After the Immortal Disappeared

"The mine tunnels have other exits. If you want to bottle them up, this is the best way." Hee Lingchuan pointed at Jiao Tai. "He knows where the tunnel exits are."

Zeng Feixiong was overjoyed. He cupped his fist and said, "Many thanks, Eldest Young Master!"

The title sent a pang through Hee Lingchuan’s heart. He waved a hand dismissively. "Go on. Thank me after you’ve earned the credit."

Zeng Feixiong knew time was of the essence. With Jiao Tai leading the way, he continued to hurry toward the mine.

While they were speaking, Hee Chunhua took out a sheet of white paper. In his haste, he couldn’t be bothered to grind ink, so he simply bit his own fingertip and, using the blood, wrote a dozen or so characters.

"Dad?" Hee Lingchuan asked, puzzled.

Hee Chunhua said nothing. He swiftly took out the Society Command, used the blood as ink for the seal, and stamped the paper. He then folded the note and took something else from his Storage Ring—

A gray pigeon.

Everyone was startled. Only after a closer look did they realize it was actually a Mechanical Bird.

Hee Chunhua opened a hidden compartment and placed the blood-written letter inside. The Mechanical Bird flapped its wings twice, and its small eyes lit up.

Chief Steward Hee then tossed it into the air. With a whirring of its wings, it took flight and headed east.

Hee Lingchuan let out a long sigh of relief. "You brought one of these with you! That’s wonderful!"

Mechanical Birds were the masterworks of Puppet Masters, but few could craft one capable of flying for tens of miles; that required an incredibly precise construction. This particular one was the creation of a master craftsman under the Rebel Leader, Hong Xiangqian. When the Rebel Army was defeated at Woling Pass, Wu Shaoyi escaped with several of these Mechanical Birds.

Later, when Wu Shaoyi surrendered, he contributed the Mechanical Birds for military use.

Hee Chunhua had the foresight to bring one of the Mechanical Birds along on this mission to suppress the enemy, just in case of an emergency.

And now, that emergency had arrived.

Hee Chunhua’s expression was grim. "I hope it gets there in time!"

The bird flew much faster than even the swiftest horse. If it could warn Xinhuang before Hong Chenglu launched his raid, they might be able to avoid devastating losses.

Needless to say, Hee Chunhua then ordered the rest of the army to turn around and race back to Xinhuang at full speed.

Hee Lingchuan was starting to understand the strategy behind it all. ’Dad must have figured that since he’d brought the army all this way, it wouldn’t look good to return empty-handed. So he ordered Zeng Feixiong to raid the mine. The bait Hong Chenglu dangled was tempting, and it seemed like an easy prize to take. And even in the worst-case scenario, if Xinhuang’s grain supplies were burned, at least he’d have captured an enemy general, Baili Qing.’

Along the way, Hee Chunhua asked for a detailed account of what happened. When he heard that Fuzzy Peach had been killed in action, he couldn’t help but sigh. "He was one of your veterans, wasn’t he? Did he have any family?"

"No."

Hee Chunhua hummed in acknowledgment. "Perhaps that’s for the best."

He was burning with anxiety, wishing he could sprout wings and fly back to Xinhuang. He was in no mood to comfort his son.

Xinhuang had a garrison, and the Cloud-Piercing Pavilion was there to help defend it. But Hong Chenglu was at least half a step ahead of them, and the man was notoriously cunning. Hee Chunhua truly had no idea if they could make it back in time.

’Greedy for merit, pushing forward rashly... I’ve been careless, after all.’

...

「The Abandoned Mine.」

In a low, single-story building, Baili Qing slowly regained consciousness. The sky was already dark. He was terribly thirsty and murmured, "Water..."

His personal guard at his side quickly gave him some water to drink.

Soon, two officers rushed over, saying joyfully, "Lord Baili, you’re finally awake!"

"How long was I asleep?"

