After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 361: Chapter 360: Paper Person

The rain had stopped at some point.

The full moon in the night sky scattered its silver light across the lake’s surface.

...

The return trip went smoothly. There wasn’t even a pothole to twist an ankle in. Hee Lingchuan brought Third Master Gan back to the county seat.

The night was deep and all was silent. Not only was there not a soul on the road, but even the dogs weren’t barking.

Hee Lingchuan lifted Third Master Gan off the horse and removed the ragged cloth gag from his mouth. ”I keep my word. I’ll let you go. But if you come looking for trouble again...”

He had promised earlier that as long as Third Master Gan led him to the Divine Woman, he would be spared.

Third Master Gan’s mouth had been gagged the entire way, leaving it dry. He could barely speak clearly. ”I... I won’t! I w-wouldn’t dare!”

Only then did Hee Lingchuan let him go. ”Get lost!”

Third Master Gan stumbled, afraid Hee Lingchuan would change his mind. He endured the pain and limped home as fast as he could.

Hee Lingchuan pointed, and another small spider jumped onto Third Master Gan’s back, letting the man carry it away.

Sparing his life didn’t mean letting his guard down.

Hee Lingchuan still wanted to monitor the aftermath to see if the little punk would try anything malicious again.

’The reason I didn’t just kill him with one stroke of my saber is that I still don’t understand why the Divine Woman would grant Third Master Gan three wishes. She can take down high-ranking officials and private soldiers from the Beiga Kingdom, so dealing with a spoiled brat from a county seat should be a piece of cake. Why would she need to do three things for him first?’

’What’s so different about Third Master Gan compared to others?’

Recalling the fight inside and outside the bamboo house, Hee Lingchuan still felt a little uneasy.

’The Divine Woman died just like that? It seems too easy.’

But if he had to say what was wrong, he couldn’t pinpoint it right now.

’Are countryside Demon hags really this easy to deal with? I suppose not every opponent I face has to be a difficult one.’

’Stomping on small fry is the norm out here.’

’Forget it. I’ll go back and rest first. Whatever it is can wait until tomorrow.’

Hee Lingchuan headed straight for his lodging at the Purple Bamboo Garden. The doorman was nowhere to be found, and the front hall was completely empty, with only the lamps still lit. He navigated the familiar path back to the Bath Chamber, took a bath, and lay down in his clothes.

With his hands behind his head, Hee Lingchuan seemed to be staring at the ceiling in a trance, but he was secretly using the Eye Spider’s perspective to monitor Third Master Gan.

However, that weakling Third Master Gan walked slower and slower. Just as he was about to reach the Gan Residence, he suddenly collapsed by the roadside, unable to walk another step.

Then, he broke down, burying his face in his hands and wailing.

For Third Master Gan, who had always had things go his way, the past two days’ events were nothing short of a nightmare.

A nightmare from which he could not wake.

The pillar of his family was gone, he hadn’t obtained the Passage Command that could save the Gan Family Commerce Association from disaster, and tonight he himself had survived a terrifying ordeal, with who knows how many broken ribs.

His life had completely collapsed.

Hee Lingchuan was speechless watching this, and cursed him inwardly. ’What a waste.’

’Just let Third Master Gan sit on that dusty street corner and stew in his own misery.’ Hee Lingchuan withdrew his gaze, sat cross-legged, and began to regulate his breathing.

Tonight was not a night for sleep. He didn’t enter a full state of Meditation, only letting his True Qi slowly complete a few small Circulations.

Before long, what sounded like light footsteps came from outside.

Hee Lingchuan opened his eyes.

Someone knocked gently on the door, their voice soft and warm. ”Young Master Hee, are you asleep?”

”Who is it?”

”It’s Baitan.”

Hee Lingchuan recognized the voice. It was indeed Baitan, the maid who served in the Bath Chamber. ”What is it?”

”I thought I saw you return just now, Young Master,” Baitan said cheerfully. ”I’ve brought you a late-night snack, some shiitake and fish fillet congee.”

”Come in.”

