After the Immortal Disappeared

"It’s also Panlong City’s oldest main street. There were so few storefronts fifteen years ago, and there are just as few now. Not a single one has been added!"

He jabbed his index finger forcefully at the air in front of him. "You can’t buy one even if you have the money. Tell me, is that in-demand or what?"

Hee Lingchuan smiled. "Tianshuang Restaurant?"

"Who goes to that dump? They even secretly water down their best wine," Hu Min said with disdain. "If we’re going, we’re going to Yixiang Building!"

Yixiang Building’s prestige was reflected in its ambiance, and the fact that its food and wine were twice as expensive as a commoner’s joint like Tianshuang Restaurant.

Hee Lingchuan felt his pocket. Thankfully, he had saved up a little money from completing the last few Patrol Guard missions.

Xiao Maoliang was busy, but Aluo came as invited. Hee Lingchuan also invited Liu Tong, Door Panel, Skinny, and Willow. As soon as these current teammates heard he was treating them to drinks at Yixiang Building, they showed up without a second thought.

Only then did Hee Lingchuan learn that the squad had lost three members in a fierce battle eight days ago. Including him, there were now only six people left alive. The roster would definitely have to be adjusted. Until new members were assigned, they could get some rest.

The death of comrades is always a sad story. But the group didn’t show much sorrow; instead, they ate and drank with gusto.

Hee Lingchuan knew these people were used to living on the edge, licking blood from the blade’s tip. They had long since grown indifferent to life and death and seized pleasure whenever they could.

Even if there was sadness, it was only temporary.

Living in Panlong City, one was forced to learn to let things go.

After every battle, big or small, business was always booming at the city’s restaurants, taverns, and the Red Hall. The soldiers, having just received their military rewards, didn’t mind throwing some money around in town to buy a little fun and stimulate the economy.

This noon, Yixiang Building was packed.

Door Panel grabbed his cup, stood up, and bellowed to the crowd, "Hee Lingchuan is here! Who’s coming for a drink with him?"

The room instantly fell silent. Everyone turned to look.

Then Door Panel stretched out his hand, pointed right at Hee Lingchuan, and yelled again, "Huh? Anyone?"

With a ROAR, the response was overwhelming.

A man even burlier than Door Panel leaped from a long bench and strode over to Hee Lingchuan in two steps, spilling nearly half the wine from his cup.

He raised his cup to his nose and said in a rough voice:

"A true hero! I toast you!"

What else could Hee Lingchuan say? He had no choice but to raise his cup and down it in one gulp.

Skinny quickly refilled his cup.

Another two men squeezed their way over. One of them was half a step ahead, his cup nearly ramming into Hee Lingchuan’s nose. "You brought my fiancée back! I thank you!"

Hee Lingchuan was stunned. The crowd roared with laughter, and several people heckled, "He risked his life to bring your woman back, and all you give him is empty words? No way, that’s too cheap!"

The man grinned. "Do I need a bunch of you bastards to teach me? I already sent something!" He turned and asked Hee Lingchuan, "Were those few jars of pickled vegetables stinky or not?"

’So he was the one who sent them!’ Hee Lingchuan wasn’t sure how to respond for a moment. He hesitated before saying, "Stink... Unbearably stinky!"

The man’s face immediately broke into a smile. "Stinky is right! Stinky means they’re good pickles!"

He took another step closer. "Let me tell you, whenever my old lady’s pickles are ready, people fight over them. They’re no cheaper than the Chuntai wine from the south side of the city!"

He had sent it as a valuable gift. Hee Lingchuan clinked cups and drank with him again. "Alright. When I finish them, I’ll ask you for more."

The man gave him a thumbs-up, then made way for others.

A few more toasters came and went, and then a woman actually appeared, a pair of short daggers at her waist. She slammed her wine jug down in front of Hee Lingchuan, turned, and pointed at the man who sent the pickles. "I’m his fiancée! If you hadn’t jumped into that Demon Nest, he might’ve scurried off to find some young beauty by now. I thank you!"

Aluo, who was drinking, choked on his wine when he heard this.

Hee Lingchuan looked at the woman’s broad shoulders and wide hips, then at her tall, skinny fiancé, and coughed lightly. "I wish you a long and happy life together."

The woman said to Hee Lingchuan, "I’ll toast you with three cups. You can drink as you please." With that, she poured three cups of wine and downed them, one after another, more readily than if it were water. Then she said, "My younger sister isn’t married yet. She’s been set up with several potential matches, but couldn’t find anyone she liked. Her standards are very high. Want me to introduce you?"

Before Hee Lingchuan could speak, someone nearby chimed in, "Don’t do it! Don’t even look! Her sister is another fierce one. Once she gets her hands on you, you’ll never get away!"

The crowd erupted in laughter. The woman sneered, "Wu the Sixth, get up! Let’s go one-on-one!"

The focus was no longer on Hee Lingchuan. He silently chugged another cup of wine. When he turned his head, he saw at least a few dozen people waiting in line and over a hundred looking on. His scalp tingled with dread.

Just half an hour later, he’d been forced to drink until he was half-sprawled on the table.

He slumped on the table to dodge more drinks. Skinny patted his back and said to the crowd, "He’s drunk, he’s drunk! No more toasts! Come earlier next time!"

He fended them off for a while longer before the enthusiastic patrons slowly dispersed.

It took Hee Lingchuan a long time to recover. He had to circulate his True Power to suppress the effects of the alcohol.

During the battle at Ghost Needle Stone Forest, they had fought back-to-back in a desperate situation. Hee Lingchuan had even risked his life to blow up the Demon Nest, instantly forging a firm bond with everyone. Now, catalyzed by alcohol, they were calling each other brothers, chatting and laughing like old friends of many years.

