Zhu Erniang naturally did not respond.
Once its figure vanished, the two sat by the water, staring blankly at each other.
He Lingchuan truly wanted to smash the wine jar into that mangled face of his. "Are you insane?"
Dong Rui hung his head.
He had gotten swept up in the heat of the moment just now, too.
"Please tell me you've thought of another way to escape."
Dong Rui shrugged. "It was going to come down to this sooner or later. If Zhu Erniang truly wants revenge, she'll come around."
Useless teammates truly couldn't be relied upon.
"To an ancient demon like Zhu Erniang, everything besides life and death is trivial; whether she gets revenge or not doesn't matter. If she ends up not eating you, it'll only be for that treasure." By now, the moon could no longer be seen from within the sinkhole. He Lingchuan tilted his neck back to finish the last mouthful of wine, then walked back to the Demon Nest to sleep.
Standing upon the sparring ring in the Martial Review Hall's North Courtyard, He Lingchuan rubbed his aching shoulder joint while cupping his fists to his opponent. "Thank you for the match!"
This was his first ring match after advancing to the Gale Army, and he had won.
His opponent was also a Gale Army soldier. Struck down by He Lingchuan's chopping strike, the man climbed to his feet clutching his chest, glanced at him, and hopped down.
This wasn't an open tournament, merely an ordinary private match in the North Courtyard.
Only members of the Gale Army had the right to throw punches and kicks in the North Courtyard, and He Lingchuan could clearly feel the rise in combat difficulty.
His gaze swept past the palisade fence separating the North and South Courtyards. Seeing many patrolmen standing there watching and applauding, he felt a twinge of sentimentality.
In the past, he had stood there as well, yearning for the day he could enter the North Courtyard.
Skinny was standing outside the palisade too, waving at him.
In fact, because this fellow had performed well in the Chifeng mine tunnel and earned an extra merit, he had a chance to be promoted into the Gale Army. But after careful deliberation, he had voluntarily passed on the opportunity and remained in the patrol squad.
His reason was simple: the Gale Army offered high risks and high rewards, but he had a large family. With several younger brothers and sisters yet to grow up, he bore heavy responsibilities as the eldest brother, so he sought whatever stability he could find.
He was different from a bachelor like He Lingchuan, who only wanted to charge ahead and push his limits. The latter naturally respected his choice.
He Lingchuan smiled at Skinny and was about to walk over to chat with him when a voice called out behind him: "Broken Saber, well fought."
He turned his head to look, surprised. "Mr. Wen?"
The newcomer was actually Wen Daolun, an advisor heavily relied upon by Commander Zhong; many in the city called him the military strategist.
Behind him stood a youth of fourteen or fifteen.
Last time, under Sun Fuling's introduction, He Lingchuan had paid a visit to Wen Daolun and asked him to divine his fortune and interpret his fate.
The four-character prophecy "flee when encountering water" had derived from him.
Although He Lingchuan hadn't dared give him his eight characters of birth, his own experiences along the Han River gave him a favorable impression of this Mr. Wen.
"Mr. Wen, what brings you here?"
"Vice Commander Lord Zhao was originally supposed to come inspect today, but he had other business, so I took this trip in his stead." Wen Daolun smiled amiably. "I'll be heading to the Hall of Immortal Inquiries in a bit."
"Oh?" He Lingchuan became keenly interested. "It's your turn to lecture today, Mr. Wen? May I ask what the topic is?"
"Many people are curious about the Beijia Kingdom," Wen Daolun replied with a smile. "So today, I shall speak about this northern demon kingdom."
This struck right at the heart of He Lingchuan's interests. "Wonderful! I'll go grab a good seat in the front row."
Wen Daolun nodded. "Good, good. Are you coming together with the Sun girl?"
"Uh, I haven't seen her in quite a few days."
"The students of Shumin Academy are always pestering their masters so much they can barely get away. The Sun girl happens to be the most popular of all."
Sun Fuling had a somewhat cool, detached temperament; He Lingchuan found it hard to picture her mingling warmly with students.
