Where Immortals Once Walked-Chapter 379: Treacherous Biological Warfare

That doesn’t make sense. This heaven and earth ought to have some ability to heal itself, shouldn’t it? “Since the great catastrophe?”

“Well, it did recover, at first,” Sun Fuling replied. “I’ve heard that in the early Middle Era, spirit qi recovered quickly. That’s how it should be, resurgence after ruin. But later, for some unknown reason, it stopped again.”

He Lingchuan immediately thought of the hypothesis of Tian Shengzi from the Heavenly Evolution Sect.

“Within the Heavenly Evolution Sect, there was an immortal named Tian Shengzi. He proposed a bold guess that the appearance of imperial nectar coincides with the deaths of gods in the heavens.”

A flicker passed through Sun Fuling’s eyes. “Interesting. That’s extremely obscure. I’ve never seen it written in any text, and I’ve never heard any of Panlong City’s great experts mention it in the Hall of Inquiry either. How did this Tian Shengzi argue his case?”

He Lingchuan repeated what the Soul-Stealing Mirror remembered.

Sun Fuling sighed and said, “It’s a moving theory, but without proof, it can only remain a reflection in a mirror, beautiful and unreachable. No wonder it didn’t survive.”

“So if you know when a god dies, you can also predict when imperial nectar will erupt.” He Lingchuan stared at her. “I remember Panlong City always gives advance notice before an eruption of imperial nectar.”

Sun Fuling chuckled. “Then you should ask Lady Mitian. She’s a god, so she’d have the answer.”

“If I ask her, why would she answer me?” He Lingchuan sighed, suddenly listless.

Sun Fuling studied him more closely. “Why do you look like you’re forcing a smile today? Oh, right, I ran into Officer Xiao two days ago. He said you were admitted into the Gale Army on exceptional grounds?”

“Mm-hm. I carried out my first mission today.”

“Did it go badly?”

“It went smoothly. It took barely any effort.” It really just took raising my hand and taking a head.

“And you’re still gloomy?” Sun Fuling clearly understood the process. “The first mission after promotion into the Gale Army is usually very hard. I’ve heard if someone fails, they get sent back to keep training.”

“It looks like they really favor me then,” He Lingchuan said. “Ah, we’re here.”

They had arrived at the Bureau of Medicine.

He Lingchuan usually exchanged merit for pills at the Bureau of Bright Prospects, or simply bought medicine directly from A’Luo or apothecaries to save merit. This was his first time at the Bureau of Medicine.

Before he could step down, Sun Fuling suddenly caught his arm.

“You need to learn to focus and to forget. You’re already someone of Panlong City.” She jerked her chin toward the square ahead. “No one here has it easy, but everyone is trying very hard.”

He Lingchuan paused, then nodded. Before he could catch her hand in return, she had already let go and hopped down from the cart.

As one of Panlong City’s key institutions, the Bureau of Medicine was not ostentatious. It did not throw its weight around. However, it undeniably smelled wonderful as herbs mingled into a dense, intoxicating fragrance.

A small river ran along one side, planted with color-shifting lotus, of which some petals were half-white and half-pink, others half-purple and half-red. In front of the bureau were countless flowers and grasses. He Lingchuan could only identify a few, namely the balloon flowers[1] in pale blue-white, and the wild, beautiful dendrobium orchids.

Other institutions, like the Bureau of Bright Prospects, used greenery to decorate their courtyards and corridors. The Bureau of Medicine, of course, was filled with medicinal plants, along with tall racks holding layer upon layer of round bamboo trays used for drying herbs in the sun.

There were countless small rooms here, their doors usually shut. It was impossible to tell what went on inside.

As He Lingchuan passed one side gate, he thought he heard faint roaring from within.

It sounds like... a beast? And it sounds terrified.

Seems like these apothecaries really knew how to have their own fun.

He stopped to listen harder, but he could not catch it clearly. Sun Fuling poked his arm and said, “Hey, what are you even here for?”

