Chapter 395: 妖与人

The local residents, however, had been eagerly awaiting this news and couldn't help but cheer upon hearing that the precious tree seeds were finally headed for the Northern Territory. It appeared the border region there was not particularly peaceful. Stone Er, the second in command, whispered, "Lingxu City's control over Twilight Plain isn't very strict overall; various national factions move freely there."

At this point, Prime Minister Tang again offered some formal remarks. No birthday celebration is complete without entertainment, so the open ground in front of Baiyun Residence was quickly cleared. Soon, troupes began performing acrobatics, illusion shows, and other acts. He Lingchuan, however, was only concerned with the precious tree seed. He observed it being placed in a brocade box, which Prime Minister Tang then carefully put away. This meant he would have to find a way to obtain the seed from Prime Minister Tang. The difficulty of this task was extraordinary.

The performances on Mount Baiyun were set to continue for three days and three nights, much to the delight of the common people. However, officials and diplomatic envoys would depart earlier. It was unclear how Stone Er had acquired the information, but he soon returned to He Lingchuan, announcing, "Good news, good news! The escort team for the diplomatic mission heading to the northern border is preparing to depart in an hour. They will also be accompanying the spiritual seed, so it would be ideal for us to travel with them!" He Lingchuan smiled faintly.

While Beijia's trade routes were typically quite safe, the recent passing of the Emperor's Dew still posed some danger for traveling merchant caravans. This escort was an elite unit dispatched by Fufeng City; with them leading the way, the merchant teams could travel much more securely. It was akin to how displaced people preferred to follow noble entourages during migrations; with the powerful leading the path, they had a sense of security.

Mount Baiyun was located in the northern suburbs of Fufeng City. Once the spiritual seed escort team was fully prepared, they would depart directly from this location. Several quick-witted merchant caravans immediately joined them. The Shimen merchant caravan was among them.

Before leaving the massive volcanic crater, He Lingchuan cast a final glance back, marveling at the colossal size of the Guluo Tree. He had never before imagined a single tree ruling an entire kingdom. The Demon Kingdom truly was a wondrous place.

At that moment, the black cat bid him farewell. It had seen enough excitement for the day, and its employer had been quite generous with ample silver and dried fish. Now, however, it needed to return home to care for its kittens. "Bring your kittens and come with us; merchant caravans always encounter rats," Stone Er surprisingly offered. "There'll be plenty to eat and drink." The black cat seemed touched, then declined his offer: "No. Work is easy to find in Fufeng City, and my children must grow up in a big city. Who would want to wander about with you?"

"You heartless creature," He Lingchuan said, half-amused and half-exasperated, as he extended a hand. "It was a pleasure working with you. Thank you." The cat extended a paw, like a mangosteen fruit, to high-five him in farewell, then hopped off the sheep's back and departed without a backward glance. He Lingchuan watched as it approached another human, a girl of seven or eight, rubbing against her hand affectionately, likely hoping to hitch a ride back to Fufeng City…

Just then, another familiar face rode up from behind: Xu Dongdong. This man was one of the Grand Tutor's guards who had escaped the mirror world with He Lingchuan. He had been on other assignments for the past few days. He said to He Lingchuan, "Young Master Sha knows you are about to leave and asked me to escort you for a stretch of the journey. Elder Brother Wu is currently with the Grand Tutor and couldn't get away, so he asked me to convey his farewells."

He Lingchuan thanked him, then inquired, "Has Fushan been apprehended?"

"Not yet. That fellow is incredibly strong in combat and runs faster than a rabbit; he disappears at the slightest sign of trouble," Xu Dongdong whispered. "However, we caught two of his associates, and under interrogation, we learned their leader's true name is Fushan Yue. These people are mercenaries who kill, rob, and fight on behalf of powerful figures; they'll do anything. Their current mission was to ambush Baizhu, the envoy from Shanyu Kingdom."

"The white python, you mean?"

"Yes," Xu Dongdong scratched his head. "While collecting Emperor's Dew in Sanxinyuan, they mistakenly killed the deputy envoy from Haoling Kingdom, believing him to be Baizhu. Since the mission wasn't completed, they altered their plan and intend to act after Baizhu leaves Fufeng City. As for the identity of their employer, only Fushan Yue knows; his subordinates merely follow orders."

"Where is Fushan Yue from?"

"Uh, I don't know," Xu Dongdong sighed. "I only overheard those two sentences before being dispatched to find you, so I don't have any further details."

It seemed He Lingchuan had inadvertently prevented him from hearing more gossip. He Lingchuan coughed lightly. "Does this envoy know he's on a hit list?"

"We've already informed him," Xu Dongdong replied. "We've also assigned additional personnel to protect him all the way to the border. We hope he has a safe journey, and that the reputation of the Treasure Tree King remains untarnished."

He Lingchuan mused, "Why attack an envoy who's merely delivering a gift? And risk offending the Treasure Tree King in the process?"

"How would I know?" Xu Dongdong shrugged. "Sometimes these demons act recklessly and are completely unreasonable. There's civil unrest in Shanyu Kingdom, and I hear their royal army is constantly losing ground, so it's quite possible their rivals dispatched someone for an assassination this time."

"So that spiritual seed, once planted, will grow into a guardian of the border?"

"More or less," Xu Dongdong chuckled. "I'm not entirely clear on the specifics, but my King's avatars are far more powerful than mountain spirits. Where an avatar is present, there's no need to appoint a mountain spirit. The only downside is that these spiritual seeds are difficult to produce; I hear it takes thirty or forty years to yield just one."

