Great Qian had enjoyed peace for so long that, under normal circumstances, city walls were only eight or nine zhang high.
But the city standing before Li Shun, built in the heart of the great marsh, had walls soaring a full seventy to eighty zhang into the sky.
It rose straight from the earth, standing proudly amidst the waters like a small mountain.
Li Shun stared at the three characters engraved above the city gate for quite so ti, yet failed to recognize a single one.
“These aren’t characters used by Great Qian today.”
The city gates already stood wide open, yet inside lay a silence as lifeless as death itself.
Li Shun stepped forward and entered.
The gate tunnel stretched for over two hundred zhang. Rather than running straight across, it slanted upward.
It felt like entering a dark mountain cavern, with only a faint point of light visible far above.
“This city was built on an absurd scale.”
He continued ascending, and after passing through the imnse gate passage, his vision suddenly brightened.
The instant he stepped into the city within the marsh, it felt as though he had crossed through ti itself.
Street cries, carriage wheels, shouting voices, the clamor of a bustling city ca crashing into his ears like a tidal wave.
And yet...
He could hear them, but see no one.
The broad streets were utterly empty, devoid of even a single human figure.
The shops lining the streets all stood open, but inside them as well, there was not a trace of living presence.
Li Shun entered a restaurant within the city and ran his fingers across a table.
It seed as though soone maintained the place regularly. Not a speck of dust could be found.
The sounds reaching his ears beca clearer. Li Shun listened carefully.
“State of Yu has sent an army of a million to invade. I truly don’t know how we’re supposed to hold them back.”
“What’s there to fear? Zhanghua City stands in the heart of the vast Yunng Marsh. Easy to defend, hard to attack. Besides, State of Yu is terrible at naval warfare. If they really dare co, we’ll make sure none of them return!”
“State of Yu’s power is overwhelming. They’ve wiped out two nations in just ten years. And yet the remaining states still insist on fighting separately. Sigh…”
“You people are always so eager to boost the enemy’s morale while crushing your own! This ti, the imperial court has personally dispatched General Lu to oversee the defense. So what if Yu has a million troops?”
“Exactly! General Lu carries the Wu Peng[1] bloodline. He could tear apart a Celestial Phenona cultivator with his bare hands. State of Yu’s so-called million troops are nothing but chickens and dogs!”
“Lu Tinglan. Wu Peng bloodline…”
Li Shun extracted the useful pieces of information from the lingering echoes within the restaurant.
Afterward, he wandered through other parts of the city.
He discovered that the entire city seed frozen on a single day, specifically the day before State of Yu’s million-strong army marched to its gates.
“State of Yu... that should have been Great Qian’s na before it unified the world.”
“Changing the national na after founding the dynasty is understandable enough. But why erase the old na entirely?”
Now, the people of the world knew only the na Qian, while no one rembered that it had once been called Yu.
Everything that existed before Great Qian’s founding had been completely erased.
Li Shun suppressed the question in his heart and continued surveying the empty city.
He found nothing of note.
Only then did he continue onward, following the guidance of the branch Elder Mu had given him.
It did not lead toward the grandest complex at the city’s center.
Instead, it brought him to a relatively secluded inn in the northern part of the city.
Reaching a private room on the second floor, Li Shun pushed open the door and stepped inside.
The voices that had vanished for so long suddenly returned.
This ti, it was the sharp, urgent sound of a zither, filled with killing intent.
The music ca to an abrupt halt, and a steady middle-aged man’s voice rang out:
“You may leave now.”
After the faint sound of footsteps ca the noise of the door closing shut.
anwhile, in the real world, the door Li Shun had just pushed open actually swung shut on its own.
“Interesting.” Li Shun’s pupils contracted slightly as he continued listening to the conversation drifting from within the room.
A rhythmic round of applause rang out, followed by the clear, youthful voice of a young man, as refreshing as flowing spring water.
“What a marvelous rendition of Nine Lants[2]. I have long heard that the people of Xiang are gifted in song and dance. Only upon hearing it for myself today do I realize the reputation is well deserved.”
“We should be the ones thanking General Lu for his hospitality.”
Another voice followed imdiately after.
It was likewise the voice of a young man, but his tone carried a teasing, almost playful edge.
“General Lu... could that be Lu Tinglan? And this sowhat frivolous voice... it sounds strangely familiar.”
