After the Immortal Disappeared

She turned to Hee Lingchuan and asked, "What about that monster?"

"A Patrol Guard heard the commotion and came after us, saying he'd turn it in for me." Hee Lingchuan sighed. "Now that I think about it, there was something very wrong with that man."

"What was wrong with him?"

"When he got close, the monster I'd caught stopped crying out."

Sunx Fuling didn't even look up. "Perhaps it was just a coincidence."

"Let's hope so." Hee Lingchuan scratched his head. "But I don't get it. Why do these monsters keep gathering around here?"

"Around here?"

"Look, just between the two of us, we've run into three and caught two. The entire city has only managed to catch six in total." 'Panlong City is huge, so why don't the monsters go somewhere else?'

Sunx Fuling thought for a moment. "Could their nest be somewhere nearby?"

"Perhaps." Hee Lingchuan had considered that as well. "Sparrowhawk said that the Pharmacist Commander Zhong brought in believes these monsters are in their larval stage. Judging from their bone age, they shouldn't have even been born yet."

"Also, I smelled a strange, salty, fishy odor on the monster. It was damp and sticky, a bit like…" Hee Lingchuan's expression turned odd.

"Like what?"

Hee Lingchuan hesitated. He really didn't want to say the word.

"Amniotic fluid?" It was Sunx Fuling, however, who asked it without hesitation.

Hee Lingchuan could only say, "It was just a guess."

"If the most experienced Pharmacist says they are unborn infants," Sunx Fuling said, carefully feeding meat to the Sparrowhawk, "then your guess is quite reasonable, isn't it?"

"So you're saying they're this powerful right after birth?"

This defied biological common sense. While some animals, like crocodiles, could hunt and survive on their own right after birth, the young were typically weak—often prey for other creatures.

"Strength and weakness are relative," Sunx Fuling analyzed. "Perhaps compared to their adult parents, this is what passes for frail."

A newborn Giant Whale calf is over ten feet long and weighs thousands of pounds. Wouldn't it be perfectly normal for it to send a person flying?

In other words, the prey of these larval monsters—humans—were simply too weak in comparison.

"Then we need to catch them quickly." 'Otherwise, Panlong City is headed for disaster.' "No wonder the Three— No wonder they're so hard to catch, no matter how carefully we search. How are you supposed to find something that hasn't even been born yet?"

'No wonder the Three Corpses Insects couldn't find these monsters. They were hidden inside their mothers!'

'The Three Corpses Insects only enter through the seven orifices—at best, maybe one more. How could they possibly burrow into a mother's womb to check on a fetus?'

"Hey? Wait a minute!" Hee Lingchuan froze, suddenly feeling that something was wrong.

"What is it?"

"Hmm…" 'If the Three Corpses Insects could find the mothers, why wouldn't they alert the master of the Grand Square Pot?'

'The mother of the monster… could she… not be a monster?'

Meanwhile, Sunx Fuling finished feeding the jerky. "You could just look for the mothers."

"…" 'She really has a way of cutting straight to the heart of the matter.'

"After all this time, every corner of Panlong City has been turned upside down and searched several times over, yet there's nothing," Sunx Fuling said, as if it were obvious. "That means she must have been hidden by someone."

"Yes." 'But,' Hee Lingchuan thought, 'the higher-ups in Panlong City understand the wondrous uses of the Three Corpses Insects far better than I do. They must have deduced long ago that the monster's 'mother' might be human.'

'He was getting worked up over nothing.'

"The question is, why are these monsters trying to sneak into the city?" As Hee Lingchuan started the fire, he boiled some water on the side. Sunx Fuling poured a bowl and placed it next to the Sparrowhawk. "Panlong City is extremely hostile to intruders. What kind of monster would willingly risk certain death to come here?"

Hee Lingchuan let out a breath. "In the end, we just have too little information to work with."

With insufficient intelligence, analysis was difficult. Most of it was just guesswork.

"So, why should people like us, who eat cabbage, worry about the affairs of those who eat meat?" Sunx Fuling said languidly. "All right, I'm going to go take a bath. Don't come by to borrow anything for a while."

Hee Lingchuan's face flushed. "Do you need soap? I have some."

Sunx Fuling chuckled and started to head out, but suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right. Today is Panlong City's Celestial Sacrifice Day. Mr. Wen Daolun is officiating. Do you want to go together? You might get a chance to have him answer some of your questions."

'Wen Daolun?' Hee Lingchuan thought for a moment, then remembered he was supposedly an advisor to Commander Zhong, one who was also proficient in divination. "Yes, of course!"

Then he asked, "What's Celestial Sacrifice Day?"

Sunx Fuling stared at him.

Hee Lingchuan rubbed his nose. "I'm not originally from Panlong City." He wasn't familiar with the local customs.

"Three years ago today, Commander Zhong sacrificed his only daughter to the Deities to gain the attention of the Divine Mitian, allowing Panlong City to survive to this day," Sunx Fuling said slowly. "Panlong City has only held one live human sacrifice, and it was Lord Zhong's own flesh and blood. The citizens were grateful and have gone to pay their respects every year on this day. Starting this year, Panlong City has designated this day as Celestial Sacrifice Day."

"Since we're going to pay respects," Hee Lingchuan considered, "I should go buy some flowers and fruit."

"Where would you find flowers in this weather?" Sunx Fuling let out a laugh. "I've already bought the fruit pastries."

...

A double-hour later, the two of them set off in a donkey cart.

They rode in silence.

