After the Immortal Disappeared

The books featured not only a parade of ghouls and fiends and a colorful cast of Demons, but also an endless stream of conspiracies, unofficial histories, and secret chronicles involving the Human Kingdoms, the Daoist Sects, and the conflicts between them.

The viciousness of Immortal Demons, the depravity of the human heart, the savagery of the world, and the tangled web of karma were all on full display.

The books even mentioned Deities, hinting that while they never revealed themselves, their influence on the world was monumental.

The life stories of people like Zhong Shengguang, Hong Xiangqian, Nian Songyu, and Sunx Fuping... all seemed to serve as proof of this view.

The more Hee Lingchuan read, the more he felt that beneath the bizarre and fantastical surface of these two books lay a bleak, dark foundation. The implications were terrifying to consider.

The books also brought up another important point:

Spiritual Energy Revival.

The author believed that the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi should have begun its revival during the Middle Ages, but for some reason, it had been long delayed.

”Certain reasons”—even this otherwise outspoken author didn’t specify what they were.

Hee Lingchuan found the author’s name:

Dictated by Ao Xun, transcribed by Sunx Yang.

So the book was a collaboration between two people; one spoke, and the other wrote.

Hee Lingchuan had read countless books in the Wenxuan Pavilion, but now he felt that all of them put together weren’t as captivating as these two.

’Sunx Fuling’s recommendation was solid, after all. This is the difference between someone who knows how to pick good books and someone who doesn’t.’

He read until, before he knew it, evening had fallen. The sunset clouds blazed across the sky.

The sounds of a child arguing with an adult drifted from the house next door, punctuated by a series of sharp SMACKS. He wondered if someone was getting a taste of the bamboo switch.

But Sunx Fuling’s house was completely silent. Not a single sound.

Hee Lingchuan knew she enjoyed her peace and quiet and was often out, so he had never given it much thought. But after the battle earlier today, he felt more and more that something was wrong.

’She’s home now, so why can’t I even hear her footsteps?’

Their houses were separated by only a low wall. With his current enhanced hearing, he should have easily been able to hear any movement from her inner rooms.

’Does she just sit perfectly still after getting home?’

’Or is it that, like him, she has a Cultivation base?’

Hee Lingchuan’s role in this dream world was that of both a player and a passerby. He still didn’t know why he was here, but he was certain Sunx Fuling’s appearance was a deliberate arrangement by the Dream Realm.

’Should I go over and search her place one day when she’s out?’ The thought, once it surfaced, was impossible to push down.

Luckily, at that moment, someone outside struck a gong twice and shouted, ”By order of the City Government, curfew is at the sixth quarter of the You Hour tonight! All citizens must not go out!”

The sixth quarter of the You Hour meant everyone had less than an hour to get home and lock their doors. The suddenness of the curfew was clear.

Upon hearing the order, people hurried home. Soon, Hee Lingchuan heard the sound of hurried, chaotic footsteps in the alley outside.

His neighbors were whispering, ”What’s happened this time?”

”Ever since the Emperor’s Liquid descended, there’s always something going on. We finally had a few days of peace. SIGH!”

Hee Lingchuan had a gut feeling. ’Could this sudden curfew be related to the monster that appeared this afternoon?’

’This means the higher-ups in Panlong City are taking it seriously.’

As expected, the city’s patrol forces were strengthened. Before, only one group of constables would pass his door in a quarter of an hour; now, there were at least three.

The Puppet Beasts patrolling the streets were larger, too.

’The city is focusing its efforts on finding the monster’s hiding place.’

Hee Lingchuan wasn’t optimistic about the search. ’The creature is too fast, and it can probably shrink itself. It could be hiding silently in someone’s chicken coop.’

Indeed, the next two double-hours passed peacefully. Hee Lingchuan heard no whistles, nor did he see any signal flares from a Command Arrow lighting up the sky.

The moon had passed its zenith and begun its descent westward.

Hee Lingchuan leaped onto the roof and saw that the lights in most homes had already been extinguished.

It was the dead of night. Not even the dogs were barking, and frost had formed on the tree branches.

Most people were already deep in their dreams. Only the cold wind and the lantern-carrying night watchmen moved through the streets and alleys.

From his high vantage point, Hee Lingchuan glanced down at Sunx Fuling’s courtyard.

The door to her house was shut tight, but light shone through the paper window.

’She’s still awake?’

The swaying branches of the tree in the courtyard had, at some point, become still. The ever-present wind seemed to have stopped.

Unwittingly, Panlong City had fallen into a silent solemnity.

Hee Lingchuan’s keen senses picked up something strange in the air. ’Is something coming?’

He sat on the roof, a bright moon overhead, surrounded by total silence.

Yet he felt as if he were being watched, scrutinized. Faint, fragmented whispers seemed to buzz at the edge of his hearing—like chattering, like jeering—making him feel agitated. But when he tried to focus on the sound, there was nothing.

’This feeling... it’s not unfamiliar, is it?’

Hee Lingchuan thought for a moment, then took a pill from his robes and swallowed it.

He whipped around and saw them—a vast, teeming swarm of Three Corpses Insects!

’So it *is* these things.’

He hadn’t seen such a spectacular army of Three Corpses Insects since leaving the Panlong Desert. Like schools of tropical fish in a coral reef, they swarmed around every building, passing in and out of doors and windows.

Needless to say, they were inspecting every intelligent living creature.

And needless to say, Zhong Shengguang had sent them out using the Grand Square Pot, allowing them to penetrate any defense.

But unlike what Hee Lingchuan had witnessed in the Panlong Desert, these ferocious little things weren’t harming any of the citizens. They simply circled around them as if inspecting them, then moved on to the next point of interest.

