After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 328: Chapter 327: Moon God

’Huh, this fish has roe. It’ll be so crisp and delicious once roasted!’

Hee Lingchuan made his contempt clear. Dong Rui was furious, but there was nothing he could do. After their meal, he found some large leaves and wove himself a mask, which finally covered the lower half of his face.

The two had just finished eating when Second Madam Zhu arrived.

Hee Lingchuan held up the remaining fish and asked her, ”Want to try my handiwork?”

Second Madam Zhu refused. She liked to suck on congealed substances and could eat raw meat, but she hated all cooked food. ”You’ve finished eating. Follow me. I’ll find you a place for your experiment.”

Dong Rui pointed to the ruined house behind Changtan. ”What’s wrong with this place?”

”If the water rises again, this place will be flooded,” Second Madam Zhu said. ”You’ve both taken a trip underwater. That city was originally above the water level.”

The two had no choice but to follow. Dong Rui couldn’t help but ask, ”Where on earth are we?”

”This is the Demon Nest Swamp, a no-man’s-land on the border of Beiga and the Fu Kingdom, but it doesn’t belong to either nation.”

The Fu Kingdom?

The two looked at each other. Hee Lingchuan let out a sound of surprise. ”Isn’t that east of Beiga?”

He’d slept through a journey of hundreds of miles?!

The Hanhe River Water had actually carried him all the way here.

Hee Lingchuan asked tentatively, ”Weren’t you originally living in the Ghost Needle Stone Forest? Why did you move thousands of miles away to the Demon Nest Swamp?”

Second Madam Zhu snorted. ”Back then, the Baling Kingdom and Panlong City were at war, and the fighting spilled into my territory. I couldn’t stand for it, so I took matters into my own hands and killed a general from Panlong City. After that, Panlong City kept coming to cause trouble. I couldn’t bear the harassment, so I had to move.”

Hearing this, Hee Lingchuan suddenly understood.

’That’s right. In reality, Second Madam Zhu killed General Nanke of Panlong City, something the Red General would never tolerate. Once Panlong City won the battle for Wei City, they would turn around and deal with her.’

’It made sense that Second Madam Zhu was forced to move. She probably suffered some hidden losses along the way, as she didn’t elaborate on the details.’

’This was completely different from how things unfolded in the Dream Realm. In the Dream Realm of the Grand Square Pot, because Hee Lingchuan had burned down her subterranean farm in time, Second Madam Zhu had rushed back to her nest. This allowed General Nanke to escape. As a result, Panlong City never developed a deep-seated hatred for her. Afterward, the Red General just made a show of force, and their previous agreement was restored, so Second Madam Zhu never had to move.’

’From now on, will there be more and more divergences between the Dream Realm and real history?’

”I lived in the Beiga Kingdom for a while, but I found it boring, so I followed the Hanhe River downstream and finally settled here.” An ancient Demon like her, who had lived for so long, was actually not accustomed to the lifestyle in the modern Demon Kingdoms.

Hee Lingchuan then asked about the origin of the underwater city. ”Did the residents leave because the water level rose?”

”It’s not that simple.” Second Madam Zhu began her story. ”This place was originally the territory of the Jiana Tribe. They lived in seclusion from the world. At their peak, it’s said they numbered well over a hundred thousand, with powerful experts emerging one after another. Miracles occurred here, and they were rumored to be guarding a treasure bestowed by the Deities. Later, a Demon descended from the heavens and killed them all. Decades later, the swamp’s water level rose and submerged their former home.”

She was leading the two of them out of the abandoned town. As they passed the tallest building, Hee Lingchuan glanced through the wide-open main doors and saw a statue inside.

The statue was carved from a single block of granite and stood over three zhang tall. It couldn’t have been easy to find such a large, well-formed boulder in the swamp, let alone transport it here.

There were no trees blocking the front of the building, so a single ray of sunlight shone through, illuminating the statue.

’So the building at the highest point of the entire city was a Divine Temple?’

Hee Lingchuan let out a long ”hmm” of surprise, changed his course, and strolled inside.

The interior of this exotic Divine Temple was spacious. Despite being weathered by over a hundred years of wind and water and being overgrown with moss, most of the white stone floor tiles were flat and intact. Stepping on them produced a clear, sonorous sound like a Bell and Chime, which echoed throughout the hall.

The offering table had long since rotted away to nothing, but a small patch of ground in front of the statue was indented, clearly worn down by the ceaseless kowtows of devout worshipers over many years.

Hee Lingchuan stood on this spot, looking up at the statue.

It was a Goddess with a kind face and compassionate expression. Her gaze was directed slightly downward, as if looking upon the believers below her. In her hand, she held a treasured pot, a Flood Dragon soared beside her, and beneath her feet, she trampled an Evil Ghost.

Vines clung to its body, diminishing the majesty it once possessed.

Hee Lingchuan stared at it, his eyes wide with shock.

Second Madam Zhu and Dong Rui entered as well. ”What is it?”

”This is the Deity the Jiana Race worshiped?”

”Correct. They worshiped the Moon God,” Second Madam Zhu said slowly. ”This is the Moon God the Jiana have piously believed in for generations. A pity she couldn’t protect them from the Demons that hunted them down.”

’The Moon God?’ Hee Lingchuan was momentarily confused. ’This is clearly Mitian!’

’The Celestial God worshiped by the entire Panlong City, Lady Mitian.’

’He had entered the Dream Realm so many times that he had, of course, visited the Mitian Temple. The Mitian God worshiped there had slightly different features and expressions from this one, but he would never mistake her.’

’What’s more, he had just seen this face in a dream.’

’The Red General!’

