Chapter 156

He Chunhua stood up and said, "Alright, Qinghe, treat his wounds and get him something to eat and drink. Since he is cooperating, this is what he deserves."

The father and his two sons walked out of the woodshed.

He Lingchuan asked him: "Father, should this inside story be reported to the Wang Ting?"

"It should, but it must be delayed for ten days. That prisoner is the witness; we will submit him along with the report then."

He Yue nodded.

He Lingchuan asked curiously: "Why ten days later?"

"If I report it now, the Wang Ting might reply by ordering me to stay at Woling Pass to investigate this matter." He Chunhua smiled. "What is our top priority?"

"Of course, it's to go to Xiazhou and take up our posts!"

Anything else being urgent was just empty talk; the most important thing before He Chunhua's eyes was to sit squarely in the position of Superintendent of Xiazhou! So He Lingchuan realized: "Father is truly cunning!"

In five or seven days at most, they would board a ship and head north; ten days later they would be almost at Shi Huan City, and then a few more days of travel would bring them to Xiazhou. By the time the Wang Ting received the report and wanted to investigate Hong Xiangqian's weapon-release, they would have to send someone else.

With everything said, He Lingchuan yawned and stood up: "I'm going back to sleep; Father, you should rest early too." After all, he had been busy all day.

However, just as he and He Yue had walked two steps, they were called back by their father: "Chuan'er, you stayed behind to cover the retreat this morning; you were very brave, and your father is very pleased."

He Lingchuan turned around with a smile, about to accept a few more compliments, when He Chunhua immediately added: "However, you are not allowed to do this again in the future."

"Hmm?" He Lingchuan was stunned. "Father, weren't you going to praise me?"

"The support army has three hundred men; there are capable people to cover the retreat, so the eldest son of the He family does not need to take the field himself." He Chunhua said gently, "What is the use of bravery alone? You are a lucky general, but good fortune can sometimes fail; it is not something to rely on. You are sixteen; a great man knows what can be done and what cannot. Before putting yourself in danger, think more of your mother and your younger brother."

He Lingchuan was stunned for a short while before saying "Oh." "Understood."

Having said that, he turned and left.

Returning to the small courtyard where they were staying, He Yue said to him: "After you fell off the cliff, Zhao Qinghe brought the bad news; Father was extremely heartbroken, yet he still had to manage the safety of hundreds of people. His words were absolutely not meant as a reprimand; don't take them to heart."

He Lingchuan shrugged: "Do I look like I'm taking them to heart?"

That night, the two slept in the same room.

In fact, He Lingchuan always felt something was strange. If it had been the original owner, he would probably be furious: finally having a chance to show off, only to be lectured by his father.

But now, as soon as he lay down, his mind was filled with the few verses the old turtle demon had left him: Seek life within death, hide your edge and keep to simplicity.

Explore the real within the void,...

This old thing really liked to speak in riddles. He Lingchuan really wanted to scramble its egg yolk.

He wanted to live.

He wanted to live brilliantly in this chaotic world of strange powers and disregard for human life.

But he still had to solve the riddles first.

The old turtle said its power wasn't enough and the heavenly secrets had been twisted, so it could only glimpse these; He Lingchuan had best accept them, as there was no other way.

The first two lines of these three verses were easy to understand: to survive, one must hide one's light and not show one's edge; he had been doing this ever since he transmigrated, and now at least he knew he hadn't done anything wrong.

If he were like those spirit-youths with dyed hair throwing dirt by the village, knowing only how to be reckless and compete for the spotlight, thinking that an eye-for-an-eye was a happy life, and thinking that all the heroes of the world should make way for his protagonist halo, then his ashes would probably have been scattered long ago.

However, he occasionally showed his true colors, such as when he showed off his skills in County Magistrate Village and on the West Mountain road, which everyone saw; that was definitely wrong, and he would have to be more cautious in the future.

The key was in the last line.

What did "Explore the real within the void" mean? He Lingchuan thought of his two experiences entering the Panlong Dream.

Could it refer to this?

And he always felt that these three verses were too light, as if one final line was missing.

Looking at the format, there had to be a fourth line to make it flow well, right? As it turned out, the old turtle said very embarrassedly that it couldn't deduce the fourth line no matter what, and told He Lingchuan to fill it in himself when he thought of it in the future.

Damn, he had to fill it in himself?

He Lingchuan thought for a long time without any more clues, and he couldn't discuss it with anyone else.

These experiences couldn't be spoken of at all, not to mention the old turtle demon had warned him that these verses could only be kept in his heart and must never be written down.

Sigh, it's truly worrying.

But regardless, he knew his future would likely be turned upside down because of these three verses.

This wasn't a curse but a prophecy; a curse could be broken, but a prophecy... he had better obediently listen and save his life first, then plan a comeback.

After two consecutive days of heart-pounding events, He Yue was mentally exhausted and couldn't sleep.

As he tossed and turned, he heard his brother's snoring gradually begin, wondering if he was showing off his skills in his dreams.

His heart is truly big, He Yue sometimes envied this simple brother.

￥￥￥￥￥

The next morning, He Lingchuan was ruthlessly woken up.

There was a visitor, and He Chunhua called for him to come over quickly.

The other bed was empty, and the bedding had been neatly packed; clearly, He Yue had gone out early in the morning to handle matters for his father.

He Lingchuan knew what was going on, so he hurriedly washed his face and rushed over, only putting on his coat on the way.

Upon entering the hall, it was indeed Wu Shaoyi who had come, and he was talking to He Chunhua.

