After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 386: Chapter 385: Cat and Mouse

Each Snake Scale was larger than a copper coin, and far harder. Even the youth’s subordinates would have struggled to damage one with a full-force blow.

But when the youth bit down, the Snake Scale shattered with a CRUNCH. In his jaws, it was as brittle as a potato chip.

With two more quick bites, several Snake Scales were gone, revealing the supple snakeskin beneath.

The Giant Python sensed something was wrong. The body it had coiled around felt like a wooden stick, lacking the softness and elasticity of flesh and blood.

Forget a human body—it should have been able to crush even a log this thick.

Then, it felt the agony of its scales being ripped off. A glance revealed the youth opening his mouth again, biting down on the fresh wound.

His neat white teeth had transformed into sharp, pointed fangs, like those of a shark.

The Giant Python was overcome with an indescribable agony, as if all its flesh and blood were being sucked into the youth’s mouth.

To the onlookers, its plump body began to shrivel, and the Snake Scales around the wound started flaking off in patches.

The Giant Python shrieked in pain and spat a mouthful of Cyan Flame at the youth.

This wasn’t fire, but a Miasma brewed from the acid in its stomach. It was highly corrosive; contact would cause skin to split and flesh to tear in excruciating pain.

As the Miasma washed over him, the flesh on the youth’s face and neck corroded away, revealing the raw, red muscle beneath. Yet he remained unmoved, merely closing his eyes.

The Giant Python, now out of tricks, released the youth and fled toward the woods.

”Fuck, that hurt like hell. And you think you can run?” The black-clad youth wasn’t about to let it escape. He yanked it back and resumed his gruesome feast.

Feeling itself go limp like a leather sack, the Giant Python screamed, ”I am a Special Envoy from the Waling Kingdom! Kill me, and there will be consequences! Neither the Waling Kingdom nor the Treasure Tree Kingdom will spare you!”

The youth released his bite, a look of astonishment on his face. ”What? You’re not from the Shanyu Kingdom?”

”No, no! I’m an envoy from the Waling Kingdom!”

”Your talisman? Let me see it.”

The Giant Python spat out a Rattan Staff.

Someone stepped forward, picked it up, and respectfully handed it to the youth.

He took it and examined it closely against the light. ”Hmm, it really is a Waling Envoy’s Rattan Staff.”

His voice was thick with regret.

”You’ve got the wrong person!” The Giant Python struggled to pull its tail free. ”Let me go, and my kingdom will overlook this.”

”So you’re a Special Envoy too, just not the one I was looking for.” The youth smacked his lips, a hint of disappointment in his voice. ’I’ve already eaten half of you... Ah well, might as well finish the job.’ With that, he grabbed the snake’s body and bit down hard.

The Giant Python’s pleas were useless. Amidst the dripping of fresh blood, it was reduced to little more than an empty sack.

Despite devouring so much flesh and blood, the black-clad youth’s stomach showed no signs of swelling. He simply let out a burp, and the wounds on his face healed over.

He tossed the snake’s corpse aside and casually wiped his mouth.

”This thing wasn’t from Shanyu. I got my hopes up for nothing. Fuu Jiu, didn’t you say the Shanyu Kingdom’s Special Envoy would also pass through the Three-Heart Plateau?”

The region encompassing Three-Heart Lake and its surrounding forest was known as the Three-Heart Plateau.

The man he called Fuu Jiu replied, trembling, ”Young Master, the intelligence I gathered was absolutely solid. If they didn’t show, it’s most likely... most likely because of the Emperor’s Liquid.”

The Emperor’s Liquid was bound to disrupt every envoy’s itinerary.

”Most likely?” The black-clad youth chuckled coldly. ”Does that mean your intel wasn’t clear? You tell me what your punishment should be.”

A thin sheen of sweat appeared on Fuu Jiu’s forehead. ”I still have tasks to perform for you, Young Master. How about I sever one of my own fingers?”

The black-clad youth considered it. ”Fine. I’ll let it slide this once.”

Fuu Jiu gritted his teeth and, as if afraid the youth would go back on his word, swiftly drew a knife and chopped off one of his fingers.

His pinky, of course.

”We’ll head to Fufeng City, then.” ’Where else are we going to find our target in these desolate mountains? Better to just go to the destination and wait.’ ”But for now,” he announced, ”first we find that Emperor’s Liquid Paste!”

Celestial and Earthly Treasures belong to the worthy.

No matter who had the Emperor’s Liquid Paste, he was grateful to them for holding onto it for him for so long.

The black-clad youth pointed northeast and asked the crow in the treetop, ”You said he went that way?”

Seeing how easily he’d dispatched the Giant Python, the crow’s confidence surged. It hopped to the spot where Hee Lingchuan had vanished into the woods. ”He went right between these two trees!”

The black-clad youth walked over, closed his eyes, and took a deep sniff. He seemed to analyze the scents in his mind for a moment before speaking. ”That’s it. Besides the rich fragrance, there’s also the human scent from the lake! This guy was busy all night; he must be covered in Emperor’s Liquid!”

”Clean up and follow, quickly.” With that, he plunged into the forest, following the scent.

In the rugged mountain forest, his speed surpassed even that of a galloping horse.

The crow hastily flapped its wings in pursuit.

But after flying less than a few hundred yards, it realized with annoyance that it had lost him again!

...

Hee Lingchuan was indeed retreating to the northeast.

Here, towering trees reached for the sky, and the canopy was so dense you couldn’t see a palm-sized patch of sky. It was exactly the kind of terrain he needed.

His horse was gone, but the tiger controlled by the Evil Ghost was still with him. With the Mirror suppressing it, the Tiger Demon wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon.