"Almost the entire day. Your wound is healing well."

Baili Qing looked at his severed arm, a bitter smile on his face. ’My hand is gone. What good is it for the wound to heal well?’

However, he had heard that some Secret Medicines could make severed limbs regrow.

Half a roasted chicken sat on the table. One of the officers picked it up with a smile. "I’ll go heat this up. General Hong brought it over as a sign of his respect."

"Where is General Hong?" Baili Qing glanced outside. There didn’t seem to be many people moving about.

"Our spies in Bailu Town were captured, so the Xiazhou Army is heading this way. General Hong took some men to lead them away."

Baili Qing was alarmed. "The mine has been exposed? Why haven’t we evacuated?"

"Well..." The two officers looked at each other. "Your injuries were too severe. We were afraid that moving you rashly earlier..."

"Fools!" Baili Qing struggled to sit up. "Order an immediate evacuation. Where did General Hong say to rendezvous?"

"Xinqiao Village."

"Get the medic over here to change my dressing." Baili Qing saw the bandage was soaked through.

"The medic went with General Hong."

Baili Qing was shocked. "What did you say?"

The more he thought about it, the more something felt wrong. ’I only lost an arm. How could I have slept through the whole day?’

’The medicine... I’ve been drugged.’

"How many fighting men are left in the camp?"

"General Hong left fifty men."

Baili Qing slammed his hand on the table. "That vicious bastard!"

The two officers were still confused. Baili Qing urged them on, "Hurry, give the order to evacuate! Get me a stretcher, now!"

Just as his men were about to obey, several agonizing screams suddenly echoed from outside.

The two men rushed to the doorway. From the mountain forest, volleys of arrows rained down, and the sky lit up with flames!

The Xiazhou Army was here.

￥￥￥￥￥

「Xinhuang. The Grain Transport Team Camp.」

The sky had long since darkened. The camp was brightly lit, but in contrast, the entirety of Xinhuang Town was plunged into pitch darkness, with only a few houses showing any light.

The young soldier on duty at West Hill yawned and said to a passing comrade, "Not a soul in sight. This place is a real Ghost Town. We’d be better off camping in the wild; at least we could hunt some game for a decent meal."

Yawns are contagious, and his comrade couldn’t help letting one out as well. "Haven’t you heard what these hicks said? They’ve already eaten every bird and beast in the area. Now, try to stay alert. I’m heading off."

The soldier cried out in alarm, "Hey, don’t leave me here alone!" His partner had died in the surprise attack by the Xunzhou people just yesterday. "I’ve been on duty for five double-hours already! I’m dead tired!"

"I’ve got other duties. With so many people gone, who else is there to do the work?" his comrade said with a wave as he turned to leave. "If you’re going to complain, complain to whoever made the duty roster. They’re the one who put you on a solo watch."

West Hill was on the camp’s outermost perimeter, and the soldier was bored out of his mind. The spring night’s breeze was soft and lulling, and soon he was leaning against the wall, drifting off to sleep.

Just then, a drab gray object fell from the night sky. It landed in front of him and twitched a few times.

But the young soldier was fast asleep, a faint whistle even escaping his lips as he breathed. He was completely unaware of the object that had just landed in front of him.

No one came by for some time. Eventually, a group of three passed through West Hill, led by none other than Elder Liang of the Cloud-Piercing Pavilion.

He spotted the gray shadow on the ground at a glance and stopped. A disciple went forward to pick it up and exclaimed in surprise, "What is this?"

He had thought it was a dead pigeon, but it felt cold to the touch. It was clearly a man-made object.

’A mechanical messenger pigeon?’

There were scratch marks on its back. It had probably been ambushed by a Night Owl that had mistaken it for prey.

This would also explain why it hadn’t flown all the way to Wu Shaoyi. Its components were probably damaged.

Elder Liang took it for a look. With a few practiced manipulations, the hidden compartment on the bird’s belly popped open, revealing the note inside.

