After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 351: Chapter 350: A New Mission

Second Madam Zhu said hauntingly, ”Every time I pass by here, I can feel their presence. But now, they’re all gone.”

”Impressive.” Hee Lingchuan asked her, ”Are you planning to take them back?”

Second Madam Zhu said nothing.

Hee Lingchuan had just climbed out of the Celestial Pit when spiders of all sizes swarmed him with a RUSTLE, hissing at him.

’This guy is the ancestor’s most wanted! We had to search for him day and night after the battle. It’s enough to work a spider to death.’

Hee Lingchuan didn’t understand spider-speak, so he had no idea they were cursing him out viciously.

Just as the spiders were about to attack, Second Madam Zhu’s massive body emerged from the Celestial Pit. She commanded, ”All of you, stand down! You are not to harm him!”

The spiders looked at each other in confusion, not knowing what had happened. It was unheard of for their ancestor to be so pleasant to a human.

’But this human came up from the Celestial Pit with the ancestor. Had they shaken hands and made peace?’

A few of the more intelligent Spider Guards immediately looked at Hee Lingchuan with a new sense of reverence.

’Everyone knew the ancestor’s temper was fickle and unpredictable. For this human to be able to toy with the entire Earth Cave Spider Swarm and escape unscathed, he had to be somebody incredible!’

At that moment, Hee Lingchuan stood beside the ruins and whistled a few notes: four long, three short, then three long again.

The jungle was silent. Nothing happened.

Hee Lingchuan wasn’t worried. He waited patiently, hands clasped behind his back, exchanging a few words with Second Madam Zhu from time to time.

The humans trapped in the ruins heard the sound and peeked out, their eyes filled with awe.

Although they didn’t know what had happened, seeing this young man strolling casually through the furious swarm of spiders and chatting cheerfully with Second Madam Zhu still left them utterly shocked.

She was one of the overlords of the Demon Nest Swamp, the Cannibal Giant Demon whose name alone made everyone’s face pale.

’Was she someone you could just talk to as an equal?’

After a long while, Dong Rui slowly ambled over from a distance, soaked to the bone.

He had been observing Hee Lingchuan from the shadows. Seeing him relaxed and chatting freely, not at all like someone being coerced, he finally dared to step out.

The nearby Spider Guards were also a little surprised, wondering where he had been hiding before.

It was clear the man had a few tricks up his sleeve.

Hee Lingchuan greeted him with a wide smile. ”Second Madam Zhu is magnanimous and has permitted us to leave the swamp.”

’Just like that?’

’No earth-shattering battle? No need to bleed and sweat through a life-or-death struggle? They could just leave?’

Dong Rui was skeptical, but Hee Lingchuan stood with his back casually turned to Second Madam Zhu, and the Prehistoric Great Demon showed no sign of making a move.

’What about all that vicious talk of making Hee Lingchuan wish he were dead? Had the big spider forgotten all of it in the blink of an eye?’

Facts speak louder than words, so Dong Rui finally relaxed.

For some reason, Dong Rui could also feel a deep-seated resentment emanating from Second Madam Zhu.

He was all too familiar with that kind of resentment. Dong Rui subconsciously glanced at Hee Lingchuan. It was all thanks to him.

’This kid looks all smiles and seems easy to talk to, but if you dare underestimate him, you’ll end up coughing up blood and being too miserable to even cry.’

’His venomous, insidious, and meticulous nature was all hidden beneath that harmless-looking face.’

’Alas, he and Second Madam Zhu were fellow sufferers in this world.’

Before he could speak, the merchant caravan in the ruins reacted first. Steward Zhao and the others rushed out, bowing repeatedly to Second Madam Zhu. ”We beg you, great Spider Immortal, please be merciful and let us go too!”

”We’re just common folk! How could we dare have ill intentions toward the great Spider Immortal! It was the bandits who forced us.”

Faced with their desperate pleas, Second Madam Zhu ignored them and instead asked Hee Lingchuan, ”What do you think?”