Didn't children usually prefer the smiling kind of female teacher who radiated maternal warmth?
"Ah, right. This is my humble son, Wen Xing." Only now did Wen Daolun gesture toward the youth behind him. "He has always wanted to join the Gale Army, and next month he will first enter the patrol squad to gain experience."
He then introduced He Lingchuan to the boy: "Xing'er, this is Broken Saber, He Lingchuan. Blowing up the spider nest in the Ghost Needle Stone Forest, slaying the divine son in the Chifeng mine tunnel—you have heard all about his exploits."
Wen Xing stepped forward immediately, and the two cupped their fists in greeting.
Wen Daolun chuckled. "This boy speaks of your deeds with boundless fascination. If you ever have free time, do give him some pointers."
He Lingchuan agreed without hesitation. "I wouldn't dare presume. Brother Wen, feel free to come spar with me anytime."
Wen Xing thanked him with delight. "I will definitely come seek your instruction!"
The youth's eyes were bright and earnest. Looking at him, He Lingchuan was reminded of He Yue—the same age, and possessed of that same vibrant vigor.
Alas, who knew how busy his younger brother was in Dunyu right now? With the setback on the northern Xia front, life for the He clan was likely not easy.
Stroking his beard, Wen Daolun said, "Very well, let us meet at the Hall of Immortal Inquiries."
He wasn't skilled in martial arts anyway; coming to the Martial Review Hall was merely going through the motions.
He Lingchuan returned to the backstage area to wipe his sweat and retrieve his weapons and gear to suit up again.
There weren't many people in the North Courtyard today; General Red had taken over two thousand Gale Army soldiers out of the city to battle.
His promotion order had been issued late, or else he might have had to march out with the army as well.
Afterward, he walked over to the South Courtyard to chat with Skinny.
The latter praised how imposing he looked in his Gale Army uniform, but He Lingchuan remained unmoved, simply holding out a hand. "How much did you win? Where's my cut?"
Skinny cheerfully tossed him a dozen or so copper coins. He Lingchuan frowned. "So little?"
"You're currently the champion of Ring Seven, someone who punched Meng Shan and kicked ferry whelps. The odds are practically unwatchable—tsk tsk! It's already good that anyone bet at all." Skinny asked casually, "Hey, are you close with Mr. Wen?"
"Met him once; asked him to decipher a character for me," He Lingchuan replied offhandedly. "The youth beside him is his son, Wen Xing."
"Oh, I know about him. Wen Daolun has three sons. The eldest died on the battlefield, and this Wen Xing is the youngest, supposedly very promising. Mr. Wen had him late in life, so the whole family dotes on him terribly, only the boy has dreamed of joining the ranks since he was little."
"How do you even know that?"
"Word has spread all over the patrol squad. Mr. Wen's son is joining, and nobody knows which squad he'll be assigned to." Skinny chuckled slyly. "Liu Tong wants to go pray to Goddess Mitian, begging that he isn't placed in ours."
Wen Daolun was currently a trusted right-hand man to Commander Zhong, so his son joining the ranks would inevitably receive special consideration. No matter how disciplined an army was, such things were unavoidable. And patrolmen hated having such "important figures" around; you had to give them special care in battle, exhausting yourself with a thankless task.
He Lingchuan shrugged. At any rate, it had nothing to do with him.
"These past few days, Liu Tong keeps muttering that with the three of you gone, the squad fell apart immediately."
Besides He Lingchuan, the other two were Door Plank and Willow.
Xiao Maoliang had instructed him to build a squad of his own, between five and ten members. He could nominate candidates to submit to the higher-ups for approval. To be promoted directly from a patrolman to a Gale Army squad leader was not unusual in Panlong City, which was known for scouting talent without rigid convention. Furthermore, He Lingchuan's military merits were dazzling, so no one raised any objections.
So he had requested Door Plank and Willow.
