After the Immortal Disappeared

The other man was cursing up a storm, but Hee Lingchuan just gave him the middle finger. He knew his successful strike was partly thanks to Fuzzy Peach’s arrow distracting his opponent. But who cared about sneak attacks or one-on-one duels in a brawl? You had to take every advantage you could get.

He didn’t consider his victory the least bit dishonorable.

Shan Youjun, catching up from behind, had his view blocked by Hee Lingchuan. He didn’t get a clear look at how his Master had lopped off the enemy’s hand, so he attributed it to the sheer sharpness of the Floating Life Blade.

Of course, he was about sixty percent right.

Only Hee Lingchuan himself knew that the Floating Life Blade’s "Breaking Army" trait had actually been triggered!

It could ignore an opponent’s protective Primordial Power and Divine Techniques, directly inflicting true damage that couldn’t be mitigated. But the probability of it occurring was pitifully low.

By "pitifully low," it meant that Hee Lingchuan might only trigger the Breaking Army effect a few times in several hundred swings of his blade.

This time, he had truly hit the jackpot, triggering the trait in a single blow.

It was just Lord Baili’s unlucky day. The dense fluctuations of Primordial Power on his body had become nothing but a decoration. Hee Lingchuan could tell from the faint glow around the man that his military rank was high.

The Floating Life Blade’s first appearance on the battlefield after being reforged would be christened with the blood of an enemy general!

Hee Lingchuan also strongly suspected that this was just a free trial of the trait.

At this moment, Hee Chunhua’s orders finally came, passed down in waves. Shouts could be heard everywhere: "The Xunzhou Soldiers are only a hundred horsemen strong!"

The Grain Transport Team’s numbers were far greater than that. What the hell was there to be afraid of!

The Xiazhou commanders also finally rallied their subordinates and began to mount a counterattack.

After all, the Grain Transport Team held the numerical advantage. The Xunzhou Army, on the other hand, had already penetrated deep into the enemy camp, lacking the depth for a sustained charge. With their ferocious first wave failing to meet expectations, they would soon suffer the consequences of their momentum faltering and then failing completely.

At this moment, the color of the Primordial Power surrounding the Xiazhou Army could be seen gradually deepening, shifting from light green to a deep green.

This was also a sign that their morale was steadily consolidating and rising.

Hee Lingchuan’s own Guard Team had already gathered, led by Shan Youjun and Jiao Tai, and was charging into the fray behind their Master. Having followed Hee Lingchuan out early and back late to hunt demons, their skills in ambush and coordinated attacks surpassed those of the regular Xiazhou Army. Now, those skills would be put to use.

Once the tables turned, this Xunzhou raiding party was likely to be encircled themselves.

Both sides were well aware of this. Thus, the general who had just lost his right arm, even with blood gushing from his shoulder and his face pale as a sheet, continued to command his men to attack Hee Chunhua with all their might.

He had been helped off his horse but was desperately fighting off unconsciousness while his Personal Guard worked to stanch the bleeding.

’To catch rebels, you must first catch their king.’ Lord Baili understood perfectly: their raid today had hit a wall, and it was all because the supreme Commander of the Grain Transport Team was still alive!

The Xunzhou people had never expected the commander of the Grain Transport Team to skip the banquet. They had failed to cut off the snake’s head, merely lopping off the tip of its tail.

Hee Chunhua himself had also never expected that his whim to inspect the area incognito and gauge public sentiment would allow him to escape this disaster.

Otherwise, he would have been the one to die in the restaurant.

Both sides were pressing the attack.

They wanted him dead, but didn’t Hee Chunhua want their lives just as much? With a grand wave of his hand, he immediately posted a bounty: "Kill the enemy general for a reward of a hundred taels!"

To deal with the war on the northern front, Xiazhou had reissued its recruitment decrees and substantially increased soldiers’ salaries. But even with his life on the line, a common grunt earned twenty silver at most per year—already an undisputed high-paying profession in the region. One hundred taels of Gold was equivalent to fifty years’ income for these soldiers!

