After the Immortal Disappeared

"You didn't know for all these years, and you've been living just fine, haven't you?"

The problem was, now he knew. Village Chief Liang was on the verge of tears. He felt as if a pair of venomous eyes were staring at him from outside.

'This is in the middle of the day. What am I going to do when night falls?'

"Just make more Sacrificial Offerings. Also, that child died in the water, so it can only appear from the water. Just stay far away from water whenever you can." Hee Lingchuan wasn't an expert in these matters. "You can ask Elder Liang when he gets back."

Village Chief Liang's spirits lifted. 'That's right, the village has a master in residence now!'

Hee Lingchuan paid him no mind, heading out to call for Rock Wolf and Shan Youjun. They were about to mount their horses.

But just then, several fine steeds galloped in from outside the village. The riders carried themselves with an air entirely different from that of common folk. The leader, a man in his early forties, wore a tall crown and had narrow eyes. His features, surprisingly, bore a slight resemblance to Village Chief Liang's.

The moment they entered the village, the nearby villagers crowded around, their faces wreathed in smiles. Some dropped directly to their knees, calling out, "A Land Immortal!"

This reception was a world apart from the one Hee Lingchuan and his men had received.

Did anyone even need to ask who had arrived?

Hee Lingchuan immediately thought of the guest from the General Manager's Mansion—the visitor from the Cloud-Piercing Pavilion who had freeloaded a meal off his old man at noon. 'No, wait,' he corrected himself, 'the one who enjoyed a grand feast: Elder Liang.'

Seeing them, Village Chief Liang's spirits soared as well. He hurried forward to greet them. "Fourth Brother, you're back!"

Elder Liang gave him a slight smile before his gaze shifted to Hee Lingchuan and his men, and the two groups came face-to-face.

Village Chief Liang proceeded to make introductions.

Hee Lingchuan was all smiles. "A pleasure to finally meet you, Elder Liang. Did you and Chief Steward Hee have a good chat at noon?"

In truth, he had used the time Hee Chunhua was keeping Elder Liang occupied to rush over and coerce Village Chief Liang, only to be caught in the act by the elder himself. It was, admittedly, a little awkward.

But this was Hee Lingchuan. You couldn't see a hint of it on his face.

Elder Liang nodded and smiled.

Hee Lingchuan waited for a few moments, but the elder didn't speak.

'Huh? Dad never mentioned that the distinguished guest from Cloud-Piercing Pavilion was a mute.'

A disciple behind Elder Liang stepped forward and said solemnly, "My apologies. My master is cultivating the Silence Technique and rarely speaks. I will speak on his behalf."

Hee Lingchuan let out a long "Ohhh," showing no offense. "If he can't speak, he can't speak. No problem at all. My business here is finished, so I'll leave you two to your brotherly reunion. I'll be on my way, then." With that, he smiled at the crowd, mounted his horse along with his subordinates, and galloped out of the village.

Once their figures had vanished from sight, Elder Liang waved his hands. Everyone understood the gesture. The crowd of onlookers quickly dispersed, not daring to linger and disturb him.

They treated Elder Liang with far more reverence than they did their own Village Chief. Everyone knew that Shuangyu Village's ability to be so well-off was largely thanks to this Daoist Sect elder.

Once inside the house, Elder Liang made a few gestures to his older brother.

He had been cultivating the Silence Technique for twenty years but rarely returned to his hometown, so Village Chief Liang was unfamiliar with sign language and had to look to the disciple.

It was a disciple's duty to serve, which here meant to translate and explain.

"My Master asks if the men sent by the Government Office were here to deal with that matter."

Village Chief Liang's smile froze. He sighed. "Yes. But please don't be angry. They made a lot of sense, so I... I..."

He stammered, but seeing his younger brother's piercing gaze, he had no choice but to continue. "I stamped it."

Elder Liang gestured again. The disciple translated, "This is a village affair. Your decision is your own."