The higher-ups reviewed the pair's records and found their combat achievements to be solid, falling short of the army's entry threshold only in the requirement of being a "squad leader." But He Lingchuan emphasized that they "worked together seamlessly and had braved life and death together." Comrades to whom one could entrust one's life were more precious than any resource on the battlefield, so his request was approved after all—though Door Plank and Willow would temporarily be listed as candidates and made official after a probationary period of observation.
He Lingchuan smiled. "To each his own."
Liu Tong wasn't as candid as Skinny, but He Lingchuan could tell that he didn't want to advance to the Gale Army either.
In this world, if there were those who strove valiantly to surge ahead and brave the roaring waves, there would also be those who lay low in the middle, clinging only to their modest comforts. It wasn't a matter of right or wrong, merely personal choice.
The longer He Lingchuan stayed in Panlong City, the more he felt the kaleidoscope of human lives here, so vibrant and real as to be indistinguishable from reality.
People were people, each with their own petty calculations; what difference could there be between over a hundred years ago and over a hundred years later?
Skinny was looking left and right again. Whenever He Lingchuan saw this habit, he knew the man was about to spill some gossip.
Sure enough, seeing no one around, Skinny lowered his voice. "Vice Commander Lord Zhao—Zhao Xianhe—hasn't shown his face for days. Today's trip to the Martial Review Hall was supposed to be his, yet Mr. Wen came in his stead. Isn't that strange?"
Commander Zhong originally had two deputies and had personally promoted another a few years back, all titled Vice Commander. The Lord Zhao mentioned by Skinny was someone He Lingchuan seemed to have heard of—a military officer with illustrious battle merits and one of the veterans who had followed Commander Zhong the earliest. But whenever He Lingchuan dreamed his way into Panlong City, he was either running missions, practicing martial arts, or going to the Hall of Immortal Inquiries to listen to lectures. In the rare moments of free time he had, he chatted with Sun Fuling. What spare thought did he have for these civil and military grandees?
"You want to poke your nose into Lord Zhao's affairs too?" He Lingchuan crossed his arms. "You're too idle. Hurry up and find a couple more jobs to make money."
"Do you remember Headman Hu sending people to illegally mine gold in the Chifeng mine tunnel?" Skinny cleared his throat twice. "On his own, even if you gave him ten times the guts, he wouldn't dare pull something like that, right?"
He Lingchuan felt a flicker in his heart.
Thanks to Skinny's report, the Gale Army had uncovered charcoal braziers, smelting hearths, and water-hauling carts in the Chifeng mine tunnel that very night, proving that gold was indeed being mined illicitly. Exactly what truth Headman Hu confessed after being taken away for interrogation was unknown to He Lingchuan, but the gold mining certainly hadn't been going on for just a day or two.
The Chifeng mine tunnel was one of Panlong City's most crucial iron ore sources; one out of every seven sets of military armor and weapons in Panlong City had its primary materials sourced from it. The authorities' regard for it was beyond question, and routine inspections and samplings must have been frequent. Why had no one ever discovered that it also yielded gold ore?
To conceal it for years to such an extent, just how vast and tight was the protective umbrella shielding Headman Hu and his accomplices?
Whose pockets had the illicit gold lined?
Had the ferry whelps not occupied the mine tunnel and inadvertently exposed the matter, how much longer would these parasites have feasted on their golden spoils?
"Quite bold," He Lingchuan said with a chuckle. "Are you trying to say Lord Zhao did it?"
"Lord Zhao oversees the mountains, rivers, and mineral resources. Even if he didn't pocket a bribe, he can't wash his hands clean," Skinny whispered. "Remember how Headman Hu delayed reporting the avalanche for two days, and during that time someone dispatched forty to fifty skilled fighters into the mine tunnel to fight monsters? Tell me, who could mobilize people like that?"
Had it not been for the unexpected avalanche on Mount Chifeng, Headman Hu probably wouldn't have reported the mining disaster at all. If it had been concealed for another ten days to half a month, until the tormentor's flesh-and-blood fortress had matured, it would not have been so easy for Panlong City to pull out this thorn.
Chapter 327