Great rewards attract courageous men, and what’s more, the tide of battle had already turned. In the eyes of the Xiazhou soldiers, the severely wounded enemy general had suddenly transformed into a glittering gold bar.

Hee Lingchuan hissed softly. The deep green light enveloping the Xiazhou Army had instantly shifted to a deep blue, even showing faint hints of yellow.

In comparison, the less-affluent Lord Baili seemed to be at a bit of a disadvantage.

Fortunately, at that moment, a Monkey appeared on a carriage at the rear of the Xiazhou Army, munching on an apple.

This brown-furred Monkey wore a crown-of-thorns collar and was stockier than its peers. It didn’t look particularly unusual, but the Rock Wolf beside Hee Lingchuan seemed to catch a scent and suddenly whipped its head around, barking furiously at the creature.

Luu Xin’s strange behavior immediately put Hee Lingchuan on alert, and he followed its gaze. In his opinion, all monkeys in the world looked more or less the same. This one was definitely not as round and endearingly plump as his own Medicine Ape Ling Guang, but the thorny collar around its neck was indeed a bit familiar.

’Where have I seen that before?’

’It’s a bit far away. If only I could zoom in...’

’Hmm? Zoom in?’

Hee Lingchuan’s pupils contracted. He suddenly let out a thunderous roar, shouting at Hee Chunhua, "Watch out for the Ghost Ape! It’s behind you!"

Before the words had even left his mouth, the Monkey swelled rapidly, transforming from a macaque less than half a man’s height into a Giant Ape over ten feet tall with bulging muscles!

A horse let out a tragic whinny as the ape’s weight of over two thousand pounds instantly crushed the carriage beneath it.

This was the old acquaintance the Hee Family father and son hadn’t seen in two months—no, the old acquainted ape. It was an enemy that even Ke Jihai, the luck-favored General of Cavalry, had found difficult to defeat; the number one enforcer under the Demon Puppet Master Dong Rui—the Ghost Ape.

The last time they met, Hee Lingchuan and Ke Jihai had joined forces to injure it—of course, "joined forces" meant Hee Lingchuan using the Walnut Boat to suppress the monster. Afterward, the Demon Puppet Master had spirited it away, and they had vanished without a trace, eluding all official search efforts.

The moment the Ghost Ape transformed, it began grabbing heavy objects nearby—carriages, horses, supplies, even ripping up wooden fences—and hurled them straight at Hee Chunhua!

This was its innate Divine Skill. Every projectile was immensely powerful, whistling through the air with ferocious momentum, and yet every single throw was damnably accurate, requiring no practice whatsoever.

Hee Chunhua was surrounded by his men like the moon by stars. A shimmering light pulsed around him—someone had likely activated a protective Array to shield him from stray arrows and hidden projectiles. The Ghost Ape was about seven zhang (twenty meters) away, and most of the things it threw traveled in a parabola, gaining momentum as they fell from their highest point. They landed with a continuous series of thundering crashes, making the ground tremble even several zhangs away.

It even tossed in a few fully loaded grain carts. The sacks burst in midair, dust and flour scattering everywhere like a sudden snow flurry.

The dozens of men gathered around Hee Chunhua were not spared, and were instantly buried under a massive pile of debris. With a single glance, Hee Lingchuan saw someone who had been struck down by a thrown horse, only their legs still twitching from beneath the wreckage.

The scene descended into chaos. The faces of the Xiazhou Soldiers paled with fright, and they subconsciously backed away, none of them wanting to provoke the deadly, projectile-tossing Demon Ape. Because of this, their formation broke. The opposing Xunzhou Army was overjoyed. Lord Baili rallied his forces and ordered them to charge the Grain Transport Team.

Who didn’t know that such an opportunity was fleeting?

Hee Lingchuan’s scalp went numb, but now was not the time to panic. He ordered the Rock Wolf, "Go find Dong Rui and rip him to shreds!" then spurred his horse toward Hee Chunhua’s position.

