Chapter 00012: The Past of Panlong
# The Past of Panlong
Chapter 12
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 12: The Past of Panlong
Woling Pass was easy to defend but hard to attack, and now the rebels were the ones defending it.
He Chunhua straightened his expression and asked earnestly, "What should I do?"
A shocking event had erupted in the central region of Yuan Country, and the fate of the nation hung by a thread.
Even an ordinary person would feel a sense of responsibility, let alone an official like him.
At this point, shirking his duty would be utterly inappropriate.
Just as a servant came to replace the tea, Sun Fuping took a sip of the hot tea and asked a seemingly unrelated question, "Lord He, you've been in Qiansong County for many years. Do you know how the wilderness turned into the Panlong Desert and the origin of the Red Cliff Road?"
Why was he asking this? He Chunhua frowned slightly.
"This is local history. About 150 years before the founding of Yuan Country, the land we stand on belonged to the Xiluo Kingdom. Back then, the Panlong Desert wasn't a wasteland. It had slightly less rainfall, but there were still forests and seasonal rivers. At its peak, the Xiluo Kingdom established four prefectures and twelve cities in its western region to control this bustling east-west trade route. The largest of these cities was Panlong City."
"Later, the Xiluo Kingdom gradually declined, suffering repeated defeats in wars. The Baling and Xianyou Kingdoms competed to carve up its territory. Except for the Panlong Wilderness, which held firm, the entire western region of Xiluo was occupied. As a result, the Panlong Wilderness became an enclave, isolated from the Xiluo Kingdom, a thousand miles away from its homeland."
He Lingchuan listened quietly to this history.
The origin of the Panlong Desert was a story every citizen of Heishui City had heard, and his original self was no exception.
"For thirty-two years, the Baling and Xianyou Kingdoms attacked the Panlong Wilderness, and for thirty-two years, the Xiluo defenders, led by the commander of Panlong City, Zhong Shengguang, held their ground, fighting for every inch of land!" He Chunhua turned to his eldest son and asked, "Lingchuan, do you remember the name of this army?"
"The Great Wind Army!" He Lingchuan nodded.
"As resilient as the poplar trees, their loyalty unmatched, yet their ambitions unfulfilled—this was the Great Wind Army, trapped behind enemy lines!"
The Great Wind Army was besieged by two powerful enemies, cut off from their homeland, lacking food and water, and receiving no aid from Xiluo.
Yet, they held out for a full thirty-two years.
Such a legend never grew old.
"In the twelfth year of Panlong City's siege, Xianyou and Xiluo briefly made peace. The Great Wind Army seized the opportunity to send a message to their homeland. The Xiluo king, never expecting Panlong City to still stand, issued a decree of commendation and recalled most of the Great Wind Army's elite forces to suppress internal rebellions."
When his father didn't continue, He Lingchuan took over.
"But soon after, Xianyou and Xiluo fell out again, and the connection between the Panlong Wilderness and the homeland was severed. The Great Wind Army was once again in dire straits."
"After that, Xiluo was plagued by continuous wars and had no time to care for its western territories. The Great Wind Army, isolated and with most of its main forces gone, held out for another twenty years."
The will of this army could no longer be described as merely ironclad.
It was a pity that their homeland was too weak to deserve such loyal soldiers.
"The country did not deserve its soldiers," He Lingchuan thought this phrase was particularly fitting.
"Well said," Nian Songyu clapped twice.
"But how did the wilderness turn into a desert?"
"The Great Wind Army never surrendered, fighting to the last man. Panlong City was slaughtered by the enemy in a fit of rage, leaving no survivors."
This was also a classic tale told in teahouses.
"These battles were so brutal that the fury and resentment of the fallen souls rose to the heavens and seeped into the earth, causing all life within a hundred miles of Panlong City to wither and rivers to change course. Thus, the wilderness slowly turned into a desert."
"There's another theory. The commander of Panlong City, Zhong Shengguang, was a powerful sorcerer. Knowing that a single tree could not hold up a forest, he gathered the power of tens of thousands of fallen souls at the moment of the city's fall and cursed the land, turning it into a barren wasteland."
He Lingchuan shrugged.
"This way, Xiluo couldn't hold onto Panlong, but neither could Baling or Xianyou claim it. In fact, this desert now belongs to no country."
"Is there more?"
"But Zhong Shengguang also left a sliver of hope for those who entered the desert—the Red Cliff Road. It was the route the Great Wind Army once took."
He Lingchuan looked at Nian Songyu.
"There are many more details. If you want to hear more, we'd better start the banquet and continue over food."
Imperial Advisor Sun Fuping asked He Chunhua, "Lord He, is this all you know?"
"Pretty much," He Chunhua sensed something unusual.
"What are you getting at, Imperial Advisor?" Don't beat around the bush.
"The Great Wind Army was indeed an ironclad force, and Commander Zhong Shengguang was a formidable man. But after the main elite forces were recalled, how could the Great Wind Army hold out for another twenty years? By then, Xianyou's army could sweep through most of Xiluo, and even if Xiluo still had famous generals, they couldn't hold out."
Imperial Advisor Sun said calmly, "We both know that sheer passion alone couldn't achieve this."
The outcome of war depends solely on strength.
The cruel truth is that no matter how passionate the weak are, they cannot escape the fate of defeat.
The enemy was so powerful, especially Xianyou, with its elite troops and strong generals, launching over three hundred attacks on Panlong City.
At its peak, there were fifteen attacks in a single month.
How could the Great Wind Army, lacking food, water, manpower, and weapons, hold out?
To this, He Chunhua could only reply, "The historical records are insufficient to make a judgment."
No matter how stirring the tale, it was still a story from over a hundred years ago.
Later generations could sigh over it, but how many would delve deeper?
At least He Chunhua didn't.
He had more important matters to attend to.
"Imperial Advisor Sun, what does the history of the Panlong Desert have to do with our current predicament in Yuan Country?" These two couldn't have traveled thousands of miles just to hear him tell a story.
Here comes the main event.
Sun Fuping stood up and took two steps forward, staring into his eyes.
"This is what I'm getting at. The key to the Great Wind Army's perseverance might also be the key to turning the tide at Woling Pass and saving the capital from disaster! Prefect He, this time, you cannot shirk your responsibility!"
He Chunhua's expression turned serious.
"Please, enlighten me."
He Lingchuan, however, felt that the other party was finally revealing their true intentions, but they had first placed a huge responsibility on his father's shoulders.
He wasn't sure if his father could handle it.
"He Jian, the chief clerk of the Great Wind Army, served under Zhong Shengguang for many years and died of illness before the city fell. After Xianyou captured Panlong City, they inventoried his belongings and found a brief record of this history."
"He Jian's notes were passed down, changing hands several times, and eventually ended up in the Yuan royal court."
He Lingchuan couldn't help but interject, "So the truth has been hidden in our country all along? Why hasn't it appeared in historical records?"
Every country has a historical bureau that records its own history and that of previous dynasties, especially the latter.
The history of one's own country is often glossed over, but the history of previous dynasties is deeply studied by scholars, from secret anecdotes to human nature.
The reasons for this are obvious, and everyone understands them.
Moreover, such findings are willingly shared with the public, especially stories of loyalty like those of Panlong City and the Great Wind Army.
They should be held up as examples to educate the people, subtly influencing them.
Nian Songyu smiled.
"Because it couldn't be told!"
"By then, the notes were so damaged that few complete sentences could be pieced together, and the full picture of history couldn't be restored. But one thing was clearly recorded—"
(End of Chapter)