After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 152: Chapter 153: The Water Spirit Comes Again

By the time Hee Lingchuan, Captain Li, and the others rushed over, Captain Zhao had already lifted the severed head and bellowed for all to hear, ”Eradicate evil to the last man! The Lui Thief has been executed!”

Beheading the bandit chief of Woling Pass was a major accomplishment.

”Hey...”

Captain Zhao looked over. ”What?”

”Lui Yao died too quickly. He got off easy.” Hee Lingchuan scratched his head. ’This Captain Zhao is a real master at claiming credit. Sigh, not that anyone was trying to compete with him.’

The few remaining Lui Bandits on the field immediately scattered for their lives, no longer able to pose a threat.

Hee Lingchuan, however, felt waves of heat on his neck.

’The Divine Bone Necklace is acting up again?’

’It did the same thing this morning in the Immortal Cave Mansion. It burrowed into the ground and did something, which ended up collapsing the entire place.’

’What treasure has it found now?’ Hee Lingchuan’s spirits lifted, and he tried walking a few steps away.

The farther he walked, the hotter the necklace grew, as if it were screaming at him to turn back.

’What are you running for? There’s treasure here!’

He pretended to be chasing and slashing at bandits, pacing back and forth several times. He discovered that the Divine Bone Necklace only grew quiet when he stood near Lui Yao’s headless corpse.

’In other words, Lui Yao had something on him that the Divine Bone coveted?’

With a quick glance around, Hee Lingchuan squatted and began to rummage through the corpse. He pocketed everything he found inside Lui Yao’s clothes, useful or not. The Ogre was also wearing two rings, and without bothering to check if they were Storage Spaces, Hee Lingchuan yanked them off and put them on his own fingers.

He’d done this sort of thing plenty of times today and had become quite proficient. He was finished in a flash, before anyone even had time to stop him.

Zhao Qinghe coughed twice from the side. ”Eldest Young Master, Captain Zhao is watching you.”

’Looting bodies before the battle is even over... The young master’s behavior is so outrageous.’ Even Zhao Qinghe felt a little embarrassed by association.

Without looking up, Hee Lingchuan could feel Captain Zhao’s gaze, full of displeasure and contempt.

’Looting the boss’s treasures should have been a perk for the Zhechong Prefecture’s soldiers, but this brat beat them to it. If he weren’t the son of a governor from another province, I’d have slapped him twice across the face by now.’

After a few more grabs, Hee Lingchuan stood up and walked away. Fortunately, the Divine Bone Necklace had finally stopped heating up.

This was proof that the item it had targeted was now in Hee Lingchuan’s possession.

With the outcome of the battle decided, Pei Xinyong and the government soldiers gradually stopped fighting.

The soldiers and the bandits stared at each other, both sides seeing the wariness in the other’s eyes.

Lian Deng ran over. Pei Xinyong immediately confronted him, his voice rising several pitches. ”These are the reinforcements you told me about?”

Lian Deng had no choice but to tell the truth. ”General Wu was rescued by the government soldiers. He and the Crocodile God... they both accepted the offer of amnesty!”

He gave a bitter smile. ”From now on, we’ll be drawing a government salary.”

Pei Xinyong gasped, feeling as if the world had gone completely mad.

’Last night, both Wu Shaoyi and the intel from the front lines said that Lui Yao was the one being recruited by the Yuan Royal Court. How did the story completely flip by today, with Wu Shaoyi being the one to join the government’s side?’

’What on earth happened in the last few hours? Or had Wu Shaoyi betrayed them long ago?’

To make matters worse, Captain Zhao’s attitude was quite arrogant. He held his head high and asked, ”Pei Xinyong, will you surrender or not?”

The mist had completely dissipated, and Pei Xinyong could see there were about a thousand government soldiers—fewer than his own men. The problem was that Wu Shaoyi’s former subordinates, the ones Lian Deng had recalled, were now standing with the soldiers.

The numbers on both sides were now roughly equal. What’s more, Pei Xinyong’s own left shoulder was useless, and every movement sent a piercing pain through him.

