After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 156: Chapter 157: Ruined City, Broken Walls, and Green Shoots

However, there was an exception for those who had a Soul Artifact to house them.

For instance, the Resentful Souls and Heroic Spirits of Panlong City used the Grand Square Pot as their anchor, which even allowed them to wander the Panlong Desert. Such Divine Objects were incredibly rare, so he assumed Hong Xiangqian didn’t possess a Soul Artifact that powerful. Therefore, after his Corpse Liberation, Lui Yao should have quickly found a new host to ”relocate” Hong Xiangqian’s Primordial Spirit.

’Ugh, thinking too much is giving me a headache. I’ll just let Father worry about it.’

Back in his room, Hee Lingchuan waited until Hee Yue was out, then closed the door. He took out more than a dozen items from his robes and spread them out on his bed one by one.

These were all Lui Yao’s belongings, pilfered from right under Captain Zhao’s nose. Seeing as he was the son of a dignitary, the Zhechong Prefecture, though displeased by this ”food-snatching” behavior, didn’t say much in the end.

There were a few gold and silver ingots, some Pills, two thumb rings, and beyond that, just small miscellaneous objects.

Oh, right, there was also the Ghost Eye Bow that Hee Lingchuan had been coveting.

No one had told him that this Strong Bow, when not activated, was only the size of his palm. Lui Yao had it wrapped in gray cloth and hidden on his person. If it had appeared in its menacing form, Captain Zhao probably wouldn’t have let it go.

Hee Lingchuan picked up the Ghost Eye Bow. As soon as he injected a bit of Spiritual Power, it grew to its full size. The grip was ice-cold in his hand, and the surrounding temperature immediately dropped by four or five degrees, as if urging the archer to enter a state of calm.

Hee Lingchuan felt a chilling wind at his back and ghostly whispers coiling around his ears, repeatedly trying to persuade the archer to sacrifice his life in exchange for the powerful ’Triple Shot’ Divine Technique.

He wasn’t about to listen to ghosts.

’What if I don’t make a sacrifice?’ Hee Lingchuan drew the bow to test it. It was still an excellent bow; the Divine Technique could be considered a special effect that wouldn’t trigger without a sacrifice.

He played with the Ghost Eye Bow for a while, only remembering he had other business to attend to when the Divine Bone Necklace started to heat up again.

’The necklace is getting impatient.’

So, he picked up the remaining miscellaneous items and brought them near the Divine Bone one by one.

The first few items elicited no reaction, not until he picked up two black Talismans.

After Pei Xinyong shattered his sternum with a hammer blow, Lui Yao had immediately taken out a black Talisman and chewed it. Hee Lingchuan had seen it with his own eyes. Clearly, Lui Yao had placed great hope in the Black Talisman, believing it was an effective life-saving technique that would allow him to escape the battlefield.

Unfortunately, things hadn’t gone as planned.

Other than their strange color, these two Black Talismans didn’t seem very special. Hee Lingchuan turned them over and over, but he didn’t sense any particular Spiritual Power fluctuations. All he could say was that the crimson markings on them were unlike any he had ever seen.

He hadn’t studied this art, so he couldn’t say exactly how they were different.

But when he held one of the Black Talismans near the Divine Bone Necklace, something strange happened.

The Black Talisman instantly turned to dust and was sucked into a hole in the Divine Bone, as if there were a whirlwind inside.

Hee Lingchuan reached out his own hand but felt no wind.

’Hmm, not bad. I’ll call this hole the ’wind eye.’’

In just a few blinks, the Black Talisman was completely absorbed, leaving not even a speck of dust behind. The Divine Bone Necklace, however, remained unchanged, except for a flashing red light that indicated its craving for the remaining Black Talisman.

”I’m not letting you eat this one yet,” Hee Lingchuan muttered to himself. ”I need to keep a sample.”

’What on earth is this Black Talisman, and how can it enter the eye of the Divine Bone?’ Lui Yao was a boorish lout; Hee Lingchuan couldn’t quite imagine him hunched over a desk, meticulously drawing a Talisman. So, the Black Talismans were most likely acquired from someone else.

