After the Immortal Disappeared

Swept away by the torrent, only one word echoed in Hee Lingchuan’s mind:

Over.

It seemed Wen Daolun’s divination had come true after all. *Flee at the sight of water.* He should have turned back the moment he reached the Hanhe River.

But there were no second chances now. His only option was to quickly shove a Turtle Pearl into his mouth.

The object would allow him to breathe underwater, saving him from drowning for a while. Once in his mouth, it shrank to the size of a quail’s egg, so it wouldn’t obstruct his breathing.

Perhaps because he had cheated death so many times, he’d grown somewhat indifferent to it. His mind was now racing, focused entirely on how to survive this desperate situation.

A raging wave then slammed a huge piece of driftwood directly into the Strange Bird, knocking it unconscious.

The bird was instantly pushed far ahead, leaving Dong Rui and Hee Lingchuan behind.

Both men simultaneously grabbed the end of the driftwood. They could only watch helplessly as the Barbaric Bull and the Strange Bird were swept away by the current, drifting farther and farther until they vanished from sight.

"Thirty-four!" Water streamed down Dong Rui’s face as he gnashed his teeth. "My thirty-four is gone! How did I ever run into a little bastard like you!"

"If you hadn’t—Ptooey!" Hee Lingchuan opened his mouth and immediately got a mouthful of muddy water. "If you hadn’t schemed against my father and me, you wouldn’t be in the water in the first place!"

This slippery character, Dong, had relied on his winged mount to provoke him and his father time and time again, only to flee right after.

Now the Strange Bird was gone, but Hee Lingchuan couldn’t bring himself to celebrate.

’Am I really going to die together with this weirdo?’

The rotten log the two of them were clinging to was probably drifting downstream at around forty miles per hour. Hoping for rescue was a complete fantasy.

He discreetly pressed the mechanism to retract the Hooked Rope of his Sleeve Arrow, hoping he might get another chance to fire it. The process wasn’t smooth; the Hooked Rope got snagged on branches and debris several times. It was a good thing the one Li Fubo had made was a masterpiece, or the device probably would have given out long ago.

Hee Lingchuan held onto the driftwood with one hand, his fingertips digging into the wood, while trying to untangle the rope with his other. All the while, he kept his eyes peeled, frantically busy.

In a flood like this, some things drifted slowly, while others moved with terrifying speed.

Hee Lingchuan’s luck was holding up, but Dong Rui was repeatedly struck by floating roots and rocks. Blood streamed from his nose, and his head was ringing.

All sorts of debris, carried by the waves, flew at their faces, and they barely dared to open their eyes.

One of the rocks also knocked away Dong Rui’s mask.

The two were right next to each other, clinging to the log almost shoulder-to-shoulder. When Hee Lingchuan turned his head to look, he let out a gasp of shock and nearly lost his grip.

Dong Rui’s face was ruined.

The part above his nose was still intact, but everything below his philtrum had collapsed inward.

It was as if the lower half of his face was made of paper-mâché and someone had crushed it. His cheeks were sunken, the shape of his mouth was bizarre, and his skin was a bruised, blackish-blue.

Dong Rui only had a few teeth left; it was a wonder he could speak without a lisp.

And because the skin on the lower half of his face had no support, the area beneath his eyes had also started to sag.

All in all, his face looked like a wax figure that had half-melted and then solidified again. It was eerie from a distance and terrifying up close—the kind of face that would make a child cry at night.

Hee Lingchuan’s shock was written all over his face. Normally, Dong Rui would have been furious, but right now, he had no time to care.

He glanced behind them and his soul nearly left his body:

A massive, sprawling belt of floating debris was rapidly catching up to them!

"We’re dead," Hee Lingchuan muttered, finally giving up all hope after a single glance. They had been swept into the middle of the Hanhe River, more than a hundred feet from either bank, with no chance of reaching shore.

There hadn’t been a single reef or rock breaking the surface along the way.

Suddenly, Dong Rui pulled something out, thinking to himself, ’Well, it’s a long shot, but it’s better than nothing!’

He secretly dipped the object into the water, then pretended his hand slipped. "Whoops!" he cried, letting go of the log.

The rushing current immediately swept him away.

He then began to knead the thing in his hands, muttering urgently, "Faster, come on, faster!"

It was a transparent, soft, mushy thing. It looked like the stone flower jelly Hee Lingchuan liked to eat, but it also resembled a slug, because it clearly had... tentacles.

Whatever Dong Rui was doing to it, the thing began to swell—no, it began to expand.

At first, it was a clump the size of an egg, but then it grew to the size of a coconut.

’It works, it really works!’ He looked at Hee Lingchuan and laughed. "Goodbye! No, I hope we never meet again!"

They were already about twenty feet apart, so he could finally relax. Since his life-saving treasure worked, he was going to watch this little whelp drown in the flood!

But Hee Lingchuan had been watching him intently the whole time. The moment a grin spread across Dong Rui’s face, Hee Lingchuan raised his hand—

ZING! The just-retracted Sleeve Arrow fired again.

This time, no large wave interfered. Dong Rui, adrift in the current, had nowhere to run. The Sleeve Arrow struck him squarely in the shoulder, piercing straight through.

And attached to the arrow was a Flying Rope.

Hee Lingchuan yanked hard and pressed the mechanism. With a blood-curdling scream, Dong Rui was forcefully dragged back toward him!

The current happened to be flowing in the same direction, which was a huge help to Hee Lingchuan.

In just a few breaths, they were face-to-face once more.

Only this time, Dong Rui was in so much pain he nearly passed out, while Hee Lingchuan smiled at him and said, "Don’t be afraid, I’m here to save you!"

’He had seen all of Dong Rui’s little tricks. This guy values his life more than anything. How could he suddenly lose his grip on the very log that was saving him? It has to be a trick!’

