Chapter 23: The Lowly Must Be Cautious

Ahead stood a half-peak, the entire mountain barren and bald, with only a few sparse shrubs struggling in the nooks and crannies. Yet, travelers arriving here for the first time would surely have their gaze drawn to it, for its shape was too unique:

The upper half of the mountain was gone, but it did not look like it had weathered and broken off, because the cross-section was exceptionally flat, as if someone had swung a blade to slash it diagonally, cleaving it in two!

That cross-section was abrupt and resolute. One must realize this was an entire mountain peak, millions of tons of rock and soil, not a clump of bamboo that could be easily cut away.

There is a local legend that in ancient times, immortals fought here, and a single sword strike cleaved the mountain peak; thus, this broken peak is also known as "Immortal's Slash."

Legends of this kind are everywhere in this realm and are difficult to verify. But He Lingchuan’s original self had actually climbed up to the Immortal's Slash a few years ago and seen with his own eyes that the fracture was smooth and seamless; there wasn't a single bump across such a large area, something even the most careful craftsman could not achieve.

Whether it was man-made or not, it was mind-boggling.

Sun Fu stared at this half-peak, as if feeling the ferocity and sharpness of that sword strike that remained to this day, and only after a long while did he let out a long breath: "The Dao is boundless indeed."

Turning past the mountain col further ahead, a solitary old poplar tree stood by the road, with two people hanging ominously beneath its dry, hard branches.

The wind was blowing, and the people were swaying.

Many travelers were gathered under the tree, pointing and whispering to one another.

When the team of State Preceptor Sun drew near and looked, they saw two white boards hanging on the corpses, inscribed with the words "Courtesy" and "Reciprocity" respectively.

The expressions of Nian Songyu and Sun Fu changed instantly; their gazes were sharp, and they could immediately see that both corpses had a transparent tag pinned to their lapels, with the two characters "Donglai" on them.

Two of the Donglai Prefecture guards sent to track the West Mountain Sand Leopard had gone missing heading toward Heishuicheng. Sun and Nian knew of this matter because they were the ones who had assigned the personnel. But at that time, clues to the Sand Leopard's whereabouts had already appeared, so they had not investigated further.

Now, these two had turned into corpses, lying across the path they were bound to take.

Nian Songyu could tell at a glance that these two had died from having their necks twisted, and they had been interrogated before death.

Seeing his face flush red and the veins on his neck bulging, State Preceptor Sun quickly pressed down on his shoulder: "Do not be impulsive! Isn't this within expectations?" These two guards had been missing for a long time, and their side had already inferred the possibility of their deaths.

"The Donglai Prefecture personnel were arranged by us; this little bastard is taking revenge on us!" Nian Songyu gritted his teeth. He had killed one kite demon, and the other party had harmed two of his men in retaliation.

Donglai Prefecture was, after all, too far from the border, so the Grand Marshal had allocated his own guards for the two to command.

State Preceptor Sun’s face darkened: "The big picture comes first! Internal strife is not allowed now."

"Wait until we get the Great Square Pot..." Nian Songyu clenched his teeth, knowing that He Lingchuan had calculated that he still needed to rely on the Heishuicheng army, so they could not fall out just yet. He turned his head and shouted angrily, "He Lingchuan!"

He Chunhua was also greatly shocked to suddenly see the corpses. Shouldn't these two have been locked up in the farmstead on Red-White Road? Then he remembered that his eldest son had always been reckless and willful.

That he had restrained himself slightly over the past two months did not mean his true nature had changed.

Nian Songyu called out twice before He Lingchuan slowly rode his horse forward, meeting the anger about to erupt from Nian Songyu: "Commandant Nian, what is it?"

"Do you recognize these two?"

He Lingchuan took a careful look, secretly startled. Was Uncle Hao venting all his anger? "Of course I don't. So many people come and go in Heishuicheng, how would I have the ability to remember every single name?" He paused, "Eh, they actually have Donglai Prefecture name tags. How could such big shots hang themselves in a godforsaken place?"

"Good, good." Nian Songyu laughed instead of getting angry, and his tone suddenly shifted, "When companions die on the Red Cliff Road, how do you all handle it?"

He guessed at once that the two guards must have been killed by He Lingchuan. This brat wanted to make things difficult for him; the more he asked, the more he would be mocked.

When words don't agree, half a sentence is too much; there was no need to probe further.

"If we can't bring them back, we give them a sky burial." He Lingchuan shrugged, "Since they didn't have a good end, let the creatures of the desert thank nature for the gift."

He Chunhua hurried over to interject: "Mostly it is a ground burial."

"Then a ground burial it is." After all, they were people from Donglai Prefecture; it wouldn't do to leave their bodies exposed in the wilderness.

He Lingchuan said amusedly: "A trivial matter. Commandant Nian should focus on the present; don't delay the team's progress."

He had finally thrown those words back; how satisfying! A look of resentment flashed through Nian Songyu's eyes, and he immediately instructed Ceng Fei to send men to take down the two corpses and bury them on the spot.

The team, of course, could not wait and continued forward.

The feeling of being stared at by Nian Songyu was like a venomous snake on his back, making his hair stand on end. He Lingchuan pulled his father to slow down, walking in the middle of the team.

A person as proud as Commandant Nian would, of course, lead the way; he couldn't keep looking back at He Lingchuan, could he? "What are you doing?" He Chunhua whispered, scolding his son, "Killing those two serves no purpose; it will only further the enmity with Nian Songyu."

He did not know that the people were killed by Uncle Hao.

"It vents some anger!" He Lingchuan sneered as he watched him scold him as if nothing had happened, "These two had no bottom line in scheming against us, so why can't your son slap him back? Besides, he needs us; this is the time he shouldn't be falling out with us."

"If we return alive, in the future..."

"If we return with the treasure, the Grand Marshal will be overjoyed; why would he care about such a small matter?" He Lingchuan said listlessly, "Father, you aren't old yet, but your courage has shrunk."

He Chunhua thought for a moment, his face dimming slightly: "You are right; I was too cautious."

He always thought about serving in the court in the future, especially since his family had just returned to the capital and their foundation was unstable; it was better to have fewer enemies.

The thought might not be wrong, but how could one achieve great things with this timid and cautious mentality in front of the powerful? He warned himself inwardly, then said to He Lingchuan: "Chuan'er, are you still blaming your father for dragging you on this journey?"

Asked like that, should he answer "yes" straightforwardly, or "no" against his conscience? He Lingchuan could only chuckle: "How would your son dare?"

"As a father, who doesn't hope for their son to be safe and successful? But in this world, it's impossible." He Chunhua patted his shoulder, "Chuan'er, you aren't young anymore; it's time to be properly tempered."

He Lingchuan couldn't help it: "When others are tempered, the difficulty goes from low to high." Only his father had given him a high-level challenge right from the start.

The eldest son was indeed full of resentment, and He Chunhua laughed: "Don't blame your old man for being heartless. With you here, the probability of us returning home safely increases by at least twenty percent. The Great Shaman's words are no joke."

He Lingchuan rolled his eyes. If his original self was truly a lucky charm, why did he die so quietly, and why was his body occupied by an outsider like him? But this retort could only be kept inside.

Arguing now was of no use, and besides, as a local official and his father, He Chunhua really didn't need to explain much to him.

(End of chapter)