’Who could have drawn them?’ Hee Lingchuan could only think of one person:

”Saint Master” Hong Xiangqian.

After all, Lui Yao had also gotten the Ghost Eye Bow from Hong Xiangqian. It wouldn’t be strange for him to have received one or two other things.

’From the Royal Court’s perspective, Hong Xiangqian is just a rebel leader in charge of a disorderly mob. Why would the Divine Bone want two ugly Black Talismans instead of the Ghost Eye Bow?’

That’s right, he had also tested the Ghost Eye Bow, but the Divine Bone Necklace showed no interest in it.

It was such a picky eater. Hee Lingchuan still hadn’t figured out its tastes.

「The next day」

The Supporting Army set out, continuing their journey north.

Before they left, the Wuliu County Magistrate came to see Hee Chunhua off personally, and he brought a piece of news:

A massive manhunt for Lui Yao’s remaining followers and Pei Xinyong’s group of rebels had begun. Wanted posters with portraits drawn by artists overnight were sent to all counties and towns yesterday. People were even sent to villages and townships to make special announcements.

For Pei Xinyong in particular, anyone who reported his whereabouts would receive one hundred silver taels, and anyone who captured him alive would receive one thousand silver taels.

Lui Yao was dead, after all, but Pei Xinyong, a general under the arch-rebel Hong Xiangqian, was still alive and kicking with over a thousand men under his command. How could the local officials sleep at night?

One hundred taels of silver was equivalent to 100,000 wen. At current prices, that was enough to feed a family of three or four for more than five or six years, and comfortably at that.

So, within a few days, the topic would be discussed with great fervor in all the surrounding villages.

Hee Lingchuan personally saw the Government Office’s Wanted Command at the entrance to a vegetable market. It wildly exaggerated Lui Yao’s viciousness and cruelty, stating that although the bandit leader had been executed, his men were just as bloodthirsty, slaughtering villages and occupying towns at the drop of a hat, even capturing infants and women to be eaten with wine. It claimed Pei Xinyong was also a mass murderer, his crimes too numerous to count, and so on.

The reputation of being a man-eating demon was a double-edged sword. When things were going well, it could make enemies retreat at the mere sight of them. But when they were down on their luck and on the run, it made them utterly despised, with both officials and commoners eager to see them dead.

As a result, these rebels would soon be swallowed by the vast ocean of a people’s war.

Furthermore, the Wuliu County Magistrate had also sent an urgent report to the local prefectures. If the Rebel Army fled the Wuliu County region, the intensity of the pursuit would not necessarily lessen.

After leaving Wuliu County, Hee Chunhua ordered the entire army to pick up the pace, and five days later, they arrived at Woling Pass.

This was the border between the mountains and the plains. For many days, Hee Lingchuan had been traveling through towering mountain ranges. Suddenly, the view opened up before him, stretching as far as the eye could see. He saw a great river surging, its autumn waters flowing eastward. He finally understood why Hong Xiangqian and the Royal Court had fought to the death over Woling Pass:

Once past Woling Pass, the plains nestled against the mountains and river were completely indefensible.

Woling Pass actually consisted of the pass itself and an Auxiliary City behind it. It was about three zhang (ten meters) high with walls three chi thick—very solid. However, after witnessing the grandeur and solemnity of Panlong Ancient City, Hee Lingchuan looked at Woling Pass and felt it was like comparing a giant to a dwarf.

As he entered the pass with the Supporting Army, Hee Yue kept looking left and right. Seeing the scars and arrow holes on the city walls, as well as the stones stained red with blood, he couldn’t help but gasp. ”Just how many people must have died here!”

”Those are pits from catapults,” Hee Lingchuan said to his brother, pointing at the dents in the wall. ”They missed. Otherwise, the boulders would have landed on top of the city gate.”

He then pointed to another stain, a blackish-yellow smear that had clearly flowed down from above and had long since solidified. ”This one probably hit its mark. Do you know what it is?”

