Opportunity favors the prepared.

Seeing that he had a plan in hand, the King was all the more pleased and began asking how many troops he needed and how much time.

He Chunhua sighed. “After I answered, His Majesty’s smile faded.”

He Lingchuan’s face darkened. “Does the King think that once we head north, we can just wave a hand and take Xun Province back?”

“Swift victory, that’s every monarch’s wish,” He Yue said with a shake of his head. “But fighting on two fronts is crushing. The royal court is already straining to attack Dong Haoming in the west, and now the northern line is tightening as well. They can’t afford to short troops or money or supplies on either front.”

Ultimately, it came down to costs.

“What about the troop numbers Father requested?” He Yue pressed. “Did the king approve them?”

He Chunhua shook his head. “Not as I submitted them. His Majesty cut them down to thirty percent.”

“Is that even something that can just be haggled about?” He Lingchuan was incredulous. “Since when did the royal court become a vegetable market?”

He Chunhua let out a long breath. “The moment I brought it up, the king lost his temper. His Majesty said that we didn’t appreciate how hard it was to raise funds and grain, that we had no feel for the people’s suffering. I kept lowering my numbers, yet he still kept pressing them lower.”

He Lingchuan gave a cold little laugh. “Thirty percent? Heh, how are you supposed to fight on empty stomachs?”

“Note that it’s only thirty percent on paper. If fifteen percent actually reaches the front, we can already consider ourselves lucky.” He Chunhua’s own smile was icy. “There’s skimming at every level in between.” He knew that routine far too well.

“Then how do we even fight?”

“I’m already the Governor-General of Xia Province. Once I’m on site, I’ll just have to do my job.” Oddly, He Chunhua did not sound particularly disappointed. “It’s fine. I anticipated His Majesty’s reaction. The figures I submitted were… generous.”

He Lingchuan arched an eyebrow. It seems that Father really does know how to play the game.

“Besides, local troops are mostly maintained locally. We may even be able to make use of monster troops. The royal court’s subsidy is just icing on the cake. Hah, if the Provincial Governor of Xun Province can manage it, so can I.”

Here, He Chunhua drew a brocade pouch and handed it to He Lingchuan. “In recognition of your valor in repelling the enemy, the King confers on you the title of Youyun Cavalry Commandant, thereby making you a sixth-rank official.”

Madame Ying and He Yue gasped in unison. Overjoyed, He Lingchuan snatched the pouch and tore it open. A Yuan Coin tumbled out.

He picked it up, toyed with it, and flipped it into the air. “From this day onward, I’m an official too!”

He Yue could not help correcting him. “Brother, that’s an honorary rank, not a post.”

He Lingchuan shot him a look. “Once I join the army proper, won’t it come with an actual post?”

Off to the side, He Chunhua only smiled and said nothing.

He Lingchuan weighed the newly acquired Yuan Coin in his palm. “Was there no other reward from the King? Like jewelry? Silver and gold? I’d take those.”

“The state treasury’s empty, and it’s not as if you won glory on a battlefield,” He Chunhua said with a mock scold. “You should already be plenty grateful for the decoration, yet you still want a reward?”

“I saved General Ke. That’s more important than killing enemies on a battlefield, no?”

Ignoring his eldest son’s grumbling, He Chunhua changed the topic, “What happened here in Shihuan today?”

His two sons explained in turn.

When he heard that the Chief Grandmaster Artisan of Songyang Mansion’s Central Furnace planned to accompany the Coordinating Army north for the time being, He Chunhua slapped his thigh and said “Excellent!” several times. “We’ll start forging weapons and stockpiling grain as soon as we reach Xia Province. For us to actually have such an expert with us, nothing could be better!”

Putting on a show of hesitation, He Lingchuan said, “Father’s not going to blame me for handing over the violet-gold pestle, right?”