Both had smiles on their faces; as soon as Wu Shaoyi saw He Lingchuan, he said: "Young Master He, please take care of me in the future!"

"Hey, easy to say; I was worried about you all night last night." He Lingchuan lied with his eyes open. "How is your body now?"

Wu Shaoyi sighed: "How can a deficiency of qi and blood be healed in a day or two? I'll just hold on, and it will pass." He had used a secret technique to displace his injuries, but having lost too much blood earlier, even his organs showed signs of slight decline; without careful recuperation for ten days or half a month, he wouldn't recover.

"The physician in my troop is highly skilled; he will arrange your medicine and diet, so you just need to recuperate well." He Chunhua was full of smiles, then turned to He Lingchuan: "There are three hundred elite soldiers who came with General Wu to join us; they must all be properly settled!"

As He Chunhua headed to Xiazhou, the more talent he had under his command, the better. This person had the talent of a general and soldiers—both were ready-made; although he could no longer go to the battlefield to fight, once he joined, the support army's strength would greatly increase.

Wu Shaoyi shook his head and smiled: "What kind of general am I now? I am now a deputy general of the support army."

He Chunhua had indeed followed the conditions negotiated by his eldest son, giving him the position of deputy general in the army.

Everyone laughed.

Taking advantage of the relaxed atmosphere, He Lingchuan hurriedly asked about the battle at Desheng Town.

It turned out that after Wu Shaoyi arrived at Desheng Town by water, he had carried out harassment-style Mobile Corps Commander warfare against the Lu bandits stationed in the town, especially targeting their horses. It wasn't easy to steal horses, but it wasn't hard to kill them.

It just so happened that these horses were also kept not far from the creek, and because there were too few water troughs in the town, the Lu bandits didn't have time to take them back, and the Crocodile God even took the opportunity to eat a dozen of them with his subordinates.

He Chunhua sighed: "It's a pity that Pei Xinyong refused to join us."

Pei Xinyong didn't want to join, nor did he want his whereabouts to be known, so of course he would leave as soon as possible after the Battle of Desheng Town.

In fact, it wasn't just Pei Xinyong. Wu Shaoyi recalled all his subordinates and explained his future plans, letting the brothers who were willing to join the government troops stay.

As a result, half the people left.

"I tried to persuade them, but unfortunately, everyone has their own aspirations; he said he would never return to officialdom." Wu Shaoyi spread his hands. "I asked him about his future plans, and he only said he would take it one step at a time, and he wouldn't tell me where he was going."

Although they were old brothers who had fought side by side, one was now eating government grain, while the other had to continue being a bandit; they were destined to part ways.

He Chunhua sighed: "What a pity."

The three chatted for a while longer, and then He Chunhua stood up and left.

His work was never-ending.

He Lingchuan poured a cup of water for Wu Shaoyi: "I have good wine here. When your wounds heal, we'll have a couple of drinks."

Wu Shaoyi gladly agreed.

"Just now you said Pei Xinyong wouldn't return to officialdom—what did you mean by that?" He Lingchuan had sharp ears. "Was he an official before?"

"He served in the Long Xia Garrison Prefecture for six years and became a Courageous Commandant. The year the Chong River flooded, the Long Xia Garrison Prefecture was ordered to coordinate the transport of disaster relief supplies. At that time, Old Pei was young and straightforward; he couldn't stand the officialdom's habit of skimming off the top and taking cuts at every level, and he was deeply encouraged by hearing that the monarch wanted to strictly enforce discipline and rectify the administration, so he bypassed his superiors to report their corruption and resale of supplies."

So Pei Xinyong had such a past? He Lingchuan was very interested: "And then?"

"Then he was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot; his superiors remained perfectly fine, and the charge was directly pinned on him, with both human and material evidence present—he couldn't argue his case. There was no need for a trial; he was dismissed and imprisoned, suffered every kind of torture, his buttocks were rotten, and he almost died inside. When others rescued him from prison, there were still maggots crawling in the wounds on his waist. Although his wounds were later healed, he was left with a deficiency."

Wu Shaoyi shrugged: "So Old Pei often says that Great Yuan is just Great Yuan. He is not interested in officialdom, nor is he interested in Lord He's offer of amnesty."

He Lingchuan didn't know what to say.

After a long while, he continued to ask Wu Shaoyi for advice: "I have one more thing I don't understand. Listening to you all, this Hong Xiangqian should be very remarkable; why would he heavily use a notorious cannibal like Lu Yao? Isn't he afraid that the reputation of the rebels—uh, the righteous army—will be ruined?"

"In the eyes of the Holy Master, Lu Yao and we are not much different." Wu Shaoyi sighed faintly. "Both are blades that kill people; perhaps he is even faster and sharper."

He Lingchuan pondered this sentence carefully, and the more he thought about it, the more it made sense.

What difference is there between good and bad blades? It all depends on whose hands they are in.

Those who achieve great things do not fuss over trifles; Lu Yao's little hobby of eating people and his minor moral flaws probably didn't even count as trifles in Hong Xiangqian's eyes.

Having said that, Wu Shaoyi didn't know that the Holy Master had performed weapon-release to survive in the world, and He Lingchuan didn't intend to tell him.

Lu Yao was often drunk later on; that must have been after he had properly settled Hong Xiangqian's Primordial Spirit? How long a soul can exist after death depends on the strength of the Primordial Spirit; ordinary people can last about seven days, while those with powerful Primordial Spirits can hold on for a while longer—just a while.

(End of chapter)