Chapter 20: The Departure Ritual

"No, it is still there." State Preceptor Sun was full of confidence. "Otherwise, how do you think the Panlong Wasteland turned into a desert?"

He saw He Chunhua turning the broken comb over and over, with no intention of handing it over. Just as he was about to reach out and ask for it, He Chunhua spoke first: "I will keep it for now."

Sun Fuping knew that he did not trust the two of them, so he dismissed the idea of asking for it.

He Lingchuan was a bit surprised: "Eh, wasn't it said that the vengeful spirits of the Great Wind Army are undying and have drained the vitality of the entire wasteland?"

"If that were true, it would only be the surface appearance. Without the Great Square Pot, they would have long since dissipated between heaven and earth. Don't forget, since they can incubate tens of thousands of Heart-Bewitching Insects, then containing tens of thousands of vengeful spirits should be no pressure at all."

Heart-Bewitching Insects are formless, bodiless, and massless, similar to soul bodies, or rather, they are part of the human soul themselves. Since the Great Square Pot can store such things, it is very likely it can also contain vengeful spirits.

Nian Songyu also said from the side: "The Panlong Ruins are actually not far. We will go and return quickly; perhaps we can withdraw before September and won't have to face the fury of the Panlong Desert head-on."

It is already the fifteenth day of the eighth month, with fifteen days left until September. Then again, the Panlong Desert doesn't throw a tantrum by the calendar; how could the timing of its face-changing be so precise? It could be delayed or it could be early.

He Chunhua nodded: "We are also gathering men while searching for the Leopard Tooth; we can set off the day after tomorrow at dawn!"

Nian Songyu frowned: "Can't we go tomorrow? It's already the middle of the eighth month..."

Before he could finish, Sun Fuping waved his hand to interrupt him: "Let it be the sixteenth of the eighth month. It is already difficult for Master He to gather men at this time. It will also take some time for me to prepare the Departure Ritual here."

Before a royal army goes on an expedition, the State Preceptor must perform a ritual—first for divination, and second for blessing.

In normal times, how could the lowly county soldiers of Qiansong County enjoy such a standard? Before dispersing, He Lingchuan sought out Nian Songyu again: "Commandant Nian, what about the explanation?"

Nian Songyu's mind was full of the Panlong Desert, so he asked casually: "Explanation for what?"

"The person who leaked the intelligence about my injury," He Lingchuan reminded him. "Give me a name, and I won't bother you anymore."

Both sides had already reached a cooperation, and Nian Songyu did not expect this playboy to still want to get to the bottom of it; he was simply being ungrateful. He looked indifferent: "My personal guard said that person can no longer be found."

The words were left at that; what could this rural rich kid do? He Lingchuan looked regretful: "Really can't be found?"

Nian Songyu curled his lip: "A trivial matter. Young Master He should focus on the present."

Uncle Hao walked past from the rear and happened to hear this sentence.

In the evening, Hongbai Dao suddenly came to find He Lingchuan.

"Young Master He, something terrible has happened!"

After hearing this, He Lingchuan was first surprised, then thoughtful: "Don't panic, how big of a deal is this? Where is Uncle Hao? Go find him and bring him to me!"

￥￥￥￥￥

Two days flashed by in an instant.

Due to the strenuous efforts of all parties to facilitate it, these twenty-plus hours were calm and peaceful.

The terror of the Panlong Desert was deeply rooted in people's hearts, and every year there were negative examples of people dying, but He Chunhua still managed to assemble two hundred men within the specified time.

The team He Chunhua pulled together was not entirely made up of soldiers; there were quite a few criminals exiled to the frontier.

The exile period in the Yuan Kingdom is very long; while other countries only require ten to fifteen years, it is eighteen to twenty-five years here. Criminals exiled to Heishuicheng had long since prepared themselves for the fact that they would never return.

The Yuan Kingdom has been in civil war for years, either with feudal lords carving up territory or grassroots uprisings. With such constant fighting, the army has been depleted wave after wave, and it has long been difficult to recruit soldiers.

Qiansong County has also had many foreign wars in the past ten years, leading to severe attrition in the regular army. Therefore, Heishuicheng tries its best to absorb manpower locally; whether they are exiles or murderers, as long as they are strong and healthy, they enter the ranks. They even get paid, exempting them from daily forced labor.

State Preceptor Sun also brought a Royal Amnesty Decree this time.

Anyone who follows them to explore the Panlong Desert will have their freedom restored immediately upon success, and no matter how great their past crimes were, they will all be pardoned.

There are also heavy rewards.

Under heavy rewards, there must be brave men. There are many things in this world worse than death, such as being poor.

The bounty offered by the government is enough for these poor wretches to bid farewell to their own hands, marry a proper wife, take three or four concubines, have five or six big fat sons, and buy seven or eight acres of prime paddy fields. The whole family could live comfortably for the rest of their lives without doing a thing.

Simply put, it's either sudden death or sudden wealth.

Furthermore, the frontier is already full of desperate people, so the number of applicants was actually several dozen more than He Chunhua had expected.

As for the Deputy Commandant leading this team, Zeng Feixiong, his father has been insane for nearly twenty years and suffers from a wasting disease. The money for the medicine he eats every month is more than his salary, and he is currently drowning in debt. He Chunhua promised that if he is willing to lead the team on a trip to the Panlong Desert, all his debts will be cleared, and Old Man Zeng can live out his remaining years in peace, with medicine to eat, people to serve him, and finally someone to wear mourning clothes and see him off.

In this chaotic era, wanting a peaceful end might be several times harder than getting rich overnight.

Thus, Zeng Feixiong came.

It was the fifth watch, and the sky was not yet bright. The team had already finished preparations at the North Gate of Heishuicheng, waiting for the State Preceptor to perform the ritual.

The altar had already been set up here. Sun Fuping had bathed beforehand and changed into a bright yellow robe to ascend the platform.

Only the Son of Heaven and the State Preceptor can wear clothes of this color; anyone else would be beheaded.

He Lingchuan was very interested, because the rituals and sorcery in this world cannot be settled simply with peach wood swords, talisman paper, water, and "hurry, hurry, as if by law."

Sun Fuping took out that long staff and tapped it lightly on the ground, and the monster on the head of the staff raised its head to the sky and roared loudly.

This monster had a wide nose and big mouth, bulging eyes and whiskers on its jaw; its roar was like that of an ox, shaking the wilderness.

Pedestrians on the road were curious and gathered into a crowd of onlookers.

The monster roared three times, each louder than the last, and the final one was like a muffled thunder, making people's eardrums buzz.

As if in response to the beast's roar, the clouds in the sky thickened and darkened rapidly, and finally, several claps of thunder exploded in the deepest part of the cloud mass, rumbling down.

This is called the resonance between heaven and man.

After another ten breaths or so, it actually started to rain.

The cloud mass was only above the heads of the team, so the rain only fell on the soldiers; the clothes and hair of the onlookers remained dry, and none of them were wetted.

Such precise control is truly remarkable.

"The monster on the staff head is Yazi, which has the ability to summon wind and rain, but it is missing two horns." He Yue, standing beside his elder brother, murmured, "Why does State Preceptor Sun not use national fortune to pray for rain? Wouldn't that be less exhausting?"

His voice was very low, but Nian Songyu still heard it: "It cannot be used, lest there be trouble during the ritual later."

"Isn't this the ritual?" He Lingchuan was standing between him and his second brother, using himself as a barrier to separate them. "Then what is the State Preceptor doing?"

(End of chapter)