Chapter 448: The Secret Inside the City Wall

Who among the people he knew would be in Lingxu City? Hong Chenglue?

Li Qingge said no more, blinking at him. "Good night."

He Lingchuan opened his eyes to find the sun already past its zenith, just two hours from sinking below the horizon. He was momentarily stunned.

He was back in Soul Realm, riding on horseback. To his left front stood a magnificent city wall, but this was not Panlong City.

He looked around; the entire Broken Blade Squad was there, accompanied by over thirty Great Wind Army soldiers.

Ahead of them was a fiery red cape.

General Hong?

Were they following General Hong?

He Lingchuan came to his senses and realized the city walls they were passing were very familiar:

This was Xiji Palace City!

Previously, the Panlong Army had only taken half a day to enter the Xiji capital, but capturing the palace city took another ten days, until the king and soldiers inside were trapped and ran out of supplies, finally surrendering without a fight.

Therefore, He Lingchuan was deeply impressed by the palace city's exterior, but only its exterior. As for the interior, this was his first time entering.

During the siege, over ten thousand soldiers had crammed into the palace city, making it reek. Fortunately, all the filth had been cleaned up. As far as He Lingchuan could see, the palace complexes were interconnected, well-planned, and exquisitely designed.

Menban, walking behind him, also looked around. "It seems that during our siege, the more than ten thousand soldiers and Hu Yanzhao were all crammed in here, yet it wasn't crowded at all; everyone had a place to stay."

Liutiao spat. "Outside, people were starving, while inside were carved beams and painted pillars. Xiji deserved to fall!"

He Lingchuan whispered, "Are we still heading east?"

Liutiao shrugged. Aluo looked left and right. "No news has come from Panlong City yet. General Hong brought us here for a task first."

Everyone followed General Hong to the western inner side of the palace city.

The further west they went, the fewer buildings there were, but the more people appeared.

These were civilian artisans, who had set up scaffolding inside the palace city. Over two hundred of them were hammering away at a wall with their tools, making a clamor.

A large section of the wall had already been chiseled away, forming a substantial gap visible from the outside.

Everyone was perplexed upon arriving.

During the siege, Xiji Palace City remained largely intact, almost untouched by attacks. Why were they destroying it now?

General Nanke seemed to be overseeing the work. He approached General Hong. "The artisans are complaining that the wall is incredibly hard. It took them most of the day just to make this opening, and they've broken countless chisels and hammers."

He Lingchuan and the others exchanged glances.

Xiji's city walls looked tall and thick, but how could they be this hard?

It took the artisans most of the day, concentrating fully, just to chisel at the wall. During wartime, where would soldiers find such a favorable environment to slowly breach a wall? Breaking through this wall would likely cost many lives.

General Hong also examined the wall. "Are you sure this is where to dig?"

"According to ancient texts, when Bei City was captured in the past, this was the only breach made." General Nanke waved over an elderly palace servant. "This fellow also participated in the construction of the Xiji Royal Palace back then; he's a living map."

The palace servant bowed deeply to General Hong. "I... my surname is Chang. I've been in the palace for over ten years. Just give the order, General!"

General Hong pointed, and Eunuch Chang nodded repeatedly. "This is it, this is it! Xiji Palace City was built on the old site of Bei City. The palace walls largely reused Bei City's old walls, widened, thickened, and heightened to become what they are today."

Bei City? He Lingchuan hadn't heard of it, but Aluo whispered, "So this is Bei City?"

He Lingchuan turned and saw that Menban and Liutiao also looked a little confused.

Thankfully, he wasn't the only one unfamiliar with it.

Aluo saw their expressions and knew it was time for a history lesson. She quietly explained, "Over a thousand years ago, a city called Bei City was built here. It was later invaded by foreign tribes and fell. I've heard legends about it, but I never realized the Xiji Royal Palace was built on its ruins."

Menban chuckled. "Looks like the feng shui here isn't great."

Bei City was invaded by foreign tribes and fell.

Xiji built its royal palace on its ruins, was invaded by Panlong City, and fell.

Over a thousand years apart, history repeats itself.

Eunuch Chang continued, "And this is just chiseling on the inner side. The outer side of the palace city is completely impervious to cannon fire, spiritual attacks, battering rams, and siege engines."

Menban grumbled, "The defensive array must have been formidable."

Eunuch Chang immediately added, "The most amazing thing is that the city walls could achieve this effect without any defensive formations at all."

The Great Wind soldiers were all a bit surprised.

No formations meant energy saving. War is all about attrition, and with the wall itself being this hard, it would be extremely difficult for an opponent.

"I heard that the foreign enemies back then attacked for over four months, sacrificing twenty to thirty thousand lives, just to open that single breach in the wall," Eunuch Chang said. "The king, er, the Huoyan family, chose this location precisely for that advantage when building the palace city. Although that breach was later filled, it's not as hard as the other sections of the old wall."

This was the softest section? He Lingchuan secretly gasped.

No wonder General Hong had previously instructed the Panlong Army to besiege but not attack, preferring to spend valuable time in a war of attrition. She must have known this history beforehand.

