After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 364: Chapter 363: The Full Moon on New Moon Day

The tower had black tiles and gray walls, giving it a very stately appearance. Above the main gate on the first floor were the two large characters for ”Qiongze.” A stele stood at its base, its red-traced engravings listing the names of donors.

Hee Lingchuan first looked at the tower’s name, then at the stele’s inscription. He clapped his hands. ”Just as I thought!”

Wu Jingsong looked as well, but he didn’t understand. ”What is it?”

Hee Lingchuan smiled but said nothing, in case the mastermind behind the scenes could monitor their every move.

The characters on the tower’s nameplate and the stele were all written normally, unlike in Wuze County.

’So the Wuze County I was in just now was a mirror reflection, but this battlefield isn’t?’

’To put it another way, the reflection of Wuze County was the easiest scene for the mastermind to control, so that’s where I was sent the moment I entered?’

’Then, when the mastermind found they couldn’t seize my soul, they threw me onto this battlefield, hoping to kill me with the chaos of war?’

At this thought, the anxiety that gripped his heart actually subsided.

If the mastermind couldn’t control this battlefield, then he, Wu Jingsong, and the others were relatively safer.

The only thing to do now was find a way to escape.

’Where could the exit be?’

He switched back to the Eye Spider’s perspective, but was met with pitch darkness. Instead, he heard Third Master Gan’s booming, muffled voice, as if from a great distance:

”Using this kind of surveillance method, are you? I’ll just block your eyes and ears and see what you can do then!”

’What? The Eye Spider was discovered in just that short time?’

As Hee Lingchuan had a bad feeling, Xu Dongdong, the Guard standing behind Wu Jingsong, suddenly said, ”Today is supposed to be the new moon.”

”And?”

Xu Dongdong looked up at the moon. ”The new moon is also called the dark day, but the moon in the sky is still so full!”

Everyone looked up and sure enough, a full moon hung high in the sky, large, round, and bright.

Hee Lingchuan remembered that Wuze County had also been bathed in the light of such a full moon.

But when he had brought Third Master Gan to the shores of Mochou Lake to find the Divine Woman, it had clearly been raining.

’So that’s it.’ This was the jarring, out-of-place detail. He had been searching everywhere for a clue, but had overlooked the one hanging brazenly in the sky!

He channeled True Power into his eyes, and the sesame-seed-sized shadows on the full moon grew clearer and clearer. It looked like—

It looked like the furnishings inside a small building.

He could faintly make out Third Master Gan sitting in front of a Mirror, staring intently at him.

The distance between them was simply too great. So great that even if there were shadows on the moon, he would never have thought to look up and inspect them.

Hee Lingchuan immediately leaned in and whispered in Wu Jingsong’s ear, ”I think I have a way out.”

He even covered his mouth with his hand to prevent Third Master Gan from hearing or seeing him.

After hearing the plan, Wu Jingsong nodded. ”Alright. We’ll cooperate.”

Before the Mirror, Third Master Gan was indeed trying to listen, but their voices were too low. He slammed his hand on the table in frustration. ”Damn it!”

The four of them turned back and quietly made their way toward the city center.

As they passed a burning residence, the Shi Hu by the door suddenly spoke: ”Hee Lingchuan.”

Wu Jingsong and the others were stunned. A flicker in his eyes, Hee Lingchuan said, ”Third Master Gan?”

He recognized Third Master Gan’s voice. He also saw a Little Evil Spirit crouching behind the Shi Hu; the voice was actually coming from it.

Because Hee Lingchuan could see this creature, the Shi Hu’s ”speech” wasn’t mysterious at all, but rather a little comical.

An idea struck Hee Lingchuan. Without betraying any emotion, he took off his Divine Bone Necklace and tossed it on the ground.

The next moment, the Little Evil Spirit vanished from his sight.

’Heh, just as I thought.’

’Since when could the Divine Bone Necklace let him see demons and ghouls?’

