Chapter 1125: Crazy Polar Bear King

Monsters in the Panlong Wasteland were either killed, subdued, or recruited. Even ancient demon immortals like Second Sister Zhu started doing business with Panlong City. If you wanted to harass villages and eat a few living people, the Panlong Patrol would come knocking for an accounting within a few days.

"How could we have such capability?" Wang Wei said with a bitter smile. "Before the Julun Kingdom was established, three factions fought here, constantly vying for control. Even boys under twelve years old were conscripted into the army. All their strength was reserved for fighting humans. Who would have had the capacity to hunt down these bear demons?" He continued, "During those times, bear demons and wolf monsters didn't even need to hunt when they came down the mountain. There were plenty of dead bodies on the roadsides, in the wilderness, and in the villages—more than they could eat. If food hadn't been so easy to acquire, would the evil beasts of Whitefur Mountain have gathered in such large numbers? Alas, these are all things I witnessed firsthand. I sincerely hope I never have to live through such days again."

Everyone fell silent. No one understood the cruelty of war better than them. When humans were weak, demons and ghosts flourished; one's decline led to the other's rise.

Hu Min then asked, "Is that White Bear King very strong?"

"It's said to be incredibly powerful," Wang Wei replied. "Nine years ago, in the autumn, before the Julun Kingdom was even established, remnants of an army our king had defeated fled into Whitefur Peak. They probably intended to head straight for the East Min Kingdom, but—" He wagged a finger. "Over five hundred people, and not a single one came out!"

"All eaten?" Only then did everyone realize the gravity of the situation. Even if the remnant army was weak, they were still more capable fighters than ordinary civilians, and some might have even possessed a bit of primal energy. Yet, they too ended up in the bears' bellies.

"Exactly!" Wang Wei sighed. "The monsters on Whitefur Peak are particularly fierce during spring and autumn." Bear demons hibernate, so they eat voraciously in autumn to fatten up and in spring to find food after waking.

"Doesn't the government care?" "Isn't the Julun King very concerned about the welfare of his people?"

"They do, but this den of monsters is exceptionally cunning, and Whitefur Peak's terrain is complex. The government organized two demon-hunting expeditions, but neither succeeded. Recently, the East Min Kingdom also invaded our northwest border, so the Royal Court has no spare capacity to allocate more personnel to fight the bear demons." Wang Wei sighed. "Our region here is truly plagued by disasters, with an unusual abundance of demons and monsters. While we've temporarily avoided war, everyone's lives are still difficult."

He Lingchuan casually asked, "There are a lot of demons nearby? Where else?"

Wang Wei was not wrong; the primal energy in Shanjin Plain was scarcer than elsewhere, and more sinister energy was lost from it. Coupled with the state being small and weak, even primal energy was thin, making it difficult to resist and mitigate disasters. Over time, it had indeed become a land of many tribulations.

"About two hundred *li* northeast from here, there's a Screaming Forest. I heard it was originally an ancient battlefield, and the dead have turned into vengeful spirits that emerge to cause trouble every year."

A Luo spat out a chicken bone. "Can't the nearby residents just move away?"

"As the saying goes, 'a tree moved dies, but a person moved thrives.'"

"Ten years ago, we even had a tiger menace here. Fierce tigers roamed into villages and towns, yet many people still wanted to flee into the mountains to live." Wang Wei waved his hand. "How many people can a tiger eat in a year? If they had stayed here, alas! Before the Julun Kingdom was founded, farmers had to hand over eight out of every ten *jin* of rice harvested. What was left wasn't nearly enough to eat. Some, unable to bear the hunger, even ate their rice seeds. If they didn't sell their children the following year, their entire family would starve." He had also lived through that era, and speaking of it still made him shudder.

He Lingchuan comforted him, "No matter what, the new king is wise and capable. Your lives will gradually get better." These words were merely comforting, for he knew very well the future of this land. What future was there?

Wang Gesheng chimed in, "Father, you've just returned. You don't know that two months ago, the king issued a bounty, inviting powerful individuals from all over to hunt down demons."

Hu Min laughed aloud, "Five hundred rebel soldiers were eaten by mountain demons. If others go, won't it be sending them two by two to their deaths?" This was indeed sending them to their doom.

"No, no, they're recruiting strong individuals from the populace to form demon-hunting teams," Wang Gesheng said earnestly. "Originally, they gathered a few hundred people to go up the mountain together."

Hearing this, He Lingchuan shook his head. "Such a large and conspicuous team. Are they going up to hunt demons or to *be* hunted by demons? It would be better to act in dispersed groups, flexibly and efficiently."