Otherwise, the Great Wind Army would have had to use lives to test the hardness of Bei City's old site.

General Hong scoffed, "What good is a strong wall? Xiji Royal Palace was still captured without losing a single soldier, wasn't it?"

The city was formidable and its cannons powerful, but the palace's owner was cowardly and ultimately opened the gates himself to surrender.

The outcome of war is never solely determined by external conditions.

Eunuch Chang smiled obsequiously. "Yes, yes, General Hong is wise and mighty!"

Just as they were speaking, several artisans on the scaffolding called out, "There's something! Something's inside the wall!"

Before anyone could blink, General Hong was already standing on the scaffolding several feet above the ground, right next to the artisans.

The artisan was startled and leaned back.

General Hong grabbed his shoulder with one hand and plunged the other directly into the wall, digging.

Ash, dust, and chunks of mud sifted down.

Her hand seemed more effective than a chisel.

General Nanke and the others gathered below to watch, seeing something stout and hard emerging from the wall, but it didn't look like stone.

Its shape, at least, was wrong.

General Hong stopped and let out a puff of air.

A gust of uncanny wind swept by, blowing away the loose dust from the wall, revealing the true form of the object underneath.

General Nanke exclaimed, "Th-these... these are bones?"

Only half of the object in the wall was exposed. Its color resembled jade, yet it subtly gleamed with a metallic sheen under the sun. When iron tools struck it, they rang out loudly, like hitting a chime stone, with lingering echoes.

But its shape was unmistakable.

It was a bone, at least three feet exposed, with who knew how much more hidden inside the wall.

Menban murmured, "This isn't a human bone."

No human bone was that long.

Another artisan pointed to the higher palace wall. "There's one there too."

Everyone looked up and, sure enough, found another bone with a jade-white luster four feet above.

The outer wall, built by Xiji, had already been breached. The artisans were now digging into Bei City's old wall.

So, Bei City's ancient walls were built with countless white bones?

Liutiao shivered, while He Lingchuan remembered a legend from his hometown.

General Hong wore a mask, so her expression was hidden, but her voice was unperturbed. "This is the secret behind the remarkable hardness of Bei City's ancient walls."

So, the wall's hardness depended on these bones?

She casually took out a dagger and chipped at the bone twice.

Indeed, it wouldn't chip.

General Hong then took out a small bottle and poured its liquid onto the bone.

With several soft hisses, white smoke rose from the bone. Those with keen senses of smell, like Liutiao and He Lingchuan, even detected a strange sour odor.

General Hong continued to pour the acid. Soon, foam flowed down from the bone, but when it touched the mud wall, nothing happened.

Soon, a small hole was corroded into the bone.

General Hong took a pickaxe with a crane-like beak and probed into the small hole.

The tip of the pickaxe appeared to have some black substance clinging to it.

General Hong examined it carefully. He Lingchuan suspected she even sniffed it.

Then, she jumped down from the scaffolding, saying regretfully, "Their vitality is gone; they're useless now. No need to dig further into this wall."

General Nanke was still examining the bones in the wall. "What exactly are these things?"

"Divine remains," General Hong said, clapping her hands. "Many gods fell to the mortal realm in ancient times. These are their vestiges."

Those who heard were struck with awe and a touch of horror.

Ancient Bei City actually used the bones of gods to build its walls?

Indeed, where there is war, there are corpses. The Extinction War of that era was so brutal, it's not surprising that divine remains would be left in the mortal realm.

Most of the artisans here were local Xiji people. Hearing her words, they immediately backed away, no longer daring to chisel at the wall.

Some even prostrated themselves, quietly praying for the gods' forgiveness for their great disrespect.

"Their burial ground is probably nearby; the people of Bei City just used what was readily available," General Hong remarked. Who wouldn't want sturdy city walls? "For the Bei City people to easily obtain their remains, either these beings died suddenly here and were never buried, or the seals on their burial ground were already broken or had lost their power."

General Hong asked Eunuch Chang, "Do you know where the divine tomb is?"

Eunuch Chang, who had also been wide-eyed with astonishment, quickly shook his head. "No, General, the ancient texts don't mention any divine burial grounds at all."

"It's a pity these bones embedded in the wall have lost their vitality. They are now no different from ordinary rock, apart from their hardness." General Hong asked him, "Think carefully. Is there any place in the palace city where flowers and plants remain green all year round, impervious to severe cold or intense heat?"

"Flowers and plants staying green all year?" Eunuch Chang replied without hesitation, "Oh, yes, there is such a place! When the entire capital is covered in snow, it remains vibrant with flowers and green grass! The Queen's favorite orchids, when grown there, would bloom perennially without fading, hardly needing any careful cultivation. Oh, it's in the Royal Palace's West Garden, just about four hundred paces from here."

"Lead the way."

Eunuch Chang's measurement was precise; four hundred paces meant exactly four hundred paces, with almost no deviation.

They had entered an imperial garden, filled with exotic flowers and rare plants, artfully arranged. There was hardly a withered blade of grass or a yellow leaf to be seen.