Where Immortals Once Walked-Chapter 157: Blade Dissolution

“Everyone was on edge after the escape, but General Lu acted like nothing had happened. One night, when he was drunk, about a dozen men tried to mutiny and seize command. They failed and paid dearly for it.” The captive gulped hard. “General Lu may still have a few diehards willing to follow him to the grave, but me... I don’t want to die.”

“Hmph! Coward!” Zhao Qinghe kicked him to the ground. “Spill everything you know about every step General Lu and the other rebels took after fleeing Woling Pass.”

The captive banged his head on the floor. “Spare me, Lord He!” He obediently spilled everything he knew.

Only then did He Chunhua and his sons learn the truth. After Woling Pass fell back into the hands of the Royal Court of Yuan, the rebel forces had splintered, their backbone broken. Seven or eight leaders each gathered what scraps they could and scattered. Lu Yao had managed to rally over a thousand under his banner, but this number only came to be because he had swallowed up one of the smaller groups. He had answered Pei Xinyong’s call to regroup at Immortal Spirit Village. Still, of course, he aimed to claim the position of supreme commander, then seize territory around Shuitou in the west and slowly build his own base of power.

He Lingchuan’s doubts remained. “And how is that any different from Wu Shaoyi’s original plan? Lu Yao mocked him for wanting to be a petty brigand leader, yet isn’t he just trying to carve out a kingdom for himself?”

“It’s not the same.” The captive explained, “General Lu intends to use Shuitou as his foothold and gradually devour the surrounding commanderies and provinces. He’s convinced that Yuan is stretched thin, distracted by troubles in the north, and will inevitably loosen its grip on the west. He believes that his chance is there. Once his fame and strength grow, the royal court won’t be able to ignore him. They’ll have no choice but to recognize him, maybe even beg for his troops.”

The captive’s lips were dry at this point. However, he still forced himself to keep talking, “He said that if fortune favored him, he could be enfeoffed as a king or marquis, as well as the nine bestowments[1]. That’s how many great warlords of the past made their names.”

He Chunhua could not restrain a derisive laugh. “The nine bestowments? Him? What delusions.”

The three of them now understood that Lu Yao’s ambition was to split off his own domain and strong-arm the throne into submission.

Indeed, Lu Yao was not wrong. When dynasties waned, local strongmen rose like weeds after the rain. With soldiers and grain in their hands, their influence grew, while the royal court’s power shriveled. Once the center could no longer rein them in, all it could do was soothe and appease by granting titles or rewards. Yet even then, some were unsatisfied. One itch too many, and they would crown themselves kings.

He Yue nodded. “A man like Lu Yao, once he’s tasted power, there’s no going back. He’ll march straight into ruin rather than give it up.”

He Lingchuan perched on a thick wooden stump, sighing. “What a lawless bastard.”

He Chunhua shot him a glance. Why does this boy’s tone almost sound envious?

The captive went on, “When General Lu encountered Commandery Administrator He in Immortal Spirit Village, he was ecstatic. He wanted to seize your seal and mandate token, take your place as governor of Xia Province.”

The three were stunned. He Yue sneered and said, “A fool’s dream. Origin energy is conferred by the monarch. How could he ever wield it?”

The captive stammered, “General Lu claimed he had a way to strip Lord He of his identity by changing his birth record, and thereby usurp his office, channeling the origin energy for himself. As for how, we don’t know. He refused to tell us.”

He Lingchuan smacked the stump. “So that’s why Lu Yao hounded us as if we’d burned his whole family alive! He was lusting after my father’s office all along, wanting to become a king in stolen robes!”

From the moment they stepped into Immortal Spirit Village, Lu Yao’s eyes had been fixed on his father. The realization left He Yue with a chill of belated dread.

Zhao Qinghe barked from the side, “What else? Repeat everything you said before about the Divine Master, and make it clear for my lord!”

The captive asked for a cup of water, wetting his cracked lips before speaking, “As for the Divine Master, we never knew the truth of it. But just before Heavenly King Mound was about to fall, the Divine Master summoned General Lu for a private audience.”

Heavenly King Mound had been the rebels’ last fortress at Woling Pass, a bastion as solid as iron. He Chunhua had read the battle reports. The royal army had paid dearly to bring it down.

“General Lu brought four or five of us along, myself included, but we were ordered to wait seven meters outside. We couldn’t hear a word of what was said within. Meanwhile, the fighting outside grew increasingly desperate, and the fortress was on the verge of collapse. The front lines sent urgent messengers four or five times. But under the Divine Master’s order, we dared not step past that door. About an hour after, General Lu emerged, eyes red, and declared that the Divine Master had already passed away.”

Everyone had been stunned. Several generals rushed over, wanting to see for themselves, but Lu Yao set guards at the chamber and forbade anyone entry. General Wu Shaoyi even came to blows with him over it. Then suddenly the walls gave way, the royal court’s soldiers poured into Heavenly King Mound, and the generals, seeing that the end had come, turned to flee.

When an army is on its last breath, all its hopes rest on the pillar that holds up the sky. But just when you need it most, the beam snaps. Now, not only did the supposed beam fail to keep them safe, but it threatened to crush them first. He Lingchuan could well imagine the Righteous Army’s despair, that sense of having been betrayed by Heaven itself.

He blurted out, “Then by your account, Hong Xiangqian wasn’t really dead, and it was just a false report leaked to the outside?”

“He died. Lord Ke Jihai delivered Hong Xiangqian’s severed head to the capital himself. It was shown around, confirmed by many. It was undeniably Hong Xiangqian.” He Chunhua tapped his fingers lightly against the stack of firewood. “Unless, of course, he had a body double identical to himself.”

He Lingchuan waved it off. “What’s so strange about that? Plenty of people keep stand-ins. Those are useful for a crisis.”

