After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 36: Chapter 37: Early Pioneers

Hee Chunhua also added, ”I read in ancient texts that the Chipa Plateau is a Twinfold Plateau, meaning two plains stacked on top of each other. The second layer is higher than the first. The soil on this second layer, where Panlong Ancient City is located, is fertile. It also receives snowmelt from the high mountains, creating a dense network of waterways. It’s a rare highland water town in the entire Panlong Wasteland!”

Of course. Without a sufficient, year-round water source, Panlong City could never have survived.

”What’s the plan now?” Nian Songyu asked the National Preceptor. ”It’s getting dark.”

In half an hour, at most, the sun would sink below the distant mountains. The light within the Ancient City was fading fast.

”First, we’ll establish a base camp and set up a Defense Talisman Array.” Sunx Fuping already had a plan. ”Dismissed. Everyone find a suitable location.”

”Dismissed?” Hee Lingchuan quickly said, ”Hold on. This is a huge ruin, and we haven’t even assessed the risks!”

”There’s no need.” Sunx Fuping was confident. ”The outskirts of the city are relatively safe, at least. You don’t actually think we’re the first people to enter Panlong City in over a hundred years, do you?”

’So that’s what I thought. Was I being naive?’ Hee Lingchuan gave a dry laugh. ”So there were pioneers before us. A pity they all returned empty-handed.”

If someone else had already found the treasure, what would be the point of them coming to Panlong City?

”Not necessarily. They weren’t all looking for the Grand Square Pot. Ruins like this often attract Treasure Hunters. They also recorded their findings here, which can serve as a reference for us.” Although the mutated creatures and Three Corpses Insects in the Panlong Desert were terrifying, frankly, as long as one did their homework beforehand, they were not unsolvable problems.

So Panlong Ruins had long had visitors, each arriving with their own ulterior motives.

Just like this team.

After searching for a moment, the two hundred-plus people found an open area to settle down.

This place seemed to be Panlong City’s marketplace. Along the river channel were two neat rows of buildings, packed tightly together like scales on a fish, none taller than two stories.

Of course, the facades of most buildings were damaged. At least a third showed clear signs of fire, but a few still had their signboards hanging. The characters on the most intact one were already blurred.

The writing style was somewhat different from modern script. It took Hee Lingchuan some effort to make out two words: ”Frost... Wine.”

Probably a tavern.

The buildings here were low and squat, and all packed together, making them very suitable for a temporary camp. The team settled in, and Sunx Fuping ordered them to rest in place for two double-hours. Zeng Feixiong hurried off to assign quarters. The few leaders took over the tavern, which had the best view and provided the most shelter from the wind, and began to plan for the long term.

After two days of hard travel, they finally had a moment to wash their faces and freshen up.

In the heart of the desert where every drop of water was precious, this was a privilege reserved for the leaders. Hee Lingchuan raised his Water Bag and took a few hearty gulps, then poured the rest over his face. ”What a hellhole! Hot enough to kill you during the day, cold enough to freeze you at night!”

The typical climate in a desert region was one of extreme temperature swings between day and night. A place that was over forty degrees at noon would be coated in frost by night. The sun had already set, and the temperature plummeted. Throwing on cotton-padded jackets wasn’t enough; everyone had to scavenge for wooden parts to burn for warmth.

He shook his head like a dog shaking off water. Nian Songyu frowned, dodging the splattering droplets, and said:

”Time is precious; we can’t afford to waste the night. But these ruins are too vast. Even if we split up, it would take at least several days to search. National Preceptor, do you have a method?”

They weren’t here for a picnic. The food and water the team had brought were limited, and every minute had to be put to good use.

After brushing off the yellow sand and tidying his appearance, Sunx Fuping regained the air of a National Preceptor. He began to speak with eloquence and confidence.

”Ransacking every nook and cranny, digging three feet deep—the Baling Xianyou Alliance Army of the past, and the Treasure Hunters who came later, have already done all that. We can’t possibly do a better job than them. Therefore, these buildings and houses in the city have little value for us to search.”

After Panlong City was breached back then, it was sacked. All people and livestock were slaughtered, and its wealth was plundered. The enemy kingdom spent over thirty years to bring it down and had long hated it as a thorn in their side. They wouldn’t have been able to vent their bitter resentment without plundering it wantonly several times over.

What’s more, they had plenty of time and likely scraped the very ground clean. Yet the Grand Square Pot was never found. This means it wasn’t hidden in any of the buildings, from mansions to common homes.

Hearing this, Hee Lingchuan breathed a sigh of relief. ”That’s good to hear.” Otherwise, with their small numbers and the vastness of Panlong City, searching for it would be like finding a needle in a haystack. ”So, you’re saying the National Preceptor already knows where the pot is?”

All his predecessors had returned in failure. If Sunx Fuping wasn’t absolutely certain, why would he have traveled thousands of miles just to eat sand here?

”I don’t know the exact location, but I can narrow down the search area.” Sunx Fuping said after a moment of thought. ”I once paid a visit to Ancestor Master Zhugen of the Baling Kingdom. He visited Panlong City four times—the earliest visit was sixty years ago, and the latest was forty years ago. You could say that after the Alliance Army, his was the power that searched the Panlong Ruins most thoroughly.”

”A power?” Hee Chunhua caught the key word.

”In my view, the Baling Kingdom has always had some reservations about the Panlong Ruins. Ancestor Master Zhugen himself was also fascinated by it. The last time he came here to investigate, he was already seventy-five years old. That stay was his longest—a full fifteen days—and he brought the most people, over a thousand, it is said.”

The more people and the longer the stay, the more thorough their search of Panlong City must have been. The real challenge would have been securing their logistical supplies.

As expected, this kind of large-scale excavation required the support of the government and the military.

Everyone now understood. The Alliance Army and Ancestor Master Zhugen had already done the homework and cleared the mines for them; a carpet search was no longer necessary.

”Nearly a thousand people, and they were all fine? They didn’t run into any accidents?” Hee Lingchuan interjected. ”That in itself is very abnormal.”

Hee Chunhua suddenly said, ”It’s already dark, but I haven’t seen a single Three Corpses Insect.”

He could still see the ”three fires” on the people around him, which meant the effects of the Soul-Preventing Powder hadn’t worn off yet. This state was similar to what was commonly known as ”Opening the Celestial Eye,” which also allowed one to see the Three Corpses Insects.

But from crossing the bridge to entering the city, he hadn’t spotted a single Three Corpses Insect.

That in itself was bizarre, wasn’t it?

”Correct. Not only are there no Three Corpses Insects in the city, there are no other evil spirits either. This is the consensus among the Treasure Hunters who came before. So, as long as we don’t cause some earth-shattering commotion here, we should be mostly safe.” Sunx Fuping took out a military-ration naan and began toasting it over the fire.

The military-ration naan was made of unleavened dough, was as big as a person’s face, and made a PING sound if dropped on the ground—it was that tough. Its only virtues were that it was filling and didn’t spoil easily. Even when toasted soft, Hee Lingchuan found the naan coarse and astringent; swallowing it felt like it was scraping his throat. He could only eat it by soaking it in hot water. Sunx Fuping, however, casually broke it into small pieces and chewed without a change in expression.

This National Preceptor was down-to-earth. He could live on fine clothes and lavish feasts, but he could also get by on coarse tea and hard naan.

”Much of the information I’ve gathered came from Zhugen. After studying it for half his life, he told me himself that the reason the Grand Square Pot has never been found is likely because everyone has been going at the wrong time.”