"Over these four hundred years and more, Beijia itself hasn't really been at peace, has it?"
"Mm. Wars large and small have broken out both within the vassal states and between them, not to mention countless conflicts, frictions, and disputes. You see, there were only twelve vassal states when the kingdom was founded, and at one point that number rose to seventeen—meaning there were divisions as well as annexations. Now, it's back down to twelve."
"Twelve?" He Lingchuan's heart stirred. Right now was year seventeen of the Panlong calendar, and the Beijia Kingdom had only Twelve Demon Kings. But in his own era, over a century later, there were thirteen—one more.
"With such chaos within, how hasn't Beijia collapsed?" He Lingchuan sighed. "Our motherland, Xiluo, is currently in utter turmoil because of warlords carving up territories of their own."
Sun Fuling smiled. "After hundreds of years of chaos, perhaps they've gotten quite experienced at it?"
"..." Chaotic yet never falling apart was an ability in its own right.
"All right, joking aside. The Beijia Demon Emperor's authority is unshakeable, which makes it very different from other feudal systems, including our Xiluo." Sun Fuling gave a light cough. "No matter how messy Beijia gets inside, no matter how ferociously the various Demon Kings fight to the death, once the Demon Emperor issues a decree, everyone obeys without exception.
"I recall that one hundred and twenty years ago, two vassal demon kingdoms, Xuluo and Baixiang, were locked in a fierce, full-blown war when Beijia suddenly dispatched troops to campaign against the Yu Kingdom. Xuluo and Baixiang immediately halted their hostilities and each sent seven thousand troops to march with the Demon Emperor. The Demon King of Xuluo even sent his own son. The funniest part was that these two detachments were actually brigaded together. Only a month earlier they had been seeing red, slaughtering each other and taking casualties, but afterward they had to eat, billet, and sleep together."
He Lingchuan couldn't help saying, "That actually worked? Nothing went wrong?"
"Of course something happened. The histories record around a hundred dead and wounded from internal brawling, but those were all private fistfights and grudge matches. Out in the open, the two forces still had to fight the enemy shoulder to shoulder." Sun Fuling said leisurely, "Once the war ended, the Demon Emperor marched back in triumph, and the various Demon Kings led their armies home. Then Xuluo and Baixiang resumed the brawl they hadn't finished last time."
"It truly defies imagination." Normally, when vassal lords grew too powerful or rebellions flared on all sides, it was usually due to a weakening central monarchy—a zero-sum ebb and flow of power. Yet the Demon Emperor of Beijia kept power firmly in his grasp, letting the Demon Kings bicker and brawl below while he sat secure like a fisherman on his perch; none could slip beyond his grasp.
"Other nations couldn't pull this off. Is it because the Demon Emperor's authority comes from the gods?"
"Of course." Sun Fuling nodded without the slightest hesitation. "Though Beijia's Founding Emperor was indeed a prodigious genius who built a tiny territory into a mighty realm and ruled tens of millions of humans in a demonic body, at the end of the day, it was the gods who forged for him the greatest centripetal force. Otherwise, with more than a dozen unruly Demon Kings under his command, how could he ever have directed them as effortlessly as his own arms and fingers?"
Over the past two thousand years, demons had declined and been driven into deep mountains and ancient forests for good reason. In terms of individual combat strength alone, humans were nowhere near as formidable as demons.
What demons lacked was centripetal unity.
"Which is why Beijia venerates the gods so fervently, with the whole nation revering them." They revered the very bedrock of their state.
Of course, it might also have been the gods' demand. Otherwise, why would the gods help the Demon Emperor govern Beijia? Out of the goodness of their hearts?
"Then other countries could revere the gods too. Why couldn't they become a second Beijia?"
"That question was raised long ago, and there has never been a definitive answer. The stark reality in the mortal world is that whether person or nation, those who revere the gods seem to have a glimmer of hope during the process, but in the end almost none come to a good end—except Beijia." Sun Fuling spoke softly. "My personal conjecture is that the issue likely lies with the gods themselves. They probably aren't a monolithic whole, and we know nothing about their organization or how they communicate.
"Just like the hypothesis you mentioned before: the formation of the Emperor's Flowing Dew is linked to the fall of gods." She offered a soft smile. "I suspect they aren't a monolith either."
"Then what do the gods gain from Beijia?"
Hearing this question, Sun Fuling was taken aback for a moment. She gently swirled the wine in her cup. "For two to three thousand years, the presence of gods has run through the entire evolution of the mortal world. Tell me, what could they be after?"
He Lingchuan gave it serious thought and shook his head. "I don't know."
The gods had departed the mortal realm after the great cataclysm of heaven and earth, so by all rights they should have had no further contact with this world. Yet He Lingchuan could always sense their presence—from Sun Fuping and Hong Xiangqian, all the way to the Beijia Empire he had just entered.
The influence of the gods was everywhere.
"Once we find the answer, perhaps we'll be able to explain why they help the Demon Emperor."
Just then, a fluttering of wings sounded from the sky, and a figure dropped down, landing on the low wall.
It was another old acquaintance of He Lingchuan's:
The sparrowhawk.
"What are you here for?"
"To rest." The sparrowhawk stared fixedly at the spiced beef on the table. "So hungry."
He Lingchuan retorted crossly, "Aren't there enough magpies in the city for you to eat?"
"Tired of them." Having to pluck feathers before every meal was tiring work; once in a while, it wanted ready-made food. "I fly around your house all the time. Otherwise, the fish in your vat would've been gone long ago."
Now it was here claiming credit.
Sun Fuling broke off a small slice of beef and tossed it over. The sparrowhawk caught it cleanly and swallowed it down with a crane of its neck.
