After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 410: Chapter 409: No Discord, No Concord

Instead, two short arrows shot out from the top of the cabinet, embedding themselves in his lower back with a WHOOSH WHOOSH. Once the Earth-Sinking Technique was triggered, the Short Crossbow mechanism would activate as well, ambushing its target.

Hee Lingchuan had already perfected this entire set of trapping techniques while hunting demons on the Chipa Plateau, learning to improvise and adapt them to any environment.

Another dark figure vaulted in through the window—it was Fushan Yue.

He scanned the room, then moved forward to help his companion up.

Just as he was about to leap out the window, a sudden sense of alarm flared in his mind, and he froze mid-motion.

Immediately after, a faint glint of a blade swept silently past the window frame, making his scalp prickle with fear.

If he hadn’t stopped, that strike would have cut him down.

A third person leaped through the window, as smoothly as a windblown leaf, even seeming to hang in the air for a moment.

Fushan Yue was instantly on high alert. He had just pushed his companion aside when a brilliant blade light, like a cascade from the Milky Way, descended upon him.

The Floating Life Blade had finally revealed its true nature.

The Qi Force behind this slash was ferocious, with a long, powerful undercurrent. Fushan Yue didn’t dare to meet it head-on, instead dodging and weaving several times within the dark room to avoid its sharpest edge.

The dark room was filled with a dizzying blur of flashing steel.

Both fighters moved so fast that Fushan Yue’s subordinate could barely follow their movements.

The two had finally clashed.

”Since you’re already here, why not stay a while?” Hee Lingchuan said as he fought. ”Otherwise, it would seem I’m a poor host.”

If Fushan Yue were to counterattack, Hee Lingchuan was confident he could ”Follow the Stick and Strike the Snake,” as the follow-through momentum of a fully formed Wave Slash was immense. But the scoundrel seemed to recognize the danger, only retreating and never advancing.

Back when Hee Lingchuan had his epiphany with the blade at the Xia Bei Frontline Camp, he could already slice through seven raindrops with a single slash. Now, after the Emperor’s Liquid had helped him open a second Dantian, his speed and power were on a completely different level.

But Fushan Yue was like a slippery loach, always dodging away at the last possible second.

The only opponents he had faced with such agility were a few specific Jindu Ghost Children in the Panlong Dream Realm.

But in a room this small, constant retreat was a sure path to defeat.

Fushan Yue chuckled softly. ”Alright, I’ll do as my host wishes.” With a flick of his wrist, he fired two Sleeve Arrows.

The device didn’t require him to raise his elbow; a mere flip of the wrist sent the Sleeve Arrows flying straight for Hee Lingchuan’s eyes. Their tips had a faint bluish glint, clearly coated with some kind of poison.

They were consistently less than three feet apart, and his Sleeve Arrows were masterfully crafted. With a powerful mechanism and a short, narrow shaft, they were perfect for assassinations at close range.

Hee Lingchuan didn’t have time to parry with his blade and could only jerk his head to the side to dodge.

He remembered fighting a lesser Jindu ghost in the Flesh Fortress, where he’d been sprayed with venomous saliva at point-blank range, instantly blinding one of his eyes.

Ever since then, he had become deeply wary of close-quarters combat.

After all, if you lost in a dream, you just woke up. In reality, if you were blinded or your skull was pierced, there were no second chances.

The moment his assault faltered, Fushan Yue seized the opportunity and snapped his fingers.

With a soft POP, the oil lamp on the cabinet behind him flared to life.

The lamp had originally been on a table, but Hee Lingchuan had moved it to the tall chest of drawers while setting his traps, placing it right at Fushan Yue’s eye level.

The lamplight wasn’t bright enough to be blinding, nor would it attract the attention of the constables on the street.

However, where there is light, there is also shadow.

Hee Lingchuan was facing the lamp, so his shadow was naturally cast on the wall behind him.

He dodged the arrows and went to strike again, but as he raised his arm, it suddenly caught, as if stuck.

It felt as if someone had grabbed his arm and was desperately yanking it backward.

From a corner of the room, Fushan Yue’s injured companion yelled urgently, ”Quickly!”

