With so many clues strung together, if He Lingchuan still couldn't see the truth, he would truly have spent all that time by He Chunhua's side in vain.
Tracing back further, Wen Daolun's son was gone, dead at the hands of Ferry Brat.
Zhong Shengguang's only beloved daughter was gone too, sent by his own hands to the God-Descending Pillar.
Old Woman Ji's two sons, Sun Fuling's brother, and the children of countless ordinary folk in Panlong City had all perished on the battlefield as well.
Beneath the mantle of ideals, legends, and justice lay wrapped forever a core of bloodshed, cruelty, and compromise.
Hu Min had said that the first mission upon advancing into the Gale Army was always difficult. He Lingchuan could tell that Willow and Door Plank were unwilling to kill someone unarmed and powerless to fight back.
So, he did it.
Since it was a mission, someone had to carry it out.
Yet why had the dream arranged such a mission for him?
The three returned to Panlong City, each preoccupied with their own thoughts. Door Plank and Willow parted ways with him, while He Lingchuan, as the squad leader, headed to the Pengcheng Office to report the completion of their mission.
Because it was a secret execution, Merit Officer Liu did not know the details of the mission either. He merely took out the register, marked it as "Completed," and smiled at He Lingchuan. "Your very first mission after joining the Gale Army, and you finished it in just half a day. Not bad at all."
"We got lucky," He Lingchuan replied with a smile. "It wasn't difficult."
Next, he went home first to bathe and change his clothes.
But as soon as he stepped through the door, he spotted a slip of paper tucked into the crack of the door. Opening it, he found it had actually been written by A'luo:
"If you want the formula, come find me at the Elixir Office."
That guy finally managed to drag himself out of bed and head to the Elixir Office?
He Lingchuan took a quick cold shower, splashing water everywhere and soaking the courtyard floor.
Just as he pulled on his clothes, he heard a sound from next door, and someone called out to him: "Hey, He Lingchuan."
He looked up to see Sun Fuling leaning over the top of the wall, smiling at him.
That smile was bright and warm; not having seen her in so long, he had missed her quite a bit.
Still, how long had she been leaning there?
He couldn't shake the feeling that her smile looked rather satisfied.
"Miss Sun?" He Lingchuan wasn't about to be polite. "I haven't seen you for so long. You weren't hiding from me, were you?"
"What's there to be afraid of about you?" Sun Fuling arched a delicate brow, a hint of provocation in her tone. "Why would I need to hide from you?"
"Now that I beat Meng Shan, shouldn't you fulfill your promise?" He Lingchuan tapped his cheek. "If you drag it out any longer, I'll have to start charging interest."
Sun Fuling dropped the act. Vaulting over the low wall with one hand, she blurred before his eyes. A gentle warmth brushed his cheek, soft and light as the flutter of a butterfly's wing.
He instinctively reached out to grab her, but Sun Fuling had already retreated five feet away, saying with a bright grin, "Promise fulfilled!"
"That's it?" Sun Fuling's speed could truly be described as agile as a startled swan, startling even him, a soldier of the Gale Army.
"I was beaten half to death by Meng Shan just for that?!" He cried out in exaggerated grievance, though inwardly a chill ran through him. Her movements had been so fast that he hadn't reacted in time at all.
He had been through repeated vicious battles in both Panlong City and the real world, and his alertness was far beyond ordinary men.
Even so, it hadn't been enough.
At her speed, if she had been stabbing someone rather than kissing them, he would never have dodged it.
Ordinary folks really couldn't afford to cross this girl.
Sun Fuling laughed. "Clearly it was Meng Shan who was beaten half to death by you... Fine, I'll treat you to a meal as well."
"Today?" Seeing her so poised and natural, showing neither coyness nor embarrassment, his sense of accomplishment plummeted.
Sigh.
"Yes, today." Sun Fuling looked down at herself. "But I need to change. Wait for me."
With that, she vaulted back over the wall.
*Now that we're familiar, you don't even use the front door anymore?* He Lingchuan rolled his eyes in secret. Their friendship was truly forged by hopping over walls.
Fortunately, Sun Fuling changed much faster than ordinary women—at least unlike Madam Ying, who took half an hour coifing hair, painting brows, applying makeup, changing clothes, and scenting herself with incense...
After barely the time to drink a cup of tea, her voice drifted over from next door: "All set. Let's go."
He Lingchuan pushed open the door and stepped outside, finding his companion today dressed in a lake-green spring outfit. Light flecks of gold pattern lined her collar and sleeves, setting it apart from her usual plain attire. Her hair was swept up, pinned with the candy snail floral hairpin and a slender seashell hairpin.
This seemed to be another side of Sun Fuling—lively, pretty, and graceful.
Seeing He Lingchuan staring unblinkingly at her, she instinctively smoothed her temples. "What? Does it not look good?"
"It looks good," He Lingchuan said, flashing a toothy grin. "Like you crawled right out of a lake."
"..."
"Ahem, I mean, like an immortal from the lake." He Lingchuan quickly changed the subject and started walking out. "Where have you been these past few days?"
The two hailed a cart—a donkey cart—and headed straight for Wenxuan Pavilion.
"A female teacher at Shumin Academy took seven days off in a row, so I went to substitute for her. It just so happened that my own schedule was packed as well. Traveling four hours back and forth every day was too much trouble, so I simply stayed at the academy." Sun Fuling sighed. "The teacher's surname is Wen. Her youngest brother passed away recently."
"Wen?" He Lingchuan's heart stirred. "Could it be...?"
