After the Immortal Disappeared

There was nothing to investigate at the bottom of the pitch-black ravine, so Hee Lingchuan and Shan Youjun groped their way back to the base of the cliff, grabbed the ropes their companions had lowered, and climbed back to high ground.

The return journey was quite smooth, without any incidents.

...

When Hee Lingchuan rushed back to the military camp in Xinhuang Town, the place was brightly lit, with people bustling about. The atmosphere had not relaxed at all.

Extinguishing fires, cleaning the camp, treating the wounded, detaining and interrogating prisoners, taking inventory of supplies, and exchanging messages with the County Government—all these tasks were proceeding in a relatively orderly fashion under Hee Chunhua’s command.

When he saw Hee Lingchuan appear, he left the official he was with and walked over. "How did it go? Did you capture Dong Rui?"

"No." Hee Lingchuan shook his head. "He still managed to get away."

The man surnamed Dong was as slippery as an eel, impossible to grasp.

"That fiend is hard to catch." Hee Chunhua’s face showed disappointment, but he still patted him on the shoulder. "Never mind him for now. We have more pressing problems." He knew that after suffering such a heavy blow, Dong Rui wouldn’t be a threat in the short term.

"During the restaurant explosion earlier, the local County Magistrate survived, but had a leg blown off. But Mr. Mozhe..." He sighed deeply. "...didn’t make it."

Hee Lingchuan immediately said, "My condolences, Father."

Mozhe Jingxuan was an old retainer Hee Chunhua had brought from Black Water City. His loyalty was unquestionable. His sudden death here was a significant loss for Hee Chunhua, who was already short on talent.

"Also, the Xunzhou Rangers who retreated from here were met by reinforcements halfway, so our men turned back."

Our men chased the routing enemy for over thirty li, but no one could claim the gold bounty, so they returned dejectedly—

Lord Baili was just too hard to kill.

Still, the Xunzhou Rangers suffered heavy losses. Nearly three hundred came, but in the end, only a hundred riders escaped, more than half of them wounded.

Hearing this, Hee Lingchuan felt an even greater sense of foreboding. "They had reinforcements?"

"We chased them to Maming Slope, where over two hundred men ambushed us. They were strong and well-equipped, so our side had to give up the pursuit and return." Hee Chunhua’s expression was grim. He was also furious with his men for their lack of spirit.

Hee Lingchuan could already tell something was wrong. "Where did these two hundred-plus Xunzhou Soldiers come from?" Clearly, they weren’t under that "Lord Baili," or they would have attacked Xinhuang with him from the start.

"According to the prisoners, the general whose arm you severed is named Baili Qing. He’s a Guerrilla General under Nian Zanli. He’s quite famous and has a solid combat record. No one expected him to be defeated by you in a single exchange."

"A pity we let such a big fish slip away." Baili Qing’s personal guards had desperately protected him to ensure his escape.

Just then, Hee Chunhua beckoned the guard who had fired the arrow earlier to his side.

The guard looked to be only sixteen or seventeen, around Hee Lingchuan’s age. Yet, just a while ago, he had unhesitatingly sacrificed his lifespan in exchange for the immense power to wound the Ghost Ape. Now, his face was pale and his lips were purple.

The Ghost Eye Bow was powerful, but using it came with side effects.

Hee Chunhua patted his shoulder, his face filled with praise. "Well done. You’ve performed a great service."

The guard’s forehead was beaded with sweat, but he was overjoyed. "Thank you, thank you, my lord!"

Hee Chunhua took a Jade Pendant from his Storage Ring and handed it to him. "Wear this Amulet. From this day forward, you are my personal bodyguard."

The guard accepted it, overjoyed.

Hee Lingchuan looked at him and asked, "What’s your name?"

"This humble one is Hu Xun."

Hee Lingchuan nodded. ’There are more and more new faces around Dad.’ Come to think of it, he wasn’t really sure how many confidants Hee Chunhua actually had.

The fire was out, and the wounded had been moved to nearby residences. Seeing nothing left for him to do, Hee Lingchuan went to commandeer a tent in the camp. He instructed the Rock Wolf to stand guard at the entrance and let no one in.

He weighted down the bottom flaps of the tent himself, making sure not even a fly could get in, before lighting an oil lamp and taking out the newly acquired Glazed Bottle to examine it carefully.

The moment the bottle appeared, the Divine Bone Necklace around his neck began to heat up again. Hee Lingchuan could feel its desire, like a starving man staring at a sizzling, greasy leg of lamb.

He thought for a moment, then took off the Divine Bone Necklace and placed it on a stool. He then uncorked the Glazed Bottle and slowly brought it closer.

He didn’t dare to sniff it; the scent of some medicines could be lethal.

Interestingly, a faint sound of wind emerged from the round hole in the center of the Divine Bone Necklace, as if a small Wind Cave was hidden inside.

Hee Lingchuan carefully poured a single drop of the red liquid from the bottle into it.

Just one drop.

The drop of red liquid fell into the round hole of the Divine Bone and vanished.

Hee Lingchuan picked up the necklace and searched all over the stool, but couldn’t find the slightest trace of it. This meant the red liquid had passed through the hole and flowed somewhere unknown.

’But I know now that the Divine Bone Necklace is the key to entering the Grand Pot Illusion Realm. So who, or what, absorbed the liquid? Was it the Divine Bone Necklace itself, or... the Grand Square Pot?’

’He recalled the two previous times the Divine Bone Necklace had "fed": once on the foundation stone of the Immortal Cave Mansion, and another time possibly on Hong Xiangqian’s Spirit Talisman. Neither was an ordinary item.’

’The fact that the Divine Bone now coveted this red liquid—did that prove it was also a rare treasure?’