“I thought I heard some kind of little creature,” He Lingchuan rubbed his nose. “This is the Bureau of Medicine, right?” Why does it feel like... some kind of bio-lab?

“That’s a raccoon dog[2],” A’Luo said, appearing from nowhere and cutting in abruptly. “Not long ago, there was a den of raccoon dogs outside the city that ate imperial nectar and turned into monsters. They caused chaos everywhere. The patrol guards netted more than twenty alive in one sweep. It would be too much waste to just butcher them, so the Bureau of Medicine requisitioned them for experiments.”

So, a fate worse than death, then.

He Lingchuan looked at A’Luo. “You finished improving my formula?”

“I meant to do it myself, but my master is in the bureau this afternoon. I asked him to handle it.”

He Lingchuan’s eyes lit up. “Master Helian agreed?”

A’Luo’s master, Helian Chen, was one of Panlong City’s most renowned grand apothecaries. When Wen Xing had been injured by ferry-crossing spawn, Wen Daolun had gone to Helian Chen immediately.

“He did. Come with me.”

A’Luo led them deeper into the compound. The farther they walked, the fewer people and buildings there were, yet the more medicinal plants thickened around them.

At last, A’Luo entered a pavilion.

This pavilion had no walls or windows, only six bare pillars, with cloth curtains hung on all sides to control the strength of the light.

Several long tables filled the spacious interior, arranged end to end. On them sat one glass cover after another, or perhaps it would be more accurate to call them bell jars.

Several pill masters were placing plants into the jars, including millet grass, ryegrass, and even sweet potato vines. He Lingchuan swept his gaze across the rows and realized that some jars were filled with insects—some winged, some not.

So this was another laboratory, focused specifically on bugs.

Not far away, someone was sprawled over the edge of a table, backside sticking up toward the crowd.

A’Luo walked over and said respectfully, “Master, Broken Blade is here.”

The man scrambled upright and turned around. Indeed, it was none other than Helian Chen.

A’Luo quickly helped him straighten his robe, brushing bits of ryegrass off his clothing. Helian Chen’s gaze moved over the two of them, then settled on He Lingchuan. “You’re Broken Blade? I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere.”

“At Master Wen Daolun’s residence.”

“Yes, yes!” Helian Chen smacked his forehead. “You were standing right beside Wen Xing’s sickbed that day! Ah, such a pity, such a pity.”

A’Luo supplied the explanation. “Master means it’s a pity that Young Master Wen passed away.” After a pause, he added, “My master and Master Wen have been close friends for many years.”

He Lingchuan’s expression turned solemn. “If I’d arrived a step earlier that day, maybe I could have saved Young Master Wen.”

Helian Chen waved that away again and again. “It had nothing to do with you. Our opponent has always been willing to use any means!”

Then he looked He Lingchuan over. “A’Luo told me you’re a good kid, and you’ve just been promoted into the Gale Army on exceptional grounds. Tell me how your cultivation has progressed, especially from the last imperial nectar eruption up to now.”

He Lingchuan explained everything in detail.

As he spoke, Helian Chen also tested his pulse and sent true energy through him, examining his body comprehensively.

“Not bad. Mm, not bad. Let me think carefully.” After saying that, Helian Chen pulled out paper and brush, sinking into focused contemplation.

He thought for a long time, and He Lingchuan did not dare interrupt.

Sun Fuling, meanwhile, wandered among the bell jars, inspecting them one by one. Sometimes she even plucked a leaf and fed it to the insects inside.

He Lingchuan lowered his voice to ask A’Luo, “What’s all this for?”

A’Luo replied, “These are crop pests collected from around the farmlands across the Chipa Highland. When you were a patrol guard, didn’t you ever get missions like this?”

Ah, actually, I did.

He Lingchuan remembered now.

