Chapter 98:
Two Birds with One Stone
WITH LI JINGLONG and Hongjun safely away, the remaining members of the Department of Exorcism continued to operate out of Lanling Amber. When Li Heng summoned them to the Imperial Court of Judicial Review for interrogation the next morning, the court still hadn’t gotten wind of Li Jinglong’s departure from the city. Under questioning, the exorcists all gave the same answer: They had no idea where the fugitive was, or if Hongjun was with him.
Li Heng guessed at once that Li Jinglong had set out to find the truth, hoping to clear his name. But with Yang Guozhong steering the opinions of the court, the matter of Li Jinglong’s escape was suppressed for the present.
“What next, though?” Ashina Adarvan asked. “The chief didn’t give us instructions on how to proceed before he left.”
Mergen considered this. “An Lushan is staying in the barracks on the northwest side of the city with his army. The first thing we should do is infiltrate and locate the spiritual device he’s using to protect himself.”
They had planned through the night following Li Jinglong’s departure. A-Tai gave everyone the gist of what Li Guinian had told him, leaving out the true significance of the sacred flame and its importance to his order. Mergen pondered for a long time, then spread out a map on the table. “You suspect this sacred flame is the spiritual device An Lushan is using? If that’s the case, we should take the risk and infiltrate the barracks. I doubt it’ll be easy to locate, though. We’ll need to buy ourselves some time. I have an idea, listen…”
This was the first time Li Jinglong had left his subordinates to their own devices while facing a foe—and they were facing An Lushan, of all people. All the exorcists were capable in their own right, but they’d become used to acting on Li Jinglong’s orders without thinking too much about it. The chief was an exemplary strategist who left no stone unturned, and so they were happy to simply do as he said.
Now that their boss was gone, the planning was left to them. Inspired by Lu Xu and Hongjun’s adventure in Hongjun’s dreams, Mergen spent the whole night deep in thought and emerged the next morning with a strategy consisting of a complicated chain of operations. He expected everyone to clap and praise his ingenuity, but to his surprise, they all fell into an awkward silence.
“That’s way too dangerous!” A-Tai said at last. “What are you thinking?! You could die!”
“We have no idea what this demon is capable of,” Qiu Yongsi added, “and this is our first time going against it.”
“Don’t you remember what happened when Lu Xu was possessed?” Mergen replied. “It’s not like I’m going off nothing… Lu Xu!”
Lu Xu was on the second floor, leaning against the railing as he looked outside. He said indifferently, “Don’t ask me. I haven’t the slightest clue.”
“Are you sure about this? You’ll definitely die,” Ashina Adarvan said.
“Yeah, I think Third-in-Command’s a goner,” the carp yao agreed.
Lu Xu glanced at Mergen, who was still trying to reassure everyone. “We’ll be fine as long as we nail the timing.”
“I’ll do it.” Lu Xu hopped over the railing, jumping down to join them. “I’ve been through it before.”
Mergen objected at once. “No, no! Lu Xu, I need you to be the one controlling the threads.”
“You trust me so much?” Lu Xu asked.
Mergen pressed his lips shut. He turned to the rest of the group. “Any other objections?”
“Yes!” everyone cried in unison. “Come up with something else!”
“You guys figure it out, then.” Mergen threw up his hands, exasperated.
Lu Xu narrowed his eyes, studying Mergen. “You’re really serious?”
“Of course I’m serious.” Mergen looked at everyone, perplexed.
“Adarvan and I will do it,” A-Tai said. “We grew up together; we share a stronger bond than you two.”
“Neither of you have the power to manipulate dreams,” Mergen said.
“So what?” said Ashina Adarvan. “Have Xiao-Lu enter Tigra’s dreams and wake me up when it’s time.”
“Stop right there,” said Mergen. None of these ideas would work as well as the one he’d already proposed. “The gray wolf and white deer already possess these powers. And I believe in Lu Xu.”
Everyone lapsed into silence again. “All right,” said Lu Xu. “I’ll go with you, but it still might not work. My antlers were cut off; my powers are weaker now. Don’t blame me if this fails.”
Mergen and Lu Xu gazed at each other across the room. Qiu Yongsi spoke up: “If this fails, we’ll have no choice but to wait for the chief and Hongjun to return, then force you awake.”
This made Mergen hesitate. But after a moment, he shook his head. “I’m confident. Yongsi, monitor Yang Guozhong carefully. I’m guessing he won’t wait until the noble consort’s birthday. If we succeed in stealing the sacred flame from An Lushan, Yang Guozhong will immediately move to recover his soul. At that point, An Lushan is sure to forget everything else and seek us out.”
“Leave Yang Guozhong to me,” Qiu Yongsi said. “When it comes to subduing dragons, I have my own methods. We just need to place a seal on the sacred flame. It’s complicated, yes—but not impossible.”
The carp yao looked at them in astonishment. “Aren’t you guys a bit too ambitious?”
Originally, they had only planned on investigating the whereabouts of An Lushan’s protective spiritual device, but Mergen wanted to take the opportunity to subdue Yang Guozhong as well. The plan was risky in the extreme, but even after brainstorming for hours, no one could think of a better one. Everyone preferred to spring into action rather than to sit around idle, so each took up their respective tasks.
A-Tai and Ashina Adarvan were in charge of monitoring An Lushan’s every move. The moment Mergen located An Lushan’s spiritual device—which they now felt sure was the sacred flame—they would swoop in and grab it. If they succeeded, Yang Guozhong would notice immediately and come for An Lushan.
Under threat from Yang Guozhong, An Lushan would surely try to snatch the device back from them. When that moment came, Qiu Yongsi would create an imitation of the sacred flame. He would feign an injury and let An Lushan take the fake, then leave An Lushan to confront Yang Guozhong. When both were wounded from their clash, Qiu Yongsi would activate the seal he’d cast, and everyone would come together to eliminate both An Lushan and Yang Guozhong, killing two birds with one stone.
Mergen was immensely satisfied with this plan, finding it perfect in every way. As he returned to his room with Lu Xu, ready to begin the first stage, he asked, “Do you really think it’s too risky?”
Lu Xu gave Mergen a conflicted look. “You’re actually pretty smart.”
“Lots of people are smarter than I am,” Mergen said casually, lying down on the bed. “The chief is so smart the rest of us rarely get to show off our skills… What should I think about?”
“Think of the moments in your past etched deepest in your memories—something you can’t cast aside,” Lu Xu said. “You need to pick a memory you wouldn’t forget, even if you were marching to your death. It can be an obsession, your sweetest dream, memories of love or hatred. But you must be sure you can recall this memory no matter where you are, no matter how much time has passed.”
Mergen nodded and shut his eyes. Lu Xu pressed a palm to Mergen’s forehead and began to recite: “In the dreamscape of the manifold universe, where fantasy and illusion hold sway, your heart alone holds truth.”
White light burst from his hand, bathing Mergen’s forehead in its soft glow.
Mergen felt a strong gale buffet him. On the boundless plains, thousands of blades of grass, caught in the wind, flew up toward the azure sky. A young boy was running across the plains, stumbling over his feet as armored cavalrymen clashed around him. Warhorses trampled a Shiwei village, which was soon enveloped in a sea of raging flames.