”Me?” Hee Lingchuan pointed to his own nose. ”What do I think about what?”

”These people. Are you going to save them or not?” Second Madam Zhu sneered. ”They colluded with bandits to steal my treasure. I should have eaten them!”

Steward Zhao changed tack quickly, immediately kneeling before Hee Lingchuan and begging, ”Young Master, save me!”

Everyone knelt together. ”We beg you, Young Master, save our lives!”

”If I say let them go, you’ll let them go?” Hee Lingchuan’s mouth twitched. ’Was Second Madam Zhu trying to use these merchants to control him?’ ”Then let them go. Heaven cherishes all life.”

Second Madam Zhu smiled. ”I have just one small request.”

She slowly took two steps toward the crowd, increasing the pressure on them.

”Don’t listen,” Dong Rui said bluntly. ”Let’s go.” He knew without thinking that the Spider Demon’s request would most likely involve him. He had no desire for Hee Lingchuan to trade him for the lives of these people.

”Remember the proposal you made over ten days ago?” Second Madam Zhu asked Hee Lingchuan. ”You said you were willing to go to Beiga and retrieve my things for me!”

”I...” ’That was then,’ he thought. ’He’d just been running his mouth to survive. What was the point of going to Beiga now?’

’Just now in the display room, the Divine Bone Necklace had stopped heating up. Apparently, after eating one Spider Shedding, it had grown tired of them and wasn’t interested in the rest. Hee Lingchuan figured it probably didn’t have much of an appetite for the Earth Cave Spider’s shedding intercepted by the Beiga Kingdom either.’

”I’m starting to think it’s a good proposal now!” Second Madam Zhu said. ”I can’t go to Beiga, but you two can.”

The contract was set; she couldn’t trap these two. So she might as well make a deal with them. It was worth a shot, whether it would bear fruit or not. What was the harm? She had already been stuck here for over a hundred years. What was a few more years of waiting and casting a wider net?

Hee Lingchuan frowned. ”I’m from the Yuan Kingdom. Beiga is currently at war with the Yuan Kingdom, so it’s not a good time for me to go.”

Hearing this, Steward Zhao quickly said, ”Young Master Hee, please agree! My family’s business extends all the way to the Beiga Capital. I guarantee you’ll be able to get in and out smoothly!”

Second Madam Zhu suddenly leaned in and whispered in Hee Lingchuan’s ear, ”I’ve heard that the Relic Shell is hidden within Ruins Mountain, which is the old site of the Great Returning Sect, now within the territory of the Beiga Capital.”

The moment her voice fell, Hee Lingchuan felt waves of heat from his chest.

The Divine Bone Necklace was reacting.

’Which words had it heard to get so excited?’

”Ruins Mountain? Great Returning Sect?” He whispered the two names. Though only he and Second Madam Zhu could hear, the Divine Bone Necklace grew even hotter.

”HISS—” The others thought he was afraid, but only he knew his chest was probably being scalded red.

’Sure enough, this thing had been silently spying on him and eavesdropping on his daily life!’

’If the Divine Bone Necklace was this desperate to go, then he... still couldn’t just accept the job that easily.’

Hee Lingchuan mused, ”You can’t even get into the Beiga Capital. Wouldn’t I just be serving myself up on a platter by going?”

’Right, Ruins Mountain was Shou’an Mountain, the headquarters of one of the Six Sects of the Kaiyuan Era from Ancient Times—the Great Returning Sect.’

’It was also the birthplace of the Old Turtle Demon’s Divination Skill.’

’Things had changed, of course, but the Divination Skill was passed down through the generations. If Master Dongli could improve upon his sect’s Divine Techniques, then other disciples of the Great Returning Sect might have been able to do the same.’

’In the Middle Ages, at least, the Great Returning Sect still had Immortals watching over it.’

’Hmm, that ominous fate was a dark cloud hanging over his heart. If he didn’t deal with it, it would eventually affect his Mental Realm and hinder his Cultivation. Besides, the karmic threads he’d had divined by the Turtle Demon and Wen Daolun had pretty much all played out.’

