After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 362: Chapter 361: Bizarre Battlefield

The scene was utterly absurd. They all acted like living people, yet they were made of paper.

’What should I do now?’

’Is this all the Divine Woman’s Illusion Technique? How do I break it?’

After a moment of thought, Hee Lingchuan got his bearings, leaped down from the large tree, and headed for the Gan Residence.

All this trouble originated with Third Master Gan. Hee Lingchuan had a gut feeling that the man was the key to the problem.

Besides, it seemed Third Master Gan was the only living person he could find.

The Evil Ghosts on the road had surprisingly sharp senses. Before long, they spotted him and commanded the paper people to give chase.

A massive horde of pests trailed behind him. Unwilling to waste any more energy on them, Hee Lingchuan ducked through halls and alleys.

Several times, he rounded a corner and came upon huge Copper Mirrors—the kind teahouses and inns provided for guests to straighten their attire. Hee Lingchuan was caught off guard and met his own gaze.

His reflection in the Mirror desperately tried to grab him, but Hee Lingchuan was already prepared. He guarded his mind intently. How could he let it succeed so easily?

Just then, a signal came from the Eye Spider.

Hee Lingchuan connected to its feed and saw that Third Master Gan had finally dragged his injured body back to his own estate. But the residence was completely empty, inside and out!

Mrs. Maoo wasn’t there, nor was Second Master Gan.

All the servants and maids were gone.

It was an empty house. The night wind howled through the hall’s window lattices, WOO WOO WOO, like the wailing of ghosts.

Third Master Gan called out for a long time with no response. As he hesitated, lost, he suddenly heard a voice calling, ”Third Master Gan, Third Master Gan!”

He jumped in fright. ”Who’s there!”

It wasn’t the voice of a family member, yet it continued to call his name.

Mustering his courage, Third Master Gan crawled forward a few steps. A row of lanterns under the eaves suddenly lit up on their own, sweeping away the dark haze in the courtyard.

He saw a reflection in the pond, but it wasn’t his own.

Then, someone rose from the pond’s water and walked toward him, step by step.

”Div...” His teeth chattered uncontrollably. ”Divine Woman?”

Who else could this middle-aged woman be but the Divine Woman?

”Aren’t you dead?” ’So that punk Hee didn’t kill the Divine Woman, and now she’s here to get revenge on me!’

Hee Lingchuan, watching this live, frowned. Through the Eye Spider’s perspective, he couldn’t tell if the resurrected Divine Woman was a paper person or if she was entangled with any Evil Ghosts.

”I cannot die.” The Divine Woman walked up to Third Master Gan and knelt down. Her tone held not a trace of coldness; instead, it was filled with sympathy. ”I served you with utmost diligence. Why did you help an outsider against me?”

”I... I was forced.” The closer her face got, the more terrified Third Master Gan became. ”If I didn’t lead the way, that punk Hee would have killed me.”

”Do you want to live?”

”...I do.”

”Do you want to save the Gan Family Commerce Association?”

”I do!” ’So the Divine Woman knows everything?’

”Do you want to kill that punk Hee?”

Third Master Gan hesitated, not daring to make a sound.

”You can’t hide your thoughts from me.” The Divine Woman grinned, revealing a menacing set of white teeth. ”You want him dead. You want it more than anything!”

Third Master Gan could only beg, ”Divine Woman, spare me!”

”Not only will I spare you, but I will also solve all your problems.” The Divine Woman extended her hand. Her palm glowed like a red-hot branding iron, covered in minuscule, densely packed characters, each one shining.

Third Master Gan’s voice trembled. ”What is this for?”

”A Binding Pact,” the Divine Woman said softly. ”Press your palm against mine, and the Binding Pact will be complete. After that, you can leave everything to me.”

”Wh-why help me?”

”Originally, I was to perform three tasks for you, and the Binding Pact would be formed naturally,” the Divine Woman sighed. ”But I cannot transfer the pact to someone else midway, and this last task remains unfinished. I figured it would be simpler to just have you sign the pact directly.”

”This pact...” Though terrified, Third Master Gan also felt something was amiss. ”What does it require me to do?”

”You don’t have to do anything. Just watch!” the Divine Woman laughed. ”I will strive to make your heart’s desires come true.”

Third Master Gan’s eyes darted back and forth.

”If you don’t sign, you can’t leave. You’ll be eaten by other Evil Ghosts before you die of thirst and starvation!” the Divine Woman coaxed. ”Even if you could get out, you’re no longer the all-powerful Third Master Gan of Wuze County. The Gan Family Commerce Association is on the verge of collapse, and you’re about to become a beggar on the street, fighting with wild dogs for scraps!”

She cackled, ”You’re already in this state. Even if you make a pact with me, could things possibly get any worse?”

Her words truly hit Third Master Gan where it hurt. He even stopped trembling and just mumbled, ”If I sign, can I go back to my old life?”

Indeed, his life had never sunk to such a low.

”Of course, and you’ll climb even higher,” the Divine Woman chuckled. ”You’ll no longer be constrained by Boss Gan, and Mrs. Maoo and Second Master Gan will hang on your every word.”

Third Master Gan’s breathing eased.

Hee Lingchuan had already charged to the main gate of the Gan Residence. Just as he leaped over the courtyard’s screen wall, he heard this and roared, ”Don’t form the pact! It’s tricking you!”

’Huh, something doesn’t feel right here.’

But at this critical moment, he had no time to stop and inspect the details. He strode into the courtyard.

The Divine Woman then swiped her hand in the direction he was charging from and said to Third Master Gan, ”Form the pact! You can kill him right now! Think of the humiliation you’ve suffered these past two days!”

