After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 462: Chapter 461: The Crime of Possessing a Treasure

Hee Lingchuan, in the carriage, asked Zhao Big Mouth, ”Did anyone in the village get injured last winter?”

”Huh?” Zhao Big Mouth was confused. ”What kind of injury do you mean? Frostbite, from being crushed, or from a fall?”

”...The kind that isn’t easy to treat.” ’Porcupine Quills are no simple matter.’

Zhao Big Mouth thought for a moment. ”Haven’t heard of any.”

Jiao Yu chimed in, ”Did anyone die from illness?”

”Ah, yes.” This time, Zhao Big Mouth nodded decisively. ”Old Xu from Youtian Town had consumption for years. He didn’t make it through last winter...”

”I mean someone who died in the prime of their life. Villagers or travelers, either counts.”

”Oh...” Zhao Big Mouth thought again. ”There was one. In Xu Family Village, by White Pagoda Temple. Xu the Second, who was in his thirties, lost a leg to frostbite in the mountains. He came home and died of a high fever a few days later.”

Hee Lingchuan nodded, making a mental note. ”Any others?”

Zhao Big Mouth thought hard but couldn’t recall anyone else.

A thought struck Hee Lingchuan, and he suddenly asked, ”What about any Demons that were seriously injured or died?”

”That I wouldn’t know.” Zhao Big Mouth chuckled. ”Demons don’t usually live with us. How would I know what happens to them?”

”So the Demons all live in the wilderness?”

”Yes, most of them live in the wilderness. We keep to ourselves,” Zhao Big Mouth added. ”Except for the likes of Cat Demons, Ox Demons, and Bat Demons who might take shelter under our eaves, but I don’t pay them much mind.”

What did the death of a Demon have to do with humans anyway?

Before nightfall, Hee Lingchuan hurried back to Youtian Town and split up with Jiao Yu.

He went to the largest apothecary in town. General Antelope insisted on following him, as if addicted to the excitement.

Zhitian Village was Chiyan’s largest distribution center for medicinal ingredients. A third of the entire country’s supply was wholesaled from here, so naturally, apothecaries and clinics were everywhere.

The one Hee Lingchuan found had a clinic in the front and a large apothecary in the back. He went inside, found the Shopkeeper, and took out the red powder he had scraped from the Porcupine Den, asking what it was.

The Shopkeeper was an expert. He took a look and a light sniff but couldn’t identify it, so he mixed a bit with clear water and called over a few doctors to study it.

Watching their posturing, Hee Lingchuan felt it was hopeless. He found himself missing his own Medicinal Ape more than ever. ’At least Lingguang isn’t as unreliable as them.’

Fortunately, the Shopkeeper finally brought a monkey out from the back hall.

Hee Lingchuan was astonished. ”A Medicinal Ape?”

”Precisely.” The Shopkeeper beamed. ”This is our chief Pill Master, Mr. Lü.”

The Medicinal Ape, Mr. Lü, had a white chin and beard. Hearing from the Shopkeeper that the powder’s origin was unknown, he took a small pinch of the red powder on his fingertip and spat on it.

Before the eyes of the crowd, including the four or five doctors, the red powder turned transparent.

”There’s no mistake, this is Stone Lattice,” Mr. Lü said with certainty. ”Also called Stone Blood. Where did you get this, customer?”

”What’s it used for?”

”This stuff is commonly known as the blood of stone and is considered the essence of a mountain range. It’s rarely used in medicine or Alchemy, which is why most Pharmacists and Pill Masters don’t recognize it. But it is actually used in some unorthodox recipes.” Mr. Lü spoke like an expert rattling off facts. ”Additionally, it’s a material for crafting certain Magical Artifacts. If you were to take it to a Craftsman, they might recognize it more easily.”

It paused, then asked, ”Stone Lattice is rare, and this batch is very fresh. Did you mine this nearby?”

”This is a mineral powder, not a plant. How can you tell if it’s fresh?”