The atmosphere was incredibly tense.

Hee Lingchuan stepped forward and coughed loudly. ”Lui Yao still has remnants in Desheng Town. The surrendered General Wu Shaoyi is fighting a difficult battle there. How about we set aside our differences and go eliminate those bandits first?”

Captain Zhao had no objection.

After a moment’s hesitation, Pei Xinyong also nodded.

And so, the three forces advanced together, hurrying toward Desheng Town.

Along the way, Zhao Qinghe spotted a furtive shadow in a small grove by the road.

He gave a signal, and a few soldiers from the Supporting Army charged over on horseback.

The rest was predictable. Wu Shaoyi’s troops had been fighting a running battle with the Lui Bandits in Desheng Town. The arrival of the government soldiers immediately tipped the scales of victory in their favor. The Lui Bandits were either killed or fled, though most threw down their weapons and were taken captive.

In the chaos, Pei Xinyong led his men in pursuit of the fleeing bandits. They chased them farther and farther, and soon disappeared from sight.

Hee Lingchuan knew exactly what had happened. The two generals from the Zhechong Prefecture also seemed disinclined to interfere, turning a blind eye.

Pei Xinyong’s forces were quite strong. They had already earned plenty of credit for the day and didn’t want to complicate matters.

In any case, this group of Pei Bandits wouldn’t stay in the area for long. Wherever they ended up, it would be the local officials’ headache to deal with.

After retaking Desheng Town, Captain Zhao left Captain Li to deal with the prisoners. He then dispatched another group of soldiers to Xianling Village in the east, while he himself headed to Qianteng Town with Wu Shaoyi, Hee Lingchuan, and the others.

The rest of the journey was finally peaceful.

Soon, Hee Lingchuan rendezvoused with his family’s caravan.

He had previously sent Fuzzy Peach back with a message, so the Hee Family was eagerly awaiting his return.

Father and son were overjoyed to see each other.

Hee Chunhua pushed through the crowd and spurred his horse toward his son. Grabbing him by the shoulders, he cried, ”You, you rascal!”

He was so overcome with emotion that the words caught in his throat. He couldn’t get anything else out, his handsome, elegant face flushing beet red.

Seeing his father’s reaction, Hee Lingchuan was touched. He gave a sheepish grin. ”Dad, I’m not that easy to kill!”

This time, Hee Chunhua automatically translated his son’s slang. He said through gritted teeth, ”I knew it! You’re a lucky star, too stubborn to die. You can’t even get yourself killed falling off a cliff!”

The rest of the crowd also gathered around, congratulating the Eldest Young Master on escaping death and returning in one piece.

Everyone looked closely at Hee Lingchuan. He had many minor injuries but no major ones, and they all marveled at his luck. Anyone else would have been splattered into paste from such a fall, but he only came back with a few scratches, his face not even marred.

The scene of the father-son reunion was suddenly filled with joy.

Hee Yue rushed up, clapped his brother on the shoulders, and laughed. ”You made it back alive!”

The pressure made Hee Lingchuan hiss and grimace. ”Ow!”

There was an axe wound on his shoulder. The bleeding had long since stopped, but Hee Yue’s clap tore it open again.

Hee Yue jumped, apologized hurriedly, and turned to call for the army medic.

Madam Ying’s eyes grew moist. She looked at her eldest son and murmured, ”As long as you’re back. As long as you’re back!”

Hee Lingchuan grinned, flashing her a set of white teeth. ”Sorry to make you worry, Mother.” Then he pulled the Peach Wood Mirror from his clothes and handed it to Madam Ying. ”This is yours, isn’t it?”

Madam Ying was overjoyed. She took it and caressed it gently. ”You got it back!”

Seeing her eldest son’s face covered in blood and grime, she couldn’t help but lift her handkerchief and gently dab at the blood seeping from a cut on his forehead. ”There’s water in the carriage. Go and wash your face properly.”

The gesture seemed to surprise Hee Chunhua slightly, but Hee Lingchuan just grinned. ”Okay.” He strode to the carriage and had Nanny Qian ladle out some water for him to wipe his face.