He didn't return even once every few years, nor did he accept Sacrificial Offerings from here. What did the village's business have to do with him? If the village elders hadn't been using his name as a banner and his brother hadn't begged him to plead their case with the new governor, he wouldn't have wanted to wade into these muddy waters.

"Good, good," Village Chief Liang agreed readily, a smile pasted on his face. "I'll go find the village elders right now."

He had already made up his mind: he would claim that compromising with the Government Office was also at Elder Liang's behest. The other village elders would naturally have no objections. Even if they did, they wouldn't dare voice them to Elder Liang's face.

Elder Liang shook his head as he watched his brother's retreating back. He knew perfectly well what was on his brother's mind.

"That new State Official clearly agreed to your request at the banquet, yet he sent men into the village behind your back," the disciple said, sounding indignant.

Elder Liang made a few gestures.

"'On the contrary... it's a sign of respect?' Why wasn't his Master angry? 'I don't understand.'"

Elder Liang just smiled, offering no further explanation.

After Hee Lingchuan and his men had traveled a few hundred paces down the mountain path, Zhou Sefu couldn't help but say, "Eldest Young Master Hee, that... that Elder Liang, I'm afraid he already knows."

Hee Lingchuan had seen Zhou Sefu's fawning smile earlier. "We're on official business. Here, he's just a civilian. What the hell are you scared of?"

The logic was sound, but reality was another matter entirely. Zhou Sefu was gradually getting a feel for the Eldest Young Master's temperament, so he didn't argue. Instead, he voiced the doubt in his mind, "The Water Ghost in Shuangyu Village... was it really the Village Chief who killed it?"

"What Water Ghost?"

"But didn't you just say..."

Hee Lingchuan cracked his whip with a flourish. "I was just messing with him. You actually believed that?"

"..." He had.

"When Village Chief Liang was fooling around with his third son's wife by the river, there was more than one spectator in the woods," Hee Lingchuan said calmly. "He pushed the child in the yellow clothes into the water and drowned him, thinking that killing the eyewitness would eliminate the problem for good. But he never expected that the child's friend was hiding in the tall grass just a few yards away, not daring to move a muscle. Not only did he witness the Village Chief's affair, he saw the entire murder unfold."

"Once Village Chief Liang left, the friend ran home and told his parents everything." Hee Lingchuan paused. "Fearing the village chief's power, his parents naturally told him to keep his mouth shut, so very few people knew what happened."

Zhou Sefu's eyes widened in realization. "So that's what happened! Then how... how did you find out?"

"The parents of that little eyewitness were one of the seven households that sold their land to the Land Officer. Since they were leaving anyway and the buyer was an official, they decided to write down a statement and slip it into the land deed." Hee Lingchuan chuckled. "They'd been bottling it up for years. They couldn't wait to get it off their chests."

'Looks like the villagers aren't too fond of their chief in private, eh?'

The Land Officer found the written complaint and submitted it to Hee Chunhua. After reading it, the latter formulated a plan and sent Hee Lingchuan to execute it.

Zhou Sefu found this amusing. "I suppose Village Chief Liang won't even dare to take a bath now." To the chief, wherever there was water, there could be a Water Ghost.

"That depends on whether Elder Liang's Divine Techniques are potent enough to banish the village chief's Heart Demon." Eldest Young Master Hee had originally planned to gather more evidence. The villagers weren't blind; there was no way the Village Chief's affair could have been kept completely under wraps. Unfortunately, Elder Liang had gone straight to the State Government today to ask for a favor on behalf of Shuangyu Village. Hee Chunhua had ordered his son to resolve the issue with haste, which was why Hee Lingchuan had to come ahead of schedule.

Upon reaching the outskirts of Xinxiang, Zhou Sefu clutched the precious land deeds and bid farewell to Hee Lingchuan.

This Eldest Young Master Hee's way of doing things was certainly...

Unconventional.