”It carries the scent of mountain rock and a faint, foul odor,” Mr. Lü said matter-of-factly. ”It must have been dug up recently.”

”Exactly. I just dug it out of a Porcupine Den on Yulun Mountain this afternoon.”

”Yulun Mountain?” Mr. Lü was visibly stunned. ”There’s actually Stone Lattice on Yulun Mountain?”

”Is there a problem?”

”I’ve been in Zhitian Village for eighty years, and this is the first time I’ve ever heard of Yulun Mountain having such a thing.” Mr. Lü stroked the beard under his chin like a human. ”As I just said, Stone Lattice is very rare, but it’s essential for certain powerful prescriptions. This stuff is very expensive. One tael of purified Stone Lattice Powder can sell for the high price of five taels of silver!”

”I just broke this off; it hasn’t been refined. What do you think of its purity?”

Mr. Lü fiddled with it for another moment. ”Very few impurities.”

Hee Lingchuan put away the vial and remarked with a casual smile, ”So, whoever finds the Stone Lattice vein is going to get rich?”

”If the reserves are plentiful.”

The apothecary’s Shopkeeper couldn’t help but interject, ”It’s not that simple, customer. You can’t just go foraging for herbs or mining ores locally unless you own the land.”

Hee Lingchuan knew this, of course. He laughed. ”Right, the lands and mountains all have owners. Who can just mine them at will? I was just saying.”

Having gotten the answer he wanted, he thanked the Medicinal Ape, left a small silver ingot, and departed from the apothecary.

Hee Lingchuan knew Jiao Yu’s task wouldn’t be finished anytime soon, so he followed a fragrant aroma and found a small eatery to have a meal.

It was less of a shop and more of a small stall under a snakeskin-patterned awning.

But the seven or eight low tables under the awning were packed with customers, each happily eating from a small pot.

That’s right, this stall specialized in pot noodles.

Seven or eight pots were simmering on the stove, all filled with medicinal broth. When a customer chose one, the stall owner would add noodles to the pot.

Hee Lingchuan ordered the angelica and turtledove soup, served with local cloud-thread fine noodles. The moment the lid was lifted, a fragrant aroma wafted out. The soup inside was a light brown, with only a thin layer of glistening oil on the surface.

One sip revealed a mellow, rich flavor; the medicinal herbs complemented the meat perfectly. The ingredients were stewed so tender that the meat fell off the bone, and even the bones themselves could be chewed and swallowed.

Lured by the enticing aroma, the Three-headed Wind-drilling Beasts wouldn’t mistreat themselves and also ordered something to eat. This was the Demon Kingdom, so seeing Demons eating in town was a common sight. To accommodate their large mouths, the stall owner served them not in pots, but in wide-mouthed bowls.

The goat-like creatures were indeed omnivores, chomping down on the small turtledoves with loud CRUNCHES, one after another, and even asking the owner for more.

Hee Lingchuan slurped down one pot, while they had already finished three bowls. He raised his hand and ordered another flavor of pot soup, this time eating it with small, sweet, hot-water-dough pancakes.

Sweet with savory—the combination was fascinating.

Even better, this stall was directly across from the apothecary he had just visited.

As he was eating his second sweet pancake, he saw the apothecary’s head Shopkeeper emerge and hurry away.

Hee Lingchuan smiled and raised his arm, making a gesture.

A passerby would have just thought he was greeting someone, but in reality, a crow in a nearby tree flapped its wings and took off, following the head Shopkeeper.

’A ready-made spy. A waste not to use it.’

Zhitian Village was full of crows; no one would pay any special attention to its movements.

Only then did Hee Lingchuan ask the stall owner, ”Two more sweet pancakes to go. By the way, this Shuojin Hall has such an impressive storefront. Who is its Master?”

”Everyone in Youtian Town knows that. It’s the Li Family’s business.”

Hee Lingchuan said, ”Oh. So it’s the Li Family.”

After his meal, he went for a walk through Youtian Town’s medicine market.

