None of this was the point, however. What mattered most right now was grabbing as much as possible!
Reining in his excitement, he soon realized something was wrong:
It was far too little.
Only after waiting for what felt like an eternity did he feel another faint touch of coolness as a mere trace of Emperor's Flowing Dew landed on his face.
At this trickle, let alone filling half a wine jar over the course of the night, it wouldn't even cover the bottom of a snuff bottle!
He Lingchuan was deeply disappointed.
A dispute suddenly flared up on the threshing ground. It turned out that Wu Shaoyi's men and veterans from the Auxiliary Army were refusing to yield an inch to each other over some Emperor's Flowing Dew.
The object of their contention was a blob of Emperor's Flowing Dew no bigger than a pinky fingernail.
Most of this treasure falling from the sky was as fine and delicate as drizzling rain, but an exceedingly small portion congealed into a jelly-like form, half-green and half-white, resembling jade paste.
At first, it was just a squabble between two men, but in the face of the desire stirred by the Emperor's Flowing Dew, the soldiers were all short-tempered. Before long, it escalated into a clamorous confrontation between the two factions.
Zeng Feixiong and Wu Shaoyi had no choice but to waste precious time stepping in to mediate.
The mountain forest, originally peaceful at night, had also grown clamorous. Birds that had been fast asleep spread their wings toward the heavens, squawking noisily at their neighbors in hopes of snatching a bit more of the Emperor's Flowing Dew.
Around the farmstead, even dormant wood frogs and long snakes crept out, rolling through the undergrowth in an effort to rub the Emperor's Flowing Dew off the grass blades onto their bodies.
The mountains seemed to come alive. In the presence of Emperor's Flowing Dew, virtually no living creature could remain calm.
From start to finish, this fall of Emperor's Flowing Dew lasted only a little over two hours before winding down completely.
He Lingchuan leaped onto the high branches of a tall tree, scouring the leaves to gather the Emperor's Flowing Dew bit by bit.
During the process, he continually competed with other creatures, twice coming within a hair's breadth of being bitten or stung by snakes and scorpions.
Others followed suit in droves.
Although the shower of Emperor's Flowing Dew had only lasted a couple of hours, no one closed their eyes until morning, spending most of the night figuring out ways to collect it. Fortunately, the Auxiliary Army's discipline was a cut above the rest of its kind, and Wu Shaoyi kept a tight leash on his men as well, so no further trouble arose.
At the hour of the Rabbit, the sun rose.
The moment sunlight touched it, any remaining Emperor's Flowing Dew immediately dissolved into white vapor, vanishing without a trace.
The sighs and groans from the crowd marked the curtain falling on the night's commotion.
Everything was about to return to normal.
The cooks began preparing food. Before long, He Yue came to fetch his older brother for breakfast, asking at the same time, "How much did you get?"
"Sigh, not even enough to down in a single gulp." He Lingchuan's lucky streak hadn't kicked in; after bustling about for half the night, the Emperor's Flowing Dew he managed to collect barely filled half a small jade vial.
By his own visual estimation, it was ten milliliters at most.
"An opportunity that comes only once every few decades is a blessing just to encounter," He Yue said, taking a philosophical view.
He Lingchuan asked him, "How do you plan to use it?"
"I've already swallowed it. What little remains, I plan to add to my bath."
No wonder the kid looked ruddy-cheeked and brimming with vigor—he had ingested the Emperor's Flowing Dew directly. Just as well; that spared him from having others eyeing his stash.
He Yue added a reminder, "The efficacy of Emperor's Flowing Dew lasts a mere forty-eight hours before it expires and loses its potency. You have to keep track of the time, Eldest Brother, and not squander such a supreme treasure."
"Got it." He Lingchuan hadn't decided what to do either. The most common practice was probably doing what He Yue did—either ingesting it directly or adding it to a bath. Emperor's Flowing Dew appeared so rarely and had such a short shelf life that almost no recipes existed specifically for preparing it. In contrast, for the profound crystals formed after Emperor's Flowing Dew settled deep underground, humans had developed rather more compounding methods.
