After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 160: Chapter 161: I Burned Joss Paper for You

"Ah, I think I was swept away by the water. When I woke up, I was at a farmer’s house," Hee Lingchuan replied vaguely. "I lost all track of time in the mountains. How long has it been?"

"Almost a month now, I’d say." The Panlong Wasteland was vast, so it wouldn’t be strange for Hee Lingchuan to have been washed downstream and holed up somewhere for ten or twenty days. Hu Min didn’t give it much thought. "We all thought you were dead. We even burned offerings for you twice. If you didn’t show up soon, we were planning to do it again on the fifteenth of next month."

Hee Lingchuan patted his shoulder. "Thanks!"

"So, did you hear it?"

"Hear what?"

"When I was burning the offerings, I told you the reason why the Sunx Prefect bolted with those Beast Traps. Remember our agreement?" Hu Min was also chewing on some pork cracklings. "You didn’t hear it?"

"No wonder I kept feeling like someone was whispering in my ear." A look of mock realization dawned on Hee Lingchuan’s face. "So it was you! But I honestly couldn’t hear you clearly."

Back then, the Baling People’s reinforcements had arrived, and their final wagon formation was about to be breached. Hee Lingchuan and Hu Min had made a pact: whichever one of them made it back alive would find out why the Sunx Prefect had fled with the Beast Traps and inform the other by burning offerings.

It had been a spur-of-the-moment joke, spoken in jest, but Hu Min had earnestly followed through.

Hee Lingchuan didn’t know quite what to feel, but it was a sensation he had never experienced in the Supporting Army. He grabbed his wine cup and downed it in one gulp. "So, what was the Sunx Prefect’s reason, then?"

Those two Beast Traps were anything but light; they were forged from pure iron, each weighing several hundred pounds. When the city fell, the Sunx Prefect still went to the trouble of using men and horses to haul those two massive lumps of iron on the road. What on earth was he after?

"It’s utterly ridiculous!" Marinated goose legs were served, and Hu Min grabbed a piece to gnaw on slowly. "After the Sunx Prefect got to Panlong City and took stock of his possessions, he raised hell when he found those two Beast Traps missing. He actually wanted us to go back to the River Valley to retrieve them for him!"

"Heh. Wei City is gone, yet he still acts like this is his personal fiefdom where he can lord over everyone! Commander Xiao didn’t even give him the time of day. I don’t know if the Sunx Prefect ended up sending his own people to find those two chunks of iron."

"But I did ask around among his men. The Sunx Family originally came from a line of hunters. His grandfather used these two iron traps to catch two fierce beasts. One was a Wolf Demon. The other, even more preposterously, was the White Demon King, who had roamed the western Panlong Wasteland for many years!"

"The White Demon King?" The name meant nothing to Hee Lingchuan.

"Sixty years ago, the White Demon King was the dreaded Bear King of the western Panlong Wasteland, a name that made people turn pale. It was said to be a Great Demon that had amassed significant power. It had a taste for human flesh and had devoured the populations of several villages. Wei City sent out Demon Extermination Teams three or four times, but only one or two members ever returned alive. When the Sunx Prefect’s grandfather discovered the White Demon King, it was already dead, its body covered in wounds. Apparently, the Beast Trap had dealt the finishing blow."

"The White Demon King’s hide, gallbladder, paws, and teeth all sold for a fortune. The Sunx Family used this windfall to start acquiring land. The old man hired a fortune-teller who declared that the family’s luck was entirely thanks to these two iron traps. So, they enshrined the traps in their ancestral hall. Later, the Sunx Prefect’s father bought an abandoned mine that the officials had decommissioned, but who knew it would turn out to produce high-purity iron ore? As you know, weapons and grain are the hard currency in the Panlong Wasteland, so his family struck it rich yet again, no question. And we don’t even need to talk about the current Sunx Prefect’s generation—he became a Prefect himself. So you tell me, are those iron traps lucky or what?"

Seeing the mischievous glint in Hu Min’s eyes, Hee Lingchuan wisely refrained from calling them "lucky" and simply smiled. "They’re certainly two remarkable items. They even saved our lives as a bonus."

If the trap hadn’t snapped Meng Shan’s leg, stopping that monster of a man would have cost them dearly.

"Exactly. That’s why the Sunx Prefect took them when he fled, hoping his family’s good luck would follow." Hu Min slapped his thigh. "Heh, maybe his recent troubles are precisely because he lost those two lucky charms."

"How so?"

"His family bought a magnificent mansion in southern Panlong City, only to discover after moving in that the original owner had used it as collateral for a massive debt before skipping town. Now, creditors are showing up with IOUs, demanding payment from the Sunx Prefect. They’re threatening to sue if he doesn’t pay up." Hu Min took a sip of wine. "What’s more, he arrived with three or four hundred of his own City Guard Army troops. Panlong City doesn’t permit private citizens to maintain such a large armed force. The Sunx Family was allowed to keep ten bodyguards; the rest had to be disbanded and incorporated into the city’s own City Guard Army."

Hee Lingchuan shook his head. "The Sunx Prefect must have people searching every inch of that river valley for those two iron traps by now."

"He’s been clamoring to see Lord Zhong to get some justice, but this isn’t Wei City, where his word is law," Hu Min said languidly. "Over the years, countless nobles from the surrounding areas have moved to Panlong City seeking refuge. A good number of them still think they can lord over others here. Heh, they can dream on!"

"Housing in Panlong City must be expensive, then?"