Then, carrying the note and the Mechanical Bird, Elder Liang strode briskly into Wu Shaoyi’s command tent!

Wu Shaoyi was reading under the lamplight when he heard the tent flap thrown open with a WHOOSH. Before he could even shout a question, Elder Liang slapped the two items down on his desk.

A dire emergency!

Wu Shaoyi’s face fell the moment he glanced at them. He slammed his hand on the desk and shot to his feet. "Outrageous! Sound the alarm, immediately!"

With Hee Chunhua absent, he was the highest commander of the entire camp.

Wu Shaoyi issued a series of Urgent Commands. Drums beat across the camp, and the garrison soldiers scrambled to their feet. Most had been busy all day and had fallen into a dead sleep as soon as night fell. They were still groggy, but the sound of the drums sent a jolt of alarm through their hearts.

Wu Shaoyi ordered his men to assemble for battle and move all the cheval de frise to the camp entrance to fortify their position. Meanwhile, Elder Liang and his disciples began setting up an Array. This type of military formation was exceptionally effective at resisting large-scale assaults, such as volleys of arrows or fire attacks.

But they had only just started setting up the second Array when the sound of urgent hoofbeats rang out from outside Xinhuang Town.

The riders carried no torches, charging through the darkness. They were heading straight for the camp, and their intentions were clearly hostile.

With a grim face, Wu Shaoyi gave the order, and the archers within the camp immediately unleashed a volley of arrows.

The first strike is half the battle.

He had already suffered a major defeat at Hong Chenglu’s hands the previous night, losing his camp, his supplies, and his face. For Hong Chenglu to now dare a second raid, while he himself was present—this was the last straw!

’This time, we settle all scores, new and old!’

...

Hee Chunhua was frantic. His force of over a thousand men galloped back with all their might. Along the way, several warhorses lost their footing and snapped their legs.

This was an Official Road, even though it hadn’t been maintained for many years.

Just as they rounded a bend, a signal arrow shot up with a BANG from the mountain peak above, bursting into a large, red flare in the sky.

’There are people on the mountain!’

Hee Lingchuan’s heart skipped a beat, but Hee Chunhua acted as if he saw nothing, only urging everyone to continue forward.

They were about a third of a mile from Xinhuang Town, on the main road approaching it from the west. Obviously, Hong Chenglu had placed lookouts on this peak specifically to track the State Army’s movements.

For those who, like Hee Lingchuan, understood the signal’s implications, their hearts seized. It meant Hong Chenglu’s forces had already reached Xinhuang.

’The enemy was one step ahead.’

As they galloped closer to Xinhuang Town, they saw the fierce glow of fire up ahead. But upon hearing the sounds of battle cries, Hee Lingchuan felt a slight sense of relief.

’The sounds of fighting and shouting mean the camp hasn’t been completely overrun yet.’

’It looks like the camp can still be saved.’

Sure enough, when Hee Chunhua led his army charging into Xinhuang Town, the fires inside the military camp had not yet been extinguished. But Hong Chenglu’s troops were already gone—after seeing the flare signal from the western mountain, they had retreated to the east.

Wu Shaoyi and Elder Liang were leading the remaining forces in hot pursuit of the routed enemy.

Seeing Hee Chunhua’s return, the soldiers of the Grain Transport Team erupted in cheers.

Hee Lingchuan’s gaze swept across the main camp, finding it in utter chaos. After last night’s raid, the grain carts had been spread out, but now dozens of them were still burning, the fires not yet put out.

There were signs of battle everywhere. Every ten or so steps, one would come across a corpse or two, both men and horses.

Hee Chunhua split off a team to help extinguish the fires and save the grain, while he himself led the main force east to reinforce Wu Shaoyi.

With such a great disparity in their numbers, the outcome of the chase should not be in doubt. Hee Lingchuan didn’t follow, instead remaining in the camp to help.