***

By the time Hee Lingchuan returned to Dunyu, the sun was already slanting west.

The moment he stepped through the door, Old Mo led him to the reception hall. A new guest had arrived, someone important enough that even Hee Chunhua and his wife were personally attending to them—

Lord Songyang, Lil Qingge.

A small pile of nutshells on the table made it clear that Marquis Songyang had been waiting for some time.

Hee Lingchuan was startled to see her, then immediately pointed an accusing finger at Hee Chunhua. "Marquis Songyang, please don't be offended! It was Chief Steward Hee who sent me out on a last-minute task!"

Lil Qingge had arranged with him long ago to come and view the Broken Blade today. The appointment had already been postponed twice because she had been swamped.

As a result, Hee Chunhua had dispatched his eldest son on an urgent mission. Hee Lingchuan had rushed out with his men, including the wolf, and had completely forgotten to notify Lil Qingge about the change of plans.

Marquis Songyang had arrived as planned, only to find him absent. She had no choice but to spend the time chatting with Hee Chunhua, who had since returned.

As for why Madam Ying was also present, Hee Lingchuan didn't need to be a genius to figure it out.

Hee Chunhua chided him with a laugh. "What a good son you are! Throwing your old man under the bus first chance you get."

Lil Qingge smiled, showing no trace of impatience. "It's quite all right. Young Master Hee's official duties come first. Besides, the Lord Governor and I have settled several business arrangements."

Hee Chunhua explained, "The Xiazhou Prefecture will be hiring seven disciples from Songyang Prefecture to serve in the administration and the military."

Lil Qingge nodded. "Can't let the Cloud-Piercing Pavilion get the jump on us."

Hee Chunhua then asked his eldest son, "How did things go in Shuangyu Village?"

"All settled. The village seal is on the deeds, and Zhou Sefu went back a happy man." Hee Lingchuan grinned. "As I was leaving the village, I ran into a man in a tall hat with his nose in the air. That wouldn't happen to be Elder Liang, would it?"

"He returned to Shuangyu Village after we had lunch." Hee Chunhua took a sip of tea. "He came on behalf of the Cloud-Piercing Pavilion to pay his respects and, while he was at it, recommend a dozen of their outstanding disciples."

'Got it,' Hee Lingchuan thought. 'He came to pay his respects to the new boss.'

'So why send a guy who can't even talk?'

But the Cloud-Piercing Pavilion was famous in the northern lands, and Hee Chunhua was new to his post, so he had to show Elder Liang a certain degree of respect. In Hee Lingchuan's eyes, the relationship between the Daoist Sects and the government was a bit like that between universities and the state. Most of the talented individuals cultivated by the sects aspired to careers as officials.

Both sides needed something from the other, so Hee Chunhua was exceedingly polite and courteous to both Elder Liang and Marquis Songyang.

Hee Lingchuan glanced at Lil Qingge. Her youth made it easy to forget that she was the master of her own sect, on equal footing with the Sect Leader of the Cloud-Piercing Pavilion.

"By the way, with Sunx Fuping having been brought to justice, the position of National Preceptor is now vacant," Lil Qingge added. "I've heard news from the National Capital that a list of three candidates has been released. I hope His Majesty chooses a good National Preceptor this time."

A flicker of interest showed in Hee Chunhua's eyes. "Your Lordship is certainly well-informed. Of the candidates, who do you think has the best chance?"

"All three are exceptional individuals, and all have powerful connections," Lil Qingge mused. "Relatively speaking, I'm most optimistic about Fan Ke and Yane Lixin. The final choice for National Preceptor will likely be one of them."

"Our kingdom originally had three National Preceptors. With Sunx Fuping gone, there are still two," Hee Chunhua said with a smile. "The political climate in the Capital City is a hundred times more complex than here in Dunyu. Anyone who can climb to the position of National Preceptor must have both personal strength and political power. One without the other is not enough."