Baitan pushed the door open and entered, all smiles. As expected, she carried a tray with a steaming-hot, large bowl, the fragrant aroma of congee filling the air.

Hee Lingchuan, however, seemed to freeze for a moment, looking at Baitan, then at the red-lacquered tray she was holding.

The shiitake mushrooms were plump, the fish fillets tender and white, and the rice porridge was simmered to perfection. It was clearly the work of a skilled hand over a low flame.

”Just the congee?”

Baitan asked, surprised, ”Do you need anything else?”

”How can you eat savory congee without fried dough sticks?” Hee Lingchuan frowned. ”Go and get me a couple!”

Fried dough sticks were youtiao. In the past, no matter how simple or lavish the savory congee, he would always buy a dough stick to soak in it.

”Ah, yes.” Baitan was taken aback for a moment but quickly set down the tray and left.

She was gone for about a quarter of an hour.

When Baitan returned, she held an oil-paper packet containing two golden-brown fried dough sticks, their fragrance wafting from a distance.

”Please, enjoy, Young Master.”

Just as Hee Lingchuan was about to pick up the congee bowl, Baitan turned up the oil lamp. Combined with the one she had brought in, the room became even brighter.

He lifted the bowl with his left hand, sniffed it, and suddenly asked Baitan, ”Where did you bring this congee from?”

”The kitchen.”

”Did you make it?”

Baitan seemed a little bashful. ”I did. Please, try my cooking.”

”I’ll have to.” Hee Lingchuan smiled slightly. As he lowered his head to drink the congee, the Long Saber at his waist suddenly left its sheath.

A flash of the blade, fluid as water, was gone as quickly as it appeared.

Baitan’s expression froze. A moment later, her head fell from her neck.

Her eyes were wide with disbelief, and her lips moved as if to ask:

”Why?”

Hee Lingchuan looked at her coldly. ”You dare show off your Wangling tricks in front of me?”

In truth, when Baitan had entered, she appeared in the lamplight as a curvaceous beauty. But in Hee Lingchuan’s eyes, she was an Evil Ghost wreathed in black smoke, clinging to a white paper figure to move it!

Every move ”Baitan” made was merely the performance of a string puppet.

As expected, the maid he had split in two didn’t bleed at all, turning to paper ash in an instant. The Evil Ghost behind it vanished immediately.

’It seems the Divine Woman isn’t dead yet.’

Hee Lingchuan let out a soft breath. ’It really wasn’t that simple.’

Of course, something brought by an Evil Ghost couldn’t be eaten. Just as Hee Lingchuan was about to stand up, he caught something strange in the corner of his eye.

The red-lacquered tray was so smooth and shiny that it served as a mirror.

A moment ago, the reflection in the tray had moved.

With two oil lamps in front of him providing ample light, Hee Lingchuan stared intently. There was only his own reflection in the tray.

He moved his eyes; the reflection moved its eyes. The scenery behind him was blurry, as it wasn’t as bright as daytime.

’Did I see wrong? Was it just the flickering firelight?’

Just as he was about to look away, the reflection suddenly split its mouth into a grin and smiled at him.

Hee Lingchuan was seventeen this year, handsome, spirited, and dashing. Walking down the street, he often turned the heads of young ladies and wives alike. Thus, his reflection was also handsome, dashing, and full of vigor.

But this smile was terrifying, revealing a mouthful of sharp, wolf-like fangs!

Its eyes also became sinister and ferocious, as if its wicked plan had succeeded.

’Damn it!’

Hee Lingchuan’s scalp tingled. He instinctively tried to knock it over, but the reflection in the mirror suddenly lunged out and grabbed his head and face!

His vision went dark, and his head immediately spun.

He couldn’t muster even a bit of his strength. The real trap was here, on the tray holding the bowl, while ”Baitan” was just a decoy.

’After all my precautions, how did I still fall for their trick?’

At that moment, the Treasure Saber at his waist trembled and suddenly let out a long, ringing CLANG that carried the sound of slaughter.

Hee Lingchuan jolted, his senses returning. He drew his saber and slashed the red-lacquered tray in two.

