Leaving the tavern, he took a deep breath of the slightly briny sea breeze and gazed up at the sky full of stars.
The soul-snatching mirror in his breast pocket asked, "Did you manage to find the Lu family's weak spot?"
"I suppose so," He Lingchuan sighed. "The Lu family's shortcoming is actually the shortcoming of the vast majority of people."
"What's that?"
"Poverty." He Lingchuan shook his head. "What their family lacks most is money. And the same goes for me."
The mirror pondered for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing.
He Lingchuan ignored it.
After laughing for a bit, it began to feel foolish on its own and cleared its throat. "Aren't you going to ask what I'm laughing at?"
"What are you laughing at?"
"You didn't want to stay in the Yuan Kingdom because its state affairs were in utter ruin, impossible to salvage. But you traveled thousands of li to Bailie, and its situation doesn't look much better than Yuan's! On top of that, you're an outsider here, a complete stranger in an unfamiliar land." Wouldn't the disadvantages be even more obvious?
"Who says?" He Lingchuan strolled along the pier. "In the Yuan Kingdom, I had He Chunhua and Nailuotian watching me. Are there any such figures here? He Chunhua spent years painstakingly building his foundations, and his roots in the Yuan Kingdom run far deeper than mine. How much effort would it take for me to surpass him?"
Only by bidding farewell to the past could there be a new beginning.
"More importantly, while the Yuan Kingdom's territory is intact, it is crippled by internal turmoil. Bailie, on the other hand, is plagued by external threats." Bailie was surrounded by four or five neighboring states; the Qing Kingdom had seized Blade Harbor, and the Ya Kingdom had forced it to cede land and pay indemnities. Bailie seemed destined to be beaten around and bullied. As a newcomer, He Lingchuan didn't fully understand how this situation had come about, but his view was: "To be frank, external threats are always easier to deal with than internal strife."
Against external foes, there was room to maneuver, room to forge alliances and play rivals against one another; internally, one had to take a knife to oneself, scraping one's own bones to heal wounds, sometimes even having to choke one's own neck.
Which was more painful? There was no need to say.
So in He Lingchuan's eyes, Bailie's troubles were far smaller than the Yuan Kingdom's.
If anything, he felt he had made the right choice coming here.
"Under the gaze of celestial gods, where in the mortal realm could there ever be true peace?" But if this were a peaceful golden age where everyone got along harmoniously, where would there be room for him to showcase his skills?
***
As the rising sun emerged from the sea, casting myriad rays of morning light, He Lingchuan happened to reach the shore.
Gulls and egrets called out, and the fine sand was white as snow.
It was exceptionally tranquil here. Someone's footprints left on the beach were swept smooth by the waves of the rising tide.
How many travelers had come and gone in haste through this harbor, their traces like footprints in the sand, gone in the blink of an eye.
Only the morning sun would still rise slowly from this spot two hundred years later.
As He Lingchuan felt a swell of emotion, someone behind him spoke: "Commander, we found them! They're resting at an inn in the port!"
It was Hu Min.
He Lingchuan turned and said to the guards behind him, "Let's go greet them."
He was in Baisha Bay, the largest free port in southern Xiji.
In the real world, it was at Baisha Bay that he had met up with Zhu Daniang, Dong Rui, and the others, before setting sail from here and enduring two months of rough seas to finally reach distant Blade Harbor.
Yet Baisha Bay in the Panlong World was not much different from what it would be more than a hundred and seventy years later. The sand was just as fine, large ships were moored in the port, and humans worked like worker bees, slowly exhausting the rest of their lives in bustling toil.
The scene felt familiar.
However, the inn He Lingchuan had stayed in before boarding the ship was still just a pool of water back then. The layout of the port at Baisha Bay was also slightly different from what it would become a hundred and seventy years later.
Hu Min led him forward, soon arriving at the Yongfang Inn.
He Lingchuan looked at the building several times before he could be certain that it still existed a hundred and seventy years later!
Except by then it had been expanded with two annexes, and no longer went by the name "Yongfang."
This subtle feeling of temporal displacement within a single glance was truly bizarre, often leaving him momentarily disoriented, unsure what year it was.
Before he could enter the inn, several people stepped out. The man in the lead was in his early forties, tall and handsome, with an air distinct from the other farmers and merchants in Baisha Port.
When he spotted He Lingchuan and his party, his eyes lit up. He stepped forward, cupping his hands. "May I ask, are you of the Gale Army?"
The Gale Army's armor and uniforms were distinct and easily recognizable.
"Mr. Lu Xun?"
"The very same!"
He Lingchuan immediately returned the salute. "I am Commander He Lingchuan of Yuheng City. Under orders from Commander Zhong, I have come to welcome you, Mr. Lu!"
"A commander of Yuheng City, and so young? Truly, heroes emerge from the youth." Lu Xun stepped aside with an inviting gesture. "Would you care to join me inside for some tea?"
This man was quite warm. He Lingchuan asked, "Did you rest well last night, Mr. Lu?"
"Ah, our ship arrived the day before yesterday, and yesterday we already took a stroll around the bay," Lu Xun said with feeling. "The sand here is as fine and white as snow, and the scenery is far lovelier than our Blade Harbor."
He Lingchuan had taken that same voyage, only in the opposite direction. A sea voyage took at least two months; the initial novelty quickly gave way to dull monotony, so much so that the moment the ship docked, passengers scrambled to get ashore.
The exhaustion of such long travel required a deep, satisfying sleep to even begin to relieve.
He Lingchuan smiled. "If you are well rested, Mr. Lu, shall we set out? Commander Zhong will soon arrive in Yuheng City as well."
