Nothing more could be gleaned from the pitch-black ravine floor. He Lingchuan and Shan Youjun groped their way back through the darkness to the base of the cliff, seized the ropes lowered by their companions, and climbed back up to high ground.
The return journey went smoothly, without any trouble.
***
By the time He Lingchuan returned to the military camp in Xinhuang Town, the grounds were brightly lit with lanterns and torches. People bustled to and fro, and the atmosphere remained taut.
Extinguishing fires, clearing the camp, treating the wounded, securing and interrogating prisoners, taking inventory of grain and forage, and exchanging dispatches with the county magistrate's office—under He Chunhua's command, everything proceeded in fairly good order.
When he spotted He Lingchuan, he left the officials at his side and walked over. "Well? Did you capture Dong Rui?"
"No." He Lingchuan shook his head. "He still managed to get away."
That fellow Dong was probably part loach—slippery as could be.
"That scoundrel is hard to catch." He Chunhua looked disappointed, but patted his shoulder anyway. "Never mind him for now. We have more troublesome matters at hand." He also knew that after suffering such heavy blows, Dong Rui was no immediate threat.
"During the tavern explosion earlier, the local magistrate survived, though one of his legs was blown off. But Mr. Mozhe..." He let out a deep sigh. "He didn't make it."
He Lingchuan immediately said, "My condolences, Father."
Mozhe Jingxuan was an old retainer He Chunhua had brought over from Blackwater City. His loyalty went without saying. Losing him so abruptly here was a substantial blow to He Chunhua, who was already starved for talent.
"Furthermore, the Xunzhou cavalry retreating from here were met by reinforcements midway, so our men had to fall back."
They had pursued the cornered enemy for over thirty li, yet none could claim the bounty in gold and had no choice but to return dejected—
Lord Baili was simply too tough to kill.
Even so, the Xunzhou cavalry had suffered heavy casualties. Nearly three hundred riders had come, but in the end only about a hundred escaped, more than half of them wounded.
Hearing this, He Lingchuan felt an even worse premonition. "Reinforcements met them?"
"We chased them all the way to Maming Slope, where over two hundred men surged out from the flank, all fresh and well-equipped. Our men had no choice but to break off the pursuit and turn back." He Chunhua's expression was grim, exasperated by his subordinates' shortcomings.
He Lingchuan had already sensed something amiss. "Where did those two hundred-odd Xunzhou soldiers come from?" Clearly they were not under that "Lord Baili," or they would have joined him in attacking Xinhuang earlier.
"According to the prisoners, the commander whose arm you severed is named Baili Qing. He's a roving general under Nian Zanli, with quite a reputation and an impressive record. Who would have thought he'd fall to you in a single clash?"
"A pity that such a big fish slipped away." Baili Qing's personal bodyguards had thrown themselves into harm's way without regard for their lives to see him escape.
Just then, He Chunhua summoned the guard who had drawn the bow earlier to his side.
The guard looked only sixteen or seventeen, about the same age as He Lingchuan, yet earlier he had sacrificed his lifespan without a second thought to unleash the formidable power that wounded the ghost ape. At this moment, his face was pale, his lips tinged purple.
As mighty as the Ghost Eye Bow was, using it came with severe aftereffects.
He Chunhua patted his shoulder with an approving look. "Well done. You have rendered great service."
Beads of sweat covered the guard's forehead, yet he was overjoyed. "Thank you, thank you, my Lord!"
He Chunhua retrieved a jade pendant from his storage ring and handed it to him. "Wear this amulet. Starting today, you are my personal bodyguard."
Overjoyed, the guard accepted it.
He Lingchuan looked at him and asked, "What is your name?"
"This humble one is Hu Xuan."
He Lingchuan nodded. More and more unfamiliar faces were appearing around his father. Then again, he did not really know just how many trusted confidants He Chunhua actually possessed.
The fires were out, and the wounded were settled in nearby dwellings. Seeing there was nothing more for him to do, He Lingchuan commandeered a tent in the camp and instructed the rock wolf to guard the entrance, barring anyone from entering.
He weighed down the bottom hems of the tent fabric to ensure not even a fly could slip inside before lighting an oil lamp. Only then did he pull out the newly acquired glass vial and inspect it closely.
The moment the vial emerged, the divine bone necklace around his throat grew warm once more. He Lingchuan could feel its yearning—like a person starved for a whole day staring at a roast leg of lamb sizzling with grease.
He gave it some thought, unfastened the divine bone necklace, and placed it on a wooden bench. Then he uncorked the glass vial and slowly brought it closer.
He dared not smell it; the scent of certain concoctions could be lethal enough to kill.
Curiously, a faint rushing sound stirred from the hole in the center of the divine bone necklace, as though a miniature wind tunnel were hidden inside.
With extreme caution, He Lingchuan tipped a single drop of the red liquid into it.
Just one drop.
The drop of red liquid fell into the circular hole of the divine bone and vanished.
He Lingchuan lifted the necklace and searched all over the bench, but found not the slightest trace. That meant the red liquid had passed through the hole and flowed to who knew where.
By now, however, He Lingchuan knew that the divine bone necklace was the key to entering the illusion realm of the Dafang Pot. So which had absorbed the liquid—the divine bone necklace itself, or... the Dafang Pot?
He recalled the two previous occasions the divine bone necklace had fed: once on the cornerstone of the immortal's cave abode, and the other likely on Hong Xiangqian's spirit talisman. Neither was ordinary.
Now that the divine bone had taken an interest in this red liquid, did that conversely prove the liquid was also a rare treasure?