He used the great tiger as a mount, galloping for several miles.

Only when the trees ahead began to thin did he leap off the tiger’s back. He found a large tree and climbed it, not stopping until he was more than fifty feet off the ground, where he found a comfortable branch to settle on.

The tree was lush with branches and leaves, and the branch he’d chosen offered an excellent vantage point right near an animal trail.

Through gaps in the leaves above, he saw the crow fly overhead several times, cawing in frustration.

He’d chosen to stop here because if he went any farther, he wouldn’t be able to get a clear ”live feed” from his Eye Spider.

Seeing so many Martial Artists and Demons slaughtering one another over the rumor spread by the crow, he congratulated himself on his wise decision to leave early.

The black-clad youth’s deduction had been correct, too. Hee Lingchuan had indeed been thinking that once the fighting by the lake died down, he might be able to circle back and pick up some spoils.

But since he had a divine ”peeping” artifact like the Eye Spider, he didn’t need to get close to watch. That’s why he hadn’t been flushed out by the black-clad youth’s Purple Gold Hammer. Instead, the stealthy Giant Python had drawn the short straw.

But the moment the black-clad youth appeared, Hee Lingchuan had been on high alert.

’He has a handsome human face, but this guy isn’t human at all, is he?’

’What normal person has eyes and fangs like that?’

After the black-clad youth finished off the Giant Python, Hee Lingchuan overheard his conversation with the crow and immediately leaped from the tree, mounted the tiger, and urged it into a frantic sprint.

From what he’d seen, the black-clad youth had dealt with the Giant Python with ease. He definitely had more cards up his sleeve.

Hee Lingchuan wasn’t confident he could take this guy on.

Most importantly, he was carrying a priceless treasure. He was the jade vessel; he wasn’t about to shatter himself against a mere clay pot. Holding such a rich haul of Emperor’s Liquid, he had no desire for a death match with some unknown powerhouse.

He had planned to use Lord Boshan’s Invisible Snake Skin to get away, but the guy’s nose was sharper than a hound’s. He could conceal his own aura, but there was no hiding the scent of the Emperor’s Liquid.

Hee Lingchuan pondered as he urged the tiger on, and he soon devised a plan.

He made a wide turn.

If the crow could have seen him from the sky, it would have noticed him tracing a giant U-turn, heading back toward Three-Heart Lake.

He even barged into the territory of two other Demons along the way, earning two angry warnings.

They were two enormous wild boars, nearly the size of the tiger he rode.

Behind them was a huge burrow.

As everyone knows, wild boars like to live in dens.

The moment Hee Lingchuan saw the burrow, he stopped in his tracks, and the tiger halted as well.

The two Wild Boar Demons immediately snorted at him, a clear warning to get lost. Their four small eyes were bloodshot, and foam flecked their mouths from a whole night of agitation.

But to their surprise, Hee Lingchuan suddenly stripped off his outer shirt and pants, moving too quickly for them to react.

The two Pig Demons were dumbfounded. The snorts died in their throats.

’Is this something we’re allowed to see?’

Then, the shirt and pants flew straight at them.

The boars moved to furiously headbutt the clothes away, but the moment their snouts twitched, they caught the scent of Emperor’s Liquid.

Huh?

Hmm?

Overjoyed, the two boars snatched the clothes and scrambled to stuff them into their burrow. After all, that outfit had been soaking in the Emperor’s Liquid Rain all night long.

Now that dawn was breaking and the Spirit Rain had stopped, this was an unexpected windfall. They would take it into their den to savor.

They waddled back inside, and Hee Lingchuan, now in his underclothes, rode the tiger in a circle around the burrow before continuing his charge toward the lake.

...

About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the black-clad youth arrived at the spot.

He frowned, looking at the burrow in the dense forest.

He had tracked the scent all the way here, and it was strongest inside the burrow.

’Did the target hide in there?’

’It seems... plausible.’

’With dawn approaching, anyone, be they Demon or human, would be looking for a safe place to absorb their gains from the night.’

’Besides, how would the target know he was being followed?’

So, after a brief hesitation, the black-clad youth ducked down and crawled into the burrow.

He was inside for nearly ten minutes.

No one outside knew what happened in the burrow, but a series of high-pitched squeals echoed from within.

The saying ”squeal like a stuck pig” must have originated from a scene just like this.

A while later, the youth emerged, his face grim.

His clothes were black, so the bloodstains didn’t show, but he reeked of gore, and a few drops had spattered his face.

The burrow had been too narrow to dodge in.

The first thing he did upon emerging was look up at the sky.

’Not much time left.’

The black-clad youth scouted the area and finally picked up the scent again.

He moved even faster this time. As he sped past two grazing deer, they merely looked up in confusion, unsure what had just happened.

After a mad dash of several hundred yards, a clear animal trail led into a bamboo forest.

The youth had just reached it when the ground beneath him shook. BOOM! The earth exploded.

The blast was powerful, gouging a two-foot-deep crater at its epicenter and sending dirt from a twenty-foot radius flying into the air before it rained back down.

The noise was deafening, sending nearby birds and beasts scattering in terror.

The black-clad youth was thrown more than ten feet, but he rolled to his feet the moment he landed, apparently uninjured.

His clothes and shoes, however, were shredded. He looked so pathetic now that if he were to set a broken bowl on a street corner in Fufeng City, some kind soul would surely toss him a coin.

’I was... too hasty.’ If he hadn’t been in such a rush, he would have smelled the gunpowder hidden on the path.

He paid it no mind and continued his pursuit past the bamboo forest.

But the view before him suddenly opened up—

The path was gone. Directly ahead lay the vast, mist-shrouded main body of Three-Heart Lake.