’Go back to my old life!’

’No, have an even better life!’

Third Master Gan gritted his teeth, reached out, and pressed his hand against her palm.

”AHHH—” It was like being clamped to a branding iron with no way to pull back. The pain made him scream.

The Divine Woman opposite him began to change. Her skin rapidly withered until, in just a few breaths, she had become a hunched, little old woman of skin and bones, covered in wrinkles. She looked far older than Mrs. Maoo.

She withdrew her hand, her calm and composed demeanor gone. Instead, she looked up at the night sky and sighed with emotion.

”Finally free.”

”I hope you too can find your freedom soon.”

After saying these two sentences, her skin darkened, and her entire body turned to paper ash, scattered by a gust of wind.

Third Master Gan looked at his own palm. The small, reddish characters had transferred onto it.

He clenched his fist and opened it again. The characters were gone, his palm smooth.

By now, his gaze had changed. He suddenly let out two cold chuckles.

...

Hee Lingchuan was in the middle of cursing the fool, but as he passed through the Full Moon Gate, the scene before him changed drastically.

Before going through the gate, he had clearly seen a three-story building ahead.

After passing through, he was standing at a dusty street corner. Cavalrymen charged back and forth, cutting people down. Commoners fled in terror. Burning houses were everywhere, as were screams and cries.

It was as if he had been instantly transported to a city battlefield.

’This isn’t right. A complete scene change in a second?’

But when he looked closely, he saw that the ones on horseback, the ones fleeing on the roads, the ones looting from house to house, the ones laughing and screaming—they were all paper people!

In this grand war pageant, the enemy army, the Garrison, and the common folk were all played by Evil Ghosts, their performance meticulously earnest.

It was both bizarre and terrifying.

A few cavalrymen spotted Hee Lingchuan and charged at him, brandishing their weapons.

He leaped straight back over the wall, vaulted through several passages, and left the cavalry behind.

The layout of this building was completely different from the Gan Residence.

It wasn’t just the Gan Residence; all the buildings he saw on the street were different from those in Wuze County. They were larger and more archaic.

Judging by the width of the streets alone, it looked like a capital city or a major metropolis.

Just then, he heard a strange, long cry—grand, clear, and soul-shaking.

Hee Lingchuan leaped onto a wall to get a look and was stunned by the sight:

A massive, crimson bird soared through the sky. It had a tall crest on its head and magnificent tail feathers. Its body was over a hundred feet long, and its outstretched wings blotted out the sun, easily casting the buildings, men, and horses below into its shadow.

Its size was comparable to a Giant Whale, but the fact that it was flying made it all the more spectacular.

The great bird mercilessly spat Fireballs at the ground, each blast obliterating a building.

So that was the source of the raging flames everywhere.

Even though this great bird was also made of paper, Hee Lingchuan had no doubt about the power of the True Flame it spat.

Moreover, he felt an endless pressure emanating from the giant bird. With such a creature circling overhead, it truly felt like the end of the world was nigh.

Wherever it passed, the horses below would either bolt in a panicked frenzy or their legs would simply give out, causing them to collapse to the ground.

The great bird flew into the sky and danced gracefully. On the ground below, seven or eight tornadoes whipped up, each one at least a hundred feet in diameter.

The fire, fueled by the wind, with a WHOOSH, became Fire Dragon Scrolls that devoured everything in their path.

It must be said that without Hee Lingchuan’s own truth-seeing filter, anyone else would have perceived these people, birds, and beasts as vividly and frighteningly real. Thus, the scene of the city’s civilians and children screaming and fleeing only to be devoured by the Fire Dragon Scrolls was exceptionally realistic and tragic.

Just as it seemed the bird would burn down half the city on its own, several points of light suddenly flew in from the horizon.

Hee Lingchuan stared, his eyes widening in astonishment.

It appeared to be six or seven Mages. Some rode on cranes, others stood on auspicious clouds. They spread out around the Red Bird and, at almost the same time, each threw out a Mirror.

These Mirrors positioned themselves above, below, in front, behind, and to the left and right of the Red Bird—six directions in total. Each one shot a beam of light that struck the creature.

The Red Bird, which had been darting about in a flash, was suddenly frozen in place by the six beams of light. It flapped its wings repeatedly but could not break free.

But its power seemed immense. After a few furious shrieks, a fierce hurricane tore through the sky above the city—at least a Category 4 wind—buffeting the six Mirrors until they swayed and threatened to lose their hold.

One of the Mages shouted down below, ”General Youu, now’s your chance!”

’General Youu?’ Hee Lingchuan thought. ’Where have I heard that name before?’

Several riders suddenly leaped out from the alley ahead. The leading Grand General was not mounted on an ordinary steed, but on a tall Exotic Beast. It resembled a tiger but had a taut abdomen and a narrow waist, a spotted coat, a single horn on its head, and three tails.

When Hee Lingchuan saw this Exotic Beast, he couldn’t help but whisper:

”A Zheng!”

He had read many books in the Panlong Dream Realm, including some dedicated to the Exotic Beasts of the Ancient Great Demons, which even came with a set of very crude and abstract illustrations. Although the illustrator’s skills were questionable, the beast’s appearance was so distinctive that it was still recognizable.

That was a Zheng. In fact, the very word for ”ferocious” was said to have been inspired by this beast.

It was said that an adult Zheng had five tails, but General Youu’s mount had only three, indicating it hadn’t fully matured yet.

Even so, its movements were already astonishingly agile. Under General Youu’s control, it made several consecutive leaps, jumping higher than the roof of the four-story building where Hee Lingchuan stood!