He had moved to the wall and was clutching tightly to Hee Lingchuan’s... shadow, pulling it back with all his might.

On closer inspection, one would see what looked like thin vines wrapped around his forearms. Each vine emitted a faint black light and was plunged into Hee Lingchuan’s shadow.

This unorthodox Divine Technique was called the Shadow Binding Technique. By controlling a person’s shadow, it could restrict the movements of the person themselves.

Fushan Yue showed no courtesy. He raised his Water-Splitting Needle and thrust straight for Hee Lingchuan’s eye, intending to run it straight through his head.

In the blink of an eye, the tip of the needle was almost touching his eyeball. Hee Lingchuan could even feel a sharp pain in the back of his head.

It was his Spiritual Sense screaming a warning.

Fushan Yue had also pushed his speed to the absolute limit. Delays could bring unforeseen trouble; he had to win, and quickly.

Hee Lingchuan didn’t blink.

The speed of his arms was restricted, but his fingertips, obscured by the shadow of his own body, were still free. He flicked them upward and uttered a single word: ”Appear.”

CLANG! Fushan Yue’s Water-Splitting Needle struck a solid object.

A Round Shield had appeared out of thin air.

The needle’s tip was deflected, and Fushan Yue grunted, clearly feeling the rebound force. But the Round Shield was also knocked aside, and he continued his charge toward Hee Lingchuan.

At this point, he resorted to his old specialty, lunging forward and opening his mouth to bite his opponent’s neck. His neat white teeth instantly transformed into sharp fangs.

’A Python Demon dozens of feet long wasn’t even enough to sate my hunger. How could a mere human possibly be a full meal?’

Hee Lingchuan’s body was restricted, but his mouth was free. He gathered his True Power and let out a fierce breath. WHOOSH! The blast of air instantly hit the tall chest of drawers.

The oil lamp was instantly extinguished.

No light, no shadow.

It wasn’t a particularly brilliant counter, but the fact that he’d devised a solution in the blink of an eye was a testament to his god-like reaction speed.

With his hands free again, Hee Lingchuan had no time to swing his blade. He threw a direct uppercut that slammed into Fushan Yue’s torso.

Though the blow was hasty, it was backed by a full, surging supply of his True Power.

The Black Thorn Ring on his finger, which he’d taken from a rebel, not only amplified its wearer’s strength but also inflicted a corrosive poison on the opponent’s wounds. It was an excellent tool for a dirty fight.

With a muffled BANG, Fushan Yue was sent flying backward, crashing straight through the wall. ℴℴ𝘮

On the other side was the inn’s courtyard.

Hee Lingchuan took two steps toward the hole in the wall, then felt a cold sensation on his neck.

He reached up and touched it. His fingers came away with blood, and it was dark.

He hadn’t been bitten by Fushan Yue’s fangs, but he had been scratched by his sharp claws. The cut had missed his carotid artery by a hair’s breadth.

But a miss is a miss.

The claws were laced with corpse poison. Hee Lingchuan quickly swallowed a Pill and circulated his True Power to force the tainted blood from the wound.

When he touched it again, the blood flowed bright red. Only then did he feel relieved.

’Good thing I dealt with that quickly.’

The entire process took no more than six or seven seconds, and his eyes never left the spot where his opponent had disappeared.

Then, Hee Lingchuan stepped through the gaping hole in the wall.

Fushan Yue had snapped a small tree in the courtyard. He shook his head and climbed to his feet. ’The brick wall in that room was surprisingly well-made.’

Seeing Hee Lingchuan emerge with his blade drawn, Fushan Yue frantically waved his hands. ”Stop! I’m not fighting anymore!”

When Hee Lingchuan’s blade twitched, he hastily added, ”I’m serious! The fight just now was just to test your mettle. No harm, no foul. I had no killing intent, you should have been able to sense that.”

This man had gotten the better of him four times without even making a direct move: once at Three-Heart Lake, once in Fufeng City, and twice at Wind Demon Rock.

Fushan Yue grew angry just thinking about it. He had to have a proper fight this time, or he’d never be able to get over it.