"Yes, she is Mr. Wen Daolun's daughter." Sun Fuling rode alongside him. "The old matriarch of the Wen family fell ill from grief over losing her beloved grandson. It's said her pillow hasn't been dry for days. Teacher Wen took leave to care for her and brew her medicine."
He Lingchuan certainly remembered Wen Xing. Such a vibrant youth with light in his eyes, passing away suddenly before he could even serve Panlong City. What a terrible shame.
In this unreasonable world, the good truly did die young.
"And Mr. Wen? How is he?"
"Not well. Teacher Wen said he looks haggard and exhausted. He took a few days off as well, claiming he needed to rest at home, but he's locked himself in his study and refuses to see visitors."
He Lingchuan fell silent.
Perhaps only he understood that Wen Daolun's suffering was even greater than the old lady's; he had to bear the agony of blood ties and the accusations of his own conscience.
Choosing not to save his own son was very likely a decision Wen Daolun had made himself.
He Lingchuan gazed out toward the distant spire of the tower standing beside the Temple of Lady Mitian, known as the Seven-Storied Pagoda.
Under the blue sky and white clouds, this city harbored a monumental secret, one that Wen Daolun would rather sacrifice his beloved son and endure endless days of torment to protect.
"It's hard on him."
Sun Fuling had agreed to treat him, but He Lingchuan needed to make a trip to Wenxuan Pavilion first to look something up.
Sun Fuling asked, "What do you want to look up?"
Right, the person beside him was a history teacher. "I wanted to look into the history of Puguo. I heard that General You Shanming of Puguo was brave and skilled in battle, an immortal sect disciple himself, and fought some brilliant campaigns."
"You Shanming?" Sun Fuling mused. "In my recollection, there were two Puguo states. But if you mention You Shanming, you must mean the earliest one, Former Puguo."
"The two Puguo states are distinguished just by 'Former' and 'Latter'?"
"Yes."
*How casual.*
"It's straightforward that way; what matters most is convenience for posterity," Sun Fuling said with a smile. "Former Puguo was an ancient state from twenty-six hundred years ago. It lasted only a little over a hundred years—neither long nor short. But it was one of the earliest states to emerge, establishing precedents for many systems in later eras. For instance, the military system used by Panlong City originally developed out of Puguo's."
"Right. In antiquity, there were families and clans, but no states—only immortal sects and demon tribes occupying their own territories." He Lingchuan had spent plenty of time in Wenxuan Pavilion and had read thousands of volumes, so he had at least built up some impression of antiquity and the Middle Ages. "The concept of a 'state' only appeared in the Middle Ages."
"Indeed. During the Middle Ages, people discovered the existence of origin power, giving the establishment of states a solid foundation," Sun Fuling nodded. "Only hundreds of years after the Cataclysm could humanity rely on the power of nations to contend on equal terms with immortals and demon beasts. Back then, certain immortal sects had the foresight to work on shedding their arrogance and began sending talents into the mortal courts and mundane realm."
He Lingchuan gave a dry chuckle. "Calling a kingdom a 'mortal court' and you say they weren't arrogant?"
"That depends on who you compare them to," Sun Fuling said slowly. "Compared to veteran immortal sects like the Dahuan Sect, the Tianyan Sect was already quite enlightened. You Shanming was sent to Puguo precisely like that and later became a pillar general, which indirectly proved that the Tianyan Sect's strategy was correct."
"In an era when spiritual energy between heaven and earth was growing ever thinner, the gap between immortal sects and the mortal realm was bound to narrow."
Moving with the times, then?
"Hm?" Sun Fuling noticed him directing the donkey cart to take a fork in the road—this wasn't the way to Wenxuan Pavilion. "Aren't you going to Wenxuan Pavilion?"
"Not anymore. Having a living dictionary like you is enough." He slacked off out of habit. "I'm going to the Elixir Office to find A'luo. He promised to help me with something."
"Then how did You Shanming die?" At that time, the soul-snatching mirror was merely a heart-protecting mirror worn on You Shanming's chest.
"From what I remember, the human nations were on decent terms with immortal sects back then, but their enmity with the demon race grew deeper. In the end, both You Shanming and Former Puguo were wiped out by the demons. However, the demon immortal leading the attack against Puguo—um, what was it again?—was gravely wounded itself."
He Lingchuan noticed that whenever she was deep in thought, her lips would involuntarily pout slightly.
"Hongluan?"
"Right, hongluan! I heard it died not long after that great battle." Sun Fuling was rather surprised. "How did you know?"
"I just... happened to read some unofficial history."
"Which book?"
"Uh, don't remember." No wonder the soul-snatching mirror had chosen that scene for its illusion; it had been You Shanming's final stand.
"You Shanming and Puguo were quite formidable, then, if even a demon immortal was mortally wounded." To people today, the word "immortal" was such an ethereal concept.
"When fighting Puguo, even that demon immortal was no longer at its peak," Sun Fuling said, shaking her head. "Hundreds of years after the Cataclysm, the tides of spiritual energy rose and fell, but overall it had been declining for centuries. The human immortals and demon immortals still active in the world then were just coasting on their old capital. With energy only going out and none coming in, they only grew weaker. Calling them 'immortals' at that point was already a bit of a stretch."
He Lingchuan immediately thought of Zhu Erniang. She had also said that her true body couldn't adapt to an environment where spiritual energy was thinning, which was why she had molted to survive. Frowning, he asked, "If they were growing weaker themselves, why did they attack the human nations so violently?"
Sun Fuling shrugged. "With less and less spiritual energy, there were too many wolves and too little meat. Fighting tooth and nail over those last few scraps—what else could they do?"
"Wait a minute. Did spiritual energy never recover?"
Chapter 370