"Panlong City stands alone in the wasteland, gazing toward Beijia from afar, with no direct conflict of interest. Why has Beijia set its sights on Panlong City?"
Zhong Shengguang gave a wry smile. "For the past few centuries, Beijia has been fanning flames and sowing chaos everywhere to gather nightmare energy for the gods. Did all those nations provoke it as well?"
Lu Xun nodded and said earnestly, "Lingshan's stance has always been cautious, and the elders are aging..." Hence, they were relatively conservative.
Zhong Shengguang immediately said, "To defeat celestial gods, one must first understand them. I believe Lingshan still retains channels for... observing them. Mitian is an orthodox god after all. What harm is there in keeping such a reliable source of information?"
He had stopped just short of saying that Lingshan had not severed contact with the celestial gods either.
Hostile sides gauging each other, studying each other, and infiltrating each other was simply par for the course.
Lu Xun chuckled. Such words were difficult to respond to. This Commander Zhong truly lived up to his reputation. He first insinuated that Lingshan maintained ties with celestial gods, then hinted that whatever lesser gods Lingshan consorted with were unreliable, suggesting they partner with an orthodox god instead.
"My sole wish in coming here was to have this conversation with you and witness Panlong City's army with my own eyes. The people here are unyielding and resilient; I admire them greatly. I hope Panlong can establish diplomatic relations with Bailie so that we may maintain frequent exchanges in the future." Lu Xun coughed forcefully. "Seeing is believing. Upon my return, I will certainly do everything in my power to advocate for you, Brother Zhong."
Though Lingshan had yet to accept Panlong City, the Bailie people were willing to establish diplomatic ties with it first.
The words "certainly" and "everything in my power" allowed Zhong Shengguang to feel the man's sincerity. He turned and retrieved two cups of tea.
"It is our earnest wish as well. Let us toast our friendly neighbors with tea in place of wine. Cheers!"
Both men raised their cups, drained them in one gulp, and laughed heartily.
After chatting for a while longer, Lu Xun expressed a desire to see the local customs and way of life. Zhong Shengguang summoned Wen Daolun and bade him accompany their distinguished guest on a tour of the city.
***
He Lingchuan did not go along, for after escorting their guest out of the garrison office, Zhong Shengguang turned back and said to him:
"Come with me."
He Lingchuan drew a quiet breath. What was meant to come had arrived at last.
The two returned to the small council room.
Zhong Shengguang said, "Recount the encounter with Fu Shanlie just now in detail."
He Lingchuan delivered a plain, straightforward account.
Zhong Shengguang listened intently, took a sip of tea, and remarked, "Fu Shanlie grew impatient; only then would he risk himself. This proves your policies in Longchuan have been effective, putting a wrench in Beijia's plans."
"Yes."
"Fortunately, Master Lu was not injured, or future communication with Lingshan would have been even more difficult." Zhong Shengguang let out a sigh. "The best part of handling the Longchuan bandit menace was that you detected Beijia's involvement in time. Otherwise, had they lurked in secret and grown unchecked, they would have been far harder to deal with down the road."
Panlong City did not fear enemies in the open.
What it feared was vile evil festering in the dark where the light could not reach.
He Lingchuan recalled the old water monitor's memories from more than a century later. Why had Panlong City won and then lost the land of Xiji? If one traced the root cause, it likely stemmed from inadequate control over the entire Xiji region, combined with the strategy of guarding the eastern frontier's threshold first before pacifying the Longchuan river bandits—
When he had first assumed office as commander of Yuheng City and spoken with Wen Daolun, he had realized the man possessed that exact line of thinking.
It was an inescapable reality. At this time, Yuheng City lacked men and horses, and its ranks were understrength. With limited resources, the immediate troubles had to be sorted by priority, and the less critical matters naturally pushed to the back burner.
Though Panlong City and Wen Daolun understood the importance of the Longchuan trade route, they had only intended to sweep the river bandits periodically to keep them from growing rampant.
No one took the Longchuan river bandits seriously. To proud Panlong City and the fierce Gale Army, even the Baling Kingdom had limped home in defeat before them, and Beijia's covert sabotage had been thwarted halfway through. Having vanquished foes of such caliber, how could they hold the petty bandit trouble of Longchuan in any regard?
Thus, under Beijia's covert fostering, this mere itch on the skin ultimately turned into an incurable disease.
Upon taking charge, He Lingchuan had shifted Yuheng City's offensive and defensive priorities, elevating the suppression of bandits to paramount importance. Only by severing the foreign hands reaching in as quickly as possible could Yuheng City avoid falling into future straits.
Zhong Shengguang asked him again, "In your view, did Fu Shanlie lay this ambush specifically because he learned of Master Lu's visit?"
He Lingchuan shook his head. "From Blade Harbor to Baisha Bay is a vast distance spanning several countries, a journey of at least two months. I believe that even if Fu Shanlie knew he was coming, he could not have lain in wait with such precise timing."
"Furthermore, the moment Fu Shanlie showed himself, he came straight for me. The person he wanted to kill wasn't Master Lu, but me." On this point, he was entirely certain.
Had Zhao Yin'an, the City Defender of Yuheng City in true history, died in this very attack?
Zhong Shengguang let out a soft breath. "Fu Shanlie truly is a nuisance."
He Lingchuan seized the chance to ask, "Has Master Lu joined Lingshan as well? What rank does he hold there?"
"When the immortals of Lingshan do not leave their mountains or show themselves, all matters are decided by the Council of Elders. The Lu clan are verifiable descendants of immortals, so Lingshan naturally holds them in higher regard. Master Lu serves in the Court of Inquiry under the Council of Elders and has ties with Elder Dongxing, making him well trusted."