Yet applying those methods to fresh Emperor's Flowing Dew might enhance its efficacy or diminish it; there was no telling.
No one had an easy time collecting Emperor's Flowing Dew, and no one wanted to experiment with the pitifully meager stock in their hands.
He Lingchuan took the question to He Chunhua, who had already consulted the army's mystics and found no definite answers either.
In fact, ever since the rain of Emperor's Flowing Dew ended, He Chunhua had repeatedly and strictly enforced military discipline, forbidding theft, looting, insults, and brawling on pain of having a hand chopped off. He had gathered everyone onto the threshing ground to sit in neat rows, ordering his elite personal guards to watch them like hawks, allowing no one to leave. Only then had he barely suppressed the restless impulses of those harboring ill intentions.
As soon as the sun rose, He Chunhua organized the entire army to consume their Emperor's Flowing Dew en masse.
He Lingchuan sat down as well, throwing his head back to drink.
Though his movements were grand and his posture heroic, he actually only swallowed a few drops, stowing away the rest with lightning speed—he was simply unwilling to gulp it all down just like that.
Look, everyone drank it up in plain view, with all present bearing witness—this measure was intended to root out suspicion and prevent lingering mistrust or robbery from undermining troop morale.
In truth, everyone knew Emperor's Flowing Dew was precious, but it had arrived so suddenly that there was no better option than drinking it directly, as saving it would only let it expire.
Thus, most people tilted their necks and drained it dry. Even those who had already finished theirs earlier lifted their empty pouches or jars to take another show of drinking, dispelling any covetous glares from those around them.
One had to admit, the method was crude but effective. Once everyone had finished their Emperor's Flowing Dew, the looks they gave one another softened considerably, no longer like wolves and tigers.
This sudden windfall—or rather, crisis—was ultimately defused by He Chunhua's decisive action.
He never underestimated the allure of Emperor's Flowing Dew, nor did he ever overestimate human nature.
Watching his crisis management from the sidelines, He Lingchuan felt he had learned a great deal.
For a general or commander, besides skill in strategic planning, the boldness and finesse to handle emergencies were of paramount importance.
Indecision in crucial moments invited disaster.
"The original plan has changed. I'm afraid we'll have to stay here for two more days," He Chunhua sighed, facing the two brothers. "Last night's eruption of Emperor's Flowing Dew means the whole of Shuanghe Town, Fengling Ferry, and even the river itself are likely in turmoil."
He Chunhua possessed the prestige and methods to suppress his subordinates' greed and rioting with swift severity. But not just anyone could learn or wield such an approach.
Sure enough, when the Auxiliary Army sent men to check on the town, they discovered that riots had indeed erupted from the latter half of the night until sunrise. Over forty people had died fighting over Emperor's Flowing Dew, and more than two hundred were injured.
Travelers seeking passage by boat at Fengling Ferry all stopped in Shuanghe Town, making it a mixed bag of people. Last night, they had fought frantically as if having lost their minds. Around seven hundred people were in town at the time, and nearly a third of them were wounded. Close to twenty percent of the buildings were damaged, with over a dozen houses catching fire.
When the Auxiliary Army's scouts arrived, black smoke was still rising from several houses, the blazes not yet fully extinguished.
One could easily see how irresistible Emperor's Flowing Dew was to living beings.
Heading further to Fengling Ferry, whirlpools repeatedly formed across the breeze-swept river, signs of powerful undercurrents churning beneath. A closer look revealed massive dark shadows cruising across the surface and deep underwater. It was impossible to tell what aquatic beasts they were, but they frequently attacked one another, clearly agitated and made vastly more aggressive by last night's Emperor's Flowing Dew.
Under such circumstances, traveling by boat on the river was terribly unsafe.
It was with this in mind that He Chunhua ordered the entire army to rest and regroup for two days.