’Did this change happen because he recently fed the Divine Bone Second Madam Zhu’s Relic Shell?’

The Shi Hu didn’t know what he was doing, nor did it care. ”Hand over the Passage Command, and I’ll let you out.”

”Hand it over to who?” Hee Lingchuan unfurled the small Cloud Brocade Banner while simultaneously taking out a small vial and handing it to Wu Jingsong. ”One for each of you. Take it.”

Wu Jingsong and the others took the pills without question, tipping small red pellets from the vial and swallowing them.

The moment the pills went down, they felt their eyes grow hot, their noses get stuffy, their mouths turn sour, and a chill run through their bodies... as if they’d caught a cold. But then, the three’s expressions changed, and they stumbled back two steps in unison.

They too could now see the Evil Ghost crouching on the Shi Hu.

The pills were Soul-Preventing Powder. Taking one allowed a person to see unclean things for a short time and also temporarily masked the aura of a living person’s Life Fire. However, the effect would be nullified upon entering combat.

The Shi Hu had now opened its mouth wide. ”Just place the Passage Command inside.”

”How do I know you’ll keep your promise?” Hee Lingchuan smiled. ”Let us out first.”

”You’re trapped here. Even if you’re not killed, you’ll eventually die of hunger and thirst.” There was no food for humans here.

”A tempting offer, but your own predicament warns me not to make any deals with the Divine Woman.” With that, Hee Lingchuan’s blade flashed across the Shi Hu’s back, slaying the Little Evil Spirit.

He then fed Soul-Preventing Powder to the three horses and took one pill himself.

He shivered. Once the medicine took effect, he said in a low voice, ”Follow me. And remember, no matter what you see or hear, do not look back!”

Otherwise, the masking effect on their Life Fire would weaken.

Four people and three horses returned to the battlefield.

The necklace had, of course, automatically returned to Hee Lingchuan’s neck, where it remained.

Wu Jingsong and the others gripped their weapons, ready to fight at a moment’s notice. But to their surprise, as they passed by commoners, soldiers, and Demons, none of them even turned their heads. Those who were fighting kept fighting, and those who were fleeing and screaming kept fleeing and screaming. They didn’t spare them a single glance.

Such was the power of the Soul-Preventing Powder.

In a world full of Evil Ghosts, as long as they didn’t carelessly look back, they were effectively invisible.

Hee Lingchuan had only dared to do this after confirming that the Evil Ghosts in this war were all lost in their immersive battles and wouldn’t listen to Third Master Gan’s commands.

Hee Lingchuan suddenly remarked, ”These don’t seem to be Evil Ghosts, but Resentful Souls.”

Lonely souls who died filled with resentment.

More civilians came fleeing toward them, with pursuers hot on their heels.

The four of them carefully moved aside, afraid of being bumped into and having their disguise discovered. At the same time, they had to dodge explosions from the fires and falling beams...

As they approached the city center this way, Hee Lingchuan muttered, ”I think it landed somewhere around here.”

The group finally found a small Martial Arts Arena next to a river.

Its layout was a bit like Yuewu Hall in Panlong City, likely a place where soldiers usually trained and competed. It was now heavily guarded by General Youu’s troops, who were under frantic attack by the enemy, making the fighting here the most intense in the entire city.

Hee Lingchuan and his group didn’t dare rush forward, fearing they’d be caught in the crossfire of chaotic Divine Techniques. So, they resorted to an old trick, climbing a large tree a few dozen feet away to observe.

Coincidentally, this spot was also favored by archers, so they had to stealthily kill a few to claim the best viewing position.

Looking down from their high perch, they saw Qingxu and several other Mages standing at the four corners of the Martial Arts Arena, each holding a Copper Mirror to restrain the Red Bird.

The Demon Bird’s size had been drastically reduced to a fifth of its original, now only about twenty feet long. It was unclear if this was its true form or a result of the Mirrors’ power.