’In other words, he’d used them all up.’

’Shouldn’t he be looking for new omens?’

’It might not be a bad idea to investigate his karma there.’

’Most importantly, the Divine Bone Necklace had clearly expressed its desire to ”go.” If he didn’t, it would probably be more nagging than a girlfriend.’

’The thing could easily cook his chest, he couldn’t get rid of it, and it was incredibly clingy.’

”I’ve been on Beiga’s Earth List for over a hundred years. I’m easily recognized the moment I enter Beiga Territory.” Second Madam Zhu revealed the Star Map on her abdomen. Her appearance was too distinctive; it was hard not to attract attention. ”You’re different. You’re just a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy, as ordinary-looking as they come. If the Gan Family helps you get into Beiga, you can operate in secret.”

Steward Zhao nodded like a pecking chicken. ”We can, we can! It’s a piece of cake.”

Hee Lingchuan glanced at him. ”Master Gan is gone. Who’s in charge of your family now?”

”There’s still the old madam!” Steward Zhao said immediately. ”Our old madam is formidable. She runs everything, inside and out. She will definitely do everything in her power to help Young Master Hee.”

Dong Rui had been listening from the side for a while. Since it seemed he wouldn’t have to take any risks himself, he naturally had no objections.

As his mind was racing, Second Madam Zhu suddenly said to him, ”I still need your potion or modification. If you can do it, I have another Secret Treasure to give you.” After saying this, she whispered a few words to Dong Rui.

A look of surprise appeared on Dong Rui’s face; he was clearly tempted. He had no loyalty to the Beiga Kingdom—in fact, not long ago he was a wanted criminal in the Northern Demon Kingdom. If he could be moved by the precious materials offered by National Preceptor Frost Leaf, he could naturally be moved by Second Madam Zhu’s Secret Treasure.

’An old Demon who’s lived for several thousand years is bound to have a trove of bottom-of-the-chest treasures, more than she could ever use up.’

”Poisonous Dragon Saliva is still indispensable,” Dong Rui said seriously. ”And even if the modification is successful, the process will be excruciatingly painful.”

Second Madam Zhu didn’t care.

Given her age and Cultivation, the pain of forcibly shedding her shell each time was no less than being skinned alive and having her marrow pulled out, but she had endured it all.

If you want to survive, and live well, you must pay a price.

”Then it’s settled.” Having dealt with Dong Rui, Second Madam Zhu then focused all her efforts on persuading Hee Lingchuan. ”I can gift you a Divine Technique. It can save your life or serve as a killer move.”

Hee Lingchuan’s stance softened. ”Even if I find your rel... treasure, it should be quite large. How would I bring it back to you?”

His mind raced.

’This trip to Ruins Mountain was for himself and the Divine Bone Necklace. Helping Second Madam Zhu would just be something he did along the way.’

’But Second Madam Zhu didn’t know that, so she still had to offer him some benefits.’

’Right now, Second Madam Zhu was holding back from speaking plainly because the merchant caravan was present. After all, she no longer trusted these humans.’

”When the time comes, just blow this with all your might,” Second Madam Zhu said, actually spitting something out of her mouth for him. ”You don’t need to worry about anything else.”

”Don’t need to worry? It’s that easy?” Hee Lingchuan first washed the spider saliva off in the swamp before examining the newly acquired object.

The object was shaped like a goose egg, but two sizes larger. It had eight holes on its round body and what looked like a mouthpiece at the top. ’Is this a musical instrument?’

”How do I blow it?” Hee Lingchuan fiddled with the small object. ”Do I have to play a tune for it to work?”

”This is a Xun. You can blow it however you like normally; no strange phenomena will occur,” Second Madam Zhu said faintly. ”But when you find the treasure, you must uncover the last hole on the back and blow.”

’So this is a Xun?’ Hee Lingchuan flipped it over and saw that it was a nine-holed instrument, but the last hole was sealed off by itself.