After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 148: Chapter 149: The Advantage of Primordial Power

Lian Deng didn’t even need to dismount. He tilted his head, observed for a moment, and said, ”The Official Army’s convoy went this way.”

The Western Route had many forks; the Official Army must have gone to great trouble to choose this path.

Further ahead, giant trees lay toppled by the roadside, strewn about chaotically.

”Huh, there are marks on the ground from something heavy being moved,” Lian Deng said, looking down closely. ”Incredibly heavy. The top layer of sand and dirt has been scraped clean off.”

”From these giant trees?” Hee Lingchuan dismounted to inspect the huge firs. ”The cuts are fresh, the sap isn’t dry. They were felled less than a double-hour ago.”

”The Official Army used them to block the road. Smart.”

Despite saying this, both felt a little uneasy. ’We’re already this close to the Official Army—less than a double-hour’s journey.’ So, what about Lui Yao?

How far was he from the Official Army?

Hee Lingchuan’s expression was grim. ”Let’s move faster.”

After crossing another slope, a thick fog rushed to meet them.

”What a thick fog!” Lian Deng said in frustration. ”I can’t even see the path.”

Hee Lingchuan glanced at him, his eyes filled with doubt. ”You can’t see?”

”Yeah, it’s almost so thick I can’t see my hand in front of my face,” Lian Deng said, surprised. ”You don’t think so? Hey, you’re glowing.”

”Glowing?” Hee Lingchuan looked down and, sure enough, saw a faint, hazy shimmer of light emanating from his body.

’Primordial Power?’

This meant he was already very close to the Official Army in a straight line, within the effective range of Hee Chunhua’s Society Command.

When they set out from Black Water City, Hee Chunhua had temporarily inducted his eldest son into the army, promoting him to Deputy Captain. It wasn’t exactly favoritism; it was a trivial military post, but being in the ranks qualified him to receive the Primordial Power boost.

’What here requires Primordial Power?’ In Hee Lingchuan’s eyes, there was only a very, very thin layer of mist drifting through the mountain forest, not enough to obstruct his vision.

No sooner had he thought this than Lian Deng started walking toward the woods on the right. Hee Lingchuan grabbed him. ”What are you doing?”

Lian Deng looked completely baffled. ”Walking.”

”The path is this way,” Hee Lingchuan said, pointing straight ahead. ”Where are you trying to go?”

”Isn’t that a cave?”

”...” Hee Lingchuan understood now. ”Just follow me. I don’t know what kind of array Dad set up, but you need the Primordial Power boost to see the real path.”

Lian Deng had no choice but to obediently comply, clicking his tongue in amazement as he walked.

”My goodness, aren’t we about to walk straight into a tree?”

And then they walked right through it.

Although Wu Shaoyi planned to submit to the Royal Court, he hadn’t met with Hee Chunhua yet and hadn’t officially become part of the Official Army. Therefore, neither Wu Shaoyi nor his men could enjoy the Primordial Power boost. From Lian Deng’s perspective, Hee Lingchuan was leading him either straight into trees or through mountainsides. Sometimes, it was even more outrageous—he’d walk straight toward a cliff shrouded in white clouds, making Lian Deng’s heart tremble in his chest.

In the end, the two of them were perfectly fine, without a single problem.

’It must be nice to have the Primordial Power boost.’ Lian Deng sighed, reminiscing about the days when he, too, could enjoy its benefits.

As they walked, Hee Lingchuan suddenly stopped and let out a soft sound of surprise.

”What’s wrong?” To Lian Deng, it looked like they were about to walk into a cliff face.

”I see Lui Yao. He’s on the mountain path across the cliff,” Hee Lingchuan said grimly. ”Pei Xinyong is with him, followed by a large contingent of men. At least seventeen or eighteen hundred, maybe more.”

He kept his voice very low. In this terrain, with its winding, parallel cliffs, sound echoed easily in the valley.