The Mirrors in their hands looked somewhat familiar to Hee Lingchuan.

Thinking back, he realized they were the same style as the Copper Mirror he had seen on the Divine Woman’s table when he first entered the bamboo house.

The Golden Light from the Mirrors shone on the Red Bird, rendering its struggles futile.

Furthermore, Hee Lingchuan noticed the feathered arrow still stuck at the base of the great bird’s wing. It tried several times to lower its head to peck it out, but unfortunately, the immobilizing power of the Mirrors was too strong; it couldn’t even bend its neck.

The arrow glowed with a purple light, a clear sign that Primordial Power was also helping to suppress the bird.

It was the combination of the Mirrors and the arrow that kept the Red Bird pinned down.

Hee Lingchuan also noted that when the Red Bird occasionally thrashed with sudden force, the Mages holding the Mirrors would stagger.

They were clearly under great strain.

This kind of stalemate was a huge drain on True Power, and it was hard to say who would win in the end. Hee Lingchuan did see two of the Mages take out Profound Crystals and silently begin refining them to replenish their energy.

’Those are deep-red Profound Crystals. Just looking at them makes me envious.’

Fortunately, he understood that everything here was illusory and he couldn’t take any of it with him. Otherwise, Hee Lingchuan would have been sorely tempted to grab a few before leaving.

Meanwhile, the unending stream of enemy soldiers was attacking with the goal of rescuing the Red Bird and returning it to the fray.

Archers in the nearby trees were also firing, but a shimmering layer of cyan light over the Martial Arts Arena blocked all the arrows.

’So they’ve set up a Battle Array here after all.’

This Red Bird was Hee Lingchuan’s target, but it was currently trapped in the hands of Qingxu and the others.

Hee Lingchuan didn’t think recklessly jumping down was a good idea. That Array was no joke.

Fortunately, he had anticipated this situation. The best solution now was probably to wait for an outside force to break the stalemate.

Soon enough, his ”outside force” arrived. It was something Hee Lingchuan and the others had passed on their way here, without alerting anyone—

A behemoth appeared at the end of the street. It was a giant bull clad in Heavy Armor, standing over ten meters tall. Its horns were small, but its forehead was round and bulging, as if a large drum were strapped to its brow.

Hee Lingchuan breathed a sigh of relief. ”The swollen-headed bull is finally here.”

He had guessed this thing was coming to crash General Youu’s party.

So many Exotic Beasts appeared in this Mirror’s Illusion Realm; even the long-extinct swollen-headed bull had shown up. Of course, that was just a nickname given to it by later generations. It had a proper name: ”Xuguang.”

The long street was perfect for a running start. As it picked up speed and began to charge, Wu Jingsong and the others understood how it got its proper name:

Its high, swollen forehead began to glow. The faster it ran, the brighter the light became.

At full speed, Xuguang was like a locomotive; no one dared stand in its way. General Youu’s men tried desperately to stop it, but they were either sent flying through the air or trampled into paste. The giant bull’s speed didn’t decrease in the slightest.

The main gate of the Martial Arts Arena had been heavily guarded, but seeing this earth-shaking behemoth approach, the guards’ faces all paled, and they leaped out of the way at the last second.

With a tremendous BANG, the giant bull crashed into the gate, and light exploded outward.

The intense light was blinding. Even Hee Lingchuan and the others in the tree immediately turned their heads away, afraid of damaging their vision.

This intense light was also a form of attack. Any enemy who dared to collide with the giant bull was liable to be blinded by the flash. When used in sieges, it forced the enemy to shield their eyes, buying the bull precious time to turn around.

The cyan light wavered, and the defensive Battle Array was shaken to its core.

This thing was more vicious than a Siege Hammer, and it came with the ability to turn, return, and attack a second time. The main gates of this city had been smashed open by it; now that the enemy had brought it here to attack the small gate of a mere Martial Arts Arena, how could it possibly fail to break through?