After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 438: Chapter 437: I Want to Report

The events that followed were unremarkable. Huyan Zhao led everyone out of the city to surrender, and the Red General personally dug up the foundation stone of the Xiji Kingdom.

The kingdom fell without much fuss.

The Panlong Army had already taken de facto control of the Capital City, so everything carried on as usual, without much disturbance.

Logically, Zhong Shengguang was merely an official of the Xiluo Kingdom and certainly had no authority to grant Huyan Zhao a title. Even calling it ”acting on behalf of the monarch” would be inappropriate, as the Xiluo Kingdom had not even ordered him to attack Xiji. But none of the people present seemed to consider this issue. Even Huyan Zhao shamelessly asked when he could set off for the Lugua River.

”Don’t be hasty.” These were the Red General’s exact words. ”You are to remain in the Capital City for a while longer.”

Two days later, Huyan Zhao learned that the Loyalist forces had not been completely wiped out. A few army divisions within Xiji had repeatedly tried to break through the Panlong Army’s blockade, but to no avail.

However, the news of Huyan Zhao’s capture and the fall of Xiji had already spread several days prior. Once these troops saw that the regime had changed and their opponent was the powerful Panlong City, they quickly lost their will to fight.

Furthermore, coinciding with Panlong City’s offensive, turmoil erupted in many parts of Xiji:

The people of Xiluo, who had been trapped in the Xiji Kingdom and bullied for years, rose up in rebellion.

This force quickly joined up with the Panlong Army to encircle and annihilate the remaining resistance.

Two days after leaving the ruins of Thousand Star City, the Stone Gate Merchant Team was approaching the border of the Chiyan Kingdom.

The journey was peaceful, and Shi the Second finally felt like he was back in the business of trade. Honestly, if every business trip were this heart-pounding, no one would dare transport goods, even if the prices were several times higher.

Ahead was the checkpoint to Chiyan, and the queue was exceptionally long. Fushan Yue’s Attendant tossed a string of coins to the lowly slave who had been traveling with the carriage, intending to dismiss him.

”You’re not needed anymore. Get lost.”

Lowly slaves could not leave the Twilight Plateau; they had to stop here.

One step past the checkpoint meant decapitation!

”Thank you for your generous reward, masters!” The lowly slave picked up the string of coins, bowing and scraping to them while glancing at the carriage.

In truth, they had been quite generous and had even given him a little extra. On any other day, he would have been overjoyed and gone to a wine stall to treat himself to a half-measure of cheap wine.

But he couldn’t be bothered now.

The little brat lying motionless in the carriage, being waited on by others, wasn’t the child of some rich and powerful family at all. She was just like him—born a lowly slave!

But Young Master Fushan was taking her across the border!

From now on, she would escape her wretched fate and run toward a life of freedom.

’Why her?’

’Was it just because she accidentally saved Young Master Fushan’s life? If he’d had the chance, he could have done it too—and done it better than her!’

”What are you doing?” another Guard passing by kicked him when he saw him standing there in a daze. ”Get lost! What are you standing here for?”

”Ah, I’m going, I’m going!” The lowly slave turned his head and was startled to see Fushan Yue standing diagonally behind him, watching him with an indifferent expression.

He quickly put on a fawning smile and scurried away.

Hee Lingchuan came around from behind the carriage, watching the man’s retreating back. ”That fellow is full of resentment.”

”How do you know?” Fushan Yue said with a sound of surprise. ”Can you smell it too?”

”Smell what? I’m not a dog!” Hee Lingchuan snapped. ”I saw him washing a basin by the river a few days ago, smashing it furiously while yelling ’Die, you little bitch!’ He probably thought no one was around.”

The man had vented his frustrations by the river before fetching water and returning, continuing to smile obsequiously and act with utmost respect toward Fushan Yue and the others.

”Hah, why bother with him?” Fushan Yue was completely unconcerned. ”What trouble could a lowly slave possibly stir up?”

Just then, Shi the Second returned from the front with bad news. ”This is not good. Three or four Official Merchant groups have just cut in line to cross the checkpoint. There are over four thousand of them, so we probably won’t make it through today.”

Official merchant caravans had priority passage, so commoner caravans like theirs had to wait.

But night would fall in another double-hour. If they wanted to cross, they’d have to wait until tomorrow.

With no other choice, they would have to rest at an inn for the night.

As the lowly slave walked back, he also heard the sighs of other merchants who couldn’t cross the checkpoint.

Passing by a high-end restaurant, he slowed his pace. An employee saw the special bracelet he wore as a lowly slave and came out to shoo him away rudely. ”Tch, get away! Don’t interfere with our business!”

Ordinary restaurants and inns didn’t allow lowly slaves to enter, and high-end establishments didn’t even permit them to get close unless accompanying the guests they served.

The only places they could patronize were the food stalls and communal sleeping quarters run by other lowly slaves, usually located in the most remote and darkest corners of town.

He ended up sitting in a dim little wine stall, downing a half-measure of cheap wine.

The wine was bad, harsh on the throat, but it got you drunk easily.

”Endure it, just endure it,” he kept muttering to himself. ”An egg hitting a stone will only get smashed.”

But fueled by the alcohol, the more he thought, the angrier and more resentful he became. ”I can’t endure it, I can’t! Why should she get to live a good life while you’re treated like a pig and a dog?”

He stood up and sat down several times, his sobriety and reason swaying back and forth on the balance scale of alcohol.

Finally, he gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and rushed into the Government Office without looking back.

The junior official inside was startled to see a lowly slave with a flushed red face burst in. He immediately shouted, ”You, yes, you! What are you doing running in here? Get out!”