At this point, the local ward head also approached He Chunhua, hoping to borrow the Auxiliary Army's strength to quell the unrest in Shuanghe Town and temporarily maintain order. The entire town had been thrown into chaos last night, resulting in deaths and injuries; once daylight arrived, those with grudges sought revenge, and those with grievances sought redress. Shuanghe Town's locally organized Civil Defense Militia was too small to keep the peace.
Since the local authority had come asking, He Chunhua agreed without hesitation, dispatching three hundred Auxiliary Army troops to patrol the town.
He Lingchuan, for his part, did not step outside the gate, staying holed up in the farmstead to focus on his cultivation.
Earlier that morning, he had downed a few drops of Emperor's Flowing Dew. It had entered his mouth as cool and crisp as mint, and once swallowed, his internal organs warmed, his mind surged with exhilaration, and he felt full of boundless energy with nowhere to vent it, alongside a heroic sensation that he could cross a thousand li in a single step and drift away on the wind.
Of course, that was an illusion—mostly because he had taken too strong a dose.
A single drop of Emperor's Flowing Dew was equivalent to ten days of cultivation, meaning he had gained forty to fifty days of cultivation out of thin air. And that was merely the visible benefit.
He Lingchuan couldn't let such an opportunity slip by. Chugging two mouthfuls of warm water, he returned to his room, closed his eyes, and regulated his breathing, heartily completing six macrocosmic orbits and twelve microcosmic orbits.
Knowing that both his sons needed to digest these heaven-sent benefits, He Chunhua stationed guards at the door to prevent anyone from disturbing them.
The breathing regulation concluded.
He Lingchuan stood up to stretch his limbs, letting out a long stretch. He felt light on his feet and brimming with energy.
Other than that, there was nothing unusual.
So how was the efficacy of Emperor's Flowing Dew supposed to manifest?
Puzzled, he turned his head to see how He Yue was faring. To his surprise, though the room was spacious, there was only the single bed he had just climbed out of. Facing him were a table and chairs, a low cupboard against the wall, and a bunch of mugwort hanging on the door.
Yet there was no second person in sight.
Wait... wait a second. This was definitely not the room he had been in before entering meditation!
Striding outside, He Lingchuan found himself standing on the outskirts of a village. A brook babbled in front of the hamlet, hens clucked near his feet, and a little yellow dog ran along the fence, wagging its tail so hard it seemed ready to fall off.
Not far away, children romped and played, while several women washed clothes by the water or carried buckets on their way back.
The Auxiliary Army was gone, and this was not the farmstead he had been staying in.
Could it be...?
Suppressing his turmoil, He Lingchuan approached a woman washing clothes by the stream. "Excuse me, sister, where is this?"
"Xingqian Village," the woman replied, giving him an odd look.
"How did I get here?"
The woman looked even more bewildered. "How would I know?"
He Lingchuan pointed to the house behind him. "Then whose house is this?"
"Uncle Meng's. Aren't you the good friend his son brought back?"
He Lingchuan now had a rough idea. "Then... could you tell me the way to Panlong City?"
Indeed, for over a month he had tried without success to enter Panlong City, yet today, after obtaining Emperor's Flowing Dew and practicing diligently, he had been inexplicably pulled right back in.
The broken saber, or perhaps the Dafang Pot, was truly unreliable.
Sure enough, the woman pointed east. "Follow the road for two li."
He Lingchuan thanked her and headed east.
Behind him, the brook continued to flow merrily, accompanied by the hushed whispers of the washerwomen:
"Has that young lad lost his mind?"
"After my cousin-uncle took a fall from his horse, he couldn't recognize us either, asking anyone he met where his home was."
"What a shame, and him looking so handsome, too!"
He Lingchuan: "..."
Before long, the magnificent sight of Panlong City came into view.
Following the main road, he encountered quite a few travelers.
He Lingchuan watched their expressions closely all the way, terrified of repeating his experience from his first visit to the Panlong dreamscape, when he had been singled out and hunted down.
Chapter 153