After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 10: Chapter 13: The Marsh Warden’s Tracing

A flying kite was embossed on both sides of the coin.

The copper coin was bluish-green, making this a Cyan Kite.

”Yes, these Society Commands are distinguished by color.” The Huyang Mountain Marsh Warden had a flash of memory. ”Wait, this Cyan Kite coin isn’t yours!”

The white-robed youth cut in, ”I lent it to Mr. Sha.”

The Huyang Mountain Marsh Warden spoke in a slow, deliberate manner, and the gray-clothed man grew a little impatient. ”Now that you’re here, I have a question for you. The faster you answer, the faster I’ll be on my way.”

”Ask away.”

A Marsh Warden is a type of Mountain God. In some places, they are given a simpler, more common name:

Land God.

Marsh Wardens slowly come into being in places where Spiritual Qi gathers and life is abundant. If they receive an official title from a Human Emperor, a Marsh Warden can grasp and wield Primordial Power, allowing them to govern a territory.

If the Empire falls or their title expires, the Marsh Warden’s Primordial Power diminishes, and they eventually revert to their untamed origins.

Although the Huyang Mountain Marsh Warden had once been ennobled by the Yuan Kingdom, it didn’t even have a Mountain Divinity Temple. The main reason was that it had been in a deep slumber for years, ignoring the affairs of its own territory. When the local creatures’ prayers went unanswered, they eventually started to ignore it as well.

But it had to respond to the summons from the gray-clothed man before it.

The Huyang Mountain Marsh Warden was still grumpy from being awakened, but its reason told it that this was not someone to be trifled with.

”Forty or fifty days ago, a Sand Leopard came here. I want you to find it,” the gray-clothed man said bluntly. ”Those things only nest on West Mountain; they should be a rare sight in your domain.”

”A Sand Leopard? Hmmm—” The Huyang Mountain Marsh Warden’s voice trailed off. ”Let me look for it.”

The two waited quietly for more than a quarter of an hour.

Suddenly, a small deer emerged from the bushes. It showed no fear of the strangers, even shaking its head at them.

The Huyang Mountain Marsh Warden said, ”Follow it.”

The deer turned and bolted, and the two men took off after it.

After crossing two peaks, the deer headed for a cliff, finally stopping on the edge of a steep boulder.

”The Sand Leopard came this far?” The white-robed youth squatted down, finding a few dark stains on the rock.

”Bloodstains, but they’re old.”

The little deer peered over the edge of the boulder.

”It jumped?”

The little deer nodded.

’How strange. The heavily injured Sand Leopard fled all the way here, so why would it then jump off a cliff to its death?’ The two men exchanged a glance, then climbed down the side of the cliff, following the rocks to the bottom of the ravine.

The air here was damp and chilly, much cooler than on the mountain, and the vegetation was correspondingly denser. The two searched the bottom of the ravine for a good while but found no sign of the leopard’s corpse.

The white-robed youth looked up at the cliff. ”It was already severely wounded; it couldn’t have survived a fall from that height.” There were no large trees below the cliff that could have cushioned the Sand Leopard’s fall with their leaves or vines. ”Huyang Mountain Marsh Warden, is it still in these mountains?”

”You want to know where it went, so I’ll show you.” A tree spoke up beside them—a European Beech this time. ”It’s no longer in the mountains.”

A gust of mountain wind swept through, kicking up a small whirlwind on the ground. Twigs, leaves, and soil swirled together until they actually began to form a shape.

Besides a leopard, the shape sculpted by the wind from mud and leaves also included a four-limbed creature!

The white-robed youth took a closer look, astonished. ”What fell from the cliff wasn’t just the Sand Leopard... but also a person?”

The two figures lay on the ground, motionless.

”Mutual destruction?” The white-robed youth frowned. ”Then where did the bodies go?”

Soon, two more whirlwinds stirred, sculpting new shapes from the air.

”Two people arrived... and were killed?” The white-robed youth’s expression changed. ”I see, I see. No wonder my two men never returned. So that’s what happened!”

”Then another group of people came... and carried the two bodies away separately?”

The white-robed youth tried to get a better look, but the muddy, leafy constructs were blurry and indistinct—barely human-shaped. Seeing their faces was out of the question.

”Who were these people? Where did they come from?”

He asked twice before the European Beech answered in a booming, muffled voice:

”I don’t know. Too much time has passed. All traces have faded. Only the Wind Spirit remembers this much.”

The gray-clothed man wasn’t discouraged. He picked up the questioning, ”But you at least know which direction they went after leaving Gourd Mountain?”

Two of the European Beech’s branches came together, pointing in a single direction.

It was the direction they had come from—

”Black Water City?” A sharp glint flashed in the white-robed youth’s eyes. ”I knew it. The missing Guards from Donglai Prefecture must have found a clue.”

Yet even after tracking the trail this far, all they had was a vague direction. Black Water City wasn’t massive, but it wasn’t exactly small, either.

”They went to Black Water City? That simplifies things.” The gray-clothed man smiled. ”The most direct method is often the most effective.”

The forest fell silent. The Huyang Mountain Marsh Warden was gone.

The two had walked a little over a hundred steps toward Black Water City when the gray-clothed man paused, suddenly flicking his hand and sending out a flash of white light.

A shrill cry rang out from the woods a hundred feet away, followed by the THWAP-THWAP of flapping wings.

The two followed the sound and found fresh bloodstains at the base of a large tree.

The spatters of blood on the ground were faint, but fortunately, the white-robed youth was an expert tracker. After another fifty yards, they found a harrier on the ground. It was larger than an ordinary hawk, and its wing and belly had been pierced through.

The blood flowing from the wound had turned a dark green.

’Ever since we left Black Water City, I’ve felt like we were being watched. Turns out it was just a Little Demon.’ The white-robed youth stepped forward, pressing the tip of his foot to the harrier’s neck. ”Who sent you?”

The harrier gasped for breath, its beak wide open.

”Speak,” the white-robed youth said, applying more pressure. ”Or the poison will reach your heart, and you’ll be dead within a quarter of an hour!”

The harrier cried out in pain and finally spoke. ”If I tell the truth, will you let me go?”

”Of course,” the white-robed youth said with a smile. ”Why would a swan concern itself with a sparrow?”

The harrier immediately replied, ”I’m just a mercenary. I was resting at the Red Mountain Tavern when someone came in, hired me to follow you, and report back on everything you did.”

”Who was this person?”

”I don’t know! I just take the money and do the job!”

The gray-clothed man suddenly interjected, ”Don’t listen to its lies. This is a domesticated Demon!”

A domesticated Demon, which meant it naturally had a master.

The white-robed youth’s gaze turned sharp. He stomped down without another word.

”Speak!”

* * *

The next morning, the Hee Family was still eating when a servant rushed in to report:

”Two guests have arrived! They claim to serve under Xunzhou’s General of the Northern Expedition!”

Hee Lingchuan’s heart skipped a beat, and he looked to his father. Hee Chunhua was also taken aback for a moment, his expression hardening. ”Show them to Suhong Hall and serve them tea.”

Suhong Hall was the receiving hall in the Hee Mansion, suitable for small, intimate gatherings.

He stood up and gestured to Hee Lingchuan. ”Lingchuan, you’re with me.”

Hee Yue and Madam Ying were both a little surprised.

’Why would the master bring his eldest son to meet guests from Xunzhou?’

The greatest privilege of being the head of the family was the power to act without explanation. Hee Chunhua said no more, simply leading the butler and Hee Lingchuan toward the front hall.