Lu Xun had no objection. He instructed his men to gather their baggage and set off alongside the Yuheng Army.
As the sea breeze blew through the dense woods, its salty, damp tang was quickly filtered away.
Heading north from safe Baisha Bay, one would soon enter the Longchuan trade route. Traveling from the southernmost harbor to the northernmost Yuheng City would take quite some time.
Lu Xun kept looking left and right, appearing extraordinarily curious about this brand-new region.
He Lingchuan, meanwhile, was filled with curiosity about the man himself.
Earlier, a written order from Zhong Shengguang had arrived from Panlong City, instructing him to prepare to receive the Bailie Lu clan arriving by ship!
When He Lingchuan saw the order, his eyes had gone round in astonishment.
Behind him, A'luo had seen his expression and asked gravely, "What is it? Has there been a new development in the war on the wasteland?"
What could He Lingchuan say?
Wasn't this so-called "Bailie Lu clan" the ancestors of Lu Zhensheng and his kin?
To think that over a hundred years ago, the Bailie Lu clan already had ties with Panlong City!
There was no record of this in the history books—
Of course, there couldn't be.
Lu Xun was the clan head of the Lu family at this time, while the original owner of He Lingchuan's body was the son of Lu Xiaoyun, an heir of the direct lineage. Thus—
By that reckoning, the man before him was the original self's ancestor!
Separated by over a hundred years, their paths crossed.
He had crossed the ocean on this journey ostensibly for "friendly exchanges."
Yet Zhong Shengguang was personally traveling to Yuheng City to meet him.
The level of hospitality was rather high; He Lingchuan couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to it.
Probing gently, he asked, "Mr. Lu, was your voyage at sea smooth?"
"Not bad, except we ran into a hurricane while passing Baitun Island, and the ship nearly capsized." Lu Xun sighed. "We almost didn't make it across."
Fellow sufferers of the same misfortune. When He Lingchuan had sailed east to Blade Harbor, he had also encountered a hurricane.
Every sip and every bite—could it all be predestined?
Looking at Lu Xun, He Lingchuan had a bellyful of questions, yet didn't know where to begin.
Instead, Lu Xun smiled at him. "Commander He, for some reason you look somewhat familiar to me. Where are you from?"
At first glance, he had found this strikingly spirited young commander remarkably pleasant to look upon, feeling an instinctive warmth toward him.
He couldn't explain it himself.
As the master of Bailie, he had met countless people, yet how many could make him feel like an old friend at first sight?
He Lingchuan was also stirred with emotion.
Looking at Lu Xun, he felt the same natural fondness. Could this be a resonance of blood? Yet all he could answer was, "Weicheng."
Weicheng was in the Panlong Desert; naturally, it had nothing to do with the people of Bailie.
Lu Xun gave an "Oh," showing no disappointment.
It had only been a casual question; it would have been strange if they were actually related.
"Bailie and Baisha Bay have had dealings for a long time, but in past years, not even two ships a year would arrive at Blade Harbor from Baisha Bay. Now, there were two fleets in the fifth month alone," Lu Xun said with a smile. "Panlong City's fluorescent spores and aphid sugar are wildly popular in Bailie, snatched up the moment they arrive. Any upscale tavern must light spores as everlasting lamps at night."
The fluorescent spores produced exclusively at Zhu Erniang's lair were a bright and steady light source, far more practical and economical than luminous pearls, and immune to being snuffed out by strong winds.
In Panlong City and Yuheng City, they were so commonplace that even children held them to play with, but in distant foreign lands, their value increased by more than tenfold.
Profit—that was the driving force that made itinerant merchants willing to risk their lives on ocean voyages.
"Since the trade route from Panlong City to Baisha Bay opened up, specialty goods from the outside world have poured in without end. The townsfolk have never been happier," He Lingchuan ventured. "As the clan head, don't you feel it is a risk to cross the vast sea in person, Mr. Lu?"
"I have long heard of the great reputation of Panlong City and Commander Zhong, and I have always followed news of them," Lu Xun said, stroking his beard. "Seeing is believing. I felt it necessary to come and see for myself."
See? What did he want to see?
"With you away for months at a time, what about Bailie's affairs?"
"I left them to my two younger brothers," Lu Xun replied. "Our people in Bailie are very united. We aren't like other countries, with strict hierarchies and sharp divides between high and low."
He Lingchuan fell into thought. "Strict hierarchies and sharp divides between high and low"—those words applied just as well to Panlong City.
Panlong City was too rigid, while Bailie was too loose—a stark contrast.
"The ancient immortal sects were also loosely organized like this, until mortal kingdoms arose later," Lu Xun said, looking off into the distance. "Mortal kingdoms were originally founded to fend off the demon race. Yet after the demons waned, mortal kingdoms continued to rule their people with harsh laws and cruel punishments. Truly lamentable."
He Lingchuan smiled.
Bailie was surrounded by mortal kingdoms that threatened its survival to varying degrees. Though no major war had broken out in the past few centuries, they had scraped away much of Bailie's territory. It would be strange if Lu Xun had any goodwill toward them.
Yet in He Lingchuan's view, with individual power drastically diminished, the organizational structure of mortal kingdoms was clearly more efficient and better suited for large-scale coordination, so it naturally persisted.
Still, the man was a guest from afar; there was no need to argue the point.
Lu Xun appeared gentle, cultured, and somewhat nostalgic, resembling a mystic or a scholar far more than a lord.
After his journey through the Yuan Kingdom, He Lingchuan's understanding of statecraft and worldly affairs had deepened by another degree. He immediately sensed that a man like this becoming clan head probably reflected that Bailie's environment at the time was relatively relaxed, without facing overwhelming pressure.
Chapter 873