Zhong Shengguang's Tomb

Sun Fuping stood up. "Since Governor He and I see eye to eye, let's start by following this lead."

"How?" Nian Songyu frowned. "Are you planning to pray for rain in the Coiling Dragon Ruins?"

"The odds of success praying for rain here are less than five percent, but it takes five or six times more effort than usual." Sun Fuping gave a wry smile. "I just tried summoning the mountain and marsh spirits, but got no response."

Trying to summon the mountain and marsh spirits here really took some imagination. He Lingchuan couldn't help laughing. "It's too dry here. Even the Lord of the Land has dried up and died."

"If we can't pray for rain, then let's pour water on the ground. Perhaps that's what the Baling Kingdom's troops did." Nian Songyu thought for a moment. "They couldn't have made it rain over the whole city, and there'd be no need to. We have to pinpoint the right place."

The Baling Kingdom's troops couldn't have prayed for rain to fall over all of Coiling Dragon City, either. They had to use their limited water at a precise location. Since there was a successful precedent, State Preceptor Sun and his party could follow the clues and make a rough estimate.

"In my analysis, there are only a few places where watering the ground could trigger the Furious Sand Season: Mitian Temple, Zhong Shengguang Shrine, Red General Shrine, Zhong Shengguang's tomb, and Coiling Dragon City's Mass Grave." Sun Fuping added, "Those two shrines were built while their honorees were still alive. They're rare shrines to the living."

As everyone knew, only the dead or the gods could enjoy offerings of incense in a shrine. Building a shrine to a living person wasn't worship—it was a curse. Most living people couldn't bear such offerings. At best, it would shorten their lives; at worst, it would cost them their lives.

Clearly, Zhong Shengguang and the Red General were exceptions: figures who had been deified in their lifetimes.

He Lingchuan asked curiously, "Why not include the Red General's tomb?"

He Chunhua answered him. "He wasn't buried. At most, it's an empty tomb containing his clothes and crown, so there's no point searching it."

Nian Songyu asked, "Even if we find these places, how do we know which one we should water?"

"We can't, but the Three-Corpse Insects can." Sun Fuping had several sealed glass jars brought over. Mist seemed to swirl inside them.

Everyone looked closely. Good heavens, that wasn't mist! There were clearly four or five Three-Corpse Insects wriggling around inside each jar!

They were lively, each one pressing its head against the side of the jar. They looked a little like eels kept in a tank.

"They only move in one direction, away from the Great Square Pot," Sun Fuping explained. "That means the direction they're swimming in points toward the Great Square Pot. Take these jars and walk around the target sites, and you'll find it."

The old man was shrewd, planning everything in advance. If he was up to something, he'd probably have planned that just as thoroughly... He Lingchuan glanced at him discreetly, growing more wary by the moment.

The group picked up the glass jars and split up.

The He father and son naturally stayed together and headed for Zhong Shengguang's tomb.

On a bitterly cold night, they walked through the ruins of a city. The desolate, forlorn feeling reached its peak when they saw Zhong Shengguang's tomb.

Zhong Shengguang's tomb stood at the northwest corner of the South Gate plaza they had passed earlier. It was unexpectedly large and imposing, built entirely of bluestone and covering a full two mu. Judging from the surroundings, those who buried him had deliberately demolished many buildings to make room for the grand tomb.

The epitaph was simple: "Tomb of Zhong Shengguang, Xiluo Commander." His birth and death dates were engraved beside it.

More than a century had passed. Apart from several signs that later visitors had excavated parts of it, the entire tomb remained intact. Not a single corner had chipped off the stone blocks piled over the grave.

The He father and son both let out a long sigh when they reached it.

The story of Coiling Dragon City and the Great Wind Army had been sung for year after year, and it still echoed in Blackwater City today. Yet how many people had come in person to pay tribute to this legendary general who had died for his country?

He Lingchuan sighed. "The enemy actually built him such a grand tomb."

Zhong Shengguang had killed himself when the city fell, fulfilling his vow: "If the city stands, I stand; if the city falls, I die." After Coiling Dragon City was massacred, there were naturally no compatriots left to bury him. Only his enemies could have built this tomb.

"Xianyou Kingdom had no choice. After Zhong Shengguang died, he was decapitated, and his head was sent to the capital of Xianyou Kingdom as a trophy. The whole kingdom celebrated, and the palace kept it as a prized possession. But after that, strange things kept happening on the Coiling Dragon Wilderness. No people or livestock survived, and no plants grew. Xianyou Kingdom wanted a wilderness rich in mineral resources, not a desert where no living thing could enter, so they sent people back into Coiling Dragon City to give Zhong Shengguang a grand burial, hoping to soothe the wrath of his vengeful spirit."

"And then they failed." There was no need to elaborate on what happened to Xianyou Kingdom or the Coiling Dragon Desert afterward.

He Chunhua took out two bundles of incense from somewhere and lit them, handing one to He Lingchuan. "We've come all this way."

They might as well pay their respects to the fallen hero.

After they had paid their respects, He Lingchuan pulled a wineskin of mare's milk liquor from his clothes and found three cups to fill.

The He father and son raised their cups toward the tombstone in a silent toast, then drank them dry.

He Lingchuan gently sprinkled the liquor over the grave mound and murmured, "General Zhong, please watch over us and bring us safely in and out of the Coiling Dragon Desert. That way, we'll have the chance to come back and pour you another cup."

He Lingchuan took out the glass jar and walked around Zhong Shengguang's tomb. But the Three-Corpse Insects inside didn't change direction. They kept pushing south against the jar wall.

In other words, this grand tomb wasn't their target.

He walked back and saw He Chunhua looking thoughtful. "Dad, what's on your mind?"

"I was thinking, if we really find the Great Square Pot and send it to the inland battlefield, will the Furious Sand Season in the Coiling Dragon Desert become a thing of the past?"

"Of course. Wouldn't that be a good thing? The Coiling Dragon Wilderness looks barren, but it's actually rich in resources. Otherwise, the allied armies wouldn't have fought over Coiling Dragon City so fiercely back then. If it let us pass, Qiansong Prefecture wouldn't be so poor." As he spoke, He Lingchuan saw the look on He Chunhua's face and immediately paused. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"You're right about everything, but I still think the Coiling Dragon Desert is best left as it is."

He Lingchuan asked curiously, "Why?" Did anyone really want to keep a barren desert with such a fickle temper?

"The Coiling Dragon Desert is an obstacle, a calamity, and a force of chaos, but it's also a safeguard. The Great Yuan is no longer as powerful as it once was. If we remove this layer of protection, the consequences are hard to predict."

"How is the Coiling Dragon Desert a safeguard?" He Lingchuan secretly admired Governor He's subtlety, but outwardly he laughed. "If we find the pot, our whole family will have to move to the capital. Why should we care about that blasted Coiling Dragon Desert? Whether it's windy or rainy here, it won't have anything to do with us."

That line of reasoning really did fit He Lingchuan's original personality. Governor He looked at him and smiled. "You certainly understand the art of being an official."

No matter who got promoted, the next local official would inherit the trouble. He could just slap his behind and leave. As his eldest son had said, why worry on someone else's behalf?

When the sky fell, someone else would always hold it up.

In truth, He Lingchuan understood as soon as he heard it. The Coiling Dragon Desert was a buffer zone between several major powers. Anyone who wanted to cross it to attack the Yuan Kingdom would have a hard time. What's more, the Furious Sand Season lasted nearly half a year and was a nightmare for any expeditionary army. During that period, unless an army could sustain itself through warfare and the supplies it looted were enough to support its troops, its lines of supply would be cut off completely.