"So, the entire Treasure Tree Kingdom has at most only about twenty Guluo avatars guarding it?" He thought, what a simple calculation.

"Uh," Xu Dongdong mumbled, realizing he had spoken out of turn. How could such sensitive information be shared with an outsider?

He Lingchuan noted his expression, realizing it was best not to press further on that topic. He changed the subject: "Is the spiritual seed escort team a temporary assembly? They all seem to be human, and their mounts are just ordinary horses. At most, there are a dozen wolf demons accompanying them. It seems… not particularly grand."

Stone Er interjected, "I had expected Fufeng City to dispatch a vast army of demon beasts, majestically escorting the spiritual seed to the Northern Territory."

Xu Dongdong chuckled, "Sounds impressive, doesn't it?"

"Indeed!"

"With the royal flag raised, what short-sighted bandit would dare attempt a robbery?" Xu Dongdong said. "Besides, how much would a demon beast army consume? How could the roadside inns and towns along the way possibly supply them? Horses are simply the best: stable-tempered, excellent endurance, and they eat grass."

He Lingchuan chuckled. "A practical economic consideration, indeed." Demon beasts like tigers and wolves were enormous eaters, requiring meat whenever they traveled, consuming dozens of pounds each per day. What logistical system could sustain that? Even herbivorous demons consumed several times more than an ordinary horse. All things considered, riding horses was the most practical choice.

He Lingchuan understood, of course, that this choice was partly due to the considerable distance between Fufeng City and the Northern Territory; otherwise, dispatching a demon beast honor guard wouldn't have been a major issue. Moreover, it spoke to the Treasure Tree King's confidence: who would dare to rob the royal army on his own territory?

He Lingchuan had also made another observation: even within Beijia, the number of demons was not as high as he had anticipated. Taking Fufeng City as an example, after several days of observation, he noted that the ratio of demons to humans was less than one to ten. Even in this capital of the Treasure Tree Kingdom, a reputed gathering place for demons, humans vastly outnumbered them. The towns he passed along the way were even more telling, with human populations at least thirty times greater than those of demons. He had visited one particularly extreme small town where over six hundred permanent residents lived, yet only three demons were reportedly present.

It was important to distinguish between wild beasts and demons; they were two entirely different concepts. In General Zhao Pan of Yuan Kingdom's army, there was a charge unit of wild oxen led by ox demons, whose power He Lingchuan had nearly experienced firsthand. Strictly speaking, out of that herd of three hundred oxen, only seven were true ox demons—typically larger and more robust, making them easy to identify—while the rest were ordinary wild oxen. Similarly, most members of the Rock Wolf clan were ordinary rock wolves; only those like Lu Xin, He Lingchuan's mount, or Big Black, who served He Yue, could truly be called demon wolves. Madam Zhu Er's offspring easily numbered in the tens of thousands, yet fewer than 180 of them were elite spider guards who had achieved demon status. He Lingchuan, bored during his stay in the Demon Nest Marsh, had once counted them himself. With this many spider guards, she could claim the prime territory in the Demon Nest Marsh, forcing other powerful demons to endure their frustration and swallow their anger.

When He Lingchuan discussed this with Xu Dongdong, the latter burst out laughing. "How could demons possibly compare to humans in sheer numbers?"

"I thought Beijia, being a demon kingdom, would have demons as the dominant population." He Lingchuan recalled how plays and storybooks in Yuan Kingdom depicted northern demon kingdoms as teeming with demons, boasting powerful demon armies, and portraying the enslaved human populace as living in utter misery. Yet, seeing it firsthand here, he found quite the opposite.

"While the demon kings are venerable, and Beijia certainly doesn't lack powerful demons, how could such a vast empire be sustained without humans?" Stone Er also chuckled. "Beyond humans, who else possesses the ability to manage and produce?"

He Lingchuan realized this was true. Demons like Madam Zhu Er, adept at farming, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishing, were anomalies among their kind. Most demons followed their inherent nature, being free-spirited and undisciplined. They lacked human meticulousness and found it difficult to engage in collective labor day after day, unlike humans. If production and management weren't primarily human-led, crops wouldn't grow, mines wouldn't be worked, and commerce would grind to a halt. From where, then, would wealth originate?

At that moment, the Heart-Protecting Mirror interjected, "The primary reason for the declining demon population is the weakening spiritual energy of heaven and earth. The early Middle Ages was still an era where demon beasts roamed everywhere; you could shoot an arrow into the wild and likely hit a rabbit demon. But humans are different… no matter how scarce the spiritual energy becomes, humans remain human; they won't devolve into apes." It is precisely because the demon race has weakened that they must band together. In ancient and medieval times, demon immortals roamed freely, each claiming a territory as their domain. A demon kingdom like Beijia would have been unthinkable then. Ultimately, it was all a product of the changing times.

That night, the entourage settled in a small town situated beside the main road. The escort consisted of approximately three hundred people, while the merchant caravans following behind numbered over a thousand. With all their carriages, horses, and goods, a single town couldn't possibly accommodate them all. Fortunately, a second town lay just five li away, where the Shimen merchant caravan proceeded to settle.

As other merchants came over to chat, He Lingchuan overheard a piece of information: "Actually, not only the escort team is staying in that town, but also three foreign diplomatic missions—reportedly from the Xuluo, Chiyan, and Baixiang Kingdoms. The escort team has invited them to stay together."