Burning the City

Human memories can be altered. People even tamper with their own memories all the time, selectively magnifying the good while choosing to forget the hardships and misery along the way. "The perfection of this illusion is actually its greatest flaw and failure." He sighed, putting away the journal. "At the very end, Tao Bo wrote that he had a daring solution, which he intended to attempt after burying this journal. But acting on his own strength alone was exceedingly difficult, and failure meant certain death. Even so, there is still one place in this city where reality is warped, entirely discordant with actual history. His physical condition did not allow him to ponder it deeply, but perhaps those who came after might find a breakthrough there." Maotao hurriedly asked, "Then where is this place?" "He didn't write it down." Sun Fuping shook his head. "From the moment they entered the illusion, the expedition members felt they were being watched. Someone even claimed to have caught a dazed glimpse of a colossal red shadow." A colossal red shadow! He Lingchuan's expression changed. "They saw it too?" "Too?" "You... didn't see it?" Everyone shook their heads. "After falling into the pool, there seemed to be a massive figure in the blood, but I couldn't see it clearly at all," He Lingchuan smiled bitterly. "So someone else saw it too? I thought my eyes were just playing tricks on me." "A living creature, or something dead?" "It moved, but I'm not sure if it was moving on its own or just drifting with the current." Evidently, this bit of information offered no useful clues. Sun Fuping brought his attention back to the matter at hand: "Tao Bo believed it might be the Dafang Pot's artifact spirit, or a resentful soul deeply buried here. That was why he couldn't write down his solution or the illusion's flaw, lest this world change accordingly." Nian Songyu frowned. "Whether this so-called solution was written down or not hardly matters. The fact that Tao Bo never returned alive proves his attempt failed." He Lingchuan countered, "Still, his assessment of this world is quite interesting. We could start from there." "Start how?" "This world is too perfect, so there's no Dafang Pot?" He Lingchuan said casually. "Isn't that simple? If we destroy this world, the Dafang Pot will appear, won't it?" "You..." Nian Songyu wanted to snap that it was utter nonsense, but on second thought, such crude, brute-force inverse logic seemed... Seemed to actually make quite a bit of sense? "Could there be any better way to hide it? No wonder wave after wave of previous explorers came here only to return empty-handed!" The more He Lingchuan thought about it, the more pleased with himself he felt. "Most importantly, Tao Bo searched this place inside and out many times over. There must really be no useful clues left. Even if we destroy everything, there's nothing to feel bad about." Sun Fuping seemed somewhat preoccupied. "Regarding that discordant element..." If burned, it would be gone. "Panlong City is so vast—where are we going to find one tiny flaw? Even if we spent another sixty days, we wouldn't find it. Besides, I don't think we can last another sixty days anyway." Hearing this, Maotao shuddered inwardly. Tao Bo had survived beyond sixty days by relying not only on the food and water he brought, but by gnawing on the bodies of his companions. Right now, there were four people here in total. If the day truly came when supplies ran out, no matter how they sliced it, he would be the first one eaten! At the thought, he felt that the gazes the other three cast toward him were fraught with profound malice. He hurriedly chimed in, "The Eldest Young Master's idea makes a lot of sense!" He Lingchuan glanced sideways at him, as though seeing through his terror. "I recall the National Preceptor mentioning that, worst comes to worst, we could still draw upon the dynastic fortune to rescue us all?" "Indeed, but there is only one chance. We must be cautious." "Then what the hell are we afraid of?" He Lingchuan chuckled. "Let's discuss how to destroy a world!" "Set fire to it!" Surprisingly, Nian Songyu and Maotao answered in unison this time. The latter shut his mouth at once, while the former looked toward Sun Fuping. "Just like after Panlong City fell back then!" Back then, after the Xian-Ba allied army breached Panlong City and plundered and slaughtered to their hearts' content, they torched the entire city to the ground. There was no method more tragic, or more faithful to history. Sun Fuping considered this for a moment and nodded. "We shall begin gathering kindling materials and split up." "Burning down a city this large won't be easy, will it?" He Lingchuan said. "With just the four of us, wouldn't it take a month or two?" Maotao gave a start, immediately imagining his impending fate. Sun Fuping pondered. "You're right. We're short-handed. It would be best to call everyone outside in." Call his old man down too? He Lingchuan was startled. "You can contact them?" "Hard to say, but I can try." These were two different worlds, inside and outside—not merely an issue of distance. Sun Fuping had no absolute certainty. Seeing Sun Fuping roll up his sleeves to summon reinforcements, He Lingchuan hurriedly waved his hands. "If this place is enter-only and has no way out, they'll be doomed. Why don't we try it ourselves first? Back then, Tao Bo was just one man doing it." "And that's why he failed." Nian Songyu gave a mirthless smile. "No one leaves the Panlong Desert alive during the wild sand season—those were your words. If we fail to secure the Dafang Pot, your father won't be able to leave the desolate city of Panlong either. One way or another, everyone dies here; the only difference is whether it's inside or outside." This boy is ruthless, thought He Lingchuan. They aren't his men anyway, so he wouldn't bat an eye no matter how many die. Just as He Lingchuan was about to argue further, inspiration struck. "We can burn the city on our own. All we need to do is turn the siege engines on the city wall around! Look, the buildings are mostly concentrated in the south. It's not a good time for my old man to come down anyway—otherwise, who's going to hold off the Gale Army for us?" The military engines atop the city walls? Nian Songyu mused, offering a rare word of praise. "There's indeed some sense to that!" There were fortifications atop the city walls. The artillery carriages were generally used for long-range combat—some hurled rolling stones and flaming boulders, while others launched giant ballista bolts, all meant to repel besieging forces. But turn them around, and they could rain fire toward the interior of the city across great distances. This efficiency would naturally be far greater than four people running around trying to fan flames everywhere. Besides, a city as massive as Panlong didn't necessarily have to be burnt to ashes down to the last scrap; scorching the main city district would probably suffice. He Lingchuan struck while the iron was hot. "The engines have limited range after all. I'll head out to the perimeter beyond their reach and burn down the scattered houses first." Seeing how thoroughly he had thought it through, Nian Songyu raised no further objections. Sun Fuping, however, spoke up to instruct: "We split up and assemble atop the city wall in two shichen. "Be strictly on time! If anything unexpected happens, rush immediately to the south gate!" His face was solemn. "The flaw we are exploiting was devised by Tao Bo, yet he never made it back in the end, which shows there are insurmountable forces after burning the city. If you don't want to die, you must stand with me when the time comes. Keep this firmly in mind!" And so, the four split up. Nian Songyu headed south to inspect the engines on the city gate tower and search the armory for combat supplies along the way. Having actually commanded troops in battle, he knew full well where such provisions were kept. He Lingchuan headed east, Maotao north, and Sun Fuping west.