After the Immortal Disappeared

He was eager to see what the Finished Blade would be like.

Seeing the bizarre grin spread across Li Fubo’s face, Hee Lingchuan silently looked away.

He lost another pound of blood. Just as Hee Lingchuan was thinking the Broken Blade was determined to suck him dry, the small holes on its hilt finally filled up.

It was full and couldn’t take any more.

"Alright, alright." Li Fubo let out a long sigh of relief. ’If a client dies during the very first step of creating a Seed Blade, it’ll be an indelible stain on my reputation as a Master Craftsman and on Songyang Prefecture.’ "Quick, stop the bleeding!"

The Medicinal Ape slipped in and skillfully staunched the bleeding for Hee Lingchuan.

After it applied its specially prepared Spirit Medicine, the pain from the cut on Hee Lingchuan’s arm subsided within a dozen breaths.

He shook his head, feeling a bit weak, and quickly swallowed a restorative pill.

A normal person has about ten to eleven pounds of blood in their body. He had just lost twenty percent of his in one go, so it was no wonder he felt dizzy and light-headed.

The Broken Blade finally drank up the last drop of blood on the hilt.

But anyone could see it was completely full; it couldn’t take another drop.

"What now?"

"Simple. Just thrust the blade into the Golden Mud," Li Fubo said. "The Treasure Saber can handle this temperature, and it won’t be hot enough to damage its core."

Hee Lingchuan gripped the hilt and plunged the Broken Blade into the Golden Mud.

The red glow within the Golden Mud instantly disappeared, and the small molten bubbles stopped forming.

Instead, wisps of blue smoke curled up from where the Broken Blade met the Golden Mud, though there was no acrid, burning smell.

"Good, very good!" Li Fubo nodded in satisfaction. "The broken surface has completely fused with the Golden Mud. For now, this furnace will remain here in Master’s room. From now on, this block of Golden Mud can be called Sword Mountain."

Rock Wolf Luu Xin, who was lying in the corner watching the show, piped up, "Then can the furnace be called a Sea of Fire?"

"Precisely!" Li Fubo chuckled. "Your precious treasure has ascended a mountain of swords and descended into a sea of fire. Afterward, it will reveal its true, peerless edge."

"What else needs to be done?"

"Nothing. The temperature is already set. As long as you ensure the Treasure Saber remains here undisturbed, the blade will be finished in ten days!"

Hee Lingchuan was taken aback. "That’s it?"

He thought forging a Divine Weapon would be an incredibly complex process. "I thought it would take at least a few months."

"The Great Dao is Simple." Li Fubo wiped the sweat from his brow. He had been using a mantra to suppress the furnace’s temperature, a process that consumed a great deal of his energy. "His Lordship and I discussed this no fewer than ten times. We concluded that greatly shortening the forging period would actually benefit the blade. Besides, the two most difficult steps—smelting the Zhu Gold and mixing the materials—were already done beforehand." Though these final steps were important, they were formulaic and rarely went wrong.

Hee Lingchuan took out gold and silver, expressing his deep gratitude.

From now on, Li Fubo would have to visit once a day to check the furnace temperature and the Seed Blade’s progress.

After Li Fubo left, Hee Lingchuan put the Jade Ginseng Slice the Medicinal Ape handed him into his mouth, collapsed onto his bed, and fell fast asleep.

After losing so much blood, what he needed most was rest.

He slept soundly and dreamlessly.

It was dark by the time he woke up.

The Rock Wolf was nowhere to be seen. Instead, the Medicinal Ape was at his side. The moment he opened his eyes, it asked, "Do you have a headache? Any heart palpitations or shortness of breath?"

Hee Lingchuan shook his head.

The Medicinal Ape didn’t bother with the door, simply hopping out the window.

A moment later, Hee Yue came in carrying a food container.

"It’s red date and pork liver congee. Eat it while it’s hot."

"Is Dad back, too?"

