After the Immortal Disappeared

Hee Lingchuan stared blankly at the slip of paper, a sudden warmth spreading through his chest.

He didn’t need Hu Min to explain. He understood immediately.

These were all thank-you gifts from the families of the troops under General Nanke. If Hee Lingchuan hadn’t sacrificed himself in the Ghost Needle Stone Forest to blow up the Earth Cave Spiders’ nest and lure away the Great Demon, Second Madam Zhu, there was no telling how many of the general’s men would have been buried there, even if he had managed to escape.

These lives weren’t just numbers. Behind each one was a family—wives and children, elderly parents. They represented a family’s livelihood, all the simple joys of life.

How many families had he spared from heartbreaking grief with his sacrifice? Human emotions could be just this simple and unadorned—the need to give something to express their gratitude.

"Surprised?" Hu Min hadn’t said anything beforehand, wanting to leave the surprise for Hee Lingchuan to unwrap himself. "This is a lot of stuff. Let me help you move it inside."

The two of them moved the items into the courtyard piece by piece, until half the small yard was gone.

As they moved the things, Hee Lingchuan found it strange. "Why didn’t the thief take any of this? Why steal the fish and firewood from my house instead?"

"How should I know?" Hu Min shrugged. "Maybe taking things from your front door is too conspicuous. Your doorstep has been a little too lively recently."

Just then, a boy of about five or six peeked in from the doorway. Hu Min asked him, "What is it, kid?"

"I live over there," the boy said, pointing east.

"I know," Hee Lingchuan said. He recognized him as the child of his eastern neighbor. The last time the Emperor’s Liquid appeared, when Hee Lingchuan was climbing over roofs, he had seen the boy’s father tie him to a table leg.

"You’re Hee..." The child couldn’t remember the rest.

"Yes, that’s me."

"Wait, don’t close the door!"

The child ran off. Hee Lingchuan heard a door open and close, followed by the PITTER-PATTER of footsteps.

Then, the boy reappeared at Hee Lingchuan’s door, holding a bouquet of flowers.

"My dad told me to bring this to you as soon as your door was open, and to say thank you."

It was a huge bouquet. Hee Lingchuan only recognized the Red Spider Lilies and red begonias. The white ones looked like daisies, but he didn’t know the rest. In any case, they were a riot of color, all in full, magnificent bloom, some still dotted with dewdrops.

Of course, under the cold outdoor wind, the dewdrops quickly froze into beads of ice.

Hee Lingchuan quickly took the bouquet and brought it inside to prevent the fresh flowers from becoming frozen flowers. "Is your dad a Patrol Guard too?"

He remembered that this kid’s siblings were all still too young to have joined the army.

"No." The child shook his head like a wave drum. "But my mom and dad said you saved a lot of people, that you’re a good person."

Hee Lingchuan couldn’t help but pat his head. "Alright. Thank your mom and dad for me."

Hu Min, however, asked, "It’s freezing cold. Where did your dad get so many fresh flowers?"

The child grinned, revealing a missing front tooth. "I don’t know."

"Where does he work?"

"He delivers things to the command post a lot!"

Hee Lingchuan and Hu Min looked at each other and smiled. So that was it.

The city had special greenhouses for growing flowers. Besides supplying the major households, Commander Zhong’s official residence and estate also required them. It was said that his late wife loved flowers, so the Zhong Residence would get a new batch of fresh flowers every few days.

Hee Lingchuan rummaged through the small mountain of gifts and pulled out a bag of beef-tallow candy for the boy. "This is for you. Take it home and eat it."

The boy thanked him and went home gleefully.

Hu Min clapped Hee Lingchuan on the shoulder. "Didn’t expect this, did you? You’re a celebrity in this neighborhood now. You could probably eat for free."

Hee Lingchuan wasn’t sure what to feel. "I really didn’t."

Since his adventures in the Panlong Ruins, Hee Lingchuan had been through several life-and-death battles. He had saved the villagers of Xianling Village from the bandits at Woling Pass, and he had saved his whole family and Ke Jihai from the Demon Puppet Master Dong Rui. But never before had anyone thanked him so directly and enthusiastically.

’This feeling of being liked, of being thanked... it’s... not bad at all.’

"How did the news spread so fast?" Hee Lingchuan rubbed his nose. "The battle at Ghost Needle Stone Forest only ended a few days ago, right?"

"After every major battle, the Military Merits Department sends people around the city to publicize heroic deeds. The day after General Nanke returned to Panlong City, you and Sunx Jiayuan were both posthumously honored as martyrs. If it weren’t so cold right now, people would probably be leaving flowers at your door. Then, when you were rescued and survived, it caused an even bigger stir in this area. It’s just a shame you were unconscious and couldn’t come out to receive the adoration."

Hee Lingchuan understood.

This was how Panlong City mobilized everyone to join the fight to defend their home—by highlighting heroes and setting up role models.

’I never thought I’d one day be held up as a role model and an example myself.’

The feeling was quite strange.

After all, only he knew that his bravery was built upon the foundation of his "immortality."

For everyone else here, death meant eternal sleep. For him alone, it was merely waking from a dream.

If he only had one life here, would he still have dared to leap into the Spider Nest without a second thought?

Hee Lingchuan himself didn’t know the answer.

He sighed, pushing the thoughts away. "So, in this place, some people thank me while others steal from me?"