It ate so fast it couldn't taste anything. It parted its beak slightly:
*More?*
He Lingchuan picked up a piece of roast chicken with his chopsticks and dangled it in front of the bird. "First tell me, has anything major happened in the city lately?"
"Nothing inside the city, but something outside." The sparrowhawk hopped to the ground and waddled toward the roast chicken step by step.
Once a raptor hit the ground, it waddled along, looking no different from a goose strolling down the street.
Seeing it panting with an open beak, Sun Fuling could tell it was actually exhausted, so she ladled a bowl of water for it. "You've been flying a long time. Drink some water first."
Sure enough, the sparrowhawk gulped down the water greedily, letting Sun Fuling stroke its back feathers.
"The monarch of the Xiji Kingdom passed away three days ago. I just got back from Xiji and have already reported this news to Commander Zhong."
"The Xiji Kingdom?" He Lingchuan frowned. "Isn't that the state blocking the eastern end of the Panlong Wasteland?"
"Yes," Sun Fuling chimed in. "Ten years ago, Xiji was still part of Xiluo's territory, until the Changhou people seized it and established the Xiji Kingdom for themselves. The leader of the Changhou—the monarch of Xiji—was quite capable. But judging by this, his life wasn't long enough, and none of his descendants stand out."
Hero or tyrant, conquering territory meant nothing without the lifespan to hold it.
"How can you tell his descendants aren't impressive?" As someone from the future, He Lingchuan knew Xiji's ultimate fate all too well.
"The lands surrounding Xiji are turbulent, and a ruler's death is prone to sparking massive unrest. If his sons had any wit, they would have concealed his death to buy time for a swift transition of power. Instead, news of this magnitude was ferreted out immediately. I'd say Xiji is in deep trouble." Sun Fuling asked the sparrowhawk, "Who will inherit the throne?"
"The third son, Huyan Zhao."
He Lingchuan asked Sun Fuling, "Do you reckon Panlong City will seize this opportunity?"
"Why ask me?" Sun Fuling smiled sweetly. "You ought to ask Commander Zhong."
The sparrowhawk pecked at his pant leg with its sharp beak, earning itself a piece of roast chicken. It half-closed its eyes to savor the flavor.
*Mmm, tastes great.*
"Right, I have something for you." After washing his hands clean, He Lingchuan took a booklet from his robe and handed it to her. "Take a look. Is it to your liking?"
"*Record of... God Veneration*?" Sun Fuling's eyes lit up. She took it and flipped through a few pages, turning faster and faster. "These are the personal notes written by the Beijia Demon Emperor Wu Chen in his later years! Where did you find this?"
"Bought it from a merchant from out of town." He Lingchuan gave a light cough. "A gift for you."
He had asked Second Master Shi to hunt it down in Fufeng City after they arrived. The Demon Emperor's notes had been widely transcribed and collected by the high nobility of Beijia, so he guessed Fufeng City might have a copy.
Last time on Yunling Island, Sun Fuling had mentioned that she wanted these notes.
Sun Fuling was beaming with joy and couldn't wait to read it. But after turning a couple more pages, she let out an "Oh?": "This handwriting looks a lot like yours?"
"Er, I copied it out." A physical transcript from reality couldn't be brought into the dream, so he had to memorize the entire text and transcribe it upon entering the dream. Fortunately, as his spiritual sense grew stronger day by day, memorizing a short three-thousand-word piece was nothing difficult. "The antique edition was in tatters, flaking apart after just a few turns. It was easier to copy it out for you... Is the handwriting too ugly?"
"Not at all," Sun Fuling said with a smile. "I love it. Thank you!"
The two gazed at each other in silence, yet everything seemed understood without words.
The sparrowhawk carefully stretched its neck forward and snatched a slice of beef from the plate, terrified of making a sound.
Yet the slice accidentally knocked over an empty wine cup, letting out a sharp, jarring clink.
Sun Fuling lowered her eyes to look at it. The sparrowhawk drew its neck in, the slice of beef still clamped in its beak, caught between swallowing and spitting it out.
He Lingchuan coughed to change the subject. "Beijia's system has held sway for over four hundred years. Hasn't any demon kingdom been able to resist it?"
"Over the past four hundred years and more, at least seventeen or eighteen regicides usurped thrones. Because the gods refused to acknowledge or invest them, they tried to break away from Beijia and establish independent kingdoms." Sun Fuling raised her cup and took a small sip. "Without exception, every single one failed.
"The armies of Lingxu City were simply too powerful, and more than a dozen demon kingdoms joined the fray. Outnumbered more than ten to one, those regicides stood no chance. For the next two to three centuries, everyone submitted obediently, daring not lightly challenge the authority of the heavenly gods and the Demon Emperor." She recounted smoothly, "That held until just over twenty years ago, when another exception arose."
"Oh?" He always enjoyed hearing about exceptions.
"In the Yuan Kingdom, one of the Twelve Demon Kingdoms, the new monarch refused to accept investiture from the gods and sought independence from Beijia. As luck would have it, three other demon kingdoms within Beijia were embroiled in a chaotic civil war at the time and failed to respond to Lingxu City in time. Lingxu City dispatched forces three times, yet was defeated by the Yuan Kingdom each time. Enraged, the Demon Emperor attacked with the full might of the empire, yet the Yuan Kingdom stubbornly resisted for over three years before finally falling."
"That Yuan Kingdom was quite tough." He Lingchuan asked out of curiosity, "Are there books in the Wenxuan Pavilion about the battles that took place during those years?"
"Very few. After all, Beijia is too far from us, and this happened more than twenty years ago." Sun Fuling let out a sigh. "And the Panlong Wasteland has been under siege for over ten years now as well."
Chapter 408