After the Immortal Disappeared

In other words, Hong Chenglu had to either compromise with Hee Chunhua or make good on his boast.

This was actually a very reactive position to be in.

But once Hee Lingchuan figured this out, a hidden worry took root in his heart.

’Hong Chenglu knew he couldn’t prove his boast on the spot, so why did he still seek a face-to-face meeting with Hee Chunhua?’

’Does he have some other plan in place here?’

Hee Lingchuan lowered his head and voiced his concerns.

But he had only spoken a few words when Hee Chunhua nodded and cut him off. "Alright, I’m aware."

From his angle, Hee Lingchuan could see the muscles in his father’s neck were pulled taut. Clearly, Hee Chunhua was not as calm as he appeared on the surface.

After a good while, the Stone Man spoke again. "Let me see Ajin first."

The request wasn’t unreasonable. Hee Chunhua turned his head and jerked his chin, and a soldier guarding the carriage pulled the door open.

The old woman inside helped Ajin by placing a pillow behind her, allowing her to lean against the wall of the compartment.

Only then did a spark of life enter Ajin’s eyes. "Mr. Hong."

"How are you?" The Stone Man couldn’t help but take two steps toward her. "Have they given you any trouble?"

"I’m fine. You’re the one they’re pestering," Ajin sighed. "It seems I’ve become a burden to you again."

The Stone Man said firmly, "You have never been a burden to me!"

’Are these two really putting on a show of affection in broad daylight, in front of nearly a thousand people?’ Hee Chunhua coughed and said to Ajin, "Lady Miao, don’t forget our agreement."

Ajin’s surname was Miao. Hee Chunhua had approached her several times in the past two days, asking her to persuade Hong Chenglu.

She had agreed, neither stubborn nor defiant.

Ajin ignored him completely, her eyes fixed on her husband on the peak. "Mr. Hong, you don’t have to worry about me anymore. From now on, the vast sky is yours to fly in!"

As she said this, she smiled at Hong Chenglu, but black blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.

Hong Chenglu and Hee Chunhua paled in horror, shouting almost in unison, "What are you doing!"

Hong Chenglu was terrified out of his wits. "How is this possible? I took her poison away!"

Hee Chunhua lunged forward, his decorum forgotten. He pried open Ajin’s mouth, only to find her teeth clenched tight, her body trembling uncontrollably, and blood streaming from her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.

Hee Lingchuan rushed forward as well, urgently commanding the Medicinal Ape, "Lingguang, save her!"

Lingguang leaped into the carriage, sniffed the air in Ajin’s mouth, and pulled a gourd from who-knows-where to pour its contents into her mouth. "It’s the potent poison Cold Pigeon Powder. The kind Death Warriors use."

The liquid in the gourd was pale yellow, clear, and had a slightly unpleasant odor.

Ajin’s throat muscles were clenched, making it impossible for her to swallow. Lingguang hastily pressed its claw on her throat a couple of times, and she finally managed to swallow it with a GULP.

She started to choke, but Lingguang paid it no mind, continuing to pour the liquid forcefully down her throat.

A dozen breaths later, it turned Ajin over and pressed hard on her abdomen. "Spit it out, quickly!"

Ajin vomited violently.

Lingguang immediately began pouring more of the antidote into her to wash out her stomach, preparing to induce vomiting again.

At a time like this, such a basic method was more effective than any Miracle Medicine.

This time, however, Ajin stopped reacting after only two mouthfuls. No matter what techniques Lingguang tried, nothing worked.

"It’s no use," Lingguang panted. "This poison acts too fast."

While pouring the antidote, it could see the woman’s mouth was already being corroded away, to say nothing of her even more fragile internal organs.

It was no exaggeration to describe this poison as instantly fatal.

In both the Yuan Kingdom and the Beiga Kingdom, Cold Pigeon Powder was known as the go-to poison for silencing people permanently.

"Try again!" Hee Chunhua ordered, his expression grim. "Think of something else!"

