Where Immortals Once Walked-Chapter 313: Schemes on Both Sides

“When it’s not the season of mad sand, the Panlong Desert is quite busy, you know?”

“I heard a god once descended there,” Dong Rui mused, seeming to believe him. “Could it be that the Ferry-Crossing Holy Mother sent its offspring there to investigate?”

“Who knows?” He Lingchuan hedged, but he thought investigate was a very apt word. Those ghostspawn had been sneaking around everywhere, as if trying to pry some hidden secret loose. “Even Sun Fuping and Nian Songyu were tripping over themselves to rush into the Panlong Desert.”

As he said it, a memory surfaced.

The god that had possessed Nian Songyu had once berated the black dragon, accusing it of setting up a trap on purpose, baiting them into sending down an avatar. The god had then demanded an answer from the dragon, and its exact words had been: “You know what I want to ask. Since I’m about to die, can I have the answer?”

And the black dragon had answered with, “There is no answer.”

At the time, that whole exchange had gone straight over He Lingchuan’s head. There simply had not been enough context, so he had chosen not to dwell on it. Only now, after dealing with more and more god-related business, did he feel there was a lot buried in those few lines.

The Panlong Ruins must still hold some secret that even gods have tried to uncover. That was probably why they had struck up such an easy alliance with people like Sun Fuping.

So what exactly did they want? The Generous Pot? Or something else?

That god’s avatar had said they were chasing an answer.

What kind of question was it that even a god didn’t know the answer to, that it had to search for the answer inside those ruins?

He Lingchuan drifted into a daze, not realizing it until he felt a hand waving before his eyes.

He Lingchuan’s gaze flicked up. “What?”

“I thought you’d fallen asleep with your eyes open,” Dong Rui said, staring at him. “By the way, where did that pack of rock wolves hide my Twenty-Nine? It isn’t back in their tundra, is it?”

“Twenty-Nine?” It took He Lingchuan a beat to realize he meant the werewolf. He shrugged and said, “If my rock wolf were here, you could ask it.”

A flash of anger passed through Dong Rui’s eyes.

The werewolf and the ghost ape had both been extremely powerful, and their strengths complemented each other. Losing that star player was not as simple as four minus one—his overall combat power had plummeted.

He Lingchuan asked, “Why are you working for Beijia, anyway? They wiped your wanted notices?”

This time, Dong Rui answered very crisply, “Beijia figured some things out. They don’t plan on chasing old grudges anymore... and they can provide me with every material I could ever need.”

Who knew how many weird and rare materials a man like this needed for his experiments? “All that just to make you assist Hong Chenglue?”

“You Yuan people really do take yourselves seriously, huh?” Dong Rui could not help but laugh. “A snot-sized place like Yuan, and you think Beijia’s going to mobilize over you?”

His expression and tone were working full-time to convey disdain. “If you ever get the chance to walk around Beijia, you’ll see what a real great state looks like—a mighty realm with all four corners paying tribute.”

He Lingchuan raised an eyebrow. “So in your view, the Provincial Governor of Xun Province has been locked in a standoff with General Zhao Pan all this time because Beijia can’t be bothered to take this war seriously?”

“But of course.”

He Lingchuan let out a short, mirthless chuckle. That was pure nonsense. What decided the outcome of a war was never as simple as who looked stronger on the surface. He was certain that Beijia had far more practical reasons for not going all out in supporting Xun Province.

All he could say was that Dong Rui had a truly irrational faith in Beijia—he looked at them through a permanent beauty filter.

“Seeing is believing,” Dong Rui said lazily. “You’re but frogs at the bottom of the well, no matter what I say, you won’t believe me. It’d be best for you to just go see for yourselves. Heh, but whether you can live long enough to reach Beijia? I’d say that’s doubtful.”

“Relax. My odds of survival are definitely better than yours,” He Lingchuan replied with a bright grin. “You don’t have a single monster puppet with you. How exactly are you planning to stay alive?”

Dong Rui’s face twitched, though whether it was pain or the sting of the words, it was hard to say.

Ever since he had become the famous monster beast master, he had never been this alone. Of his four puppet beasts, three had vanished, and every single disappearance was tied, in one way or another, to the young man in front of him. Just thinking about it made his teeth itch with hate.

But the two of them were stuck inside the same jellyfish right now, so there was nothing either could actually do.

He Lingchuan was still thinking of the battle at the front line, but there was no way to talk about that with Dong Rui.

They were not on the same side; Dong Rui would only gloat.

He had no idea what heaven-defying technique or spell Nian Zanli had used to flood Zhao Pan’s camp. Hong Chenglue’s threat still rang in his ears.

Could this whole mess have been that man’s handiwork?

Either way, it was too late. Yuan’s defeat this round was practically guaranteed.

He did not know whether He Chunhua had managed to escape.

When his thoughts drifted to his own subordinates, He Lingchuan felt a twist of worry.

Shan Youjun and the medicine ape are as sharp as they come. They surely found a way out, right?

Zhao Pan had failed to hold the natural barrier of the Han River. The defensive line would be forced to shift south, pushing straight into Xia Province proper. As Governor-General of Xia Province, He Chunhua would be under enormous pressure.

How would he respond?

Well, none of that was really for He Lingchuan to worry about.

Right now, he just had to keep himself alive.

The current around them was still wild. Dong Rui gave a long, jaw-cracking yawn.

The sound was contagious, so He Lingchuan yawned as well.

Neither of them spoke. With nothing to do, drowsiness came rolling in like a tide.

Dong Rui half-lidded his eyes and secretly watched He Lingchuan. The moment the young man fell asleep, he would make his move.

He had at least thirty to forty different poisons on him. He had plenty of ways to kill someone.