"Exactly, Mr. He is absolutely right!" Wang Gesheng looked at him with newfound respect. "The White Bear King is cunning and avoided them from beginning to end. The demon-hunting teams hardly encountered any wolves or bears, but instead, they were constantly harassed by the White Bear King and its followers, resulting in dozens of deaths. After suffering such heavy losses, the demon-hunting teams changed their tactics. Now, they send small teams of twenty to thirty people into the mountains, setting traps, laying bait, and hunting in dispersed groups."

He Lingchuan cracked open a peanut. "Bear demons are lazy and gluttonous, with poor obedience. The White Bear King can control them for a short while, but not for ten days or half a month." He had killed many bear demons while serving as a patrol officer on the Chipa Plateau. Moreover, Fan Bao, the third commander of Lingxu City's Loyal Guard, was also a giant bear. He knew the nature of bear demons all too well. The White Bear King's subordinates were definitely not as obedient or effective as Second Sister Zhu's offspring.

"Yes, it's much easier to defeat them by breaking them up. Over the past two months, the various demon-hunting teams have claimed bounties for over thirty bears, more than five hundred wolves, and numerous smaller scattered demons. I heard the king was absolutely delighted." The Julun Kingdom's strategy was to first use civilian demon-hunting teams to remove the White Bear King's claws and teeth, making it much easier to deal with the main target later. Only civilians could spend so much time in the mountains, repeatedly engaging with the bear and wolf demons. The Julun army couldn't afford to roam the mountains for two months just to hunt monsters.

"So the Julun Kingdom has money now?" Could they afford to do this without money? Fighting the East Min Kingdom on the western front while also lavishly spending on bounties for Whitefur Mountain's demons, and still having to manage domestic civilian welfare. Why were small states so constrained and unable to do anything well? In the end, wasn't it simply due to a lack of money?

"I don't know, perhaps because the country has been peaceful for the past few years?" Wang Wei scratched his head. "There was a flood five years ago, though."

"The White Bear King seems to have been provoked. Several demon-hunting teams went into the mountains and never returned; everyone says they encountered the White Bear King." Wang Gesheng took another gulp of wine, this time a bit hastily, coughing several times. "In previous years, when bear demons came down the mountain, they only attacked nearby villages. But, a few days ago, the White Bear King went to Rong Town."

Wang Wei's eyes widened. "Rong Town? They went to Rong Town?"

Where was Rong Town? The outsiders didn't know.

"It's less than twenty *li* from the capital, a good place specializing in fruits and melons," Wang Gesheng explained to them. "Now it's a ghost town. The White Bear King launched an attack at night, and over six hundred residents, old and young, were all gone. Most were just killed, not eaten." This was retaliation, blatant retaliation.

"Ancient great demons were said to be able to devour an entire city's population," Hu Min shook his head. "If this White Bear King continues to develop, it will be close to that."

"When this news spread, even people in the capital felt insecure. The king was furious and dispatched the capital's garrison to hunt the demon." He turned to Wang Wei, swallowed, and then said, "Father, I've also signed up."

Wang Wei spurted out the wine in his mouth. "You what?!"

"The bounty is very generous. If I..."

"Cancel it!" Wang Wei, disregarding He Lingchuan's presence, rose abruptly, neck bulging, and slammed the table. "Does our family lack those few coins so much that you have to risk your life for them? How powerful is the White Bear King? Even regular armies can't do anything to it! You've only learned divine abilities for a few days, and you dare to go after it? That's not demon-hunting, that's suicide! Cancel your registration, you're not going!"

Wang Gesheng seemed to have anticipated his father's reaction and said softly, "Once registered, it can't be canceled."

"Just a registration, and it can't be canceled?" Wang Wei scoffed. "I know your guard captain; his daughter studies at my school! I'll go ask him if it can be canceled!"

Only after saying this did he remember He Lingchuan and his group were present. He felt a moment of awkwardness and was about to apologize and excuse himself. He Lingchuan, however, said, "Master Wang, don't be angry. Your son is very clever."

"But..."

"Previously, it hid in Whitefur Mountain, playing hide-and-seek on its own territory, making it hard for you to find. Now it has come to your territory. Besides, the vicinity of the capital is not a place it can stay for long; the White Bear King will eventually have to return to the mountain. As long as you predict its return route, you can catch it off guard." He Lingchuan stated confidently, "It shouldn't have come out in the first place." "Furthermore, the White Bear King has encroached so close to the capital that the king has no choice but to eradicate it. The capital's guard corps possesses primal energy; with them leading, as long as your son doesn't seek glory recklessly, the danger will greatly decrease."