’Hong Chenglu was just about to compromise, and my plan was on the verge of success. If Ajin dies at this critical juncture, I’ll not only lose my trump card against Hong Chenglu, but I’ll also create a deep-seated, bitter feud!’

At that moment, he was furious. ’How could my men not have searched the cripple thoroughly?’

’Did they let their guard down just because she was disabled?’

Lingguang tried several more methods, but Ajin remained motionless. Hee Lingchuan checked her pulse. It was gone.

"Father, she’s dead."

As the poison took Ajin’s life, the Stone Man charged forward like a mad thing.

But it was just a conduit for his voice, with no powerful defenses. After a barrage of attacks from the surrounding soldiers, it was quickly shattered into a pile of rocks.

Hee Chunhua suppressed the turmoil in his heart and barked, "Capture Hong Chenglu! Quickly!"

A blood feud had been forged; he couldn’t be allowed to leave this place alive.

Zeng Feixiong let out a sharp whistle. The nearby soldiers stopped hiding, leaping from their concealed positions and charging toward the small peak.

Hee Chunhua’s mind raced, and he shouted toward Hong Chenglu, "She’s not dead! We saved your wife!"

From dozens of yards away, and with so many people blocking the view of the carriage, he didn’t believe Hong Chenglu could possibly see that Ajin was dead.

As long as the man was uncertain, the situation could still be turned around.

When Hong Chenglu saw his wife’s mouth bleeding through the Stone Man’s eyes, he was terrified out of his wits and was about to leap down without a second thought.

Dong Rui grabbed his shoulder. "Are you insane?! You’ll be walking right into their Net!"

Hong Chenglu threw off his hand, but a giant claw shot out from the side and seized his arm. He was surprisingly unable to break free immediately. "Let go! She’s been poisoned!"

It was the Ghost Ape, which had taken its true form to help its master restrain Hong Chenglu. But Hong Chenglu’s strength was immense, and the Ghost Ape was still injured; it had to use every ounce of its strength to barely hold him back.

Dong Rui roared in Hong Chenglu’s ear, "Calm down! She took the poison willingly! She did it so you wouldn’t have to die!"

The word "die" was deafening. Hong Chenglu froze. As if remembering something, he suddenly stopped struggling.

By now, the Stone Man had been shattered, and the Yuan Army was swarming up the peak, rushing toward them. Nearby archers were already nocking arrows to their bows.

"There’s no time, we have to go!" Dong Rui gestured, and the Strange Bird behind them materialized. Its enormous body could easily carry the two of them for a short distance.

Hong Chenglu stared intently at the distant carriage, his eyes red and his breathing ragged.

Dong Rui leaped onto the bird’s back, urging him relentlessly. "Go! Now, now, now!" Any longer and it would be too late.

Hong Chenglu gritted his teeth so hard they nearly shattered, then whipped his head around and leaped onto the bird’s back. The Ghost Ape shrank back into a small monkey and jumped into Dong Rui’s arms.

The Strange Bird beat its wings, taking to the sky just before a dozen feathered arrows could reach them.

Then, Hong Chenglu heard Hee Chunhua’s shout, and a muscle in his jaw twitched twice.

Fearing that Hong Chenglu would do something foolish in a fit of rage, Dong Rui quickly said, "He’s tricking you, don’t believe it!"

Hong Chenglu’s voice sounded like it was coming from a tomb of ice. "That’s Cold Pigeon Powder. There is no antidote!"

He had once distributed that very poison to spies from the Beiga Kingdom; he recognized it in a single glance!

It had another name: Ten-Breath Soul-Stealing Powder. Which meant that Ajin was already...

Sitting in front, Dong Rui couldn’t help but shudder. He could feel the rage from the man behind him practically about to erupt like a volcano.

Suddenly, Hong Chenglu unslung the longbow from his back, nocked an arrow, and fired.

He wasn’t aiming for Hee Chunhua, but for the ground—

—the sandy ground at the feet of the charging Yuan Soldiers.

Hong Chenglu fired a Continuous Arrow volley. With three quick sounds—SWISH, SWISH, SWISH—each arrow buried itself more than a foot deep. Even with the soft sand, it was a testament to his incredible arm strength.