’Although the Red General had a cold and indifferent expression while this Goddess statue’s face was full of compassion, their facial features were at least seventy percent similar, especially those signature tea-colored, almond-shaped eyes.’

’How could Panlong City’s Guardian God, from thousands of miles away, also have had believers deep in the Demon Nest Swamp, and under a different name, no less?’

He had no choice but to ask Second Madam Zhu, ”How much do you know about this Moon God?”

”How should I know?” Second Madam Zhu tapped the ground. ”This place was already deserted when I arrived.”

Dong Rui asked, puzzled, ”Then how do you know the Jiana Race was wiped out by a Demon?”

”Strictly speaking, they weren’t completely wiped out. Some descendants escaped and settled on the edge of the Demon Nest Swamp.” Second Madam Zhu’s claw patted her round belly. ”Before I eat my prey, I always like to chat with them and hear some interesting stories.”

To reiterate, life in the swamp was too boring. She was a Great Demon who loved to hear stories.

Hee Lingchuan and Dong Rui: ”...”

’We really need to escape as soon as possible.’

A thought struck Hee Lingchuan. ”Then do you know what year the Jiana Race was wiped out?”

Second Madam Zhu stood still, trying to calculate in her head. After a good while, she said, ”Hmm, if the Jiana descendants remember correctly, it should be one hundred and seventy-four... no... one hundred and seventy-two years ago today.”

’One hundred and seventy-two years ago? Wouldn’t that be the seventeenth year of the Panlong Calendar?’

’Which was a year or two after the Red Peak Mine Cave incident.’

’While Panlong City, under the protection of Mitian, was thriving, the Jiana People who also believed in her were nearly annihilated.’

’The timing is so close. What is the connection between these two events?’

”Have you ever seen the Mitian Divine Statue that was worshiped in Panlong City back then?”

”Of course not,” Second Madam Zhu said, displeased. ”Do you think I can just walk into Panlong City looking like this? Why, is there a connection between the two?”

”They’re too similar,” Hee Lingchuan answered casually. But Second Madam Zhu was even more nonchalant. ”What’s so strange about that? Many Deities have more than one form and more than one title in the Mortal World.”

’So that’s how it is?’

The two humans and one spider left the ruins of the Jiana Tribe and walked into the vast jungle.

After traveling for several more miles, the terrain gradually rose, forcing the two of them to climb halfway up a mountain.

Ahead of them was a huge sinkhole, an irregular Celestial Pit with a maximum diameter of about ten zhang and great depth. Its rocky walls were covered with calamus plants and small trees.

Second Madam Zhu pointed to the Celestial Pit and said, ”We’re here.”

Hee Lingchuan looked around and saw the faint, swaying silhouettes of spiders in the woods. He knew at once that Second Madam Zhu didn’t trust them at all.

’On the Earth Cave Spiders’ turf, even eels have to obediently offer tribute. The two of them would have no hope of escape unless they could sprout wings.’

At this moment, even Hee Lingchuan couldn’t help but miss the advantages of Dong Rui’s Strange Bird.

Dong Rui was also looking up at the sky. It was hard to say if he was feeling the same way.

Just then, Second Madam Zhu raised a foreleg and suddenly shoved them into the Celestial Pit—

She moved extremely fast, attacking from behind. Even Hee Lingchuan couldn’t dodge in time.

SPLASH! Dong Rui fell into the water. Hee Lingchuan, however, flipped in mid-air and landed on a small tree growing from the cliffside.

The water in the Celestial Pit was very clear, but it seemed bottomless.

Dong Rui was flailing in the water. Second Madam Zhu’s figure stood at the edge of the Celestial Pit. ”My children will lead you to the laboratory. It has everything you need. Just tell them if you require anything. The terrain down here may be complex, but there’s only one way out. I advise you not to try any tricks, or you’ll be forced to watch yourselves get sucked dry, bit by bit!”

Hee Lingchuan and Dong Rui looked at each other and shivered.

Sure enough, there was a passage by the water’s edge leading deep into the heart of the mountain. A dozen or so spiders stood guard at its entrance.

As Dong Rui waded through the water to get there, Hee Lingchuan leaped to the entrance without getting wet.

The two walked inside, and a pair of small spiders began to lead the way.

Dong Rui spat out a mouthful of water. ”Figures she doesn’t trust us. Hey, do you have any of that Red Medicine Water you stole from me left?”

He asked twice, but Hee Lingchuan didn’t answer, merely looking around.

The Celestial Pit was not isolated; it connected to a limestone cave, and forks in the path appeared after just a short walk. The little spiders, however, seemed very familiar with the place and led them without hesitation.

”Hey, you...” ’What’s so interesting about an ordinary limestone cave?’

The crevices in the rock walls were filled with soft grasses and fungi. The sound of water could be heard constantly, trickling downward, all of it eventually flowing into the Celestial Pit.

Hee Lingchuan suddenly spoke up. ”Something is strange here.”

They had been thrown into a Celestial Pit by a Spider Demon. Dong Rui retorted irritably, ”Is there any part of this that *isn’t* strange?”

The cave received no natural light, but thankfully the Earth Cave Spiders had transplanted fluorescent spores into it, which acted as streetlights and made the passage quite bright.

”Touch this wall.”

Dong Rui reached out and stroked the cave wall. It wasn’t very hard, as if covered by a thin layer of soft skin, and its color was slightly ochre.

’Is there moss on the wall?’ He took a closer look, but there wasn’t. Instead, the rock was covered in the marks of where vines had once grown.

”Strange. What kind of stone is this?”

Hee Lingchuan, however, was too busy concealing his own shock to reply.

The little spider leading the way took them around a few bends and into a stone chamber:

”We’re here.”

Several Spider Demon guards were here. The little guide retreated.