With his saber in hand, he looked at the tray again. A square Copper Mirror had been set into its base, positioned so that anyone picking up the congee would see their reflection when they looked down.

The mirror’s surface now had several cracks. The reflection inside thrashed about but couldn’t get out, snarling at him in frustration.

’Just now, did that thing almost steal my soul?’

Hee Lingchuan suddenly understood how Wu Jingsong and the others had lost their souls. As long as you used your eyes to see, it was impossible to defend against.

He strode out of the Bath Chamber and looked around, finding the area still silent. He hadn’t noticed anything strange when he first returned, but now, listening closely, he realized something was wrong. The Purple Bamboo Garden was home to many plants like plums, orchids, and bamboo, and there were two shallow ponds up ahead. It was early summer, so how could there be no chirping insects or croaking frogs?

’The people... where did they all go?’

He kicked open the wooden door of the opposite Bath Chamber. With a BANG, the door fell down.

If there were a guest inside, they would ninety-nine percent start cursing him out, and maybe a young maid would run out screaming.

However, there was nothing. The quiet room was empty.

He checked eight Bath Chambers in a row; all were empty. The last one, however, had two people in it.

Actually, ”people” wasn’t accurate. They were two paper figures controlled by Evil Ghosts, pressed together and doing something ”joyful.”

One of the two paper figures was painted to look like a burly man, the other a slender beauty.

From their posture, it was as if they hadn’t realized they were just paper figures.

But when Hee Lingchuan burst in, they turned their heads in unison, suddenly got up, and lunged at him.

The burly man even knocked over a screen on his way, and his speed and strength were no different from a real person’s.

Hee Lingchuan wasn’t about to be polite with it. He slashed at its neck.

Who would have thought that as the brute ran past the screen, it would snatch a candlestick and thrust it fiercely at Hee Lingchuan’s face. Its movements were orderly and powerful.

As Hee Lingchuan sliced the candlestick in two, it grabbed a large bronze rod from the bedside and swung it at him.

The blow was heavy and powerful.

After a dozen clashes of metal on metal, both had attacked and defended.

As soon as they engaged, Hee Lingchuan discovered that the paper figure was actually using a military Staff Technique, and its aura was somewhat similar to Meng Shan’s.

’But even the real Meng Shan was defeated by me. How long can this fake paper figure last?’

In the end, Hee Lingchuan pinned it to a pillar with his saber. Both the paper figure and the Evil Ghost on it seemed to be in unbearable pain.

Hee Lingchuan asked in a low voice, ”Who are you?”

The Evil Ghost on the Long-tusked Pig had been able to follow Third Master Gan’s commands, so he assumed these things could understand human speech and attempted to communicate.

Sure enough, after he barked the question a few times, the paper figure gave a sinister laugh. ”Your granddaddy is Qii Ming, a Centurion under General Youu of the Xiaolin Army! I’m not afraid whether you kill me or torture me!”

’Xiaolin Army? That name sounds familiar...’

Just then, there was a commotion outside, the sound of rapid footsteps.

The paper figure heard it too and yelled, ”Over here! The enemy is here!”

Hee Lingchuan swung his saber and hacked it to pieces. Pushing off with his toes, he leaped onto the wall above the bath pool, then made two more bounds to land in the canopy of a huge acacia tree.

The tree was sixty feet tall. From here, he could not only overlook the entire Purple Bamboo Garden but also survey half the county seat.

The night wind howled. He stood on a swaying branch, unable to see a single point of light below.

Meanwhile, more paper figures had already swarmed into the burly man’s Bath Chamber.

Controlled by Evil Ghosts, they looked all around, searching for Hee Lingchuan.

He carefully examined the drawings on these things. They all seemed to be wearing military uniforms, but the style was unfamiliar; he didn’t know which kingdom they belonged to.

By the light of the moon, he could also see paper figures beginning to walk the streets and alleys of Wuze County. Some strolled casually, others sat by the roadside as if drunk, and still others ran in squads toward the Purple Bamboo Garden, looking like the local constables.