After the Immortal Disappeared

Hee Lingchuan’s eyes snapped open. He sat bolt upright.

He was inside a cramped carriage. On the low table before him lay an unfinished game of chess. A small stain marked the wall opposite him, and by his feet, a mountain-shaped incense burner slowly released plumes of calming incense.

He was back in reality.

Hee Lingchuan subconsciously touched his neck. His hands were covered in a cold sweat.

It was completely intact.

He took a long, deep breath. ’It’s good to be alive.’

This was his third time experiencing death. The feeling of a cold blade slicing through his windpipe lingered—and he had been the one to do it.

There was just one problem with the Panlong Dream Realm: it was too real.

’How long will it take this time to crawl out from the shadow of death?’

Hee Lingchuan thought optimistically, ’If I die enough times, will I just go numb to it?’

He lifted the carriage curtain, and the whistling of the wind instantly grew louder.

That’s right. His old man was in a hurry and had missed the last stop for the night, so now the Supporting Army had to push on through a sudden snowstorm. Hee Yue had been playing chess with Hee Lingchuan’s newly recruited strategist, Sunx Hongye, to pass the time. Hee Lingchuan had been watching them from the carriage and had "accidentally" fallen asleep.

He couldn’t help it. The wind whistling outside was just too soothing, and their chess game was just too boring.

The curtain was pulled aside, and Sunx Hongye poked his head in.

"Oh, Eldest Young Master, you’re awake?"

Hee Lingchuan yawned. "Why’d you run off in the middle of your game?"

Sunx Hongye cleared his throat. "The Second Young Master said we shouldn’t disturb your rest." The truth was the exact opposite: Hee Lingchuan’s snores were so thunderous they couldn’t concentrate on their next move.

"Come in and talk." Hee Lingchuan grabbed a cup and took two gulps of cold tea. "I’m exhausted!"

No one knew that while he was sleeping peacefully here, his Divine Sense had entered the Panlong Wasteland to experience a momentous battle, where he had died. The fear still lingered.

He had just gone through something earth-shattering, yet the world was completely unaware.

"Earlier, I think I heard you say that General Ke Jihai used your strategy to break through Woling Pass?" Then he had fallen asleep.

"Yes. I proposed the strategy to the Lord Imperial Censor. He was overjoyed and went to the palace that very night to present the exact same plan to His Majesty the King." At the time, Sunx Hongye was a reading companion in the home of Imperial Censor Hex Liwen, so it wasn’t difficult for him to see Imperial Censor Hex.

"I’ve heard the stories about how the two generals broke through Woling Pass. There are even storytellers in the market talking about it, but your name is never mentioned." Hee Lingchuan grunted. "Did that Old Man Hex have the gall to claim he came up with the strategy himself?"

"No, he didn’t."

’So Imperial Censor Hex has some shame after all.’

"Lord Hex reported that it was his third son, Hex Jing, who, out of concern for the nation, spent over two months of sleepless nights devising the plan." Sunx Hongye gave a bitter smile. "Afterward, His Majesty the King heavily rewarded Hex Jing."

Hee Lingchuan couldn’t help but laugh. "Stealing Celestial Merit for his own descendants—it’s the oldest trick in the book for officials. Nothing new there, nothing at all!"

"It was my own foolishness. I couldn’t contain my resentment when I spoke of it, and word got back to Lord Hex. He then expelled me from the Hex Family."

The tea had long since gone cold, and there was no charcoal fire in the carriage. Hee Lingchuan gripped the pot and channeled his True Power. A moment later, steam began to rise from the spout.

Then, he personally poured Sunx Hongye a cup of hot tea. "At Luming Garden, the Hex Family’s second son, Hex Shu, was insolent to me and Zhu Xiu’er. The trouble with your carriage on the way down the mountain couldn’t have been unrelated to him. I was going to teach him a lesson, but then I thought, why not leave the opportunity to you?"

Sunx Hongye’s expression flickered.