Even when they swarmed past Hee Lingchuan, he only felt a slight sense of irritation, not the maddening frenzy he’d experienced before.

The sleeping populace was completely unaware.

It was a testament to the Grand Square Pot’s immense power of restraint over the Three Corpses Insects that it could force them to go against their very nature.

’Such a method is truly beyond human capability.’

Of course, at this moment, Hee Lingchuan was more concerned with whether they could find their target.

’Zhong Shengguang has actually mobilized an army of Three Corpses Insects for a city-wide manhunt. He’s clearly taking this monster very seriously.’

He waited for another double-hour or so, but there was still no commotion outside.

Hee Lingchuan had read until he grew drowsy. His last conscious thought seemed to be:

’Oh, right. My saber broke. I need to get a new weapon as soon as possible.’

***

「Xiazhou, Haotian Village, Bailu Town.」

On a high platform built of wooden planks at the east end of town, three youths were bound. The youngest was fourteen or fifteen, the oldest no more than in his early twenties.

An Executioner stood to one side, cradling his blade, while a Patrol Officer stood on the platform, loudly proclaiming their crimes.

It turned out that when the grain transport army last passed through Bailu Town, these three had managed to steal two carts of grain. They buried one cart and secretly distributed the other under the cover of night to the equally starving townsfolk.

After a few days’ pursuit, the three were finally caught. According to Da Yuan Law, looting military grain during wartime was punishable by decapitation—an on-the-spot execution that required no report to the Royal Court.

After listing their crimes, the Patrol Officer asked them, ”Any last words?”

The eldest youth roared with defiance, ”Last words? My last words are fuck your mothers! I have no regrets! At least I finally got to eat a full meal last night!”

”You’re the ones who stole every last grain! You’re the ones sucking the villagers dry! Even bandits aren’t as vicious as you, and you call yourselves our ’parent-officials’!”

”Why haven’t the Rebel Army from Woling Pass broken into the Capital City, ripped out the guts of you dog officials, and paraded you through the streets with them wrapped around your necks?”

”I’ll stick my neck out for you to kill me! After I’m gone, others will come! One day, your heads will roll just like mine!”

He was passionate and defiant. The platform was surrounded by a thick crowd, three deep. The villagers stared up, silent, some with their mouths agape.

The Patrol Officer gave the Executioner a look. The latter stepped forward and, with one swing of his blade, chopped off the youth’s hands.

Blood gushed from both wrists.

The youth screamed in pain but continued to curse relentlessly.

The Executioner swung again, hacking off his feet.

The youth passed out immediately.

With the third strike, his head fell to the ground.

For the ringleader in the theft of military grain, this was standard procedure.

Blood flooded the platform. The head rolled to a stop in front of the other two youths. They were already kneeling, unable to stand, and now they wet themselves in terror, screaming and crying, ”My lord, spare us! He tricked us into stealing the grain!”

”We didn’t know what was happening beforehand!”

The Patrol Officer sneered. ”Did he also trick you into distributing the grain? You didn’t know what you were doing then, either?”

The two begged desperately for their lives, but the Executioner’s blade rose and fell.

As accomplices, they were granted a quick death.

”I will reiterate the order from the Xiazhou Prefecture: the war on the front lines is at a stalemate, and military provisions are of utmost importance! All thieves will be executed on the spot!” The Patrol Officer’s voice was strong and clear. With that, he stepped down. Someone brought water to wash away the blood, while grieving family members came forward to collect the bodies.

In the chaos, someone secretly stripped the shoes from the corpses’ feet.

The spectacle was over, and the stunned audience began to disperse.

A tall man turned with the crowd, pulling his wind-blocking hat down firmly on his head.

As he rounded the privacy screen of the pawnshop, he saw it was quite crowded inside, with a line forming. The people leaving the counter were either furious or utterly dejected.

Soon, it was his turn.

The young Senior Steward sitting behind the high counter asked, ”What are you pawning?”

The tall man took off his coat, turned it inside out, and pushed it forward. ”The lining is sleek rat skin. It’s waterproof and warm.”

The Senior Steward took it and pinched the material. ”It’s too old, the fur is all worn off. I’ll give you two coins of silver.”

The tall man was frustrated. ”When I first bought it...”

”That was then,” the Senior Steward cut him off, too lazy to listen to him reminisce. ’Everyone who comes in here was a hero in their day, weren’t they?’

”Can’t you give me a little more?” His pleading was pathetic, but he had grown used to it over the past few years.

”Pawn it or don’t.” The Senior Steward pushed the heavy coat back. ”We’ve had too many clothes pawned recently. We don’t need this one.”

”I’ll pawn it, I’ll pawn it! And this, too.” The tall man took off his hat. ”This one is Silver Rat Skin.”

”You’ve worn it for so long, what kind of rat skin it is doesn’t matter anymore.” The Senior Steward gave it a single touch. ”Seven cents.”

The tall man choked, his voice rising. ”Only two coins and seven cents for everything?!”

Another, older Senior Steward peered over from behind. ”What’s going on? What’s so expensive?”

”It’s nothing,” the young Senior Steward said with a smile, leaning back. ”A Demon Rat Fur Coat.”

While fetching the money, he lowered his voice and spoke urgently, ”Mr. Hong, I’m already giving you more than it’s worth. Take the money and go, quickly.”

The tall man, Mr. Hong, was taken aback. He heard footsteps approaching from behind the counter, then saw the young Senior Steward nod at him. He had no choice but to grab the two coins and seven cents, lower his head, and hurry away.

The wind was strong today. Without his coat, the spring street felt bone-chillingly cold.