Li Shun’s heart stirred, and he listened even more intently.
The room fell silent for a mont before Lu Tinglan spoke again, his tone betraying neither joy nor anger.
“I truly did not expect that with war between our armies imminent, the commander of one side would dare personally venture into enemy territory. I am impressed.”
“This Marshal has always preferred to lead from the front. Zhanghua City’s walls are sturdy, and the natural barrier of Yunng Marsh protects it. How could I not gather a bit more intelligence first?”
After a brief pause, Lu Tinglan spoke again.
“You’re not the slightest bit concerned for your own safety? You’ve only just stepped into the Celestial Phenona Realm. Even with your nation’s fortune bolstering you, you are still no match for . And besides, Zhanghua City does not have only one Celestial Phenona cultivator.”
“I am well aware. Aside from you, there are also Du Shuofang and He Luosheng, both Celestial Phenona cultivators. Am I right?”
Lu Tinglan answered with silence.
The young man took it as tacit confirmation.
“But... so what?”
He seed to be staring directly at Lu Tinglan, every word brimming with provocation.
“Do you truly dare fight here in Zhanghua City?”
“Zhanghua City stands in the heart of Yunng Marsh. The slightest breach in its walls would send countless acres of lake water flooding in. By then, a million lives in the city would hang in the balance. I wonder if the three of you could save them all?”
“And besides... with rely three Celestial Phenona cultivators, if we truly fought, who wins and who loses is far from certain.”
The young man seed to take a leisurely sip of tea as he spoke.
Though deep in enemy territory, he appeared utterly without fear.
“Hmph. If you want to lay hands on Young Master, you’ll first have to ask whether the sword in my hand agrees!”
Another young voice in the room suddenly interjected.
Shing!
A longsword was drawn from its sheath.
Even through sound alone, one could sense the terrifying sharpness of that blade.
Li Shun’s eardrums prickled faintly from the sword intent.
For a mont, the room beca a powder keg, the tension so thick it felt as though swords were already drawn against one another’s throats.
But the stalemate did not last long.
Lu Tinglan’s voice broke the deadlock.
“For the three of you to infiltrate Zhanghua City so openly, I have already lost this round. But on the battlefield, victory and defeat remain undecided.”
“I still have official business to attend to, so I will not keep you company any longer. Gentlen, do as you please.”
Lu Tinglan rose, preparing to leave.
“Shaoqian, write this down!”
The youth’s sowhat impassioned voice rang out at once.
“On this day, this Marshal personally entered Zhanghua City, uncovered top-secret intelligence, and withdrew calmly before General Lu himself.”
However, the first half of the sentence beca strangely distorted, making the exact date impossible to discern.
The soft scratching of a brush writing on paper followed.
Lu Tinglan’s footsteps seed to pause briefly.
Yet he said nothing more, leaving with composed steps.
A stretch of silence followed.
“Shaoqian. Erase that part just now.”
The youth’s voice sounded once again, now completely calm, no longer carrying its earlier swagger.
“Huh?”
A sowhat dull-witted voice ca from the direction of the writing.
“Erase it.”
A peculiar sound followed shortly after.
“Lu Tinglan truly deserves his reputation as Xiang’s fad general. I wanted to throw his mind into chaos and provoke him into making a move, but in the end, he still held back. This battle for Zhanghua City won’t be easy.”
“Young Master, why think so much? The three of us, one sword each, and we can just kill the three Celestial Phenona cultivators in the city. Without Celestial Phenona experts holding the line, how could they possibly defend it?”
...
[T/N:- In this context, 国 represents a sovereign state or nation. While previously translated as 'kingdom,' using 'state' or 'nation' provides a more historically accurate tone for the period's warring powers and political landscape.]
[1]:- 巫彭 (Wu Peng): In Chinese mythology, Wu Peng is one of the ten divine shamans of antiquity, often associated with dicine and divine powers.
[2]:- The Nine Lants (Jiu Tan) is a collection of nine ancient Chinese poems from the Chu Ci (Songs of Chu) anthology, compiled during the Western Han dynasty. Traditionally attributed to the Han scholar and poet Liu Xiang, the works emulate the patriotic, sorrowful style of the Qu Yuan—A legendary Chinese poet, loyal minister, and patriot.
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