He Lingchuan hesitated a moment before asking, "Is Lingshan truly so remarkable? If Lingshan refuses to let Panlong City join to the very end, what impact will that have on us?"
"There is more than one person on the Council of Elders. Where there are naysayers, there will be supporters; we need only try again. Master Lu also said he would continue advocating on our behalf." Zhong Shengguang rubbed his eyelids. "Naturally, the more allies, the better, especially since Lingshan also wields influence over the Baling Kingdom. Still, failing to join Lingshan is no disaster. Haven't we managed just fine these past ten-odd years?"
He spoke casually, but He Lingchuan knew full well the efforts he had made to break the isolation and encirclement facing Panlong City.
Lingshan's rejection signified the rejection of Panlong City by the forces of immortals.
This undoubtedly disappointed Zhong Shengguang deeply.
When all was said and done, could Lingshan directly aid Panlong City in resisting foreign aggression? No.
Since it could not, what right did it have to pass judgment on the choices Zhong Shengguang and Panlong City had been forced to make under duress?
From this, He Lingchuan could see even more clearly that Panlong City and Mitian were bound together too deeply to be severed. This bond ran deeper than the one between He Chunhua and Nailuotian.
What was the tie between them? Was it General Red, or the Dafang Pot?
Zhong Shengguang said casually, "Over the next few days, accompany Master Lu around Yuheng City. I hear he is a gentle and upright man. I hope he will report what he sees and learns faithfully to Lingshan."
"The Lu clan are descendants of immortals, so they have endured for at least two thousand years?"
Zhong Shengguang smiled. "Indeed, their clan's fortune has never run dry. I've heard a legend that every few generations, a child of fortune is born to the Lu family."
"A child of fortune?" Hearing a new term, He Lingchuan immediately pricked up his ears. "What is that?"
"During ancient times, the Lu clan was an outright immortal lineage that produced many immortals. The most renowned among them was Immortal Hongli, a figure of boundless power who survived the Immortal-Demon War without falling. Yet in the end, he too failed to endure the plight of spiritual energy's decline. Before he passed into nirvana, his descendants wept bitterly and begged him to point out a path forward, for heaven and earth had drastically changed."
"Immortal Hongli told them that immortals were destined to decline and fall, and the ways of the world were ever-shifting and could not be forced. However, under his final blessing, every few generations the Lu clan would inevitably give birth to a child of fortune. Blessed with great destiny, that person might help lead the clan out of its predicament."
He Lingchuan's eyes flickered slightly. "Is that true?"
Zhong Shengguang did not seem to care. "Such legends have no proof. What is true and what is false, only the Lu family themselves know."
A child of fortune.
He Lingchuan turned the four words over in his mind.
From Lu Xun down to He Lingchuan's original self was a gap of roughly one hundred and seventy or eighty years. How many generations of children of fortune had appeared in the interim?
He suddenly thought of He Chunhua.
What a scoundrel!
When he had asked about Lu Xiaoyun back then, had He Chunhua held back the full truth?
Had this former cheap father of his heard the Lu clan's rumors and decided to father a son with Lu Xiaoyun for that very reason?
He Chunhua had indeed constantly praised his eldest son as a blessed general.
Ah, no wonder Nailuotian had chosen him as a vessel. Could it be that he had also taken a fancy to the trait of a child of fortune?
Yet the legend did not specify that the child of fortune had to be born to the main line rather than a branch. Perhaps in the present day, Lu Zhensheng was the one born with all the cheat codes.
"Yet over these past two thousand years, the Lu clan's territory has shrunk steadily, and its status has declined as well. Can that truly be considered extraordinary fortune?"
Zhong Shengguang waved a hand. "How could the mere fortune of a single clan prevail over the grand tide of the world? Take the Yuan Kingdom, for instance. Brother Shao was an imperial relative, and his personal fortune could hardly be called poor. Yet when Beijia annihilated the Yuan Kingdom, he still ended up a refugee of a fallen realm, wandering the ends of the earth."
Indeed, how could the strength of one man or the fortune of one clan contend with the grand tide of the world?
"Even if the legend is true, someone so blessed appears only once every few generations; reviving the family is already as much as one could ask for." Zhong Shengguang's assessment was objective. "For the Lu clan to endure for over two thousand years is no small feat."
From antiquity to the present, clans that endured for over a millennium without dying out were already as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.
He Lingchuan then drew a Dragon-Torture Pillar from his robes and handed it to Zhong Shengguang.
"This is the nightmare energy gathered over the past half year."
Zhong Shengguang gazed at the pale red within the pillar, which shifted alternately between liquid and gas, and sighed. "It must have been hard on you."
The old territory of Xiji lay beyond the Panlong Wasteland. The nightmare energy here could only be gathered with a Dragon-Torture Pillar; otherwise, it would be siphoned away by the Tianluo Star.
The nightmare energy within the Dragon-Torture Pillar originated from the newly deceased. It came from river bandits, puppet troops, and Yuheng City men alike, all mingled together with no way to separate them.
He Lingchuan had not wanted to collect this nightmare energy in the first place, but had he not done so, Fu Shanlie across from him might have scooped it all up.
Dragon-Torture Pillars were beginning to circulate in the outside world, and the Beijia people had likely obtained them already.
He Lingchuan looked at the Dragon-Torture Pillar and voiced the question in his mind: "There's also a wisp of pale white vapor inside. It doesn't seem to be nightmare energy?"
It was only a tiny trace of milky white, which he would not have noticed had he not examined the Dragon-Torture Pillar often.
"Mitian said that nightmare energy, yin fiend energy, and miasma can all be collected with it. Only spiritual energy and origin power are excluded."
"I had assumed this Dragon-Torture Pillar was meant for a single purpose, capable only of gathering nightmare energy." Indeed, how could an object fashioned from precious divine bone serve only a single use?
Chapter 881