After the Immortal Disappeared

She chewed the Poria Cake slowly and deliberately. "Don't tell me you want to be a thief. Let me be clear, I don't know you. I have no idea what you've said or done!"

"Really? That heartless?" Her mouth was still full of the pastry he'd paid for.

"Committing a crime in Panlong City requires considerable courage."

"Would I really go that far for a few books?" Hee Lingchuan said honestly. "I've been hanging around Wenxuan Pavilion these past few days and found their collection isn't as extensive as I'd imagined. Even for things like travelogues and gazetteers, the selection is paltry."

Sunx Fuling kicked a small stone on the ground. "The Chipa Plateau is rich in resources and suitable for living, but Panlong City was once just one of many cities in the Panlong Wasteland. Plenty of merchants and travelers passed through, but not many stayed. Besides, the locals are fierce and everyone prioritizes martial arts. How many people do you think would read for pleasure?" With so few people reading, how could the collection be extensive?

Hee Lingchuan thought about it. 'That seems to make sense.'

'Had his expectations been too high?'

"Commander Zhong has only been in charge of Panlong City for fifteen years. Even if he ordered people to compile books and establish public schools, Wenxuan Pavilion's collection couldn't grow much in such a short time. As for the travelogues and gazetteers you mentioned, I've heard that merchants and travelers used to bring them to Panlong City specifically to sell. They sold very well, often flying off the shelves as soon as they were displayed," she said slowly. "Later, Panlong City banned the circulation of such books."

Hee Lingchuan was baffled. "Why?"

"When you read in those books how big and interesting the outside world is, don't you want to go and see it?"

Hee Lingchuan hesitated for a moment, then nodded. He knew what Sunx Fuling was getting at.

"But you can't go," Sunx Fuling said with what sounded like a wry laugh. "When people yearn for things far beyond their reach, it turns into an obsession."

"Too many people like that is not what Panlong City wants." She sighed softly, as if talking to herself. "Sometimes, ignorance is a blessing."

The Panlong Wasteland is an exclave of the Xiluo Kingdom, isolated beyond its borders and surrounded on all sides by unfriendly nations.

This geography doomed the people of Panlong City to imprisonment, unable to go anywhere. The more they were captivated by the vibrant outside world, the easier it was for them to sink into the mire of unfulfilled desire.

Hee Lingchuan had heard an old saying: "The more you know, the more you suffer." He was silent for a moment before asking her, "You've read these travelogues. What do you think?"

"I just want to see the ocean. I've heard it's thousands, tens of thousands of times larger than any lake, with tides that never cease." Sunx Fuling's voice was filled with longing. "And then I want to taste the seawater, to see if it's really as salty and bitter as the stories say."

The word "yes" danced on the tip of Hee Lingchuan's tongue but never came out. What right did he have to say yes? In his current identity, he was also a resident of the Panlong Wasteland, equally unable to see the ocean.

"There will be a chance." He said it without conviction. Even if everyone else was oblivious, he knew Panlong City's ultimate fate.

No one here would live another twenty years!

Including the bright-eyed, charming girl right in front of him.

Not only in life, but even after death, they would be imprisoned in the Wilderness by the Grand Square Pot, for all eternity.

Sunx Fuling's almond eyes curved into crescents again. "I'll take that as a good omen."

"Also..." Hee Lingchuan continued, following the stick to strike the snake. "Have you seen any books on divination in Wenxuan Pavilion?"

Sunx Fuling thought for a moment before saying, "What kind of divination?"

"Foretelling fortunes and calamities, divining the future."

"There won't be any."

Hee Lingchuan was startled. Her use of "won't" was intriguing. "Why?"

Sunx Fuling said flatly, "Knowing too much only brings trouble. Going with the flow is what suits most people."

Hee Lingchuan was left completely speechless.

It was another old saying: the more sober you are, the more you suffer.

Sunx Fuling glanced at him. "Why the curiosity about this?"

Hee Lingchuan scratched his head. "Someone told me I'm plagued by disaster and will soon die a violent death."

"And you believe them?"

"His divinations have a pretty high success rate," Hee Lingchuan said with a wry smile. "He was right about things from my past, too."

"Sounds like the sales pitch of a quack physician," Sunx Fuling said, clearly unconvinced.

But then she added, "While there are no such books in Wenxuan Pavilion, Steward Zhong has an advisor named Wen Daolun who seems to be an expert in this subject. He came to Shumin Academy to lecture twice and mentioned a thing or two about the principles of calculation. I hear Lord Zhong relies on him heavily."

Hee Lingchuan immediately perked up. "Will he come a third time?"

"That, I wouldn't know." Sunx Fuling smiled. "A busy man like him is far removed from the likes of us. Rather than hoping he'll come to Shumin Academy again, you'd be better off seeking him out at the Government Office."

Hee Lingchuan's eyes darted. "Where does he live?" 'How about I just go block his door?'

"That I don't know. You'll have to find that out yourself." Sunx Fuling changed the subject. "By the way, Wenxuan Pavilion has many handwritten copies of texts in the Immortal Language. Have you looked for them?"

She had taught Hee Lingchuan how to make use of Wenxuan Pavilion last time, as it actually contained quite a few books written in the Immortal Language.

"Er, not yet." Hee Lingchuan scratched his head. "I'm just a beginner. It's too difficult to read."

After all, he'd only been studying it for a few days. He could recognize individual ancient words, but when they were strung together in dense blocks of text, just looking at them made his heart race and his breath catch.

