Neither news nor books from the outside world easily made their way in.
"However, the Yuan Kingdom had another peculiarity," she added promptly. "Its new monarch was human, having had the throne abdicated to him by the previous demon king on his deathbed. Had he accepted the gods' investiture, a human king might have slipped into the ranks of Beijia's Twelve Demon Kings—an unprecedented occurrence in history."
"Why did he refuse the gods' investiture?"
Sun Fuling chuckled softly. "Who knows? Perhaps to each their own ambition."
"When the Son of Heaven vents his wrath, blood flows deep enough to float shields. Once the Demon Emperor crushed the Yuan Kingdom, he simply partitioned it, dividing and granting pieces to five other demon kingdoms, though the core territory was kept for Lingxu City, of course. The Jeweled Tree King you mentioned earlier was awarded a prime piece of land as well." She gave a soft sigh. "From that point on, Beijia instituted a new law: if war broke out between demon kingdoms, the other demon kings were strictly to look on from the sidelines and forbidden from intervening."
She stroked the sparrowhawk's head. "I heard from the director of Shumin Academy that the King of Yuan's nephew was Commander Zhong's fellow student and close friend. They shared the same ideals, and one of Commander Zhong's prized sabers was actually a gift from him. When word of the Yuan Kingdom's fall reached Xiluo, Lord Zhong was deeply grieved and shut himself behind closed doors for days."
"A prized saber?" He Lingchuan's interest was piqued. "The ring-pommel one with the flood dragon head?"
"Who should I ask if you're asking me?" Sun Fuling laughed. "What famous general has only a single weapon?"
He Lingchuan pondered for a moment. "Was that saber also forged over twenty years ago?"
"Who knows the exact year? It's said to have quite the pedigree, though."
He Lingchuan asked again, "How did Commander Zhong end up as a classmate of the King of Yuan's nephew?"
"Commander Zhong once went to the Beijia Kingdom to study for six years," Sun Fuling explained. "Beijia is a powerhouse rarely matched in this world, blessed with abundant wonders and treasures. Every nation sends outstanding scholars there to study. Even today, nobles great and small in Xiluo take pride in having studied abroad in Beijia. In truth, it's the same everywhere: anyone with a record of study in Beijia can usually secure a high post upon returning home."
He Lingchuan nodded slowly, thinking to himself that Zhong Shengguang's summoning and offering to the god Mitian had certainly not been a spur-of-the-moment whim four years ago.
Learning this detail made the entire mystery even more tangled and obscure.
He lowered his voice. "I heard another piece of news—Xiluo intends to relocate all the inhabitants of the Panlong Wasteland back."
Sun Fuling was startled. "Relocate them where?"
"Back home, to be resettled."
"Where did you hear that?"
"The fat man from Yunling Island told me. He probably heard it from merchant travelers from outside. It doesn't seem to have spread in Panlong City yet."
"How could that be possible?" Sun Fuling shook her head. "Setting aside the immense journey and the lack of an open route back, even our motherland wouldn't want us to return."
He Lingchuan blinked. "Why?" Their homeland wouldn't welcome its own people?
"Have you forgotten? Four years ago, when the motherland sought to requisition an elite force from Panlong City to quell domestic unrest, Commander Zhong ordered Vice Commander Jing to lead forty thousand Panlong City troops eastward back home. Those were the cream of the army, seasoned veterans of a hundred battles, and thirty thousand commoners accompanied them. At the time, the entire Panlong City Army numbered only a hundred thousand, which shows how earnestly devoted Commander Zhong was. Yet upon their return, those forty thousand soldiers were broken up and absorbed into various imperial battalions, while Lord Jing was sidelined with an idle sinecure. He was too ashamed to ever return to the Panlong Wasteland to face Commander Zhong. Later, the corridor back home was cut off again, and Panlong City found itself blocked on all sides, once more turned into an enclave with all communication severed from the homeland."