The little scholar was naturally inquisitive and stared intently, but he had no idea what the stuff was. He saw Zeng Feixiong trying to hold back a laugh and said irritably, ”You know?”

Zeng Feixiong coughed twice forcefully. ”Second Young Master, that’s golden soup!”

”What golden soup?” Hee Yue was still confused. ”The ’golden soup’ from the idiom ’as solid as a city protected by a moat of hot metal’?”

The soldiers nearby all started laughing.

”The words are right, but the meaning is wrong. And here I thought you were a man of immense learning.” Hee Lingchuan kept a straight face. ”You should know that traveling a thousand miles is better than reading ten thousand books!”

Fuzzy Peach shouted, ”Second Young Master, golden soup is boiled feces! Human is best. When the enemy attacks with siege ladders, the defenders just pour the ’golden juice’ down on them. It stinks, but it works!”

The expression on Hee Yue’s face froze. He could almost smell a faint, lingering stench in the air.

Morale is paramount in an assault, but even the most valiant and battle-hardened warrior could never endure the humiliation of being doused in a torrent of filth! Moreover, the scalded wounds would become contaminated by the ”golden juice,” leading to rapid infection and decay. Minor cases required gouging out flesh, severe ones led to amputation or even death. It dealt a heavy blow to both spirit and body.

Hee Yue looked around and suddenly pointed to the left. ”Is that a battering ram?”

To the left of the pass, half a section of the wall had collapsed, leaving a large hole. Two strange-looking vehicles were pressed against the base of the wall, their roofs partially crushed by boulders and earth.

The vehicles were two zhang long and had thick panels on all four sides made of alternating layers of iron and wood, though the front panel was missing. Their roofs were also very sturdy, allowing those inside to be immune to most attacks from above, be it Fire Stones, showers of arrows, or ”golden juice.”

But these vehicles weren’t horse-drawn; they were pushed entirely by men.

Hee Yue had read in books that these vehicles had two uses. One was to hang a heavy ramming wood from them to batter the city gates. The other was to add a roof, push it to the base of the enemy’s wall, and have the sappers inside grab their tools and start digging at the foundation.

As long as you dig well at the foundation, no wall is safe from collapse.

Woling Pass had clearly suffered a great loss in this regard, its wall foundation ultimately dug out by the government soldiers, leading to the breach of the pass.

Hee Lingchuan was also staring blankly at the two siege vehicles. ”The rebels didn’t use Divine Techniques to reinforce the pass?”

”They did,” Wu Shaoyi answered. Everyone turned to see his placid expression. ”But later, a small squad defected. They dismantled the Saint Master’s Talisman Array from the inside, nullifying the reinforcement Divine Technique and allowing the government soldiers to exploit the opening.”

So, someone involved in the event was right here. The group, who had just been making casual comments, was suddenly at a loss for words.

Hee Yue murmured, ”It’s true. The strongest fortresses are always breached from within.”

But Hee Lingchuan was looking at the huge hole in the wall. ”Woling Pass has been reclaimed. Aren’t the local authorities going to repair the pass?”

It was obvious that since Woling Pass fell, the place had been neglected.

’The importance of Woling Pass has been made abundantly clear in the last few months of war. If I were the local official, I would definitely repair the pass as soon as possible. Otherwise, when the next wave of uprisings comes, the National Capital will be in danger again.’

No one responded to his question.

After a long moment, Hee Chunhua said nonchalantly, ”The war has been going on for too long. Perhaps they can’t afford the repairs.”

Afterward, he sent men to investigate the secret chamber in the southeast corner of the Auxiliary City. That was where Hong Xiangqian had achieved his ”silent extinction.”

Walking inward from Woling Pass, one could see signs of the ravages of war everywhere. The area had been fought over repeatedly and had suffered several major fires. Abandoned war chariots, houses, and post stations were left uncleared. And though it was now late autumn, young, pale green shoots of grass were already sprouting from broken wooden wheels and cracks in the corners of walls.