Right now, he and the Rebel Army across the way were on opposite sides of a deep chasm, their paths running almost parallel. Though separated by the abyss, their lines of sight were completely unobstructed.

At least, that was the case for Hee Lingchuan. He could clearly see every single person on the mountain path opposite him.

Lian Deng whispered, ”Are they walking in circles, too?”

”...No!” Hee Lingchuan said after a moment of observation. ”They’re on the right path. No detours, no circles.”

Lian Deng said in surprise, ”But that’s not right, is it?” They were both part of the Rebel Army. He was being deceived by the illusion, but Lui Yao wasn’t. What kind of twisted logic was that?

Hee Lingchuan sneered. ”He’s holding a cloth strip, and the other end is in the sky... Hmm, I see the Red Falcon now. The creature is flying up there, guiding them out of the fog.”

Lian Deng had a sudden realization. ”Of course! A bird of prey flying high in the sky—the array can’t fool its eyes!”

Since the Red Falcon could see through it, the array naturally couldn’t trap Lui Yao.

’What should we do?’

”From this distance, can you shoot it down?”

Lian Deng shook his head decisively. ”It’s too far. If we were closer, maybe. Uh, actually, my archery isn’t particularly outstanding.”

Hee Lingchuan shot him a contemptuous glance. ’Is that his euphemistic way of saying ”terrible”?’

’I give you a chance, and you’re useless!’

”There’s a small path on the side. Let’s get closer first, then figure something out.” The Official Army’s column was moving slowly; at this rate, it was only a matter of time before the Mountain Bandits caught up.

The two spurred their horses, circling around the massive, switchback cliff. A few hundred yards behind the Rebel Army, another small path led deeper into the mountains.

The path was uneven and thick with branches. The horses struggled on for a few hundred yards before they could go no further.

Hee Lingchuan and Lian Deng had no choice but to abandon their horses and proceed on foot.

They were now rushing through the forest on the mountainside, moving almost parallel to the Rebel Army but about forty or fifty feet higher in elevation.

They didn’t climb to the ridge because it was bare, making it impossible to hide from the Red Falcon’s sharp eyes.

’There’s a chance!’ Although Lui Yao and his men were on horseback, the Red Falcon’s guidance changed direction constantly, so they didn’t dare gallop. The road conditions were complex, after all.

With one guide in the sky and the other on the ground, a frequent problem was that the trees by the path were too tall, and the cloth strip would occasionally get snagged on the treetops...

Whenever this happened, the Red Falcon had to adjust its flight path, circle back to free the tangled strip, and then resume leading the way. Otherwise, it might lead its master into a ditch.

Hee Lingchuan quietly explained the situation to Lian Deng, then said, ”When that happens, it has to fly lower. We can use that. We’re closer to the treetops—within eighty feet. Can you hit it?”

He was even overestimating with eighty feet; the treetops ahead were at most sixty feet high.

”I can!” Lian Deng was confident now. ”I could hit it with a slingshot!”

”Alright, keep up.”

The two quietly tailed the side of the Rebel Army, using the dense canopy to hide themselves while waiting for an opportunity.

Heaven was indeed kind to Hee Lingchuan.

Not even half an incense stick’s time later, the opportunity arrived.

This time, the cloth strip accidentally snagged on a giant camphor tree.

It was so large that the Red Falcon had a hard time avoiding it.

Lui Yao realized the strip was firmly snagged. After tugging it twice to no avail, he whistled to alert the falcon above.

Hearing the signal, the Red Falcon descended, preparing to circle around the branch and pull the strip free.

If it couldn’t be pulled free, the bandits would have to climb the tree to untie it themselves—this had happened once before, so Lui Yao had reminded the bird to be extra careful.

For Hee Lingchuan and his companion, standing on the cliffside thirty or forty feet above the rebels on the ground, this moment was a godsend.

’It’d be a crime to miss.’

Seeing the Red Falcon fold its wings and dive toward the treetop, Hee Lingchuan’s voice was as soft as a mosquito’s buzz. ”Now!”

