Chapter 39: Pioneers

He Chunhua added, “I recall from the ancient records that the Chipa Plateau is what’s known as a two-tiered plain. It has two layers of elevated plains stacked atop one another. The second tier, where Panlong Ancient City sits, is higher than the first and has rich soil. It also receives meltwater from the surrounding high mountains, creating an abundance of rivers and streams. It’s one of the few regions with water in the entire Panlong Wasteland.”

Naturally. Without a year-round, abundant supply of water, Panlong City would never have lasted as long as it did.

“What now?” Nian Songyu asked the state preceptor. “The sun’s about to set.”

In less than two quarters of an hour, the sun would slip behind the distant peaks. The light within the ancient city was already fading fast.

“We should first set up a base camp here and lay down a defensive talisman array,” Sun Fuping said calmly, clearly having planned this long ago. “Disperse. Find yourselves a suitable spot.”

“Disperse?” He Lingchuan stepped forward. “Wait a second, we haven’t even cleared the risks in this massive ruin!”

“No need,” Sun Fuping replied with quiet confidence. “At least the outskirts of the city are safe enough. Surely you don’t believe we’re the first people to set foot in Panlong City in the last hundred years?”

That was exactly what He Lingchuan had thought. Was he being naive?

He gave a dry laugh. “So there were pioneers after all, a pity none of them brought back anything of worth.”

If someone had already struck gold here, why would anyone else still bother coming?

“Not necessarily. They might not have been after the Generous Pot. Ruins like this often attract treasure hunters. Some of them recorded their findings, and those notes can still serve as references for us.” The mutated creatures of the Panlong Desert and the Three Corpses Worms were terrifying, yes, but if one did the research, they were not impossible to deal with.

So, it was true that Panlong Ruins had long been visited, and every explorer or exploration group harbored their own agendas.

Just like this group.

* * *

It did not take long for the two hundred-plus people to find a suitable open space to settle down.

It looked like the old marketplace of Panlong City, lining both sides of what must have once been a canal. Rows of buildings crowded together like scales on a fish, none taller than two stories.

Most of the storefronts had been damaged, and at least a third showed obvious signs of having been aflame. Still, a few signs remained hanging, though the writing had faded. One of the best-preserved ones had a blurred inscription.

The script was different from the current style, and it took He Lingchuan a moment of squinting and guesswork to make out two characters: “Frost... Wine.”

This was probably a tavern.

The buildings here were squat and close-packed. It was ideal for a temporary base. The group set up camp, and Sun Fuping ordered a two-hour rest. Zeng Feixiong immediately began assigning housing. The leaders naturally claimed the tavern with the best view and the least wind, where they then began discussions for the next phase of the expedition.

After two straight days on the move, everyone finally had a chance to wash their faces and collect themselves.

In the heart of the desert, where every drop of water was precious, this was a privilege reserved for leadership. He Lingchuan raised his waterskin, took a hearty swig, then poured the rest over his face. “What a goddamn place. It’s scorching by day and freezing by night!”

Extreme temperatures were very typical for a desert climate. It could be over forty degrees at noon, then frost over by nightfall. The sun had already dipped behind the horizon, and temperatures were plummeting. Even with padded coats, it was difficult to bear the cold, so people were now scavenging wood for fires.

He shook his head like a wet dog, spraying droplets everywhere. Nian Songyu frowned and stepped aside to dodge the splash. “Time’s precious. We can’t waste the night. However, with how vast the ruins are, even if we split up, it’ll take days to search. Does the state preceptor have any thoughts on this?”

They were not here for a sightseeing tour. With limited food and water, every minute counted.

Dusting the sand off his robes and straightening his appearance, Sun Fuping resumed his stately composure and spoke with ease, “Turning over every building and digging through every floorboard is what the Baling and Xianyou coalition armies did back then, and later treasure hunters did the same. There’s no way we’ll do better than them at that. So honestly, these standing buildings, these houses and shops, they’re of little value to us now.”

After Panlong City fell, it was subjected to a brutal massacre. Every living thing, whether man or beast, was slaughtered, and all valuables were looted clean. The enemy states had spent over thirty years trying to bring it down. By then, the city had become a thorn in their collective side, and their hatred ran deep. There was no way they would let it go without ravaging the place again and again.

Moreover, they had time on their side. They likely scoured every inch of the city, even the dirt beneath their feet. And yet, the Generous Pot was never found. This meant that it was probably not hidden in any noble estate or commoner’s home.

Upon hearing this, He Lingchuan let out a breath. “That’s good.”

Otherwise, with so few people and such a vast city to search, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

“So, does that mean you already know where the pot is?”

If everyone else had failed before, Sun Fuping would not have traveled thousands of kilometers just to eat sand.

“I don’t know the exact location, but I’ve managed to narrow down the area,” Sun Fuping admitted after a moment’s thought. He paused, then continued, “I once visited Ancestor Zhu Gen of Baling. He came to Panlong City four times in his life. His first visit was sixty years ago, and the last was forty years ago. You could say that, after the Baling and Xianyou coalition disbanded, his group conducted the most thorough investigations of the Panlong Ruins.”

“Group?” He Chunhua immediately picked up on the word.

“In my opinion, the State of Baling has always harbored certain suspicions about Panlong Ruins. Zhu Gen himself was deeply fascinated by it. He was already seventy-five on his final trip here, but he stayed the longest—fifteen days—and brought the largest team. Reportedly, it had been a team of over a thousand people.”

The larger the group, the longer the stay, and the more meticulous the search. One could only imagine how hard it had been to maintain supply lines.

Clearly, expeditions of this scale required official and military backing.

It also became apparent that both the coalition and this Ancestor Zhu Gen’s group had already done the hard work of clearing the mines, so to speak. There was no need for another round of carpet searches.

“A thousand people all left unharmed?” He Lingchuan interjected. “That alone is unusual.”

Suddenly, He Chunhua said, “It’s already dark, and I haven’t seen a single Three Corpses Worm.”

At the moment, he could still see the fires burning above others’ shoulders, which meant the effects of the soul-masking powder had not worn off yet. That state was something like having a “heavenly eye,” allowing one to see Three Corpses Worms as well.

But ever since crossing the bridge and entering the city, he had not seen a single one.

That was strange, was it not?

“Yes, not just the Three Corpses Worms, there aren’t even any other malevolent entities inside the city. That’s something all previous treasure seekers have confirmed. As long as we don’t stir up anything too big here, we should be safe.” As Sun Fuping spoke, he pulled out a hard tack ration and held it over the fire to warm.

Marching rations were made from dense, unleavened dough. Some were as large as a dinner plate, and if you dropped one, it would hit the ground with a loud clang. They were durable, but they were dry and rough as bark. Even after softening it over fire, He Lingchuan found it scratchy and unappetizing. He could only choke it down if he soaked it in hot water.

But Sun Fuping casually broke it into pieces and chewed without flinching.

Though a state preceptor he was, he was no stranger to hardship. Whether dressed in silk or living on coarse bread, he took it all in stride.

“A lot of the intel I’ve gathered came from Zhu Gen himself. After dedicating half his life to studying this place, he once told me that no one’s ever found the Generous Pot. He said that it was most likely because everyone’s been looking at the wrong time.”