Chapter 56: My Son Has No Regrets

Even if there were oil shops, breweries, and charcoal stores in this city, the buildings were all wooden structures. Burning down an entire city with just this amount of manpower would be a massive undertaking; they would have to try their best to find flammable materials.

Once the others had left, He Lingchuan doubled back, turning once more toward the Zhong residence, and quietly slipped into an empty room.

The room was not small, furnished with two beds—one large and one small—two stools, and a dressing table.

Earlier, after State Preceptor Sun had issued the command, He Lingchuan had taken advantage of the time spent gathering companions to circle through this set of official quarters, inspecting everywhere.

He hadn't found any useful clues at the time, but after the group's recent discussion, he suddenly felt the urge to come back and look again.

Each set of official quarters was small in area and simple in function, serving merely as a place to eat, live, and sleep. Therefore, this room should be the bedroom of Zhong Shengguang and his wife.

The bedding on the large bed was clean, the quilts folded neatly, and a precious saber with a dragon-mouth ring hilt hung on the wall by the head of the bed.

To hang a ferocious weapon at the head of one's own bed alongside one's wife was likely something only a hardened military man would do. As for the small bed beside it—

It likely belonged to their daughter, Zhong Wuhan.

Because the small bed was only three feet long, an adult could not even lie down on it with their legs curled. At the head of the bed sat a small wooden horse and a small wooden soldier brandishing a wooden sword; facing them was a somewhat fierce-looking cloth tiger.

No, it was a cloth leopard, made in the likeness of a sand leopard, complete with the round spots characteristic of the species.

Placed together like this, they told a story.

He picked it up to look, and on the leopard's belly, a few small characters were embroidered

*My child, Wuhan.*

At the foot of the bed, a small cloth doll was tucked away.

He Lingchuan walked to the side of the large bed. On the dressing table sat a set of face powder and a copper mirror, all arranged neatly.

He picked them up one by one to inspect them and discovered a comb tucked behind the copper mirror; it was actually a set.

*This is...?* His eyes lit up. He picked up the comb and held it up to the light, murmuring, "So it was here."

It was a simple wooden comb, plain in form and single in function, with only a small, pale blue flower painted on the comb's teeth.

This pigment was derived from the fine powder of a certain type of shellfish, capable of producing a blue as bright as the sky.

Based solely on this floral decoration, He Lingchuan could be certain: the token of ownership snatched away by the sand leopard when Panlong City fell years ago was this very item!

It was also the object that had caused the feud between the He family and the Grand Marshal's manor.

However, this comb had not yet been half-burned.

"Zhong Shengguang's wife passed away shortly after giving birth to their daughter; he indeed kept this comb as a memento," He Lingchuan muttered to himself as he looked at the small bed. "No, at this time, Zhong Wuhan had not yet been born. Zhong Shengguang didn't know if his wife would have a boy or a girl, but he had already prepared a crib."

Otherwise, Commander Zhong wouldn't have placed several boy's toys at the child's bedside, which looked as though he had carved them himself.

"This was likely the happiest time of his life." A promising career ahead, and a beloved wife nearing childbirth.

He reached out and pulled open a secret compartment in the dressing table. Inside were several pieces of jewelry; the materials were very ordinary, but He Lingchuan's gaze froze when it swept over one particular item.

It was a necklace with a crescent-shaped pendant.

It looked incredibly familiar. He Lingchuan subconsciously grabbed the necklace around his own neck.

It was exactly the same thing! Only one was in the illusion and the other in reality, and even their appearances had changed.

In other words, before his daughter was born, Zhong Shengguang was the owner of this Divine Bone necklace.

Having a realization, He Lingchuan carefully placed the comb back in its original position and exited the room.

Just as he stepped out of the quarters, he saw someone standing outside.

Mao Tao.

He Lingchuan was startled and couldn't help but curse, "You didn't make a sound. Are you trying to scare the ghosts?"

"Young Master, let me go with you. I'll do all the work," Mao Tao said with a forced smile. "It feels like someone is watching me from the shadows, waiting to strike when I'm alone."

"Even if they are, they aren't human." He Lingchuan did not refuse. He also felt that prickling sensation on his back; traveling together was indeed safer. Mao Tao pointed a finger. "I remember there's a fairly large restaurant over there."

He Lingchuan glanced back at the Zhong residence. "This is too close; we need to leave room for the city-top armaments. Let's go further away."

Both men knew some martial arts; they took deep breaths and ran quickly.

Two quarters of an hour later, the roads grew narrower and the buildings along the roadside became sparser. Large commercial warehouses, post stations, and even threshing floors began to appear.

These places were far from any city gate. Even if the city-top armaments could reach them, they wouldn't have the effect of igniting large areas all at once.

That would have to rely on manpower.

The two men climbed into a workshop, found a loading cart, and loaded over a dozen barrels of tung oil. They also broke down two suitable pieces of wood to make torches before pulling the oil out the door.

They set fire to everything along the way, splashing oil on wood, quilts, thatch, or any other combustible material.

After traveling several miles this way, they looked back to see flames soaring into the sky.

Mao Tao pointed west. "Black smoke is rising over there; it seems the State Preceptor is working hard too."

He Lingchuan took only one glance before continuing his work. "It seems that isn't the focus either."

Mao Tao asked in surprise, "The focus? What focus?"

"We decided to burn the entire city only because we can't find the key point to break the deadlock, so we have to rely on this brute-force method. Otherwise, a single volley of fire crossbows would suffice." He Lingchuan's mind was very clear. "Conversely, burning other places is useless. Only by burning the focus can this illusion be broken."

Mao Tao shook his hands and sighed. "How much longer will this take?" He was exhausted, because He Lingchuan had made him act like a pack mule.

Even a real donkey would be exhausted after pulling a cart full of oil barrels for ten miles.

The thought of burning down an entire city made his whole body feel numb.

"You should be happy," He Lingchuan said grimly. "The breaking point isn't in the area we are responsible for; that's the blessing you've earned from your past life. Think about Tao Bo's end—can you afford the consequences of the illusion shattering?"

Tao Bo's end hadn't been much better than the rest of the team; not even a bone was left. Mao Tao shuddered. "Then let's go meet up with the State Preceptor as soon as possible."

He Lingchuan gave a hollow laugh. "Thanks to you, it won't be that fast."

Because Mao Tao had slipped away to find him, the entire northern part of Panlong City had not yet been burned. "Now you can tell me, what exactly did you come to find me for?"

Mao Tao froze. "I... I was just afraid."

He Lingchuan didn't bother with him. "Get back to the north."

"Wait, I'll tell you! I just hadn't figured it out yet." Mao Tao wiped his sweat with a towel. "Just now, when the State Preceptor was looking at Tao Bo's notes... he doesn't know, but I actually lived in Copper City in the State of Bali for twelve years before I followed Boss Situ. I even went to school, until my stepfather was killed during business..."

"Stop, get to the point!"

"...I can understand a bit of the Bali script."

He Lingchuan stopped. "What is the State Preceptor hiding?"

He knew it—the old man was withholding something!