Then, Hee Yue returned with the army medic.

After a full night and day of fierce battles and constant running, he was finally lying on a soft brocade mattress. As the medic treated his wounds, Hee Lingchuan couldn’t hold on any longer and fell into a deep sleep.

However, after the medic left, the Divine Bone Necklace on Hee Lingchuan’s chest suddenly began to pulse with a red glow again.

The light was very faint and lasted only for a few moments, so no one noticed.

But the turtle egg hidden in Hee Lingchuan’s clothes suddenly twitched.

...

Hee Lingchuan was sleeping soundly when he seemed to hear an ancient voice in his drowsy state:

”Hee Lingchuan, when you pass the Revived Old Locust Tree at Fengling Ferry, please bury the turtle egg in the hollow among its roots.”

The voice was unfamiliar. Hee Lingchuan found it strange. ’Who is this?’

The speaker seemed to hear his thoughts and said directly, ”I am the Water Spirit of Immortal Spirit Lake. I originally intended to enter your dreams to find you but was barred at the gate. Despite all my pleading and proving my lack of malicious intent, I could only manage to send this single wisp of Divine Thought after immense effort. Heh, it’s this difficult to even approach your Dream Realm. I’ve found the right person indeed.”

’Huh, so this is the Old Turtle Demon?’ Hee Lingchuan remembered he had a life-or-death question to ask it, but for the life of him, he couldn’t recall what it was.

”You are the one I divined would be able to help my true form escape the Crocodile Demon, which is why I am asking for your help,” the voice continued. ”But the great omen of misfortune I divined for you is also by no means false.”

Hee Lingchuan wanted to ask, ’Am I doomed to die?’

”There is no such thing as a foregone conclusion in this world,” the Water Spirit continued. ”It’s just a pity your fate is entangled with a great power, so others cannot probe it. I barely managed to divine a few lines of verse for you, hoping it will help you escape a fatal disaster.”

’More riddles?!’

...

An unknown amount of time later, Hee Lingchuan was shaken awake by Hee Yue. ”We’re here! Get out of the carriage!”

He sat up, muttering something under his breath. Hee Yue thought he heard his brother mumble something about ”hiding weakness” and ”illusion and reality,” and couldn’t help but chuckle. ”What are you mumbling about, big brother?”

”I had a dream. Some old man was in it, just rambling on and on without saying anything useful.” Hee Lingchuan yawned as he jumped down from the carriage, finding the sky full of stars and a gentle evening breeze blowing. He must have slept for at least a few hours.

”Are we at Qianteng Town?”

”We passed Qianteng Town a while ago. We’re in Wuliu County now. Qianteng Town is just a small village with about three hundred people. If the caravan wants to properly resupply, we have to come here,” Hee Yue said with a smile. ”The Wuliu County Magistrate sent a messenger. He wants to host a banquet for us at the Hongtai Building to welcome us and help us settle our nerves.”

”The Wuliu County Magistrate is that eager to please?” Hee Lingchuan was taken aback. ”He’s certainly well-informed.”

”Xianling Village, Qianteng Town, and Desheng Town—all the locations from today’s incident are under the jurisdiction of Wuliu County.” Hee Yue explained as they walked. ”The County Magistrate heard that the rebels massacred a village to rendezvous here and even pursued a high-ranking official of the Royal Court. He expressed his profound shock and wants to extend his sympathies to us.”

’A high-ranking official of the Royal Court? Is he talking about Dad? Heh, right. Hee Chunhua has already received his letter of appointment. Legally, he’s the Governor of Xiazhou, so he is indeed a high-ranking local official.’

’It makes sense for the Wuliu County Magistrate to be so accommodating.’ Thinking this, Hee Lingchuan stretched contentedly and looked around. ”Huh? Why does our group look so small?”

”The county’s posthouse is quite large, and some of the local gentry have offered two manors for our use, free of charge, so all our people have been settled in. Besides, the civilians from Xianling Village already parted ways with us back in Qianteng Town. Wuliu County will be responsible for getting them settled from here on out.”