Where Immortals Once Walked-Chapter 428: Royal Secrets

The tree trunk was thin and spindly, its branches and leaves hardly lush, but within a kilometer, it was still the thickest, sturdiest tree around.

Two hundred years ago, there definitely would not have been a tree here.

“Up.”

They climbed in a blur, scrambling to the top and peering toward the corner tower.

Luckily, there was lamplight on the very first level. Through the window, they saw a man wearing a tall ceremonial crown, seated at a table, his fingertip tapping lightly against the tabletop.

Even when he was no longer in armor and in different clothes, He Lingchuan recognized him at once.

The King of Yuān!

This whole palace belongs to him. So why is he secretly meeting someone in a corner tower in the dead of night?

What couldn’t be said in his own hall, his own study?

Lord Shao hurried up, dropped to his knees, and bowed. “Greetings, Your Majesty!”

“Rise.” The King of Yuān stood as well, taking a few steps. “Is your father well?”

The moment he stood, He Lingchuan went rigid.

Last time, in the battlefield illusion, the king had ridden out with a spear in hand and a sword at his waist. But now, at his belt hung a ring-pommel saber.

And the ring’s ornament was a flood dragon head! 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

A hilt decoration could not be as lifelike as the real thing; at first glance, a bull’s head and a flood dragon’s head could look similar. But those two straight horns with no branching, those protruding dragon eyes, the shape of the grip and guard...

He Lingchuan knew every detail.

He did not even need to see the blade itself.

That’s Fleeting Life... No, not Fleeting Life exactly, but Fleeting Life’s previous self!

Before the broken saber had snapped in his hands, it had looked exactly like this. It had been altered a little later through the saber planting method, but He Lingchuan had held that broken saber for months. He knew every inch of it. There was no possibility of mistake.

So why was Zhong Shengguang’s saber hanging at the King of Yuān’s waist?

After the shock, something Sun Fuling had once said flashed through He Lingchuan’s mind: the King of Yuān’s nephew had been Commander Zhong’s schoolmate and close friend, and he had given Commander Zhong a treasured saber.

Back then, He Lingchuan had blindly guessed that the saber might be Fleeting Life, but with a beauty right in front of him, he had not thought deeply about it.

Only now, seeing it at the King of Yuān’s belt, did He Lingchuan remember where this illusion sat on the timeline. It seemed to be years before Zhong Shengguang took charge of the Panlong Wasteland.

Which meant the treasured saber had first been in the King of Yuān’s hands, and only later became Zhong Shengguang’s blade. The line of inheritance fit.

However, the story was that the treasured saber had been gifted by the King of Yuān’s nephew.

He Lingchuan’s gaze slid to the man surnamed Shao.

Is this the King of Yuān’s nephew?

“My father changed to a new prescription, but it hasn’t improved his condition. The royal physician says... he likely only has half a month left.”

The King of Yuān’s steps halted, then he said softly, “Is that so? So even he can’t hold on.”

“Among my brothers, your father was always the strongest as a child. He wouldn’t drown even if he fell into water, and he wouldn’t break even if he fell out of trees. We were closest. When we were your age, we swore great vows. We swore we would lift the people out of fire and flood. And yet...”

Hearing this, Fushan Yue tilted his head, puzzled, and whispered to He Lingchuan, “Were the people of the State of Yuān really living in misery back then? That seems unlikely. Compared to states outside Beijia, wouldn’t Yuān’s people have been happy?”

“You’re asking me?” He Lingchuan shot him a look of pure contempt. Do your homework, will you? Asking a foreigner because you didn’t study is shameless.

Fushan Yue rubbed his nose.

“If I had surrendered to the gods, accepted their investiture, taken the elixir of youth[1], then I would’ve been bound by them like the other monster kings. But at least then, the living beings of Yuān would not have faced annihilation.” The King of Yuān continued, his voice low and quiet, “So I wonder, have I now ended up betraying my own wishes?”

Lord Shao answered at once, “We die without regret.”