"Because of that, Commander Zhong fell gravely ill from sheer fury," Sun Fuling said slowly. "Do you truly believe Xiluo wants us back?"
Her tone was distinctly cold as she spoke Xiluo's name.
He Lingchuan let out a sigh as well. "Why would it be like this?"
"The royal court wouldn't bother explaining their reasons to us. But searching through the history books, what else could it come down to other than 'suspicion and dread'?"
The Panlong City Army was an iron hammer capable of smashing Baling and Xianyou. If Zhong Shengguang brought it back into Xiluo, wouldn't it be just as effective at hammering the capital or even the monarch himself?
What ruler wouldn't harbor wariness and dread toward a commanding general who held the hearts of both the people and the military?
Sun Fuling looked pensive. "Yet the soldiers and people of Panlong have been cut off from their homeland for over a decade, and everyone yearns to return. If this news is true, we are in for tremendous trouble."
How many months of peace had the Panlong Wasteland enjoyed? Another storm was already brewing.
"Who cares? Wine for today, drunk today," He Lingchuan said, raising his cup toward her. "Come, let's worry less on Commander Zhong's behalf."
Sun Fuling smiled and clinked her cup against his.
The two looked up to see two tender green sprouts of grass striving to grow atop the low wall, framed against the tiled-blue sky of the fourth month.
Everyone knew they would inevitably wither in the autumn frost of the ninth month.
Yet at this moment, they were thriving with vitality.
A human lives a lifetime, vegetation sees a single autumn; life and death are left to heaven.
All one could hold onto was the present.
He heard Sun Fuling let out a very, very soft sigh.
They looked at each other in silence.
After who knew how long, a sudden clamor broke out above them, and two dark shapes tumbled onto the top of the wall.
It turned out to be two plump magpies fighting over a piece of rice cake, thoroughly engrossed in their brawl and chattering noisily without pause.
The tranquility of the small courtyard was shattered in an instant.
Sun Fuling casually picked up a pebble and flicked it with a snap of her fingers.
With a sharp crack, the pebble struck the low wall right beside the magpies, shattering into fragments that scattered.
The two magpies were so deep in their fierce tussle that they paid it no heed at all.
The sparrowhawk, which had been hiding behind the low table stealthily sneaking bites of meat, suddenly leaped up, spread its wings, and darted right at them.
Treating it like it didn't exist, were they?
It had been hiding so well that the magpies really hadn't noticed it earlier. Now, suddenly faced with their natural predator, they abandoned all thought of the rice cake and their fight, squawking as they fluttered away in panic.
Only two feathers floated gently downward.
The sparrowhawk flew off in pursuit.
The mood on the ground was far too gloomy; it might as well take to the sky to digest its meal.
Seeing their flustered scramble, both of them laughed.
From somewhere, Sun Fuling produced a flute and began to play.
The notes began light and airy, like a lively kingfisher spreading its wings to dart between lake waters and green reeds, then climbed higher and higher, like rustling maple leaves tinting a frosty sky...
In a single tune, the music traversed all four seasons.
Yet in the final chapter of winter, she concluded with an upbeat, playful cadence before smiling at him.
He Lingchuan tapped along in admiration. "A fine piece. You're truly optimistic."
She waved the flute lightly. "Sitting besieged by gloom only brings needless distress."
"This flute is rather unusual." He Lingchuan had been studying the instrument in her hand for some time. It was shaped like segments of bamboo, but the body was an ashen-white bone color, with a faint, lustrous sheen upon closer inspection.
Most peculiar of all were two bright red circles near the end of the flute, resembling the eyes of a monster.
"I made it myself. A few years ago, a patrol guard set up a stall in the market with a segment of a celestial centipede's vertebra. It looked suitable to me, so I bought it and carved it into a bone flute. Turned out the tone was quite lovely," Sun Fuling said with a smile. "Centipedes don't have bones to begin with, but a celestial centipede of over three hundred years will grow a small section of hard bone behind its head out of nothing, just like this."