Hee Lingchuan didn’t seem surprised. ”And what did you find?”

’He ran off mid-sentence on Wind Demon Mountain. I figured this scoundrel would follow me eventually.’

’Fushan Yue is an opportunist. He’ll take a swing whether he thinks he can hit anything or not.’

’Just as I expected.’

’Still, this guy is absurdly tough. He took my punch head-on and is acting like nothing happened.’

”Not bad,” Fushan Yue said. ”You’re qualified to take the Spirit Seed.”

Hee Lingchuan asked coolly, ”What Spirit Seed?”

”Nothing. I misspoke. I don’t know what a Spirit Seed is,” Fushan Yue said with a loud laugh. ”It would be a real pain for either of us to finish off the other, and we’re not mortal enemies. How about a truce?”

Hee Lingchuan gestured back at the large hole in the wall. ”A truce requires sincerity.”

’He knew Fushan Yue had come tonight to get even for his previous setbacks. His current desire for a truce was only because he’d found Hee Lingchuan to be a tougher opponent than expected, one who would be too costly to kill.’

’If he thought Hee Lingchuan was weak and easy to handle, he would have a very different attitude right now.’

’Whether to make friends or to kill, in the end, it all came down to strength.’

Fushan Yue waved his hand and tossed over a large silver ingot. ”I broke it, I’ll pay for the repairs.”

Sure enough, footsteps sounded outside, and soon, a TAPTAPTAP came at the door. ”Sir? Is everything alright in there?”

In the dead of night, with a wall being smashed through with a loud CRASH, no innkeeper could pretend they hadn’t heard a thing.

Hee Lingchuan, holding the large silver ingot from Fushan Yue, casually pinched off a chunk and tossed it through the hole in the wall. ”It’s nothing, just a broken flowerpot. You can come clean it up tomorrow.”

The sound of a smashing flowerpot was very different from a smashing wall, and the Shopkeeper outside knew he was being fed a line. But the silver that had been tossed out was genuine, and more than enough to rebuild the wall.

The surplus would be his tip.

So the Shopkeeper simply said, ”Well, have a good rest, sir,” and scurried away.

Shortly after, the commotion also brought Shi the Second, who came to check in. If he had initially traveled with Hee Lingchuan from the Fu Kingdom for mutual benefit, he now saw Young Master Hee as a walking good-luck charm and couldn’t afford for anything to happen to him.

Hee Lingchuan sent him away with a few brief words as well, though without using any silver this time.

Fushan Yue stepped through the large hole in the wall, sauntering back into the room.

As he passed by Hee Lingchuan, both men circulated their True Power, on high alert, yet the smiles on their faces were warmer than a spring breeze.

Fushan Yue walked to the corner of the room and helped his subordinate sit up. ”How did you know I would come?” he asked Hee Lingchuan.

All the traps in the room had clearly been laid for him.

Hee Lingchuan replied coolly, ”You don’t know when to quit while you’re ahead.”

The words hit a little too close to home, and Fushan Yue was momentarily speechless. ”Well, there’s no friendship without a fight. Let me introduce myself properly. I am Fushan Yue, from the Chiyan Kingdom.”

”Hee Xiao, from the Fu Kingdom.”

Fushan Yue was surprised. ”Such a tiny, insignificant kingdom can actually produce someone like you?”

He rubbed his nose. ”I heard you’ve been traveling with the King of Treasure Tree’s Guard Team these past few days, getting along quite well. They don’t know you have the item, do they? ’The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind’... Heh, you’ve really got some moves.”

The Guard Team only had three hundred men. Most of the people who died that day were merchants and travelers.

’Fushan Yue had orchestrated a massacre, only to have the final prize plucked away by this guy.’

’Trying to pin the blame on me?’ Hee Lingchuan didn’t even blink. ”I don’t know what you’re talking about. Was it you who released the Wind Demon? Was it you who abducted the Envoy?”

Fushan Yue shrugged and said no more.

Hee Lingchuan found a chair and sat down across from him. ”You didn’t climb through my window in the dead of night just for a friendly chat, did you?”