Whatever melancholy had touched the King of Yuān seemed to last only an instant. He rose and paced twice, then said, “Shao Jian. I summoned you overnight because I have something important to entrust to you.”

At being addressed by his personal name, Shao Jian immediately lowered his head and listened in respectful silence.

“You leave tomorrow morning for West Luo.”

Shao Jian jolted, forgetting decorum as he looked up. “Your Majesty?!”

“It violates natural bonds to deny you the chance to see your father at the end, but this is urgent beyond measure, and there is no one else who can do it.”

Shao Jian’s expression shifted between shock, resistance, and grief, all flickering in turn.

The King of Yuān spoke slowly, each word weighing like iron. “This matter is more important than your life, your father’s life, my life, and more important than the lives of all the people of Yuān!”

Shao Jian’s chest rose and fell several times. Then he bowed his head deeply and said in a grave voice, “Please command me, Your Majesty!”

The King of Yuān took out a black box[2] and set it on the table. Then he unfastened the treasured saber at his waist and laid it beside the box.

“Deliver these two items to your dear schoolmate and friend Zhong Shengguang.”

He Lingchuan’s breathing almost stopped.

So this was how the treasured saber left the State of Yuān.

Shao Jian looked completely at a loss. The King of Yuān beckoned him to stand, then personally opened the box a crack and let him glance inside.

“This isn’t, this can’t be...” Shao Jian’s face changed drastically. He looked left and right in alarm. “Your Majesty, it’s not wise to reveal this here!”

The King of Yuān said coolly, “Don’t panic. There are at least five layers of barriers here, and a wind-sniffing beast on the roof keeping watch. I’ve also used a method to obscure causality.”

Shao Jian stared at the black box, unblinking. “This is the G—?”

“The Generous Pot.”

A sudden gust swept through, but there was nothing it could disturb besides the two men’s hair and clothing.

The King of Yuān laid a hand on the box. “My State of Yuān has suffered this war, and more than half of it can be blamed on this thing. However, it must never fall into Beijia’s hands. If it does, countless living beings in the mortal realm will face catastrophe, forced to accept an endless fall with no escape. Whether it be cultivators or monsters, none of them will remain.” After a brief pause, he added, “We received news from the north at dusk. Dayan Pass has fallen.”

Shao Jian closed his eyes and lowered his head.

It was a calamity beyond measure.

“With Dayan Pass lost, it’s only a matter of time before the enemy reaches Qianxing City.” The King of Yuān’s gaze went to the treasured saber at his side. “These two items must be entrusted to someone we can trust.”

Shao Jian swallowed, feeling the weight of the task. “Why Zhong Liyao?”

Zhong Shengguang’s courtesy name was Liyao.

“After Qianxing City and I are gone, Beijia will dig a meter into the earth searching for the Generous Pot.” The night wind stirred the King of Yuān’s sleeves. “They won’t let go of any clue tied to me or the Shao Family, but Zhong Shengguang is a foreigner. He only came to Yuān as a traveling scholar, toured the palace, and has no connection to me. Students like him pass through all states, every year, in great numbers. They won’t suspect him.”

“And besides, though I’ve spoken with him deeply only twice, we met like old friends. Over the years, we’ve exchanged letters in secret.” Firelight painted the king’s face in shifting shadow, but his voice was firm. “His ideals are the same as ours. Even then, I thought that if we fail, this man can inherit our will.”

He patted Shao Jian’s shoulder. “You’re a good child, but the weight of these two items is too much for you.”

Shao Jian considered a moment, then answered with frank calm. “Zhong Liyao has mountains and valleys in his heart. His resolve is like metal and stone. Rarely, he’s unyielding, yet he also understands flexibility. He truly is the best possible choice to entrust with a priceless treasure. Your Majesty is right. I am not his equal.”

“The treasured saber is yours to give him, as for the Generous Pot—” the King of Yuān’s voice turned solemn as he continued, “I’ve tried no fewer than three to four hundred ways to destroy it, and none worked. Tell Zhong Shengguang to keep trying. He must destroy it. Otherwise, Beijia will find a way to locate it, no matter the ends of the world.”