They were too close to the Rebel Army. If Lui Yao and his men discovered them, they weren’t confident they could escape.

The two of them had rushed to this spot. Without even pausing to catch his breath, Lian Deng took a deep inhale, unslung the bow from his back, nocked an arrow, aimed, and let it fly with a WHOOSH!

Success or failure all came down to this one shot.

The sound of the arrow cutting through the air was faint, but unfortunately, the Red Falcon was incredibly alert. Before the feathered shaft could even touch it, the bird spread its wings slightly, flipped its body, and managed to dodge it by a hair’s breadth!

The arrow practically grazed its belly as it flew past.

However, a miss was a miss.

The hearts of both men sank.

’This is bad. Not only did we miss the target, but the Red Falcon is going to sound an alarm. Then we’ll have seventeen or eighteen hundred bandits down there swarming us. They could finish us off any way they please.’

’Useless! Useless, useless, useless!’ Hee Lingchuan cursed inwardly. He watched as the Red Falcon, after its flip, turned its head, looked toward their hiding spot, and opened its sharp beak, about to cry out.

’No, I have to shut it up!’ He subconsciously drew the Broken Blade from his waist and hurled it with all his might.

Although the blade was thrown with great speed, its path was wobbly. It carved a wide arc through the air, flying behind the Red Falcon, which naturally paid it no mind.

Who would have thought that the blade would naturally loop around and come back.

The Red Falcon turned to dodge, but it was too late.

The two men watched as a puff of blood-mist erupted in midair. The Red Falcon let out a screech and fell straight down!

’That... That actually worked?’

Both men were stunned.

Hee Lingchuan’s mouth fell open subconsciously. He looked at his right hand.

’The hand of a god.’

”Run!” Lian Deng had no time to give him a thumbs-up. He grabbed Hee Lingchuan’s arm and yanked him forward. ”Go! If we don’t go now, we’ll be mincemeat!”

Without another word, the two of them bolted for the ridge, breaking into a frantic sprint.

Naturally, Hee Lingchuan led the way, with Lian Deng following close behind. The thick fog was their best cover; once they got far enough away, they would be safe.

Down below, the Rebel Army also realized something was wrong. Lui Yao stepped forward and caught the Red Falcon, seeing that half a wing was gone. A long gash ran down one side of its abdomen, so deep its entrails were visible, but he couldn’t tell what the weapon had been.

’Was it an arrow? It doesn’t look like it.’

Heartbroken and furious, he pointed straight ahead. ”Someone’s there!”

The rebel soldiers charged forward.

But Pei Xinyong pointed to the right, his voice low and serious. ”I heard footsteps over there, and falling pebbles.”

”Inside the array, I’m afraid even our hearing is being distorted!” Lui Yao, though furious, kept his wits about him. He said without hesitation, ”Split up and chase them! Watch your step!”

The two leaders said no more. Each grabbing an end of the fallen cloth strip, they split up to give chase, one leading his men forward, the other to the right.

They both understood the situation perfectly. The Red Falcon was critically injured and could no longer guide them. The only option now was to capture the ambusher and force them to lead the way; it was the only chance the rebels had to escape the fog.

The only ones who could have injured the Red Falcon inside the fog were the Official Army’s Scouts.

Meanwhile, as Hee Lingchuan ran along the ridge, Lian Deng panted, ”Brother Chuan, you have an incredible skill with Flying Blades like that, so why didn’t you show it off earlier? Did you have to watch me make a fool of myself first?”

Hee Lingchuan gave a couple of dry chuckles. ”I’ve never practiced. It was a wild throw.” He hadn’t really thought about it at the time.

Lian Deng’s face scrunched up. ’A wild throw could be that accurate? How was he, someone who had actually practiced, supposed to feel?’

Hee Lingchuan then recalled the arc the Broken Blade had carved, how it had been both beautiful and bizarre, striking the Red Falcon with a sneak attack from behind.