After the Immortal Disappeared

He had parted ways with the Stone Gate Merchant Team and Lil Qingge in Taian City. While the other two parties continued north, Hee Lingchuan followed a lead, leaving the group and making his way to Shuangyi City.

Before he left, Lil Qingge had even pressed a formula into his hands.

It was an upgraded formula for the Golden Armor Copper Guards, slightly different from the one Hee Lingchuan had obtained in Panlong City.

Songyang Prefecture was renowned for its smithing.

Evidently, after hearing about Hee Lingchuan’s deal with Fushan Yue, she had immediately understood what he needed.

‘That woman is truly remarkable.’

Now that Hee Lingchuan had taken Fushan Yue’s payment, he had to find the whereabouts of the Lingxu City Messenger. The clue he’d obtained in Taian City pointed right here.

Just then, the sound of clanging bells drifted from up ahead.

The sound was strangely captivating. Any resident who heard it dropped what they were doing and rushed toward the source.

Hee Lingchuan even saw a few shopkeepers abandon their stores, craning their necks as they trotted along.

“What’s all the commotion up ahead?” The scene felt familiar.

The Tiger Demon, Jiao Yu, was long accustomed to this sound. He licked his lips and said, “Executing a prisoner, of course.”

That was it. Hee Lingchuan remembered at once. When he had first entered the borders of the Treasure Tree Kingdom, he had witnessed a similar execution. Men and women, old and young, had all scrambled for the best front-row viewing spots, making the town as festive as if it were the New Year.

‘Looks like it’s the same here.’

Hee Lingchuan ambled along with the flow of people and saw a high platform erected at the market’s entrance. The area below was already packed with spectators. On the platform, two constables guarded a prisoner awaiting his sentence while a third read out the charges.

Though he arrived late, he had a fierce tiger at his heels. The townsfolk nearby, both demon and human, automatically gave him a wide berth, none daring to approach.

The officials on the platform noticed them as well. They stared intently for a few moments but found it inconvenient to say anything.

Hee Lingchuan listened in. The charges were no small matter:

Illegally harvesting from an Official Land’s herb field and murdering the demon guard?

The prisoner on the platform had a pockmarked face, a pointy chin, sunken cheeks, and shifty eyes. He looked like a common drifter, and the boldest thing he seemed capable of was harassing the young women on the street.

‘A man like that would dare kill a demon from an Official Family?’

‘Or was this a case of never judging a book by its cover?’

Hee Lingchuan took a few steps to the side and asked an old man who was watching the spectacle with his hands behind his back and his neck craned, “Sir, is that prisoner from around here?”

“Nope.”

Hee Lingchuan thought the lead had gone cold, but the old man continued, “He’s a ‘weasel’ from Baiyang Village. Surname’s Wang. Everyone just calls him Wangg Mazi.”

“‘Weasel’?”

“Oh, that’s local slang around here for a good-for-nothing, a hooligan.” The old man coughed and spat on the ground. “The kid’s gotten gutsy, hasn’t he? Daring to harvest on Official Land and kill one of Master Antelope’s demons?”

‘Master Antelope?’ “What did he used to do?”

“Petty thievery, nothing but worthless deeds.” The old man chuckled. “He’s well into his thirties, and I hear he can’t even find a wife.” Just then, the constable on the platform finished reading the charges and announced the sentence:

Punishment by pecking.

In the Demon Kingdom, illegally harvesting from official lands and mines or stealing military rations were all capital offenses. Local officials didn’t need to seek approval from their superiors; they could pass judgment themselves. The higher-ups would only send someone to review the case files a year or so later.

When Wangg Mazi heard this, his legs gave way, and he screamed:

“I’ve been framed! I’m innocent!”

But what good did it do? He was quickly tied to a pillar in the center of the high platform.

The sound of flapping wings came from the sky above the market entrance. Hee Lingchuan looked up and, to his surprise, saw over a hundred crows circling overhead.