"He is. You slept right through dinner. Lingguang said you needed your rest, so we didn’t wake you."

Hee Lingchuan took out the congee. It was in a massive bowl, a mix of rice and millet cooked until they had split open and softened. The pork liver, red dates, and old ginger were shredded so finely that it was impossible to pick them out.

As he blew on the congee to cool it, Hee Lingchuan asked, "How did Dad’s first time holding court at the Prefecture Yamen go? Was it smooth?"

"The Li Family requested to cancel the public trial in favor of a closed-door hearing, but Father refused them flatly."

A closed hearing wouldn’t allow spectators. ’What a joke. How could Hee Chunhua possibly pass up an opportunity like this?’

"As expected, the two families argued up a storm in court, with none of the decorum of Noble Families." Hee Yue found it to be a real eye-opener. "The second son of the Li Family, Li Rong, must have figured things out on the way, because he barely said a word. Only the eldest, Li Zhi, was all fired up. Father told them to produce evidence, but all they could say was that an Exorcism Spiritual Artifact in Old Man Li’s bedroom had been destroyed, proving an invasion of Evil Arts. And the only family with a serious, recent dispute with them is the Zhan Family. As soon as the Zhans heard that, they weren’t having it. They rolled up their sleeves and started shouting back, loud enough to tear the roof off. I never saw a courtroom this rowdy back in Black Water City."

He used to assist with official business in Black Water City, so watching trials was routine for him, but none had ever been this chaotic.

"The Dunyu County Magistrate was originally presiding. He must have slammed his gavel a dozen times, but he couldn’t quiet the Li and Zhan Families. When Dad took over, he just had someone throw two basins of cold water on them. It got real quiet after that."

’That’s Dad for you.’ Throwing cold water on someone wasn’t technically assault, but getting soaked to the bone in the middle of a snowstorm... he could only imagine how "refreshing" that must have felt.

"Even if they wanted to keep cursing, their lips were trembling too much to get the words out. People brought them cloaks to put on, and only then could the trial resume. They were much calmer after that."

Hee Lingchuan took a sip of congee. "So, did Dad punish the Li Family?"

"Of course. They attacked the Zhan Family without a shred of proof and were caught in the act by the entire city and the new Governor. There was no denying it. In addition to compensating the Zhan Family for all losses incurred during the brawl, Father also ordered the ringleaders to be detained. According to the laws of our dynasty, the mastermind of a private vendetta and public brawl can be imprisoned for up to five years. If there are fatalities, the sentence can be even longer."

Hee Yue knew his brother disliked stuffy, official jargon, so he made sure to put it all in plain terms.

’This is getting interesting,’ Hee Lingchuan thought with a smile. "So, was it Li Zhi or Li Rong?"

The one who first gave the order to assemble their private forces would be considered the ringleader.

"Neither of them would confess, and of course, none of the other Li Family members would point fingers." Hee Yue shrugged. "So Father sentenced them both to be detained for separate questioning. The Li Family completely lost it."

"I didn’t expect Li Zhi to be stupid enough to demand on what grounds, even bringing up Minister Li’s name in an offensive way. Father reprimanded him for his insolent language and for barging in on an appointed official, warning that if he kept making a scene, he’d be slapped. I saw one of the officials on the side actually take out a Slap-in-the-Face Token, and only then did Li Zhi sullenly shut his mouth."

You don’t fight the law, especially not in a courtroom.

"Are those two the only sons Old Man Li has in Dunyu?" Hee Lingchuan laughed. "Talk about incompetent opponents. The difficulty of this whole thing just dropped several levels."

"Old Man Li has a third son, but he left for distant lands over twenty years ago."

"Oh, right. The grudge from having his wife stolen!" Hee Lingchuan snapped his fingers. "If both of them are locked up, the Li Family will be like a dragon—er, a snake with no head. That’ll make things much easier for us."