He let out a long sigh. “How ridiculous. When I was young, I didn’t believe in fate. I thought I could use it to resist the gods. I thought I would not walk the same road as those before me. Only now has reality proven that this thing is nothing but a source of disaster. It can only bring ruin and rivers of blood.”

Crack.

The branch beside He Lingchuan snapped.

He had tightened his grip without realizing it.

Fushan Yue glared at him in reproach.

Thankfully, this is only an illusion. If we’d truly been spying on a human king’s secret meeting and made a sound, we’d be fleeing for our lives right now.

The phantom King of Yuān, of course, showed no reaction. He gave a faint, bitter laugh and continued calmly, “My failure was the failure of trust. Tell him to take that as a warning.”

After saying that, he added softly, “There is also a letter inside the box. Once he reads it, he’ll understand.”

Shao Jian stepped forward to accept the box and the treasured saber.

But the King of Yuān stroked the saber’s scabbard for a long while before finally letting go. “Take it.”

Shao Jian took both items and was about to kneel and withdraw when the King of Yuān spoke again, “Once you deliver them, leave immediately. Do not let anyone connect you to West Luo. The heavenly gods can calculate cause and effect.”

He reached out and placed something else in Shao Jian’s hand. It was a small object no larger than half a finger joint, not quite jade, not quite bone.

He Lingchuan’s hand flew to his own collar.

Wait, is that the divine bone amulet?

The shape was different, but the material looked exactly the same.

So the “three-piece set” he had obtained, had it all flowed out of the King of Yuān’s hands in one go?

Shao Jian accepted it reverently and turned it over twice. “This is?”

“It was made from the little finger bone that the god Mitian left behind in the mortal realm.”

“God Mitian?” Shao Jian murmured. “No wonder.”

He tucked the divine bone away, then dropped to his knees and knocked his head against the floor three times, each thud loud and real. His voice broke, “Your nephew is leaving. Royal Uncle, please take care of yourself! I entrust my father to you!”

The King of Yuān nodded once, then waved him out. “Go, make sure it reaches him.”

The moment the words left his mouth, his figure blurred rapidly.

Before He Lingchuan and Fushan Yue’s eyes, the corner tower, the palace wall, and the vast, magnificent Qianxing City all dissolved into darkness.

A cloud had drifted across the sky, blocking the moon.

The show was over.

Fushan Yue hopped down to the ground and shook out his legs. “So what was that? Royal secrets?”

He received no reply and heard no sound.

He looked up and saw that He Lingchuan was still hugging the tree trunk, as if he had gone stupid.

“Hey! The show’s done. You coming down or what?”

He Lingchuan blinked like someone waking from a dream and jumped down.

“Hm? What’d you say?”

“Why didn’t this illusion appear before?” Fushan Yue asked, genuinely baffled. “And why did it appear tonight?”

He Lingchuan pointed at his own nose. “You’re asking me?”

“Who else is here?” Fushan Yue muttered. “You were thinking so hard, I thought you had a clue.”

He Lingchuan could not help but laugh. “What clue would I have?”

Fushan Yue murmured, “What even is the Generous Pot? Why does Lingxu City want it so badly?”

“Whatever it is, it’s missing.” He Lingchuan’s mind was a mess right now. He forced a smile anyway. “The State of Yuān is gone. West Luo is gone. Where are you going to find it? It doesn’t matter. Besides, wasn’t that all two hundred years ago?”

Fushan Yue made a low tss sound and eyed the saber at He Lingchuan’s waist. “Still, I keep thinking the blade that the King of Yuān gave away looks kind of like the one you’re wearing.”

1. Note that this elixir is possibly something that simply stops aging rather than one that might revert one’s biological age or appearance to that of their youth. Also, it’s unlikely to be an elixir that grants immortality ☜

2. A possible translation for this box is casket, but caskets are typically used to carry corpses, and I’m not sure if there’s a corpse in here. ☜