He Chunhua beamed. “The violet-gold pestle may be a spirit artifact, but no one in our family can use it. Trading something we can’t use for a grandmaster artisan, that’s a bargain I’ll take any day. Why would I blame you?”

He Lingchuan then relayed Li Fubo’s request. He Chunhua shook his head. “A bamboo tube? Sun Fuping didn’t leave behind many items, and there was certainly no bamboo tube among them.”

“Are you certain? Are you not going to check again?”

“Do you not trust me?” He Chunhua’s smile was half-amused, half-not. “Shall I spread everything out so you can inspect it piece by piece?”

He Lingchuan gave a dry chuckle and replied, “No need. Father’s far more meticulous than I am. If you say it’s not there, then it’s not there.”

He Yue said, ever the careful one, “Big Brother, you just mentioned that the walnut boat—er, the mustard seed boat—was borrowed by Sun Fuping from the Marquis of Songyang, right? Yet even now, this Grandmaster Li can openly say his lord marquis was Sun Fuping’s friend?”

For the past two months, the bloodletting near the capital had all been in the name of purging the associates of traitors. Was the Marquis of Songyang not worried?

“I wouldn’t know,” He Lingchuan said, quietly shoveling rice into his mouth. Before arriving in Shihuan, he had not even heard of Songyang Mansion.

He Chunhua thought it over before saying, “The Marquis of Songyang holds a noble title and also heads a major sect. In our State of Yuan, that’s a very particular position. Hence, ordinary rules don’t always apply to him.”

He then went on, “The King’s face was full of wrath. I doubt anything short of executions will cool his anger. I expect the capital will be restless in the days to come. We’d best depart early. Hm, with affairs here nearly wrapped up, we leave the day after tomorrow. If we don’t leave by then, tongues will probably wag that I’m lingering in the capital to build factions.”

He knew perfectly well that the King’s summoning him overnight was both to show favor and to encourage the newly appointed Governor-General of Xia Province to shoulder the burden for the realm—this was sweet rain. If he continued to lose up north or failed to deliver results, what would come down from on high would be a storm instead.

Regardless, all of it was grace from above.

* * *

With a creak, Hu Min pushed the door open. He came in just in time to see He Lingchuan loose an arrow into the target.

“Hey, not bad! Big improvement. You’re only—” he held up his fingers with a grin, “about seven centimeters off the bull’s-eye.”[1]

He Lingchuan’s expression collapsed.

A miss by a hair can be as good as a mile, let alone seven centimeters. For static shooting, that margin was ridiculous.

“It’s really not bad. I recall your first time throwing a dagger a few days back. Back then, you didn’t even hit the target.”

He Lingchuan unstrung his bow, went inside, and poured him a cup of water. “What winds blew you over here?”

Hu Min’s leg had not fully healed. He had been recuperating at home, with He Lingchuan usually calling on him. Today, he had hobbled over himself.

“Bad news,” Hu Min said, taking a long swallow. “Your application to join the Gale Army didn’t pass. Boss Xiao relayed the word from above: You need to get more experience, rack up some military merit, and then you can try again.”

A twinge of disappointment, though it was more or less what he had expected.

Ever since he had entered the Panlong Dreamscape through the broken saber, he had known that he was under watch. Otherwise, the Dreamscape would not keep adjusting to mirror his real-world experiences, like that night west of Woling Pass when he encountered a once-in-decades fall of imperial nectar. That very night, the dreamscape immediately served up an imperial nectar episode from the past, as if to teach him exactly how to refine imperial nectar powder without wasting it.

Perhaps the master of the dreamscape was the Generous Pot itself?

After all, when he and He Chunhua fought Sun Fuping last year, they had used the Generous Pot to weaken their opponent’s power to the bare minimum before seizing victory.

What if Zhong Shengguang, who had transformed into a black dragon, had not actually died?

What if the will ruling the Generous Pot belonged to someone else?