Hee Yue shook his head. "Father raised his hand high but brought it down gently. I think he has his reasons. He said that in consideration of their recent bereavement, he was willing to let one of them—either Li Zhi or Li Rong—go home to handle their father’s funeral. However, they would have to pay a security deposit of one hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver. If the suspect doesn’t flee Dunyu and commits no further crimes within two months, the money will be returned. Otherwise, it will be forfeited as a fine and go into the Treasure Vault."

Hee Lingchuan slurped down the last of his congee and gave a thumbs-up. "SLURP. Brilliant. The Li Family must have been stunned, right?"

"They were. I could see they were at a complete loss. Father was even ’thoughtful’ enough to let them go home to discuss it, with three days to report back." Hee Yue smiled. "As for the three hundred Li Family private soldiers who committed the offense, Father ruled that since they were only following orders and no one from the Zhan Family was killed, each would receive ten strokes of the cane. The few who were particularly vicious or who took the opportunity to loot would receive an additional ten strokes."

"Oh, and if the Zhan Mansion discovers any further related damages later, the Government Office will issue additional sentences!"

"They administered the punishment on the Prefecture Yamen grounds, ten people at a time. With three hundred men, that meant thirty rounds, and they didn’t finish until dark. The commoners watching were dumbfounded. They said they’d never seen such a spectacular sight as three hundred men getting their asses caned."

"Are they just caning the private army’s asses?" Hee Lingchuan clapped his hands. "No, they’re slapping the Li Family’s face!"

Hee Chunhua had to establish his authority upon arrival, and that inevitably meant shaming the Li Family.

"Their family isn’t going to have a moment’s peace for the next three days. Li Zhi and Li Rong will argue nonstop over who gets bail, so they won’t have time to cause trouble for us. Once they decide who stays and who gets detained, the one who remains will be too busy consolidating his power to have the energy to fight us."

Li Zhao died suddenly without leaving a will, so his sons were already bound to fight for the Patriarch’s position. After three days, one’s rival will be sitting in a cell at the Prefecture Yamen. Won’t the entire Li Family belong to the other then?

In a situation like that, how could an external conflict possibly compare to an internal power struggle?

"And how did the Zhan Family react?"

"They were quite satisfied and very grateful to Father. They hurried back to assess their damages." Hee Yue’s smile faded. "The other two of the four great families, the Shu and Xie Families, both sent people to the Prefecture Yamen to observe, but they haven’t taken a position yet. I suspect they’ll all be discussing this at length behind closed doors tonight."

The new Governor of Xiazhou had only just arrived in Dunyu—his seat wasn’t even warm yet—and he was already holding a public trial over the Li Family’s case.

Ostensibly, he was delivering justice for the Zhan Family. In reality, he was giving the Li Family two hard slaps across the face. More importantly, he was making a show of force and declaring his intentions:

I’m here now!

All of you, get out of my way!

From now on, you better learn who’s in charge.

"We’ve all seen Dad’s methods," Hee Lingchuan said dismissively. "A barbaric place like Qiansong County, where human life was treated as disposable as weeds—didn’t Dad whip it into shape?"

"That place didn’t have old, deep-rooted noble clans like Dunyu does." Hee Yue always preferred to overestimate his opponents. "The money, grain, and people of Dunyu—and even half of Xiazhou—are in their hands. How could it possibly be easy for us to pry that power away?"

"The Li Family was just stunned by Father’s opening salvo. Once they collect themselves, they’ll fight back, and they’ll unite with the other families to resist us. That’s what they’ve always done, after all. We have a hard battle ahead of us, though it may not be fought with open swords and spears."

"Besides Minister Li, the four great families have seven other members serving as officials in the imperial court. If they write letters from their homes here, sending endless complaints to the National Capital, I’m afraid the higher-ups will censure Father."

’Wait, that’s not right,’ Hee Lingchuan thought. "Didn’t Dad say that before he left the Capital City, he went to the palace for a long talk with the Monarch? Didn’t His Majesty the King order him to go all out in Xiazhou, and not to worry about anything else?"