Ahead stood a half-peak, its slopes barren and bald, with only a few sparse shrubs huddled in the nooks and crannies. Yet any traveler seeing it for the first time would be drawn to it, for its shape was so unusual:
The mountain's upper half was gone, but it didn't look weathered or broken by nature. The cut was unnaturally smooth, as though someone had swung a blade and cleaved it in two!
That sheer face was abrupt and decisive.
After all, it was an entire mountain peak, with millions of tons of rock and soil—not a clump of bamboo that could be lopped off with ease.
A local legend said that in ancient times, immortals had fought here, and one had cleaved the peak in half with a single sword stroke. That was why the severed mountain was also known as Immortal's Slash.
Legends like that were everywhere in this world, impossible to verify. But He Lingchuan's original body had actually climbed Immortal's Slash a few years ago and seen the smooth, even cut with his own eyes. There wasn't a single bump or hollow across that vast surface; even the most careful craftsmanship couldn't have matched it.
Whether it was man-made or not, it was hard to fathom.
Sun Fuping gazed at the half-peak as if sensing the ferocity and sharpness that had lingered from that sword stroke all these years. After a long while, he let out a deep breath. "The Dao has no end."
After they rounded the mountain pass ahead, an ancient desert poplar stood alone beside the road. Two people hung conspicuously from its hard, dry branches.
The wind blew, and the bodies swayed.
Many travelers gathered beneath the tree, pointing and whispering among themselves.
When State Preceptor Sun's party drew near, they saw two white boards hanging from the corpses, one reading "Courtesy," the other "Reciprocation."
Nian Songyu and Sun Fuping's expressions changed at once. Their sharp eyes immediately spotted transparent plaques pinned to the corpses' lapels, each bearing the words "Donglai."
Two guards from Donglai Manor, sent to track the West Mountain Sand Leopard, had gone missing on their way to Blackwater City. Sun and Nian knew about it, since they were the ones who had assigned the men. But by then, signs of the Sand Leopard's whereabouts had already emerged, so they hadn't investigated further.
Now the two men had become corpses, laid out along the road they had to travel.
Nian Songyu could tell at a glance that their necks had been twisted, and that they had been tortured before they died.
State Preceptor Sun saw his face flush red and the veins bulge in his neck. He hurriedly grabbed his shoulder. "Don't act rashly! Isn't this what we expected?" The two guards had been missing for a long time, and they had already considered the possibility that they were dead.
"We assigned the men from Donglai Manor, and that little bastard's taking revenge on us!" Nian Songyu ground his teeth. They had killed a harpy; now their opponent had killed two of their men in retaliation.
Donglai Manor was, after all, too far from the frontier, so the Grand Marshal had assigned his own guards for the two of them to command.
State Preceptor Sun's expression darkened. "The greater good comes first! No infighting now."
"Once we get the Great Square Pot..." Nian Songyu clenched his jaw. He knew He Lingchuan had calculated that they still needed Blackwater City's troops, so they couldn't fall out just yet. He turned and shouted angrily, "He Lingchuan!"
He Chunhua was also taken aback when he saw the corpses. Weren't these two supposed to be locked up at the farmstead on the Red and White Path?
Then he remembered how his eldest son had always done as he pleased.
He had shown some restraint these past two months, but that didn't mean his nature had changed.
Nian Songyu called twice before He Lingchuan finally urged his horse forward at an unhurried pace, meeting the anger about to burst from Nian Songyu's eyes. "Commandant Nian, what is it?"
"Do you recognize these two?"
He Lingchuan studied them for a few moments, secretly startled. Had Uncle Hao really let all his anger out on them?
"Of course I don't. So many people come and go in Blackwater City—how could I remember every name?" He paused. "Huh, they actually have plaques from Donglai Manor. What important people, to end up hanging themselves in the middle of nowhere?"
"Fine." Nian Songyu's anger turned to laughter, and he abruptly changed tack. "When one of your companions dies on Red Cliff Road, what do you do with the body?"
He had guessed at once that He Lingchuan must have killed the two guards. The boy was trying to rub it in; ask more questions, and he'd only be mocked further.
They weren't going to see eye to eye. There was no point probing deeper.
"If we can't take the body back, we leave it for sky burial." He Lingchuan shrugged. "They met an untimely end anyway. Let the creatures of the desert give thanks for nature's bounty."
He Chunhua hurried over and cut in. "Most people are buried in the ground."
"Then bury them." They were men from Donglai Manor, after all. They couldn't leave the bodies exposed in the wilderness.
He Lingchuan laughed. "It's a trifling matter. Commandant Nian should focus on what's at hand instead, and not hold up the party."
At last, he'd thrown those words right back at him. What a relief!
A flash of malice passed through Nian Songyu's eyes. He then ordered Zeng Feixiong to send men to take down the two bodies and bury them there.
The party, of course, couldn't wait around. They pressed on.
The feeling of Nian Songyu's gaze fixed on him was like a venomous snake at his back, making his skin crawl. He Lingchuan slowed down and kept close to his father, walking in the middle of the party.
A proud man like Commandant Nian would naturally take the lead. He couldn't keep looking back at He Lingchuan, could he?
"What are you doing?" He Chunhua rebuked his son quietly. "Killing those two won't help us. It'll only deepen your feud with Nian Songyu."
He didn't know that Uncle Hao had killed them.
"It let me vent my anger!" Seeing him lecture him as if nothing had happened, He Lingchuan couldn't help sneering. "Those two schemed against us without a shred of decency. Am I not allowed to slap him back? Besides, he needs us. He's even less likely to turn against us now."
"If we make it back alive, then..."
"If we return with the treasure, the Grand Marshal will be overjoyed. Why would he care about this little matter?" He Lingchuan said listlessly. "Father, you're not old yet, but your courage has shrunk."
He Chunhua thought it over, his expression darkening slightly. "You're right. I was too cautious."
He was always thinking that they would have to serve in the same court in the future. His family had only recently returned to the capital and had no firm footing yet, so it was best not to make enemies.
The idea might not have been wrong, but how could he achieve great things with such a meek, timid attitude in the presence of the powerful?
While quietly reminding himself to be on guard, he said to He Lingchuan, "Chuan'er, are you still angry with me for dragging you along?"
What was he supposed to say to that—an honest "yes," or a guilty "no"? He Lingchuan could only chuckle. "How could I dare?"
"What father doesn't want his son to live a peaceful, smooth life? But in this world, that's impossible." He Chunhua patted his shoulder. "Chuan'er, you're not a child anymore. It's time you got some proper experience."
He Lingchuan couldn't hold back. "When other people get experience, the challenges build from easy to hard." His father, on the other hand, had thrown him straight into the deep end.
His eldest son was indeed full of grievances. He Chunhua laughed. "Don't blame your old man for being heartless. With you here, our chances of making it home safely are at least twenty percent higher. The Great Shaman wasn't joking."
He Lingchuan rolled his eyes. If his original body really was a lucky star, why had he died without a sound, leaving his body to be occupied by an outsider like him?
But he could only keep that retort to himself.
There was no point in arguing now. Besides, as his father and the local governor, He Chunhua didn't really owe him any explanation.
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