Still, at least one thing was sure. This will had summoned him into dreamscape again and again, and they surely wanted something. He remembered vividly how, the first time he entered, an arrow sealed his throat; dying twice left a mark. Judging from that opening gambit, whoever it was would not let him live comfortably in the dream city.

Seeing his silence, Hu Min patted his shoulder consolingly and said, “Only those ranked platoon leader or higher are eligible to apply for the Gale Army. That rule is really a kind of protection. After all, the Gale Army’s missions have always been the toughest and most dangerous. Even seasoned veterans can easily fall there.”

A platoon leader was a small-unit leader in charge of fifty men.

In other words, He Lingchuan would have to become the leader of fifty before he could even apply to the Gale Army.

That’s a bit much.

“Starting from the bottom is fine. There’s too much I need to learn.” He Lingchuan squared his mindset. “But without fighting, I won’t rack up any merit, and right now, I don’t even have ten men under me.”

“In Panlong City, all able young men must serve. Ordinary soldiers farm for half the year and serve for the other half, rotating in and out.”

“I’m not farming,” He Lingchuan said, shaking his head. Time in the dream was too precious to spend on tilling fields.

“Me neither,” Hu Min laughed. “That leaves the full-time posts: patrol, city guard, and logistics. Take your pick.”

“Patrol sees the most action, right?”

“Of course.” Hu Min added, “The patrol has two branches. The Chipa Patrol is responsible for the Chipa Plateau, while the Roving Patrol operates throughout the Panlong Desert, patrolling the outer bounds of Panlong City. The two swap duties often.”

He Lingchuan said without hesitation, “I want to join the patrol.”

He would soon march north with his father to fight in the north of Yuan. They would be contending against the Grand General of the Northern Campaign, Nian Zanli, and the northern monster state behind him.

Nian Zanli had a son to avenge, so he would not let the He father and son off lightly. With limited time, He Lingchuan had to sharpen himself fast.

Lean on a mountain and the mountain may crumble; lean on people and people may scatter. One could only always rely on oneself.

So he needed to head straight for the hottest front, to temper his will and his techniques in blood and fire.

Every encounter in the dreamscape would be a precious experience.

“Come on then, I’ll take you to the Patrol Bureau to register,” Hu Min said, turning on his heel. He still limped a little, but far less than before; his cane tapped briskly as he went.

Another seven or eight days, and he would be back to striding like the wind.

They took a donkey cart to the Patrol Bureau.

Things went smoothly. After signing up, He Lingchuan proceeded directly to the on-site assessment, which evaluated his real-time response and his martial and movement techniques. With several brushes with death behind him, he breezed through the trials and, without a hitch, became a proud member of the Chipa Patrol.

Panlong City had been at war for years; fresh recruits were always welcome.

“Congratulations, you’ll be defending your home and city from today on.” Hu Min gave him a round of applause. “Just don’t die before you make it into the Gale Army.” The word he used for die was some modern slang he had picked up from He Lingchuan.[2]

“We ought to celebrate at the Tianshuang Tavern, but Boss Xiao’s about to give a talk at the Hall of Inquiry. Want to go?”

At the mention of it, He Lingchuan nodded at once. “Let’s go!”

For all its lofty name, the “Hall of Inquiry[3]” was in a thoroughly unceremonious venue. There were no jade palaces or towers, no grand audience hall, just a literal heaven-pit or a giant sinkhole.

The first time he entered the Hall of Inquiry, He Lingchuan had been taken aback.

A “heaven-pit,” as the name suggests, is like a giant hole gouged through a mountain by heaven’s own hand. Its opening reached up to the bright sky above, while its depths connected to an underground river. The pit was vast in diameter and irregular in shape.

1. Note that the measurement used here was actually two cun (寸), so he only held up two fingers. I’ve been translating everything to metric for easier understanding. ☜

2. Just know that he used 挂, which basically means to hang up. I’m a bit too lazy to modify it here, so I’m just adding this note. ☜

3. Note that the literal translation for the name would be Asking Immortals Hall. ☜