He Lingchuan might hate sharing space with a corpse for a long stretch, but Dong Rui had no such problem. He did that all the time.

Come on, just fall asleep already.

As if on cue, He Lingchuan yawned twice more. His face took on the slack look of exhaustion; his eyelids drooped, slowly closing.

In Dong Rui’s impatient anticipation, the young man suddenly let out an “Ah!” and snapped his eyes open. “Oh right, I almost forgot.”

Forgot what?

In the next moment, He Lingchuan moved fast as lightning. There were two sharp cracks as he wrenched both of Dong Rui’s wrists out of their respective arms.

The two who had been chatting like old acquaintances were suddenly back at each other’s throats.

He had moved too quickly, so all Dong Rui managed was a single scream.

“What are you doing? What are you doing?!”

In close quarters, spellcasters rarely fared well against martial artists, especially a puppet master without his puppets. This was like an unarmed lady running into a street thug.

Only then did He Lingchuan drawl, “I almost forgot that you’re poisonous from head to toe.”

Dong Rui had been sitting there with his eyes half-closed, but his eyelids kept twitching. Clearly, he was plotting something. How could He Lingchuan just ignore that?

With both hands out of commission, Dong Rui would find it far harder to pull any tricks. Only then did He Lingchuan feel at ease enough to sleep.

Dong Rui wanted to cry.

He had been one step too slow again, outplayed yet again by the smiling, scheming little bastard in front of him.

“If you try anything else, I’ll lop both your arms off,” He Lingchuan said pleasantly. It was a plain statement that his little schemes were clear for He Lingchuan to see.

Thanks to the jellyfish’s incredible shock absorption, the raging current outside translated into nothing more than a gentle rocking. In that swaying cradle, He Lingchuan soon drifted off.

Just before his eyes closed fully, he gave Dong Rui one last look and saw his face pale with pain, as miserable as if he were attending his own funeral.

* * *

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The urgent knocking yanked He Lingchuan out of sleep. He opened his eyes to a view of ceiling beams overhead, his body lying flat and still on a proper bed, not bobbing in any flood.

Indeed, he had entered the dreamscape yet again.

Outside, his squadmate Doorboard’s voice rang out. “Broken Blade, emergency mission.”

“Coming!” He Lingchuan swung his legs off the bed, buckled on light armor, pulled on his boots, grabbed Fleeting Life, and went to answer the door. The whole process took less than fifteen breaths, and he still had time to splash his face with cold water.

Outside, most of the squad was already gathered. Only Fire Captain Liu Tong was missing.

Doorboard said briskly, “There’s been an avalanche at the Chipa Highland[1], northwest side, in the Red Peak Mine. There might also be creatures involved. Captain Liu’s been on the chamber pot for days, vomiting and shitting nonstop. It’s probably gastroenteritis. He wants you to act as our fire captain this time.”

A fire should have ten people, but their squad had never been fully staffed. They had only just climbed back to seven, and with Liu Tong down, that left six.

He Lingchuan was not surprised at being appointed as captain. They had been working together for a while now, so everyone had a good sense of each other’s capabilities. It was generally agreed that he had the strongest leadership potential; whenever they split up, he was often the one taking a subteam. No one had any complaints about Liu Tong’s decision.

“Let’s go.” He Lingchuan shut his door behind him and glanced sideways.

Sun Fuling’s courtyard gate was closed as always. He had no idea whether she was home or not.

They went to collect their horses, then drew five days’ worth of dried rations. Panlong City’s logistics system ran like a well-oiled machine. Patrol mounts were kept in dedicated stables, and the supply depot was right next door. With a token in hand, it was easy to get what you needed—perfect for squads rushing out on missions.

Within the city, while riding was not banned, normal riders were required to keep a slow pace. Go over the speed limit, and they would get fined. But once you had taken a mission, your squad was allowed to gallop through the streets. The people of Panlong City were used to the sight of troops rushing past, and they would automatically move to the sides of the road to clear the center.

Before long, the squad rode out through the city gate. He Lingchuan glanced back. In the sunlight, even the towering city walls seemed gentler somehow.

They followed the official road northwest, flanked on both sides by a thick blanket of snow.

“Any more detailed intel?” He Lingchuan asked Doorboard. “How many squads are being sent?”

“From what I heard, it’s a three-squad job,” replied Dooarboard. “The people from over there came into the city to report. They said they saw an aberrant creature in the mine.”

“A monster?”

“Can’t say for sure. The tunnels are pitch-dark, and the thing was too fast. Fourteen or fifteen people were underground at the time, and only two made it out alive. They barely made it back to the town, and then the next morning the mountain avalanched. The road to the mine was completely buried.”

The wind knifing into his face felt like a blade. He Lingchuan wiped at his cheeks, then dug out a thick scarf and wrapped it around his lower face, leaving only his eyes exposed.

Thinking back to where he had been before sleep took him—sealed inside a giant jellyfish, swept along in a murderous flood with his mortal enemy Dong Rui—he could not help sighing inwardly.

Of all times, the Generous Pot had chosen now to drag him into a dream. Honestly, after the terror at the Han River, he was a little battle-weary in his heart. He had been hoping for one night of deep, dreamless sleep.

But that divine artifact had a will of its own, and he still had not figured out how to control it.

“There’s one more thing,” Skinny piped up suddenly. “About six days back, a woman sneaked into the post station outside Xikou Village and stole a pot of stewed meat soup. She made a noise and got caught. The station master saw she was in tatters, heavily pregnant, and wouldn’t meet anyone’s eyes. He thought of the city notices, and immediately wanted to hand her over to the authorities.”

1. Originally translated as Chipa Plateau, changed to Chipa Highland on 18 Jan 2026. I've already retconned all instances. ☜