For Wang Gesheng, this was a good opportunity. He scratched his head, a little embarrassed, realizing He Lingchuan had seen through his thoughts. Yes, he indeed thought it was a good opportunity and wanted to get involved. Hearing this, Wang Wei was stunned, his anger subsided, but he still said, "I... I'm going out for a bit." With that, he hurriedly left the house.

Seeing his figure disappear outside the door, He Lingchuan asked Wang Gesheng, "Does anyone know the White Bear King's cultivation level?"

"Some say three hundred years, others five hundred. But my teammate's father saw it a few years ago and said it wasn't very big, just a bit larger than an ordinary white bear. I don't know why it's so powerful, impervious to swords and spears," Wang Gesheng mused. "It once led bear demons to attack a town that used to be a military stronghold, with a siege crossbow on its gate tower. The local defenders aimed the crossbow and shot the White Bear King, but to their surprise, it was completely unharmed! Seeing that, everyone thought, 'What's the point of fighting?' and scattered."

The most direct indicator of a demon's cultivation level is often its size. Some demons grow larger with deeper cultivation, while others are just the opposite. However, based on He Lingchuan's experience hunting bears in the Panlong Wasteland and Maohe Plain over the past few years, the larger a bear demon's size, the deeper its cultivation tended to be. Given that the White Bear King commanded so many rampant demons and could even devour an army of five hundred, it clearly appeared to be a formidable great demon, at least more powerful than King Siwen. But its size was only one notch larger than an ordinary white bear? That didn't sound very logical.

Menban, standing nearby, said, "Maybe the guards saw it wrong and shot another white bear." Real combat scenes are often chaotic, and misidentifications are common.

"No, no, the White Bear King has a very distinct rhomboid black mark on its chest. It's said that the soldiers on the wall aimed at this dark spot, and the siege crossbow indeed hit the White Bear King."

"A rhomboid black mark? What is that?"

Wang Gesheng honestly replied, "I'm not sure either." He thought for a moment, then also went out.

He Lingchuan and his group took a few turns around Julun Port, experiencing customs and traditions completely different from later eras. While there, they restocked on fruits and dry rations; Menban even bought a large bag of walnuts. The bear demons descending the mountain and harming people, pressing close to the capital, was the hot topic at the port today, discussed everywhere. The port guards were fully armed on patrol, and many people, clad in armor and carrying weapons, hurried to and fro. They weren't regular soldiers, but looked very much like the demon-hunters Wang Gesheng had mentioned. With public sentiment in turmoil and people terrified, the Julun Kingdom was now irrevocably opposed to the White Bear King.

When He Lingchuan returned to the Wang family guesthouse, he almost bumped into Wang Gesheng before even entering the courtyard. The young man had a saber at his waist, a bow and arrows on his back, and a bundle slung over his shoulder, looking ready for a long journey. Wang Wei stood behind him, his face full of worry.

"Where are you going?"

"The White Bear King attacked He Town again last night!" Wang Gesheng said hurriedly. "The Royal Court has located the monsters' whereabouts and is now summoning all demon-hunters to join the capital's guard corps in pursuing the White Bear King! That team will have at least three thousand people, Father, you don't need to worry!" As he uttered the last few words, he had already stepped out of the house.

Wang Wei sighed heavily behind him, apparently having lost the confrontation with his son. He Lingchuan offered him a few words of comfort, then, without changing clothes, he and Hu Min and the others rented a few horses and left Julun Port, heading north. Since the White Bear King's departure from Whitefur Peak was confirmed, this was his opportune moment to retrieve the Luminous Lamp.

Compared to later eras, the road conditions of this trade route were roughly the same, without many more turns. Although it wasn't as bustling as the main road of Blade Port, merchants came and went incessantly, clearly indicating its crucial role in transporting goods to and from the interior at this time. The Julun Kingdom was well-governed; this road didn't have as many bandits as it would in later times.

Hu Min asked him: "Is our target inside the White Bear King's lair? Does this demon also collect Luminous Lamps?" Do demons also face inner demons during their cultivation? Hu Min had never considered this question.

"Not necessarily," He Lingchuan said, quite relaxed on horseback. "We've arrived at an inconvenient time; it's not the Luminous Lamp's ripening period." The Luminous Lamp ripens every thirty years. The next ripening would be thirteen years from now.

"Then?"