The lowly slave didn’t get out. Instead, he moved closer, his boozy breath spraying all over the junior official’s face. ”I want to report a crime! I want to make an accusation!”

...

As expected, the lowly slave received a sound beating.

Just as the junior official was about to call the constables to throw him out, a voice from behind suddenly said, ”Hold on.”

This person was very tall and had a strange appearance.

The junior official turned, immediately bowed respectfully, and was about to speak when the person said, ”He came to report a case. Why didn’t you accept it?”

”Ah?” The junior official was taken aback. ”Sir, he’s a lowly slave, and he’s dead drunk! You can’t believe a word he says.”

’The lowly slave’s spit sprayed all over my face, damn it!’

”You haven’t even verified it. How do you know his words can’t be trusted?” The tall man walked over to the lowly slave. ”Hey.”

A constable immediately kicked the lowly slave a few times. ”The official is speaking to you! Get up and stand properly!”

The lowly slave staggered to his feet, hunched over with his head bowed. One of his eyes was already swollen shut.

”Follow me.”

Once they were in a corridor behind the Government Office, where it was quiet and there were no bystanders, the tall man finally asked:

”You just said that the one hiding a lowly slave girl and preparing to take her through the checkpoint is Young Master Fushan Yue of the Chiyan Kingdom?”

After that harsh beating, the lowly slave was seventy percent sober and was already starting to regret his actions.

’Have I lost my mind? How could I have dared to enter the Government Office!’

But it was too late now. He couldn’t afford to offend the official before him, so he could only bow his head and say, ”Yes, yes!”

”How do you know she’s a lowly slave?”

”This humble one served her for many days. She has an indentation on her left wrist, left from wearing a bracelet for a long time.” The lowly slave held up his own left hand to show the ring on his wrist. ”It’s... like this one. But she doesn’t have the ring on her hand anymore. That’s a capital offense!”

This ring had already dug into the flesh. It was the mark of a lowly slave. To remove it privately was a capital crime; even deliberately covering it was punishable.

”Interesting.” The tall man turned to the junior official. ”Send someone to keep an eye on them. Verify it tomorrow when they cross the checkpoint.”

Verifying it now would be useless; it wasn’t a crime unless they tried to smuggle the lowly slave through the checkpoint.

The junior official was shocked. ”Ah, Sir, if that person really is a young master from the Chiyan Kingdom...”

”When a young master breaks the law, he is punished the same as a commoner.” The tall man chuckled. ”You’re within the borders of Lingxu City, yet you’re afraid of someone from Chiyan?”

The words were a bit harsh. Cold sweat instantly beaded on the junior official’s brow. He cursed the lowly slave a thousand times in his heart, but on the surface, he quickly said, ”I’ll get it done, I’ll get on it right away!”

The tall man emphasized again, ”First, check if the little girl is there. Be smart about it; don’t let Fushan Yue find out. Tomorrow, when they’re passing through, we’ll catch them red-handed!”

...

Hee Lingchuan was in a restaurant, drinking at a table by himself.

People came and went around him. He propped his head in his hand and stared blankly out the window, his gaze unfocused.

Footsteps approached from behind, but he paid them no mind.

Someone called out, ”Hey!”

Hee Lingchuan didn’t respond or turn around.

The voice then said, ”Hee Lingchuan.”

Hee Lingchuan’s heart pounded.

’I’m a stranger alone here in Beiga, yet someone can call out my real name in one go?’

But with his growing experience, he managed to forcibly suppress the instinct to turn around. His back didn’t even twitch, as if he hadn’t heard a thing.

Only he knew that the muscles in his waist and legs were already tensed, ready to explode into action and attack at any moment.

But in the next second, he recognized that unique voice.

The owner of the voice walked around to the front, clucking his tongue. ”It really is you! Young Master Hee, why didn’t you respond? I almost thought I’d recognized the wrong person!”

”Shhh—” Hee Lingchuan smiled and made a hushing gesture. ”I’m using a different name. Come, have a seat!”

”It’s a rare pleasure to meet an old friend in a foreign land.” He raised his hand to summon the waiter. ”Come and add more dishes to the order!”

...

That night, a few constables reported back to the junior official: ”Their carriages are all parked together, with people taking shifts to guard them. It’s not easy to get close. But one of them had a lamp lit the whole time. We had one person distract the groom at the front, while the rest of us snuck over and lifted the curtain for a peek. And hey, there was indeed a little girl sleeping inside, about six or seven years old.”

”Were there any marks on her hands?”

”Ah, we couldn’t see clearly,” the constable said. ”People came to move some cargo right then.”

”Why didn’t you just go up and inspect them directly?” ’These guys are usually so arrogant, why are they being so timid now?’

The constable scratched his head. ”Didn’t that official instruct us to do it secretly and not to alert anyone?”

”...” The junior official was left speechless. ”Alright, alright, I’ll go report it!”

...

「The next day, before the border checkpoint.」

The crowd waiting for passage had once again formed a line that stretched as far as the eye could see.

The checkpoint here was a bit stricter than the one at the Treasure Tree Kingdom border, mainly focusing on inspecting for various contraband items.

For example, lowly slaves.

Lowly slaves were a specialty of the Twilight Plateau. Countless lowly slaves tried to escape every year. How could the Saint’s decree be carried out without strict inspections?

Fortunately, the line was moving quite fast. The checkpoint wasn’t causing any trouble today, and there were no sudden incidents to handle, so the Stone Gate Merchant Team reached the inspection point more than a quarter of an hour earlier than Shi the Second had estimated.