Chapter 61: Out of Place? No one had expected that even as dead spirits, the Gale Army could still employ such ruthless tactics.
Clearly, they understood that no matter how powerful the Heavenly Lightning Array was, it had its limits. By sending wave after wave of ordinary wrathful souls to exhaust its energy, once the array failed, would the living within not merely be fish in a barrel?
With the season of mad sand just beginning, the undead had nearly limitless time. The living, on the other hand, did not. After several hundred wrathful souls slammed into the array, the electric glow of the runes was clearly fading. It became painfully evident that the power of the heavens that they were borrowing was not endless.
And the Gale Army was clearly testing to see just how much was left.
When that batch was gone, the Gale Army immediately drove forward a thousand more wrathful souls. In the current Panlong Desert, nothing was more plentiful.
The sight made the living dizzy with despair. A trusted subordinate croaked, “Commandery Administrator, we... what do we...”
If they keep this up, won’t the array simply collapse? “Steady!” He Chunhua barked. “The more you panic, the faster the formation will fail! As long as the State Preceptor obtains the Generous Pot, our crisis will be resolved!”
Someone muttered under their breath, “How much longer will that take?”
He Chunhua whirled and, with one stroke of his sword, lopped off half the man’s ear. “Are you trying to get your comrades killed? Anyone who sows panic will be executed!”
The sight of blood actually helped calm the crowd.
Once again, the Gale Army drove hundreds of wrathful souls to their doom, forcing them to hurl themselves against the lightning barrier.
He Chunhua felt dizzy himself. He glanced at the staff at the center of the array and saw that the mandate token clenched within the beast’s mouth was slowly losing its color, its blue glow growing fainter and fainter. This meant that the morale was steadily being ground down.
However, the pool remained eerily calm.
The Gale Army itself had suffered no losses, sending only cannon fodder to die. How much longer could they hold out at this rate?
He Chunhua sighed inwardly. It seemed that he had fallen right into the state preceptor’s trap.
The heroic spirits of Panlong City had all spent their lives repelling invaders, making them especially sensitive to the presence of foreign armies. And with the mandate token deployed, their group of a hundred living people was like a beacon in the night, impossible for the Gale Army to ignore.
Wait! A thought suddenly struck He Chunhua, and his spirits were suddenly lifted.
* * *
The southern gate was in sight. Sooner or later, they would reach it.
At the moment, the southern wall was growing clearer with each step. In another kilometer or two, and they would be at the gate.
The buildings in the south of the city were untouched as Nian Songyu had yet to act.
Panlong City’s unique geography meant that its main defenses were all in the south. At this time, only the southern gate was truly fortified. The east and west walls were crude, with no defensive artillery at all, and as for the north, there was not even a gate over on that side.
So, the only spot from which one could quickly rain fire over a wide area was the southern gate.
It just so happened that the bulk of Panlong City’s homes were concentrated here, as over sixty percent of the city’s residents lived in the south.
He Lingchuan glanced at the gate, guessing that Nian Songyu and Sun Fuping had also concluded that burning the other directions was less important, leaving the southern district untouched as they waited for everyone to regroup.
They’re waiting for us to regroup? He Lingchuan felt uneasy. He felt that something was off.
They were just about to pass a large mansion situated beside a stream. If they cut through a theater, they would be on the main street, and then it would be a straight shot to the southern gate.
Mao Tao was drenched in sweat, and he squatted to scoop up a handful of water to wash his face.
Even though you could not drink the water in this illusion, it felt real enough, meaning that it was still quite cooling and refreshing.
“Let’s go,” Mao Tao said, getting up to press on.
But He Lingchuan grabbed him by the collar. “Hold on.”
“What is it?”
Without answering, He Lingchuan leaped onto the outer wall of the mansion, and in a few nimble steps, climbed into its corner tower.
This was the tallest building within their direct vicinity, meaning that nothing blocked his view.
Mao Tao had not bothered to take the hard way. He just walked through the front gate, crossed the courtyard, and climbed the stairs.
By the time he found He Lingchuan, he was staring fixedly toward the south, muttering over and over, “Out of place... out of place...”
Mao Tao hurried up. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
He was treating He Lingchuan with more and more genuine respect these days, very different from the empty flattery that he had once shown the pampered young master. The change was so gradual that he had not even noticed it himself.
He Lingchuan, eyes glued to the southern gate, pointed suddenly. “Do you see the relief?”
“Yeah, I see it.” The black flood dragon relief is massive. How could anyone miss it? “The three walls of the now-ruined Panlong City, its innermost wall had this exact black flood dragon relief, right? Exactly the same.”
Mao Tao racked his memory, then nodded. “Yeah, I remember that too.”
“Don’t you see a problem?”
Mao Tao looked even more bewildered. “What problem? Young Master, can you please spell it out? Don’t be like State Preceptor Sun.”
He Lingchuan turned to look at him. “The most popular song that Heishui City’s theatrical troupe sings, the one that everyone loves, is called ‘Panlong Breaks the Formation,’ right? Have you heard of it? It even mentions West Luo’s guardian divine beast.”
Mao Tao began singing, “Mm, West Luo’s guardian divine beast, the golden bull, its charge ever unstoppable—”
Huh? Why is he singing? “Uh-huh, West Luo’s guardian divine beast is the golden bull, right?” He Lingchuan nodded toward the southern gate. “But look what’s on the city gate? A black flood dragon! And look, in front of the carving, there’s an offering table, plus a big bronze incense burner with three legs and a phoenix ring handle. That sort of ritual isn’t for some minor guardian spirit, it’s clearly meant for the state guardian, or the city’s guardian divine beast!”
“But the current Panlong City worshipped the black flood dragon too—” Something clicked in Mao Tao’s mind, and his eyes went wide. “Wait! This is Panlong City during peacetime. If anything, they should be worshipping the golden bull!”
“Exactly. The divine beast of every state is officially prescribed, and even frontier cities can’t go against the rules. If they do, and it’s discovered, they will be in for some serious trouble.” He Lingchuan explained, “Originally, Panlong City worshipped the golden bull just like the rest of the state. But after years of bitter, hopeless war and turning their faith to Mitian, they must have replaced it with the black flood dragon out of desperation and resentment toward the homeland.”
He Lingchuan then thought for a few seconds before continuing, “Theoretically speaking, there shouldn’t be any such mistake in the illusion. But since the Generous Pot is Mitian’s divine artifact, anything its master disavows simply can’t exist here, so that flaw was left behind. But it’s so blatant, right in plain sight, that anyone entering would just overlook it.”
After all, West Luo had perished over a hundred years ago. People now only knew it from records, not with the gut-level sensitivity reserved for their own state.
Mao Tao blurted out, “No wonder Tao Bo wrote in his journal that there was something in this world out of place with reality! Young Master, you’ve got some sharp eyes! We need to tell the state preceptor!”
Mao Tao leaned out the window, ready to jump down, but suddenly his collar tightened. He Lingchuan had grabbed him again. “What’s the rush?”
“Aren’t we, aren’t we going to report it?”
Mao Tao was caught off guard.