"And these two red rings?"
"Scars left behind after it was wounded and healed. I thought they looked fairly symmetrical, so I kept them." Sun Fuling handed the flute to him. "Care to give it a try?"
He Lingchuan confessed honestly, "I don't know how. I don't know how to play any instrument."
He only knew how to play the harmonica, which was useless here; as for Young Master He's original self, there was no hope of musical talent there.
"The Hall of Immortal Inquiries offers music courses, and the instructor is quite a beauty—they say every lecture is packed. You've never attended one?"
"No... cough, they have courses like that?" On the announcement board of the Hall of Immortal Inquiries, he only paid attention to topics regarding cultivation, wondrous curios, history, military affairs, or even herb identification. As for music... had there ever been an announcement on the board? Why hadn't he ever noticed? "I'll find time to attend one next time."
Sun Fuling cast him a glance. "Want to learn? I can teach you."
"Sure." A thought struck He Lingchuan. "By the way, I also want to learn the xun. Do you know how to play that?"
He had almost forgotten that he had a xun in his possession, also known as:
Zhu Daniang's eye socket!
"Wait here." Sun Fuling stood up, placed one hand on the low wall, and vaulted cleanly back into her own home.
When she reappeared, she held a pottery xun with seven finger holes.
"Uh, do you have a nine-hole one?" Zhu Daniang's eye socket was a nine-hole xun.
"It's all the same; master one and you master them all." Sun Fuling casually played a tune. The sound of the xun was deeply archaic and solemn, completely unlike the melodious lilt of the flute.
"Where did you learn so many instruments? Shumin Academy?"
"When I was young, my father was busy and had no time for me, so I taught myself a bit," Sun Fuling said with a smile. "Though you're right—aside from the xiao and the flute, the other instruments were learned at Shumin Academy."
"All right, give it a try first." She passed the pottery xun to him. "Let's see your sense of rhythm."
Seeing her expression unconsciously turn stern and rigorous, He Lingchuan suddenly remembered something.
Damn it all, was he out of his mind? Why had he volunteered to become a student?
The person before him was a teacher with high standards and strict demands!
***
Another day passed. Once the Shimen caravan finished purchasing supplies, they departed Tong City to continue northward.
Recalling Fu Shanyue's vicious expression before leaving, He Lingchuan asked one of the hands to inquire about any disturbances inside or outside the city. There seemed to have been nothing major, aside from a fire breaking out in a village in the outskirts that night, which burned several people to death.
After another two days of travel, the caravan finally crossed the border of the Jeweled Tree Kingdom and entered the Twilight Plains.
This land had originally belonged to the Yuan Kingdom. Following its downfall, it had been placed under the direct jurisdiction of Lingxu City, with even local officials appointed straight from the royal court.
He Lingchuan noticed that upon reaching the Twilight Plains, the entire mood of the caravan seemed to relax. Everyone's footsteps grew lighter, and people frequently gathered in huddles whispering about something, followed by bursts of uproarious laughter. Even Old Liu, the usually taciturn wagon driver, silently held up two fingers when someone asked how many he wanted to sleep with.
He asked Second Master Shi, "Why are they all so happy?"
Second Master Shi chuckled. "How could they not be? Up ahead is Tongluo County, a famous pleasure haunt on the Twilight Plains. These boys all have a bit of coin tucked in their pouches, and they're ready to enjoy themselves."
They had been on the road for over half a month this trip, plagued by constant mishaps, and had nearly lost their lives passing through Wind Demon Mountain. With a haven of tender pleasure lying ahead, who wouldn't want to unwind properly?
"We passed through Fufeng City and Tong City, which had everything one could ask for. How come they weren't this thrilled back then?"
"Ah, that's entirely different. Tongluo County is where things are truly cheap and good. You'll understand once you get there."
Chapter 409