It was rare to come across a wholesale market for medicinal ingredients. How could he not take the opportunity to restock? The only problem was, with Lingguang absent, Hee Lingchuan’s own quality control wasn’t very reliable.

Strolling, browsing, and buying like this, it was soon time to light the lamps.

Hee Lingchuan waited in the inn for over a double-hour before Jiao Yu returned under the cover of moonlight.

”How did it go?”

”I checked the ledgers at the village Bureau. Ignoring deaths from old age and illness, there were seven young adults who were injured or killed last winter, three who went missing, and two passing merchant caravans that reported their own men dying from sudden illness.” It paused. ”That’s for the humans.”

”As for the Demon Race, the only known deaths were that den of Porcupine Demons. Two Demons entered the town seeking medical treatment, so they were recorded. The rest is unclear.”

’That’s true. If a Demon doesn’t seek treatment, who would know it was injured?’

Hee Lingchuan shook his head. ”You really can’t tell anything from the official records. No wonder Fushan Ji couldn’t solve this case. The mastermind knows the Official Family’s methods too well.”

He recounted his trip to the apothecary. After listening, Jiao Yu said, ”So besides a water source and medicinal herbs, that den of Porcupines’ territory also has a Stone Lattice vein. Their resources are truly abundant.”

”A man’s wealth is his ruin,” Hee Lingchuan said. ”It seems our list of suspects has grown beyond just the Li, Wang, and Tu families.”

He had already found out that those three families were all in the medicinal ingredients business.

But Stone Lattice was little-known locally, so these prominent families might not have been involved with it.

He frowned as he said this. ”But there’s one thing I don’t understand: since the culprit knows our whereabouts, why didn’t they wait until we left Youtian Town or Zhitian Village to make their move?”

”Indeed. Ambushing us so hastily only exposes the fact that they’re active nearby, especially if they fail,” Jiao Yu asked him. ”What’s your plan now?”

”First, muddy the waters. Maybe the big fish will reveal itself,” Hee Lingchuan said to it. ”Lord Jiao, please trouble yourself to fetch Li the Wealthy.”

”Now?” It was already very dark.

”Yes, now,” Hee Lingchuan said firmly. ”That’s precisely the effect I’m going for.”

Jiao Yu was a being of action. Sure enough, it brought Li the Wealthy over in less than half an hour.

Li the Wealthy had been dragged from his sleep. Though he was fully dressed, he still had sleep in the corner of his eyes and was yawning incessantly. He was fifty-seven this year, and despite his careful daily regimen, his energy was no match for a younger man’s.

The fact that the Crown Prince Envoy had summoned him in the middle of the night made his heart pound. He kept trying to subtly ask Jiao Yu if anyone else was being summoned.

’Who could build a business this big and keep their hands completely clean?’

’If all my old deeds were dug up, then...’

Just as he was feeling uneasy, Hee Lingchuan took out a slip of paper with a fake smile and unfolded it in front of his face.

”Someone has reported you.”

...

「The next day, at the end of the Yin Hour.」

The White Stone County Magistrate was dreaming of being promoted and celebrating with a grand feast when he was mercilessly woken by his old family servant.

”My lord, Li the Wealthy and Wang the Wealthy are requesting an audience.”

”Now?” The White Stone County Magistrate rubbed his eyes. Seeing that the sky outside was still dark, he couldn’t help but feel annoyed. ”Have those two gone mad?”

”They said it has something to do with the Messenger case.”

’Messenger?’ The County Magistrate sat on his bed, dazed for a long moment, before his senses slowly returned and he remembered the case of the missing Messenger from Lingxu City.

He had never truly believed that Zhitian Village could have any connection to that case, so he hadn’t given it much thought these past couple of days. ’Why would those two wealthy men come rushing to find me in such a panic?’

”Have them wait in the study.”

Half an hour later, the two local dignitaries, Li and Wang, had already finished a cup of tea by the time the White Stone County Magistrate finally made his leisurely appearance.