“Oh?” He Chunhua fixed him with a penetrating look. “And who exactly do you mean?”

“Uh...” He Lingchuan faltered, then quickly turned the focus back on the captive. “What you’ve said so far, I could ask any other rebel and get the same story. Don’t you have anything new?”

“I do, I do.” The captive swallowed. “In fact, when General Lu sealed off the chamber, I went inside with him. I—I saw the Divine Master’s body on the floor, head and body separated!”

He Chunhua was shaken. “Lu Yao killed Hong Xiangqian?!”

Hong Xiangqian’s status in the rebel army was second to none. According to the intelligence He Chunhua had gathered, Lu Yao had once been nothing but a thug from the streets. As a youth, he had slaughtered seven and maimed nine in broad daylight before being captured, condemned to die after the autumn assizes[2] It was Hong Xiangqian who had recognized his raw potential, saved him from the executioner, and personally taught him martial arts and tactics. In every sense, Hong Xiangqian had given him a second life.

So why would Lu Yao turn on him all of a sudden? 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

“But, but there wasn’t a drop of blood on the floor. There was not even a single trace of blood. The Divine Master’s head was severed, but his face was calm, almost serene, as though asleep. Nothing in the chamber was overturned; there were no signs of a struggle at all.” The captive swallowed again. “General Lu ordered us in to put the chamber in order, so I don’t think he’d had time to clean up beforehand.”

He Chunhua leaned in. “And then?”

“By then, the fortress had already fallen. State troops were pouring in at large, so we had no time to do much of anything. We followed General Lu’s orders, wrapped the Divine Master’s body with heavy stones, and sank it in the Mingtai River. As for the head, I don’t know what General Lu did with it.”

He Chunhua spoke slowly, “Later, Lords Wu Di and Ke Jihai found Hong Xiangqian’s hiding place. There were no guards, only a brocade box set on the table. Inside lay his head. With it was a letter in his own hand, confessing himself as the culprit and begging the soldiers not to trouble the commoners of Woling Pass.”

He Lingchuan snorted, “So they didn’t cut it off themselves. Then the authenticity is questionable.”

He Yue shook his head. “The two lords did harbor suspicions, but they tested it by every means available. It truly was Hong Xiangqian’s head, and so they sent it to the capital. In truth, once the court declared to the world that Hong Xiangqian was dead, the fact of it hardly mattered anymore. He and his rebels would never rise again.”

He Chunhua’s expression grew grave, and then he said slowly, “From this man’s account, perhaps Chuan’er isn’t entirely wrong after all.”

He Lingchuan instantly puffed up with pride. “So I’m right after all? Aha! But right is right, and wrong is wrong. What do you mean by me being not entirely wrong?”

“Hong Xiangqian may not truly be dead, but he can’t exactly be called alive either.” After some hesitation, He Chunhua then continued, his voice deliberate and grave, “ I suspect that he summoned Lu Yao into that chamber to help him carry out a blade dissolution spell.”

“Blade dissolution?” This was the second time He Lingchuan had heard that term, and his first thought jumped back to the old turtle monster. I know that certain monsters can undergo something called corpse dissolution. Is this the human equivalent, just under a different name?

“With blade in hand, one liberates the original spirit[3] from its fleshly binds,” He Chunhua explained, word by word. “Simply put, it means letting another sever your head to free your original spirit.”

He Lingchuan glanced at his younger brother and saw He Yue frowning, clearly lost. He was now sure that this was some obscure lore even well-read scholars might never touch.

“So you’re saying Hong Xiangqian’s original spirit slipped free? Then blade dissolution isn’t just a matter of chopping off someone’s head, is it?”

“Of course not. He had to channel every drop of his essence, qi, spirit, and blood into his head. Only then, when Lu Yao struck, could Hong Xiangqian shed his mortal shell. The timing had to be perfect. Too early or too late, and it would have been nothing more than a murder.” He Chunhua’s tone was low and precise. “Judging by the lack of blood on the ground, the ritual succeeded. The blood in his body had already been drawn into the head; he could no longer move. Only Lu Yao’s blade gave him the chance to break free. Most importantly, corpse dissolution cannot be done alone; it always requires another’s hand.”

“So that means Lu Yao was his truest confidant?” He Lingchuan then asked with interest, “And once his original spirit is free, what can he do?”

Privately, he wondered. If that old turtle monster’s dissolution is similar and needs outside help, then maybe it had relied on the Crocodile God’s power? It’s risky, yes, but the flesh it left behind had no room for further cultivation anyway. If so, that was some shrewd planning.

“Possession,” He Yue cut in. “I’ve heard that a disembodied spirit can’t wander long in the open. It must quickly seize a vessel, ideally an unborn fetus.”

He Lingchuan shrugged. “Then we don’t have to worry about Hong Xiangqian making trouble for at least ten years.”

“Not necessarily, Lord Ke once said that Hong Xiangqian commanded powers no less than the state preceptor’s. He may have already prepared a suitable vessel in advance, in case of misfortune.” He Chunhua then turned back to the captive and asked, “After leaving Woling Pass, did Lu Yao ever make contact with any pregnant women or children under three years old? Of course, this isn’t counting the ones he might have eaten.”

1. The nine bestowments were a set of nine ceremonial honors granted by the emperor to powerful subjects, which by the late Han era had become a political signal that the recipient was poised to usurp the throne. ☜

2. The autumn assizes or the autumn trial system was a special judicial system in the Qing dynasty of China. During the Qing dynasty, people who committed crimes like subversion and treason were sentenced to death. In such cases, typically, criminals could not be amnestied. ☜

3. This is also often called primordial soul in other novels, though I’m choosing to translate it this way to avoid confusion with any possible future terms. ☜