However, after "eating" one drop, the Divine Bone Necklace stopped heating up. The Wind Cave in its center vanished, and it reverted to being an unremarkable pendant.

"Want more?" he asked the Divine Bone Necklace. Ever since he learned that the Floating Life Blade could understand his questions, he assumed this thing could too; it just never communicated with him.

The Divine Bone Necklace didn’t react, as usual.

’That means it’s had enough. Just one drop. It’s quite easy to feed.’

Hee Lingchuan put away the necklace and the bottle, left the tent, and found the Medicinal Ape Lingguang with the Rock Wolf’s help.

The monkey was in the infirmary treating the wounded. It was diligent and its hands were much nimbler than the average military medic’s, making it quite popular with the injured soldiers.

When Hee Lingchuan found it, it had a bib for holding nuts tied around its neck, which was already full and heavy with gifts from the patients.

He pulled a few peanuts from his pocket, shelling and eating them as he spoke. "I got a trophy of war. Help me take a look at it."

"Right away!"

In the end, Hee Lingchuan waited a full quarter of an hour before Lingguang emerged from the crowd of patients and returned to the tent with him.

Hee Lingchuan recounted the entire process of how he had failed to capture Dong Rui but managed to obtain the Glazed Bottle. Then he said to Lingguang, "Dong Rui was originally going to use this on the badly wounded Ghost Ape, so it might have emergency life-saving properties. Since it’s a medicine, I’m leaving it to you to analyze."

Lingguang’s eyes lit up after hearing this. It held up the Glazed Bottle, examining it over and over like a beloved new toy, without even sparing Hee Lingchuan a glance. "Alright!"

Seeing it unceremoniously take over the tent, Hee Lingchuan shook his head and stepped outside.

For the Xiazhou people, tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.

Zeng Feixiong and his men had found the sentries’ bodies nearby, which explained why no alarm was raised when Baili Qing invaded Xinhuang. Consequently, Hee Chunhua ordered the guards around the encampment to be strengthened and the interrogation of the prisoners to be expedited.

He was desperate to know who had commanded this operation.

After returning from the pursuit of Baili Qing, Zeng Feixiong and his subordinates were resting by a campfire, drinking water and eating flatbread. Hee Lingchuan strolled over and offered him a wine flask. "Want a swig?" Tonight had been truly thrilling.

Zeng Feixiong shook his head. "I’m on watch later. Can’t drink."

Hee Lingchuan chatted with him about the recent battle and asked about the pursuit of Baili Qing. Zeng Feixiong, keeping some distance from his soldiers, lowered his voice. "We’re good at beating a dog when it’s down, but we crumble at the first sign of a tough fight." As soon as Baili Qing’s reinforcements arrived, the morale of the pursuing troops he led collapsed. "This kind of army we’ve cobbled together in Xiazhou... we wouldn’t last on the northern battlefields."

He had been promoted now, so he had to share Chief Steward Hee’s worries. For the current Xiazhou, raising a truly skilled army was a luxury they could ill afford, lacking both time and money.

Hee Lingchuan wasn’t surprised by his assessment. "They need some time to train. Look at all the armies everywhere. How many are recruited and sent to the battlefield just a few days later? Who has the energy or leisure to train troops first? In truth, winning a few more battles is better than anything else. You just have to know how to pick your opponents."

He’d experienced it firsthand in Panlong City. At least half of the Great Wind Army’s valor came from confidence: the confidence of the Panlong City people that they would win every battle, and the army’s own overflowing self-assurance.

Jiao Tai leaned in. "Still, over a hundred of them escaped. This battle feels so frustrating!"

Zeng Feixiong didn’t like hearing that, as he was the one leading the pursuit. He gave a dry laugh. "Most of those we let go were wounded, some of them quite seriously. That was the Chief Steward’s intention!"

Hee Lingchuan went "Oh."

Jiao Tai was straightforward and didn’t understand. "What do you mean?"

"We find the Xunzhou people tricky because their Rangers come and go without a trace," Hee Lingchuan explained to him. "Now they’re dragging a bunch of wounded soldiers with them. They’ll have to find a way to treat them, and that’s when they’re likely to slip up." The Xunzhou people were operating deep behind enemy lines, and getting wounded soldiers effective medical care was a major problem.

’Dad is so devious.’

Just then, Hee Lingchuan suddenly saw a flash of red light in the west, not far away.

The glow wasn’t strong, but it was striking enough in the dark of night.

’What was that?’

As he watched, a few more streaks of red light seemed to flash by, somewhat like lightning, but they caused no effect. The surroundings remained perfectly quiet.

Hee Lingchuan looked around and suddenly noticed a strange phenomenon:

The soldiers around him continued eating, drinking, and chatting as before, showing no interest in even glancing in that direction. Even people like Shan Youjun and Zeng Feixiong seemed completely oblivious to the light.

Hee Lingchuan asked tentatively, "What is that?"

"Huh?" Jiao Tai was confused. "What?"

Hee Lingchuan pointed in the direction of the red light. "You can’t see it?"

Everyone looked baffled. "See what?"

’They really can’t see it.’ Hee Lingchuan said sullenly, "Never mind. What’s that area used for now?" The red light had risen from a spot where there seemed to be a few single-story buildings.

Zeng Feixiong glanced over. "For holding prisoners of war."

Hee Lingchuan immediately dusted off his hands, stood up, and walked toward the red light.

In the minds of commanders like Zeng Feixiong, who had come from Black Water City, he had long since shed the image of an ignorant Rich Young Master. In fact, he deserved half the credit for saving the army’s provisions tonight. Therefore, no one asked him what he was doing; everyone just went back to their own business.