Liu Tong explained to Hee Lingchuan, "I reported your performance to the higher-ups. They were very impressed, but they feel you’ve been with the Patrol Guard for too short a time and lack experience, so you won’t be promoted for now."

Hee Lingchuan couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. A promotion to Squad Commander would give him a chance to be selected for the Great Wind Army, but he hadn’t even made Fire Chief yet.

But just as Liu Tong had said, he lacked battlefield experience. ’How could I command others?’

Liu Tong, his face flushed red, slapped his chest and assured him, "Brother Hee, you’ve got courage and luck. As long as you survive a few more missions, you’ll definitely get promoted!"

Willow could hold her liquor better than most men and had already put away two small urns. But when she drank too much, she just liked to laugh, unlike her usual self, who looked at everyone like they owed her money.

She slapped Hee Lingchuan hard on the shoulder. "These men are all a bunch of cowards. They didn’t dare deliver Sunx Jiayuan’s death benefits themselves, saying they couldn’t bear to watch a woman cry. So they made me go! I mean, I wasn’t even close with the guy surnamed Sunx!"

She slapped him again, then lowered her voice. "After I delivered the benefits, his younger sister, Sunx Fuling, didn’t cry at all. She was very calm. I even chatted with her for a bit. Turns out Sunx Jiayuan had a mountain of bad debt, the kind they call ’donkey-hide debt’—the interest compounds so many times you lose count. Last time, he stole Sunx Fuling’s land deed and valuables to try and win it all back, but he lost again. He once chopped off the pinky fingers on both his hands and swore a solemn oath to never gamble again. And then... and then he died, right before he started on his ring fingers."

’No wonder Sunx Jiayuan was so determined to die. In this world, the one thing you can’t have is gambling debt.’ "Since he’s been posthumously honored as a hero, can his gambling debts be wiped clean?"

"Of course. The creditors aren’t happy about it, but Panlong City has a rule that the family of a hero gets one chance to cancel out a ’sin-debt.’ It’s not just for owing money—even murder can be offset. They call it ’balancing merits and demerits.’"

"That’s allowed?" Hee Lingchuan ate a peanut. The peanuts at Tianshuang Restaurant sold for one wen a plate, but here they were four wen. He couldn’t taste what was so special about them. ’Hmm, specially expensive,’ he thought. "I thought Panlong City outlawed gambling."

"Are you kidding? Of course Panlong City outlaws gambling!" Skinny, who had been busy drinking, chimed in. "But a gambling addict can always find a place, just like a cat can always sniff out fish."

Hee Lingchuan shrugged. As expected, light and darkness always went hand in hand. Everything that should and shouldn’t exist could be found here.

Willow went to slap Hee Lingchuan’s shoulder again, but he dodged. When that woman drank, she didn’t know her own strength.

Well-fed and full of wine, everyone went their separate ways. Skinny even packed up all the leftovers. In his words, he was responding to the official initiative to be frugal and not waste food, especially when it was so expensive.

Hee Lingchuan and Aluo both lived in the wooden huts, so they shared a donkey cart home.

Aluo was groggy and nearly stumbled getting out of the cart.

Hee Lingchuan, however, had sobered up and was much more clear-headed. He paid the fare, helped Aluo into his house, and then walked back to his own.

He stood in front of his own door and sighed.

A door like this was practically useless; you could hop over it with one hand. But he had traded all his rewards for a shop, so he could only save up more merits and try to get a new house sooner.

In truth, military merits in Panlong City weren’t easy to earn. This time, he had just lucked into a major solo opportunity. Normal Patrol Guard missions involved facing frenzied Demons, which were quite dangerous, and the accumulated merits and rewards were minuscule.

Most soldiers could only climb the ranks slowly within this system, like snails climbing a tree. And they couldn’t break any rules or make mistakes. Merits were hard to accumulate but very easy to lose.

Hadn’t Aluo made one big mistake and ended up a pauper living in a wooden hut? He still hadn’t managed to turn his fortunes around.

He was just about to push the door open when a voice suddenly came from the side:

"Hey!"

Very close, right beside him.

Hee Lingchuan turned his head and saw a woman with a seven or eight-year-old boy, standing just four feet away.

She had a cloth covering her face, revealing only a pair of almond-shaped eyes, long, thin eyebrows, and skin as white as milk.

"Can I help you?"

The moment Hee Lingchuan spoke, the boy struggled violently as if to run away, but the woman held him fast.

At first, he thought they were mother and son, but a closer look revealed she had the boy’s shoulder clamped in one hand. He was as skinny as a monkey, but his expression was like a little wolf cub’s, ready to snarl at anyone.

’What’s going on here?’

The woman spoke again. "Did you lose something?"

"How did you..." Her words were abrupt and confusing. It took Hee Lingchuan a beat to understand. "A bundle of firewood and two crucian carp."

"This kid has stolen from seven households in the area, including you. He came to your place a second time to try and steal the things by your door, but a passerby shouted and exposed him, so I gave chase." The woman yanked the boy forward. "And yes, I’m a victim too."

"Where have I seen you before?" Hee Lingchuan felt the boy looked familiar. He thought hard, and—damn, wasn’t this the little thief he’d met when he first entered the dream version of Panlong City?

Back then, the little brat was about to steal the Divine Bone Necklace. Hee Lingchuan had been planning to teach him a lesson, but just then, Hu Min called out to him on the street. The two were so happy to see each other and busy catching up that the little pilferer took the chance to slip away.

’After all that, the little brat still ended up stealing my things.’ "So it was you!"

The boy turned his head away, refusing to look at him. "I don’t know you!"