Hu Min threw his head back and laughed, heading out the door first. "Is this your first day in Panlong City?"

...

「One double-hour later, Hee Lingchuan and Hu Min were standing in the Pengcheng Bureau.」

Registrar Liu was on leave for half the day, so the one who received them was Registrar Xu, a man who was thin, small, and expressionless.

"You’re alive?" After Hee Lingchuan stated his name, Registrar Xu flipped through a ledger before finally speaking. "We’ll have to add you back to the military register and recalculate your merits."

"We can talk about the rest later, just give me that Tin House first." Hee Lingchuan had never imagined his base would be robbed. "My old shack just got broken into."

"Only the families of fallen martyrs receive a Tin House as compensation." Registrar Xu eyed him askance. "Are you a martyr?"

Hee Lingchuan was just as stubborn. "Whether I’m dead or not, I was the one who burned the Earth Cave Spiders’ nest. Why do my merits need to be recalculated?"

"Rewards are for the living, compensation is for the dead. Compensation is more generous, understand?" Registrar Xu replied stiffly. "Since you’re alive, you can’t receive compensation. The Tin House will be downgraded to a Water House."

Hu Min stepped in to smooth things over. "A Water House isn’t bad either. I’ve been to the ones on Zeng Girl’s Lane; they’re spacious and bright. The residents are either merchants, soldiers, or Civil Servant Envoys of Panlong City. It’s a completely different world from the area around your old wooden shack."

’Isn’t choosing a house all about choosing the location?’

’Isn’t it about choosing the amenities and the neighbors?’

’You’re not just choosing a pile of wood and a few tiles, are you?’

Registrar Xu added, "I live in a Water House myself."

Hee Lingchuan had no choice but to concede.

Because he had officially been credited with a major solo contribution this time, his rewards were more generous than all his previous ones combined. The monetary reward alone was five hundred taels of silver, plus ten mu of high-grade paddy fields and thirty mu of mid-grade fields. There was a long list of other rewards, but Hee Lingchuan wasn’t listening closely.

His land holdings had jumped from two mid-grade mu to a total of forty? ’Have I just leaped from poor peasant to landlord?’

Going out to battle really was the fastest way to earn military merits.

And, of course, the most dangerous.

"I can’t manage the fields myself. Help me rent them out." He remembered Hu Min saying that the Pengcheng Bureau also handled such matters.

Soldiers were usually either training or on patrol; where would they find the time to tend to fields? Their land would be rented out, and tenant farmers would grow crops for money, giving them a way to make a living.

Tenant rentals were a vital part of Panlong City’s economy.

"Or—" Registrar Xu suddenly produced a deed. "You could also choose to trade all the rewards from this military achievement for a shopfront on Wanglin Avenue, with a ten-year lease."

"A shopfront?" This was the first time Hee Lingchuan had heard that military merits could be exchanged for a shop.

Hu Min shouted from the side, "Trade! Trade it! Of course we’re trading!"

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a shopfront in Panlong City? Especially on Wanglin Avenue, a place that rakes in money day after day!" Hu Min pounded his chest. "Why don’t I ever get this lucky? Registrar Xu, can you get me a shopfront too?"

"There’s only one shopfront, and it only became available because a twenty-year lease expired. It’s public property. You can run it yourself or rent it out, but you can’t sell it."

"When you say ’all the rewards,’ does that include the Water House?" A Water House was at least two tiers above his wooden shack.

"Of course. If you trade for the shopfront, you’ll walk out of the Pengcheng Bureau with nothing but a deed." Registrar Xu’s bluntness was grating. "Decide quickly. If you don’t want it, plenty of others do. The line of people who want it could stretch from here to Wanglin Avenue."

The military merits Hee Lingchuan received this time—the paddy fields, the other miscellaneous items, the five-hundred-tael reward, and a Water House that money couldn’t buy—were enough for him to live a comfortable and respectable middle-class life in Panlong City. And he was supposed to trade all of that for a shopfront of unknown size and location, with a lease of only ten years?

’Heh.’

"Fine, I’ll trade." Hee Lingchuan pushed everything forward, deciding to trust Hu Min’s judgment.

He could only watch forlornly as the just-produced deed for the Water House was taken back.

His dream of upgrading to a bigger, better house had to be put on hold for now.

As Registrar Xu finished the last procedure, a rare smile appeared on his stern face. "Congratulations. You’ve earned this."

’Huh? Don’t tell me Registrar Xu also has a nephew or someone in General Nanke’s troops?’

Hee Lingchuan thought his next words would be something like, "Let me just say, thank you," but Registrar Xu was a man of few words.

"It’s done. Next!"

And so, when Hee Lingchuan left the Pengcheng Bureau, all he had on him was a shop lease so light it could be carried away by the wind.

"If this shop doesn’t earn me back one thousand taels of silver, plus ten years of interest on that one thousand taels, I’m taking over your house!"

Hu Min completely ignored his threat, hooking an arm around his neck. "Quick, buy me a drink! No, wait—you’ve just picked up a Golden Chicken that lays eggs! You have to treat Mr. Xiao and Aluo to drinks too!"

"We don’t even know its exact location. Is the shopfront really that good?"

"Have you ever been to Wanglin Street?" Hu Min looked at him with disdain. "Right, a poor devil like you wouldn’t have been able to go. Wanglin Street only sells the finest goods, along with novelties from other places. High Tier military officers and their families are the ones who frequent that area."