"But there's good news, at least for us. The White Bear King occupied Whitefur Mountain twenty years ago, which means the Luminous Lamp ripened during its reign. Therefore, it's highly likely it wasn't taken by humans."

Menban, hearing this, also became curious. "So the White Bear King picked it?"

"Very unlikely," He Lingchuan chuckled. "The Lantern Grass is very interesting. You cut a red string into two pieces, tie one piece to the Lantern Grass, and then recite a secret incantation. The next time you go up the mountain, as long as you have the other piece of red string tied to your wrist and repeatedly recite the incantation, you're guaranteed to find it. If not—" He shook his head. "You could walk until your legs break and still not find it."

Menban clicked his tongue in wonder. "This grass can run?"

"Why not? It just doesn't walk on two legs like a person," He Lingchuan said. "Although the White Bear King lives on Whitefur Mountain, it didn't tie a string to the Lantern Grass beforehand. This spiritual plant might not pay it any mind. On Whitefur Mountain, they are just neighbors who never see each other." "Furthermore, Whitefur Mountain wasn't originally called that; it was known as 'Dragon Head Mountain.' Legend has it that in ancient times, the first settlers saw a black dragon descend from the sky and perish here."

The guards found the legend interesting. "What a coincidence, our city also has a black dragon totem." Actually, this record wasn't Shao Jian sending word back to Panlong City through someone, but something He Lingchuan learned from Shao Jian's notes in a later era.

Hu Min added, "If a black dragon perished here, the *qi* of Dragon Head Mountain should be very good then." It's said that when a whale falls, all life flourishes. So what about a dragon's demise?

He Lingchuan shook his head. "What kind of auspicious geomantic land is a place where a dragon perished? A place where a dragon *rises* is what's truly good. As the saying goes, 'a lurking dragon ascending to the heavens is unstoppable.'"

In his mind, however, he pondered another matter: How did the Grand Square Jar reproduce the history of this place? Previously, when he entered the Panlong World, it was always either the Panlong Wasteland, the former Xiji Territory, or Yuheng City—all not far from the Grand Square Jar's location. Since the Grand Square Jar had personally experienced that history, it was no surprise that it could manifest it again. But what about Julun Port, or Shanjin Plain? This area should not have been within the Grand Square Jar's past sensory range. In other words, the Grand Square Jar should have known nothing about this region. Why could the Grand Square Jar reproduce the history of this unknown land so vividly and accurately?

He Lingchuan also noticed a detail: This segment of history only unfolded after he physically arrived at Julun Port in reality. Was it because the Divine Bone Necklace came here and thus read the past history of this region? Where exactly did the Grand Square Jar get this history from? However, one thing gave He Lingchuan peace of mind: The history reproduced by the Grand Square Jar should have very small deviations and errors, providing a reliable reference and aid for his actions in reality. This way, he gained another perspective for observing Shanjin Plain: The dimension of history. The more angles of observation, the less likely the conclusions would be wrong.

Menban asked him, "Boss, where are we going now?"

Hu Min immediately said, "If the White Bear King doesn't have the Luminous Lamp, then naturally we're going to find someone with clues, that is—the holder of the red string?"

He Lingchuan gave him an affirmative answer: "Yes."

The message Shao Jian sent to Panlong City was that he had found the holder of the red string. He Lingchuan didn't know how he found him, but Shao Jian always had his ways. This person lived in Dao Town, near Julun Port. He had inherited both the red string and the secret incantation from his father. He was willing to sell these two items to Shao Jian, but Shao Jian couldn't verify their authenticity because the man was unwilling to go up the mountain at the time—what a joke. Whitefur Mountain had man-eating bear demons; anyone who went there would surely die. No matter how valuable the Luminous Lamp was, he couldn't enter the mountain. Slaying demons and vanquishing monsters wasn't Shao Jian's forte. Besides, he had more important tasks at hand, so he quickly sent this information to Panlong City. Then, He Lingchuan arrived.

Dao Town was an ordinary small town with fewer than two hundred residents, but it relied on Julun Port for some freight business. Julun Port had been flourishing in recent years, with a significant increase in cargo throughput, and the townspeople's lives had also noticeably improved. He Lingchuan, following Shao Jian's tip, found the person who could 'string' the Luminous Lamp. He was an ordinary resident, whose summer jacket still had three or four patches. When the enthusiastic villagers led He Lingchuan to his doorstep and shouted "Old Liu," he happened to be on the roof patching thatch to prevent leaks on rainy days. His dwelling was only about seven or eight square meters larger than He Lingchuan's wooden house in Panlong City.