However, after consuming that one drop, the divine bone necklace stopped heating up. The wind tunnel in its center faded away, returning to being an unremarkable pendant once more.
"Do you want more?" he asked the divine bone necklace. Ever since learning that the Fusheng saber could understand his words, he assumed this object could as well, even if it never communicated with him.
The divine bone necklace gave no response, as usual.
Which meant it had had its fill. Taking only a single drop made it rather easy to keep satisfied.
He put away the necklace and the medicine vial, stepped out of the tent, and with the rock wolf's help found Lingguang the medicine ape.
The ape was in the infirmary treating the wounded, working diligently. Being far nimbler with its hands than typical military medics, it had earned broad affection among the patients.
When He Lingchuan found it, a nut bib hung around its neck, heavy and brimming full—all gifts from the patients.
He scooped a few peanuts from the pouch and cracked them open as he ate. "I came across some spoils. Take a look for me."
"Right away!"
In the end, He Lingchuan waited a full quarter-hour before Lingguang finally withdrew from the crowd of patients and accompanied him back to the tent.
He Lingchuan recounted the entire pursuit—failing to capture Dong Rui but obtaining the glass vial—before telling Lingguang, "Dong Rui was originally going to use this on the badly wounded ghost ape, so it might have some emergency healing property. Since it's medicine, I'll leave the analysis to you."
Hearing this, Lingguang's eyes shone. Holding the glass vial up, it examined the vessel over and over like a child given a prized toy, unable even to spare He Lingchuan a glance. "Understood!"
Seeing it unapologetically take over the tent, He Lingchuan shook his head and stepped outside.
For the people of Xiazhou, tonight was destined to be a sleepless one.
Zeng Feixiong had led men to find the corpses of the sentries nearby, which explained why no alarm had been raised when Baili Qing raided Xinhuang. Consequently, He Chunhua ordered tighter security around the garrison and stepped up the interrogation of prisoners.
He was desperate to learn who had masterminded this operation.
After returning from chasing Baili Qing, Zeng Feixiong sat by a bonfire resting with his subordinates, drinking water and eating flatbread. He Lingchuan strolled over and offered him a wineskin. "Have a swig?" Tonight had certainly been thrilling and nerve-wracking.
Zeng Feixiong shook his head. "I have a sentry shift coming up. No drinking."
He Lingchuan chatted with him about the battle earlier and inquired about the pursuit of Baili Qing. Keeping some distance from the enlisted men, Zeng Feixiong lowered his voice. "Beating a drowning dog is fine, but the moment they run into tough opposition, they crumble at the first hit." As soon as Baili Qing's reinforcements showed up, the pursuers he led had lost their nerve. "A force like the one we scraped together here in Xiazhou couldn't survive on the northern battlefields."
Now that he had been promoted, he shared Governor-General He's urgent concerns. For Xiazhou at present, raising a battle-hardened army was truly an extravagance; neither time nor funds were in abundance.
He Lingchuan was not at all surprised by his assessment. "They need to be drilled for some time. Look at the armies across the realm—how many recruits are thrown straight onto the battlefield just days after enlisting? Who has the luxury or leisure to train troops first? In truth, winning a few more battles does more good than anything. You just have to pick the right opponents."
He had experienced this firsthand in Panlong City: at least half of the Gale Army's valor stemmed from confidence—the Panlong City citizens' faith in their invincibility, and the soldiers' own unmistakable self-assurance.
Jiao Tai edged over and grumbled, "Over a hundred of them still managed to get away. What a frustrating battle!"
Zeng Feixiong disliked hearing that, since he was the one who had led the pursuit. He chuckled coldly. "Most of those who got away were wounded, some severely. That was the Governor-General's intent!"
He Lingchuan let out an "Oh."
Jiao Tai was blunt and straightforward, failing to understand. "What do you mean?"
"We find the Xunzhou men tricky because their outriders come and go without a trace," He Lingchuan explained. "Now they're saddled with a horde of wounded. They'll have to find a way to care for them, which makes it easy for them to give themselves away." Operating deep behind enemy lines, the Xunzhou forces had no reliable means of treating their wounded, which would prove to be a massive headache.
His father was truly insidious.
Just at that moment, He Lingchuan caught sight of a flash of red light not far to the west.
The glow was not intense, but against the dark night, it was conspicuous enough.
What was that?
As he watched, several more flashes of red light seemed to streak by, looking somewhat like lightning yet producing no aftermath. The surroundings remained hushed and quiet.
He Lingchuan looked around and suddenly noticed a peculiar phenomenon:
The surrounding soldiers were eating, drinking, or chatting as before, showing not the slightest inclination to look in that direction. Even Shan Youjun, Zeng Feixiong, and the others seemed completely blind to that light.
He Lingchuan asked tentatively, "What's that?"
"Huh?" Jiao Tai asked, bewildered. "What?"
He Lingchuan pointed in the direction of the red light. "You can't see it?"
Everyone looked blank. "See what?"
They truly couldn't see it. He Lingchuan said with mild resignation, "Never mind. What's that area being used for right now?" The place where the red light flared seemed to be a cluster of single-story buildings.
Zeng Feixiong glanced over. "Holding prisoners of war."
He Lingchuan immediately dusted off his hands and stood up, heading toward the red light.
At least in the minds of Zeng Feixiong and the other commanders from Blackwater City, he had long shed his image as an idle young scion. In fact, half the credit for saving the military provisions tonight belonged to him. As such, none questioned what he was going off to do, and everyone simply went about their business.
Chapter 261