To Dong Rui, that damned smile of his was no different from a demon’s.

’We both fell in the water, we’re both about to die, shouldn’t we each be panicking on our own?! Why is this whelp staring at me?!’

But the object in his hands didn’t slow its expansion; in fact, it began to grow even faster.

As they struggled, it had already grown from the size of a coconut to the size of a millstone, making it impossible to hide.

When Hee Lingchuan looked down and saw the strange object, he wasn’t shocked but delighted:

’So this is Dong Rui’s lifeline?’

’If it can save Dong Rui, it can save me too. If worst comes to worst, I’ll take it for myself and push him out!’

Then, the object began to expand even more rapidly.

By the time it finally stopped changing shape, it had become an oval about ten feet in diameter. One side was convex and round, the other was flat, and a number of tendrils of varying lengths dangled from below.

The strange thing was, both Hee Lingchuan and Dong Rui were now enveloped inside it.

Because the creature was completely transparent, they could stare at each other, seeing every detail of the other’s expression.

Isn’t this just a...

Hee Lingchuan looked around. His body felt like it was stuck in a swamp, with no point of leverage in any direction.

They were both suspended inside this gelatinous monster’s body.

’The more I look at it, the more it looks like one. Damn it, isn’t this just a giant jellyfish?’

Of course, this jellyfish-like creature’s body was exceptionally flexible. Countless pieces of driftwood and rocks slammed into it, but it just slid past them.

’And it’s quite bouncy, too.’

The jellyfish drifted downstream and was soon overtaken by the belt of debris. Hee Lingchuan and Dong Rui felt as if they were in an inflatable raft. The thick body of the jellyfish shielded them from all external harm as huge bushes drifted past them, rushing forward like a train.

Hee Lingchuan let out a long sigh of relief. Phew, they were saved.

However, he quickly noticed that Dong Rui’s face was turning blue. BLUB. He spat out a few bubbles, then started flailing his arms, trying to swim upward.

’Is this guy... drowning? Suffocating?’

’But why am I perfectly fine?’

He took a breath and realized the inside of the jellyfish was mostly liquid—probably eighty or ninety percent water, with the rest being some viscous substance. Dong Rui was essentially trapped in a sphere of water he couldn’t escape. Of course he was suffocating!

He struggled with all his might but only managed to move upward a short distance, three feet at most, and the breath he was holding was about to run out.

Dong Rui stared at Hee Lingchuan, his eyes filled with disbelief.

’Why is this kid so relaxed? Does he have some way to breathe underwater?’

He frantically pointed at himself and kept reaching toward Hee Lingchuan.

’Is he... asking for help?’

Hee Lingchuan just smiled at him and spread his hands in a shrug.

This guy had caused trouble time and again; if not for him, neither of them would be in the water. Now, watching his death throes face-to-face was truly a delight to behold.

Dong Rui could see he had no intention of saving him, so he shouted desperately:

"The jellyfish is poisonous! If you don’t save me, you’ll die too!"

Sound traveled through the water. After Dong Rui shouted it twice, Hee Lingchuan’s smile vanished.

’Poisonous?’

After all, this was a contraption Dong Rui had concocted. Besides, Hee Lingchuan knew that some jellyfish were indeed lethally venomous.

’Better to be safe than sorry.’ Hee Lingchuan sighed.

On second thought, there was no telling how long they’d be drifting in this jellyfish. He didn’t want to be soaking in corpse water, nor did he want to see a Drowned Ghost glaring at him every time he opened his eyes.

Especially since this particular Drowned Ghost was as ugly as they come.

So, Hee Lingchuan took out a Turtle Pearl, dangled it in front of Dong Rui, and then began pulling on the Hooked Rope.

This time, Dong Rui understood. Not only did he stop resisting, he started swimming frantically toward him.

They were only seven or eight feet apart to begin with, so with both of them moving toward each other, they quickly closed the distance.

Dong Rui practically snatched the Turtle Pearl from Hee Lingchuan’s hand and shoved it into his mouth.

Hee Lingchuan then watched him take a huge gasp of air as his convulsing limbs began to calm down.

Their eyes met, and the atmosphere grew awkward. The only change was Dong Rui’s purple face slowly returning to a normal color.

After a long moment, Dong Rui suddenly spoke. "Let’s have a truce in here. We’ll settle our scores once we get out!"

The liquid inside the jellyfish was also in motion, seemingly exchanging fluid with the outside, albeit slowly. Hee Lingchuan snapped, "Where’s the antidote?"

"As long as we keep the peace, I’ll give it to you before we get out." Dong Rui was still panting. "It’s a slow-acting poison. It won’t kill you in two or three days."

Seeing Hee Lingchuan raise an eyebrow, he quickly added, "I have over a hundred different medicines on me. The antidote has to be mixed on the spot. If you kill me now, you’ll never know which ones to use!"

Hee Lingchuan couldn’t tell if he was lying but had to take his word for it for now. Dong Rui pointed at the Sleeve Arrow stuck in his shoulder. "Can you take this out?"

Only then did Hee Lingchuan help him remove the arrowhead.

Fortunately, the wound was small. Dong Rui didn’t rip a strip of cloth to bind it as Hee Lingchuan expected. Instead, he pulled out two things that looked like silver wood ear mushrooms from somewhere and placed them directly on the wound.

With a press, they adhered tightly to his skin, effectively sealing out the water. Otherwise, leaving the wound submerged for a long time would be no different from slitting his wrists; he would eventually bleed to death.

Dong Rui started to reach for a medicine vial, but Hee Lingchuan, of course, wouldn’t allow it. Who knew what kind of nasty trick the guy might pull?

He tossed a Pill to Dong Rui. "Stops bleeding. Swallow it."