Hee Lingchuan didn't utter a word, and Sunx Fuling didn't speak either. There was only the rumbling of the cart wheels.

However, her presence was strong.

Sunx Fuling had changed her clothes. Her once-wet hair was now dry, a fluffy cloud of black that gave off a scent akin to pine—fresh, neutral, and pleasant. When Hee Lingchuan closed his eyes, he felt as if he were back in a mountain forest.

He had only ever heard of young ladies who liked to bathe with floral scents; the one beside him was a bit different.

The donkey cart was small, forcing them to sit close. Sunx Fuling rested her chin on her hand and gazed outside. With just a turn of his head, Hee Lingchuan could be right beside her slender neck.

Her skin was delicate and fair, the faint blue of her veins just barely visible beneath it.

No matter how one looked at it, she was a young woman in the prime of her life.

Hee Lingchuan couldn't help but think of all the suspicious things about her, and finally broke the silence:

"By the way, have you been out and about these past few days?"

"I left the city a few days ago. Yesterday, I went to my brother's place to clean the house." Sunx Fuling sighed. "Even though it's just an earthen house, it's probably going to be repossessed."

Right. Housing in Panlong City had always been tight. Aside from luxury manors, all other houses were assigned by the city authorities. In theory, everyone was a tenant. When a tenant like Sunx Jiayuan died, the officials would repossess the house and reassign it to someone else in need.

"Did you bring his things back here?"

"He didn't have many things." When a person dies, it's like a lamp being extinguished, ultimately leaving no trace in the world.

Another silence fell. It seemed they had killed the conversation.

But his mind was filled with questions, and finally, one tumbled out, regardless of how abrupt it was:

"Miss Sunx, are you a martial artist?"

"Hm? Yes, I am." Sunx Fuling turned to look at him, seeming a little surprised. "I've studied Divine Techniques, trained diligently in martial arts, served as a Patrol Guard, and I was even on the verge of joining the Great Wind Army."

She paused for a moment before adding, "In Panlong City, many women practice Cultivation and martial arts. There's no shortage of them in the Patrol Guard or the Great Wind Army. Many of the girls I've taught aim to join the Great Wind Army when they grow up."

Hee Lingchuan thought of his teammate, Willow. Her ferocity was equal to, if not greater than, any man's. Panlong City had to muster all its strength to resist outside threats, and it had held on for over a decade. As long as it helped defend their homes and the city, women had to go to the battlefield, too.

"But you ended up teaching?"

"I was severely injured in battle, and my older brother urged me to trade the sword for the pen. Just then, Shumin Academy was recruiting instructors with excellent compensation, so I…" She tapped her temple. "Fighting on the front lines is important, but so is nurturing future Warriors." She said softly, "Even though the environment in the Panlong Wasteland is harsh, I believe Panlong City still has a future."

As long as there are people, there is hope, and this place has a future.

At least, for seventeen more years.

Hee Lingchuan knew that the average lifespan for the people of the Yuan Kingdom was only about thirty. For most commoners, seventeen years was half a lifetime.

Sunx Fuling suddenly pointed ahead. "Isn't that your shop?"

They were now on the busiest main street, amid a ceaseless flow of carts, horses, and pedestrians. Hee Lingchuan followed her finger and, sure enough, there it was—the storefront he had spent so much of his military merit to acquire.

After clearing out the junk last time, he had turned the property over to the officials for them to manage and rent out on his behalf. Now the shop had been redecorated and reopened for business, with a sign made from a large piece of bark bearing two green words:

Spirit Island.

Just from the sign, one could tell it didn't sell food or clothing. The shop was also bustling with customers. Hee Lingchuan recalled that the first month's rent, a very generous sum, had already been delivered to him.

A single shop could support a person for twenty years, no problem. For a family of four, no one would have to do any other work. The income from this storefront alone would cover all their living expenses, with enough left over to save up for a son's bride price.

However, Panlong City despised freeloaders, so the business taxes were not low. But if a family member was serving in the army, they were eligible for a tax reduction.

Sunx Fuling was intrigued. "Shall we go take a look?"

Hee Lingchuan, of course, did not refuse.

However, as Sunx Fuling stepped down from the cart, she stepped on a loose stone, slipped, and stumbled.

Hee Lingchuan instinctively caught her by the arm. "Careful."

Her almond-shaped eyes crinkled—she must have been smiling. It was only then that Hee Lingchuan noticed the candy-colored snail shell hairpin she wore by her left temple. Her plain clothes only served to accentuate this one splash of color.

Upon entering, Hee Lingchuan discovered it was a Magical Artifact Shop. It not only bought and sold various Magical Artifacts but also offered after-sales service, repairs, and maintenance.

As one might expect, the shop's target clientele was Cultivators; most commoners who entered were just there to browse. Hee Lingchuan even ran into a few familiar faces, all of them Patrol Guards.

They greeted him with knowing winks and glances, all because Sunx Fuling was by his side.

The shop owner was a portly man named Bai Guo. With his slightly rounded belly and welcoming smile, he looked every bit the proper merchant.

Apparently, this was his third branch in Panlong City.

The rent on Wanglin Street was terrifyingly high. Only two kinds of shops could survive here: those with explosive sales, or those whose goods were both expensive and in high demand. Spirit Island was the latter.

The moment he heard Hee Lingchuan was the landlord, his enthusiasm doubled. He rushed to serve tea and water, adding that if the landlord ever fancied a Magical Artifact from the shop, he could have it for a ten percent discount—

—as long as he could get a little break on next year's rent.