Anyone else would have just told him to let it go. What right did a minor commoner have to challenge a high-ranking court official?

Hee Lingchuan continued, "Don’t sell yourself short. Just look at the state of the Hex Family’s second and third sons. You can tell the family’s fortunes are waning. Come with me to the Northern Land for a few years, and an opportunity will present itself before you know it."

Sunx Hongye thought for a moment, then nodded solemnly. "Alright!"

He looked forward to joining the Hee Family in the north, where he could truly put his talents to use.

"By the way, we spotted a patch of lights on the mountain opposite us. It might be a village or town. Mr. Hee has already sent someone to scout ahead." Sunx Hongye smiled. "Madam Ying has her reservations."

Hee Lingchuan poured himself a cup of hot tea and drank it to warm his stomach. "She was terrified by the bandits at Immortal Spirit Lake. Now she thinks every village in the world has sinister intentions toward us."

"Hunger and cold breed villainy. The madam’s worries aren’t unfounded." Sunx Hongye lifted the curtain and peered out at the mountain cloaked in night. Sure enough, he saw scattered lights ahead, looking especially welcoming in the snowstorm. "But our forces are strong. Petty thieves wouldn’t dare to covet what we have."

Hee Lingchuan said lazily, "Why fear bandits? We have our own in this caravan."

Wu Shaoyi and the several hundred subordinates who were granted amnesty along with him had been incorporated into Hee Chunhua’s Supporting Army, though they didn’t have uniforms to wear yet.

Sunx Hongye’s expression turned serious. "The Second Young Master told me about the battle at Xianling Village. Eldest Young Master, you stayed behind to cover the retreat—that is courage. You fell from a cliff and survived—that is fortune. You then used the opportunity to subdue the Crocodile Demon and Wu Shaoyi—that is wisdom. Courage, fortune, and wisdom—you are not as simple as you appear on the surface."

"Do I seem simple on the surface?" Hee Lingchuan rolled his eyes. "Keep up the flattery. Maybe I’ll give you a raise."

"The Eldest Young Master is cynical but has no vices, meticulous but not indecisive. You are precisely the kind of general needed for the campaigns in the Northern Land." Sunx Hongye smiled. "If Mr. Hee has a discerning eye, he will surely entrust you with great responsibility."

Suddenly, the sound of hoofbeats came from not far ahead.

Hee Lingchuan lifted the curtain and saw a single rider galloping down the mountain path toward them, merging with the front of the Supporting Army’s column.

It looked like the scout sent to investigate the road ahead had returned.

Sure enough, a short while later, an officer galloped back and forth, relaying orders for the soldiers to be on alert for unexpected events.

Hee Lingchuan reached out and stopped him. "What’s happened up ahead?"

"A massacre," the officer replied. "In the village ahead, seventy to eighty men and women have been killed. The murderer didn’t even spare the young children."

"Bandits again?" ’The law and order in Da Yuan is terrible.’

"The wounds don’t look like they were caused by weapons. Mr. Hee has ordered us to continue forward but to be prepared for a fight."

The snowstorm was getting heavier. The Supporting Army had to find a place to stop. Although the village ahead was the scene of a massacre, there was no telling how far it was to the next inn.

Marching in a snowstorm was even more dangerous than a forced march on a rainy night.

Besides, with several hundred soldiers under his command, what force could possibly threaten Hee Chunhua, even in the untamed wilderness?

So, the entire column proceeded as planned.

Since there was trouble ahead, Hee Lingchuan couldn’t very well keep lazing about in the carriage. He mounted a horse and rode to the front to find his father.

Half an hour later, the Supporting Army arrived at the village on the mountainside.

The village was even smaller than Xianling Village. It had several dozen buildings, including houses, woodsheds, animal pens, and storehouses. Lights were on in most of the houses.

There were bloodstains on the ground and walls.

Hee Lingchuan didn’t see any bodies, but he did notice drag marks on the ground.