts also disembarked from the second large ship. Five of them were avian, two were giant pythons, and another was a horned creature resembling a massive hound, its body covered in dappled patterns.
Identified by the soul-snatching mirror, this beast was a jiao—vigilant and solitary by nature.
Sure enough, the moment its feet hit the ground, it vanished into the jungle in a flash without ever looking back.
There were also quite a few hooved beasts among them. What truly caught He Lingchuan's eye and made him beam with excitement were two bo with white bodies and black tails.
They had the form of horses but were armed with mouths full of razor-sharp fangs, and their tails resembled those of dragons rather than horses—stunningly magnificent. Standing nearly eight feet tall at the shoulder, despite their immense size, their movements were remarkably light. When they leaped from the prow onto the pier, they landed with scarcely a sound.
These were true bo, distinct from the bo beasts He Lingchuan usually encountered.
A difference of a single character, yet worlds apart.
In ancient times, the bo had been known as the wingless heavenly horse, capable of riding the wind into flight. That they could no longer do so today was through no fault of their own; the bo still retained their innate gift for riding the wind, running faster and longer than almost any land creature, yet the world's spiritual energy had grown too thin to lift them aloft into the sky.
Chapter 1054