At that moment, a deep, resonant voice suddenly boomed from below the platform:

“Seven or eight of my kinsmen vanished without a trace, and the County Government thinks they can placate us by using this pathetic wretch as a scapegoat?”

Following the voice, Hee Lingchuan saw five or six giant sheep shouldering their way through the crowd.

These were no small, tender-meated mountain goats raised by farmers on the back hills. They were massive beasts, as tall as warhorses and entirely cyan, save for a single black, curved line along their flanks. The leader was over ten feet tall, its body rippling with well-defined muscles.

Hee Lingchuan could tell at a glance that these creatures likely excelled in agility and speed, their primary weapons being the spiral horns on their heads. This pair of great horns jutted forward, their tips as sharp as daggers. They even had a small, secondary point midway up, clearly designed to make an opponent bleed.

It was the first time Hee Lingchuan had ever seen such ferocious-looking sheep. Anyone gored by such a monster would have to have been cursed with the worst luck imaginable.

According to the *Ancient Strange Tales*, this demon was called a “Wind-Drilling Beast.” It was adept at “defying the wind”—no, that is, *killing* in the wind. Its innate talent was “Ling Feng,” the ability to summon wind to increase its speed and reduce its weight.

Like the Bo Beast, this creature was a carnivore.

Hee Lingchuan recalled the book saying that Wind-Drilling Beasts were notoriously ill-tempered; even ferocious beasts often died on their horns. As if to prove the point, the leading giant sheep took a few steps forward, turned its head, and slammed it into the platform, nearly snapping a support pillar.

The officials and the prisoner on the platform cried out in alarm.

Far from getting angry, the official immediately forced a smile. “Master Antelope, why be so angry? The county hasn’t said the case is closed.”

“Not closed?” the giant sheep rumbled. “Are those your words, or the County Magistrate’s?”

The official didn’t dare take responsibility. “After this one is executed according to the law,” he said, “we’ll continue the investigation if more evidence is found!”

The giant sheep glared. “And if you don’t find any, you’ll just drop the case?”

“Of course not! We will absolutely investigate it to the very end!”

Even Hee Lingchuan couldn’t stand such empty platitudes, let alone a Wind-Drilling Beast. “The Government Office is full of nothing but lies and deceit! I’ve tolerated you long enough. Hand the man over now! I’ll take him back and interrogate him myself to find the real killer!”

“What?” The official was taken aback. “Master Antelope, you’re trying to seize a condemned prisoner! That’s a capital crime!”

The Wind-Drilling Beast headbutted the pillar again, clearly in an ‘I’m not listening’ state of mind.

With a loud CRACK, the platform collapsed in a cloud of dust.

The surrounding crowd, human and demon alike, scattered. No one wanted to cross these giant sheep.

The officials and the prisoner tumbled down from the wreckage like gourds.

Standing at a distance, Hee Lingchuan again lowered his voice and asked the old man beside him, “Do the Wind-Drilling Beasts live here too?”

“That whole huge territory on the east side of the county belongs to their clan.” The old man was clearly in the know. “Master Antelope serves as a general at court. When he’s not at war, he returns to his hometown to recuperate. The Wind-Drilling Beast clan carries a lot of weight around here—”

He lowered his voice. “They’re the local tyrants; even the Government Office is afraid of them. The county’s largest and most valuable herb field was even entrusted to them to manage and guard.”

The constable had just scrambled to his feet, coughing nonstop, when another Wind-Drilling Beast lowered its head and went for the prisoner.

But it didn’t gore the prisoner to death. Instead, it bit the ropes binding his hands and yanked the man toward it.

Their prey snatched away, the crows cawed loudly in displeasure. CAW! CAW!

Only then did the crowd realize the crows had been circling without landing because a gray-backed, black-headed Cangying was perched on a rooftop near the platform.

Seizing the opportunity, the prisoner yelled, “I’m truly innocent! Those Spirit Beasts disappeared on their own! It had nothing to do with me! I’m already lame from a fall, so how could I have possibly killed them?”

He limped as he walked, his leg clearly impaired.