Once, Liu Tong had accepted a mission requiring their entire patrol squad to collect wasp nests from places like White Cotton Lake. The mission was not difficult, but it demanded a large quota, and the nests had to be taken from four or five designated areas. The travel and collection process was anything but easy. Doorboard’s beekeeping suit tore, and he got stung twice, resulting in his face swelling up like a pig’s head.

It was a classic mission—tedious, time-consuming, and barely worth the reward. Every time Liu Tong took one of those, everyone complained.

Panlong City issued all sorts of strange missions every day. Later, He Lingchuan learned that they were requested by the various bureaus and departments, meaning that they were unavoidable necessities.

Keeping a city running smoothly really isn’t easy.

A’Luo stopped in front of a particular bell jar and beckoned them closer. “Look at this one.”

He Lingchuan stepped up and saw the label on the jar: Variant, Azure-Silk Bollworm[3].

Inside were two kinds of creatures.

One was a caterpillar, as thick and long as an earthworm, but its body was blue-green, with pale azure segments and more than ten pairs of prolegs.

The other was a pale yellow moth, smaller than half a pinky finger.

Sun Fuling flicked the bell jar with one finger, causing a single crisp ding. The azure insects inside were startled and suddenly sprang.

They jumped far, and they slammed straight into the glass cover.

More than a dozen caterpillars hit at once, turning the interior into chaos. Even the moths panicked and began flitting wildly around the jar.

Both men looked at Sun Fuling.

She awkwardly withdrew her finger. “Sorry. I couldn’t help myself. When I was little, I used to scare them like that all the time. Still, these ones react way too strongly.”

A’Luo pointed at the jar. “Not long ago, you reported the alert from the guardian spirit of Qianling[4]. The city took it very seriously. The foreign monsters that infiltrated Qianling have mostly been captured, mostly avian monsters. According to their testimonies, they came from the northern monster state.”

He Lingchuan frowned. “What’s Beijia sticking its nose in for?”

The guardian spirit of Qianling? He had to think hard before remembering. That was when General Nanke had temporarily requisitioned patrol guards. They had been on the highland for a mission and encountered a massive sika deer. That deer monster had been the one to relay the guardian spirit of Qianling’s information.

After returning to Panlong City, Liu Tong had filed the report. Following that lead, Panlong City has continued operations ever since.

Sun Fuling was not surprised at all. She explained, “Beijia has always pressured Baling and Xianyou to expand into the Panlong Wasteland. Beijia bears a heavy share of the blame for the situation among the states today.” She snorted. “That monster state loves fanning flames and stirring up war.”

A’Luo continued, “The mission for several of those avian monsters was to spread this borer moth across the rice fields of the Chipa Highland as fast as possible.”

“And what would that do?” He Lingchuan asked.

“This Azure-Silk Bollworm is different from local Chipa Highland strains,” A’Luo said. “A single female moth can lay over a thousand eggs. The larvae have enormous appetites and exceptional jumping ability. They destroy rice seedlings three to four times faster than other types. They’re also toxic, so birds won’t eat them. If the infestation spreads, it could cause large-scale yield reductions across the Chipa Highland.”

“Damn!” He Lingchuan could not help but curse. “That’s vicious.”

The fertile Chipa Highland were Panlong City’s backbone; it was its foundation for resisting foreign threats. If the highland’s grain output plummeted, the consequences would be unthinkable.

“And when that happens, if we want to offset the damage, Panlong City will have to divert more origin energy over there.”

One of origin energy’s miraculous functions was climate adjustment and boosting harvests.

It was an excellent tool, but a city’s origin energy was finite. If more were spent on stabilizing crops, then less would remain for warfare.

Either way, Panlong City’s overall strength would be weakened.

The enemy’s really damn vile. From siege warfare, they’ve escalated all the way into biological warfare. He Lingchuan murmured, “It’s hard to guard against arrows shot from the dark.”

1. This refers to Platycodon grandiflorus. ☜

2. This is a heavy-set, fox-like canid native to East Asia. ☜

3. Bollworms are a kind of caterpillar. ☜

4. This was from Chapter 195. ☜