Just then, a volley of arrows rained down from the Xiazhou Army, heading straight for the Ghost Ape. The soldiers didn’t dare approach, but launching a few ranged attacks was still manageable.

The Ghost Ape paid them no mind. It was covered in natural Bone Armor; ordinary arrows simply snapped on impact. All it needed to do was protect its eyes.

What made the Xiazhou Soldiers uneasy was that their arrows were all imbued with Primordial Power, which should have granted an extra Armor-Piercing bonus against a Demon’s defenses. Why was it completely ineffective against this Giant Ape?

While everyone was still stunned by its might, the Ghost Ape didn’t even bother with its signature chest-pounding. With two quick leaps, it landed in the center of the field, raised its iron fists high, and prepared to deliver a savage beating to the pile of rubble.

Regardless of whether Hee Chunhua was dead or alive, it was going to make sure with a finishing blow.

Judging by its body rippling with muscle, no one would doubt the power of its fists.

Even if the people under the rubble weren’t already dead, a few blows like that would turn them into meat paste.

Just then, a carriage in the pile of wreckage twitched. It suddenly flew up and slammed violently into the Giant Ape’s face, instantly shattering into a spray of splintered wood.

Clearly, something under the wreckage had launched the carriage, stunning the Giant Ape for a moment.

After the carriage was thrown aside, Hee Lingchuan looked closely and saw that there was a thin Light Curtain beneath it, shielding the few people at the very center.

There was Hee Chunhua, the two closest Personal Guards, and several disciples of the Cloud-Piercing Pavilion.

’Right, Elder Liang from the Cloud-Piercing Pavilion is there too!’

Taking advantage of the moment the Giant Ape’s eyes were closed, he leaped high into the air and struck the Ghost Ape right between the eyes with his palm!

Even though there was some friction between them, Hee Lingchuan couldn’t help but want to cheer. Elder Liang’s strike was a stroke of genius—the key to turning defeat into victory!

But his expression immediately soured, because the Ghost Ape just shook its head as if coming to its senses, let out an angry roar at Elder Liang and Hee Chunhua, and swatted down with its own palm!

’Did Elder Liang just dust off its face for it?’

’Then why didn’t he use a weapon?’

Elder Liang also looked a bit surprised, as if he had underestimated the thickness of the Ghost Ape’s hide. But then Hee Lingchuan noticed that where he had struck—right in the center of the Ghost Ape’s forehead—a red character had lit up.

Compared to the Giant Ape’s massive frame, the character was tiny.

Fortunately, with Hee Lingchuan’s 20/10 eyesight—sharp enough for archery and throwing Flying Blades—he could finally make out the character: "Sluggish"!

Furthermore, it was written in the Ancient Immortal Language, and the red light it emitted flowed like mercury.

After the character lit up, the Ghost Ape’s movements slowed by a couple of beats. Its fierce, descending palm strike now looked like it was in slow motion.

It roared again and again, its muscles bulging even more, but it still couldn’t speed up.

The red character on its forehead pulsed with a more intense light, clearly struggling to maintain its restraint.

Hee Lingchuan was immediately reminded of the Word Spirit Spell used by the "Celestial God" that had possessed Nian Songyu in the Coiling Dragon Illusion Realm.

The two techniques achieved the same result through different means; both used a Verbal Art to affect an enemy.

However, Elder Liang’s Word Spirit Spell didn’t seem to place much of a burden on him. He was, at least, still nimble enough to hastily lead Hee Chunhua out of the Giant Ape’s attack range.

Hee Chunhua appeared unharmed. Evidently, Hee Lingchuan’s warning had been just in time, allowing Elder Liang to activate a protective Barrier for him. He straightened his knocked-askew hat, his face grim as he roared, "What are you panicking for! The rest of you, go claim that bounty! Elder Liang, you and your men, pin down the Ghost Ape and kill it!"