Hee Lingchuan had long since learned not to meddle in others’ affairs, but his heart still skipped a beat when he heard the word “disappeared.”

He stepped forward and asked in a loud voice, “How did they disappear?”

Wangg Mazi had been afraid that the onlookers would remain numb and unresponsive, leaving him to perform a one-man show until his death. Now that someone had actually responded, he was as thrilled as a drowning man grasping a straw. “There was a light on the mountainside! They chased after it and just vanished! There must be a more powerful demon there!”

The Wind-Drilling Beast had no intention of letting him argue and began to drag him away.

Just then, two of the crows could no longer resist their craving. They swooped down and jabbed their beaks at Wangg Mazi’s face.

They had intended to peck out his eyes, but Wangg Mazi thrashed his head from side to side, refusing to cooperate. Thus, they only managed to gouge two bloody holes in his face.

Only then did Hee Lingchuan understand what “punishment by pecking” really meant.

With a hundred more crows overhead, if they all descended, Wangg Mazi would truly be pecked to death.

‘The Demon Kingdom’s punishments are certainly creative,’ he thought. ‘This is not much different from death by a thousand cuts.’

He pursed his lips and whistled. The Cangying on the nearby rooftop immediately abandoned its leisurely, spectator-like posture, beat its wings, and swooped down.

As it passed over the collapsed platform, it frightened the two crows into flying back up into the sky.

The Cangying then landed on the great horns of Hee Lingchuan’s mount—a Rock Sheep.

The constable, having come to his senses, brushed the dust off himself and rushed over, shouting, “Master Antelope, don’t be a fool! Release the prisoner!”

General Antelope paid him no mind, simply ordering his subordinate to drag Wangg Mazi away as he turned to leave. The other Wind-Drilling Beasts turned to face the constable, lowering their heads and pawing at the ground in a clear threat to charge.

How could the constable dare to advance?

Just then, a tiger’s roar ripped through the air from behind the crowd!

The soul-shaking roar instantly quelled the chaos.

The old man next to Hee Lingchuan clutched his chest, nearly knocked to the ground by the force of it.

A moment later, the fierce tiger leaped out, took two steps forward, and then spoke in a human voice, “I am the Hundred Mountains Middle Lang General, here on official business. Who dares make a move?”

As the magnificently striped tiger approached, the constable was forced back two steps by its fearsome aura. Only then did he notice the Copper Token tied around its neck, which now pulsed with the distinct glow of Primordial Power.

Upon seeing the words on the Copper Token, the constable was first stunned, then overjoyed. “Lord Baishan, you’ve arrived at the perfect time! Here…”

“Stand down.”

“Yes, sir.” The constable immediately fell silent and retreated with glee.

‘It’s good to have a big shot take over when things go wrong,’ he thought. ‘It’s about time someone put these Wind-Drilling Beasts in their place.’

But he was bound to be disappointed.

The seemingly irascible leader of the Wind-Drilling Beasts didn’t fly into a rage. Instead, he spoke calmly, “Lord Jiao, it has been a while.”

Huh? The onlookers were instantly disappointed.

‘They know each other?’

Jiao Yu nodded to the giant sheep. “General Antelope, the military orders should have arrived. Why haven’t you departed yet?”

“The young of my clan have mysteriously vanished. How can I not see to it?” Master Antelope glanced at the constable and spat on the ground. “Even with me here, this scum dares to shirk responsibility and drag their feet. Once I leave to follow my orders, this case will be completely abandoned, won’t it?”

He then asked Jiao Yu, “You’re not here to investigate the disappearance of my kinsmen, are you?”

He was ill-tempered, but he wasn’t delusional. How could the disappearance of a mere seven or eight Wind-Drilling Beasts be enough to mobilize one of the Eldest Prince’s men?

“No, but it may be related.”

Master Antelope was overjoyed. “Good, good! As long as there’s a connection, that’s enough. You must investigate this thoroughly for me!”

Jiao Yu stepped back to Hee Lingchuan’s side. “This Crown Prince Envoy is the one in charge. I am merely under orders to accompany him.”