And then, that wide, flat stretch of ground exploded.

It was an earth-shattering blast, sending sand and rock flying everywhere.

The dust cloud it kicked up was forty or fifty feet high.

The twenty-odd Yuan Soldiers at the very front were instantly engulfed by the dust cloud, their fates unknown.

There was a trap buried underground!

The soldiers behind them halted in their tracks, daring not to charge any further.

Besides, their target was already in the sky. What was the point of the infantry advancing any further?

The explosives the Xunzhou people had procured from abandoned mine pits had once again come in handy.

With expert archers below, the Strange Bird dared not linger. Using the billowing smoke from the explosion for cover, it flew higher and higher, soon vanishing into the dark clouds.

Hee Chunhua stared up at its retreating figure, knowing that at this very moment, Hong Chenglu was staring right back at him.

The hatred and venom in that gaze sent a chill down his spine.

Only after the Strange Bird had vanished into the clouds did Hee Chunhua give the cold command, "Withdraw! Back to camp!"

The remaining men hurried forward to clear the battlefield, tending to the wounded and retrieving the dead.

On the way back to the military camp, the icy aura radiating from Hee Chunhua made everyone avoid him like the plague.

...

As soon as they reached the encampment, Hee Lingchuan used the excuse of tending to the wounded to slip away.

His father was seething with rage; why would he go looking for trouble?

That last explosion had killed three Yuan Soldiers, severely wounded seven, and lightly injured twenty-one. Lingguang had gone to help treat them. Just then, a soldier approached to ask Hee Lingchuan what should be done with the woman’s corpse.

The troop had brought the carriage back. Inside was Ajin’s body, along with the old maidservant, who was trembling in fear.

Hee Lingchuan sighed. "Leave it to me."

He left the carriage under the watch of his Personal Guard and was about to return to his tent when he saw Zhao Pan approaching.

"How did the trip to Hundred Cries Valley go?" Seeing Hee Lingchuan’s expression and the low morale of the troops, Zhao Pan’s heart sank. "The talks failed?"

Although he didn’t approve of Hee Chunhua’s methods, he had hoped Hong Chenglu would leave Xiazhou.

"It failed. Ajin committed suicide by poison, right in front of Hong Chenglu."

Zhao Pan was stunned. "What!"

Without asking Hee Lingchuan any more questions, he strode off to find Hee Chunhua.

About a double-hour later, Hee Lingchuan heard that several soldiers had been dragged out for forty strokes of the cane. As for the old maidservant who had attended to Ajin, she was simply beheaded.

Those soldiers must have been the ones assigned to monitor Ajin. They had failed to discover the deadly poison she had hidden, a clear dereliction of duty.

As for the maidservant’s death... that was just Hee Chunhua taking out his anger on her.

Hee Lingchuan also heard the sound of arguing coming from the main tent.

Who else could be arguing in there but Hee Chunhua and Zhao Pan?

At a time like this, Hee Lingchuan certainly wasn’t going to go near the enraged Chief Steward Hee. That would be asking for trouble.

He successfully managed to lie low until 9 p.m., when Hee Chunhua seemed to remember him and finally sent someone to summon him over.

When Hee Lingchuan walked into Hee Chunhua’s tent, he saw that a table and chairs had been knocked to the ground, clearly the master’s doing.

No one had dared to set them upright, a sign that Chief Steward Hee was still fuming.

He had no choice but to bite the bullet, step inside, and call out, "Father."

Hee Chunhua had his back to him, hands clasped behind him. Hearing his voice, he turned around. "You saw Ajin a few days ago. Did you not notice she had suicidal intentions?"

"No. She was very courteous to me." Of course, Hee Lingchuan wasn’t about to admit to noticing anything. "She showed no signs of wanting to end her life."

Hee Chunhua flicked his sleeve. "Utterly unobservant!"

Hee Lingchuan thought to himself, ’You’re one to talk. You met with her at least three or four times, and you didn’t notice anything strange, did you?’

Ajin had fooled them all.