"Never mind." Sunx Fuling shook her head. "I've read many books. You can just ask me first."

"Where did those manuscripts come from?" Hee Lingchuan didn't hold back. "Were they really written by Immortals?"

"More accurately, they were written by Immortals and their Sect disciples," Sunx Fuling said. "These copies were all transcribed from ancient texts. And those ancient texts... were either preserved and passed down by the Daoist Sects or unearthed from Immortal Cave Mansions and ruins. Didn't you take a rubbing from an Immortal Cave Mansion yourself?"

"Passed down by the Daoist Sects?" Hee Lingchuan recalled something. "I heard that the Immortal Sects were the predecessors of the Daoist Sects."

"Indeed." Sunx Fuling nodded. "That is a commonly accepted fact. After the Immortals vanished from the world, the Immortal Sects could no longer justify the 'Immortal' in their name. They were eventually downgraded and had no choice but to call themselves Daoist Sects."

"Reading in Wenxuan Pavilion these past few days, I found some books that praise the Upper Immortals for their noble character. They say that after the great cataclysm of Heaven and Earth, the Immortals did their utmost to enlighten the surviving mortals, helping them fend off Demon Beast invasions and preserving the flame of civilization, thus preventing future generations from falling back into ignorance."

"And yet, many other books are vehemently critical, cursing the Immortals for enslaving mortals, denouncing them for treating commoners like ants, and holding the power of life and death over them." Hee Lingchuan shrugged. "Both types of books provide ample evidence. For example, an Immortal testing poisons on themself for the sake of the people or vanquishing demons, versus an Immortal Sect disciple slaughtering tens of thousands just to refine their souls into a banner."

"If you could read the ancient scrolls left behind by the Immortals and their disciples, you'd know that both accounts are correct, yet also one-sided." The two of them left the main street and headed toward the wooden houses, the crowds on the road beginning to thin. "After the cataclysm that changed everything, the Spiritual Qi in the world rapidly diminished, but the Immortals' abilities didn't vanish immediately. You understand why, right?"

Hee Lingchuan thought for a moment. "They still had their own Cultivation, and there were still Profound Crystals in the world?"

"Exactly. It's like walking through a desert. Even if the environment is hot and dry and you can't find a water source, if your Water Bag is still mostly full, you can last a while longer." Sunx Fuling said slowly, "Based on the Immortal journals I've read, for at least two or three hundred years after the cataclysm, the Immortals still possessed heaven-shaking, earth-moving abilities."

"But it was water without a source, unable to last forever." Hee Lingchuan thought of the true form of Second Madam Zhu he had seen in the Earth Cave Spider Nest. "That mother spider in the Ghost Needle Stone Forest was also a Demon from Ancient Times. It survived until today by constantly shedding its heavy old shell for a smaller, weaker form."

To maintain the body of an Immortal or an Immortal Demon, the Spiritual Qi consumption was too great. After the cataclysm, it was like a Giant Whale stranded on a beach; without the aid of the returning tide, death was certain.

"Immortals and other Demon Immortals, unlike the Spider Demon, couldn't just cut off their feet to fit their shoes. Once their own reserves of Spiritual Qi were depleted, their only path was to perish," Sunx Fuling said. "Immortals were also born from mortals, and humans have always valued passing down their legacy. Knowing their time was short, is it any surprise they sought to enlighten the common people and pass on the torch? Look at Shumin Academy, look at me. Aren't we all doing the same now?"

"As for what you read in the books about Immortal Sects enslaving mortals and committing all sorts of evil—" She sighed. "That certainly happened, and it was recorded. But think about it. When the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi declined to a point where even Immortals struggled to survive, what would the Immortal Sects do to fight over the last, limited resources?"

Hee Lingchuan replied without hesitation, "If it were me, I'd stop at nothing."

"Exactly." Sunx Fuling gave a slight smile. "The Immortals were originally transcendent and otherworldly only because they were without wants or needs. When they too had to struggle with all their might just to eke out an existence, how were they any different from us mortals?"

Hee Lingchuan also sighed.

When the Upper Immortals fell from the clouds, the darkness of human nature could no longer be hidden.

In the end, all living beings suffer.

"There's one more thing I don't understand."

"Go on." Sunx Fuling showed no hint of impatience.

"Where exactly does Primordial Power come from?" Hee Lingchuan had read many books but still couldn't figure it out. "I've seen some say it was taught to humans by the Immortals to resist Demon Beasts. But other records claim it was a magic technique taught to humans by the Deities to fight against the Immortals' oppression—and the Demon Beasts, of course."

"The earliest records of Primordial Power seem to be from over two thousand years ago. Unless earlier evidence is unearthed, it was likely a power discovered only after the cataclysm." Sunx Fuling shrugged. "As for the true origin of Primordial Power, there's still no consensus. The old men at Shumin Academy, in Panlong City, and on Wenxian Platform argue about it all day long and can't agree on anything."

"Setting others aside, what is your take on it, Miss Sunx?"

"Me?" Sunx Fuling tilted her head in thought. "I lean more toward it being a magic technique taught to humans by the Deities."

Hee Lingchuan's heart skipped a beat. Her idea coincided with his own. "Why?"

"Primordial Power can only be gathered when tens of thousands of mortals work together with one heart. If the Immortals had taught this to humans, they would have been shooting themselves in the foot, giving mortals a way to fight back against them."