The waiter brought over a dish of smoked and braised pig’s head meat, garnished with cilantro. Overhearing their conversation, he chimed in with a proud air:

"You bet it is! In the entire Panlong Wasteland, this is the safest place. Huge numbers of outsiders migrate here every year!"

Who wouldn’t yearn for a peaceful and stable life?

Panlong City was the safest, so it naturally attracted the largest population.

Hee Lingchuan asked curiously, "With so many people, is there even room to house them all?"

"It’s manageable for now. The city itself has long been full, but the Chipa Plateau is vast. More people means more hands to clear land and work the mines. Lord Zhong himself said that Panlong City is only in danger when its population dwindles."

The most crucial element of war is, inevitably, people.

Hu Min added, "The housing in Panlong City is divided into fifteen tiers. There are five tiers of luxury homes, but even a first-tier luxury home cannot exceed ten mu. There are also nine tiers of common residences. These are generally for officials, soldiers, and common citizens, allocated by the authorities. Only the fourth and fifth tiers of luxury homes can be freely bought and sold."

"What’s the last type?" Hee Lingchuan had only heard fourteen mentioned.

"There’s one more, known as the Humble Abode. It’s where slaves and prisoners of war are housed."

Hee Lingchuan understood. Panlong City was, after all, in a perpetual state of war. Unlike ordinary regions where people, money, and goods could flow freely, the laws enacted here were necessarily strict and controlling.

He sighed. Just staying alive was difficult enough; Panlong City was being forced to play life on hard mode.

Hearing his sigh, Hu Min looked over. "I heard you’re one of the Tusu People?"

He had indeed told Commander Xiao that. Hee Lingchuan nodded.

"So you’ll be settling down in Panlong City, then?" From Hu Min’s point of view, there was no reason not to.

Hee Lingchuan took a swig of wine and a bite of meat, answering noncommittally, "It’s a thought."

’I just entered through a dream. Does that count as settling down?’

"Then that’s simple! You earned great merit helping the civilians of Wei City evacuate. Commander Xiao said it himself at the time: you’d get a rank, grain, and land! Panlong City has always been clear about its rewards and punishments; those rewards are waiting for you, safe and sound. I’ll take you to collect them later!"

As the wine flowed, the two became fast friends, and Hu Min puffed out his chest, promising to take care of everything.

Hee Lingchuan was dumbfounded. "You mean I’m getting a title and property here?"

’A promotion, a raise, and buying land, all in one step? It’s happening so fast, it’s like a dream come true. In my previous life, this was the extent of my ambitions.’

’Oh, right. I *am* in a dream right now.’

Hu Min clapped his shoulder. "In Panlong City, military merit gets you everything!"

Merits earned by risking one’s life naturally deserve a great reward.

"So war is the fastest way to build a reputation?"

"That’s for sure!"

The two raised their cups to each other, and another person came to Hee Lingchuan’s mind.

"By the way, what was done with Meng Shan?" That brute had caused the Great Wind Army a world of trouble, but he was immobilized after the Beast Trap shattered his leg. The Great Wind Army had disarmed him and then ignored him; they must have been too busy to deal with him then. He wondered what happened afterward. "Did they just execute him?"

"Eh, not quite." Hu Min chuckled. "The Red General took a look at him and thinks he’s a talent worth molding, so he’s been locked up and is recovering from his injuries. His leg was trapped for so long they nearly had to saw it off. His recovery is going to be slow."

"He’ll surrender?"

"He’s not willing yet, but who’s to say what will happen down the line," Hu Min said. "Panlong City has taken in many a surrendered general. We have our ways."

"And none of them have ever defected again?" Hee Lingchuan asked, intrigued. "Men’s hearts are fickle. You might end up with a shameless turncoat on your hands."

Hu Min smiled. "None so far."

This reminded Hee Lingchuan of a question he’d been pondering for a while. "By the way, when I entered the city, I noticed the guards at the gate were quite relaxed. People and goods passed through with ease. Isn’t Panlong City afraid of spies sneaking in?"

The strongest fortresses are often breached from within. Woling Pass had proven this at least twice.

And yet, Panlong City had stood firm for thirty-two years without ever having such a problem. It wasn’t just Hee Lingchuan; nations in later eras would wonder how it was accomplished.

"We’re not afraid." Hu Min picked up a piece of the pig’s head meat, chewing it slowly. "Anyone with ill intentions toward Panlong City reveals their true colors the moment they step through the gates. No one is clear on the exact mechanism. All you need to know is this: spies and infiltrators simply can’t get in through the main entrance."

Hee Lingchuan drew out a long "Ohhh," looking as if he only half-understood.

Of course, three words came to his mind:

Three Corpses Insect.

By this point, Zhong Shengguang had already successfully propitiated the deity. The Mitian God had gifted him the Grand Square Pot, which meant the Three Corpses Insect was now an extremely powerful and versatile tool.

Used properly, it would make Panlong City all the more formidable.

Hee Lingchuan’s gaze shifted slightly. "By the way, when did the Red General appear?"

"Umm... about three years ago."

’In other words, the Panlong Wasteland became an exclave again three or four years ago. If time were counted from when Zhong Shengguang took control of Panlong City and began to resist foreign invaders, then the current year should be around the fifteenth or sixteenth of the Panlong Calendar.’ Hee Lingchuan shook his head inwardly. ’A weak motherland is a source of immense suffering and torment for the soldiers and civilians guarding the frontiers.’

Hu Min added, "Come to think of it, many of Panlong City’s new regulations were only enacted three or four years ago. For instance, the housing tier system I just told you about used to have only three or four tiers, but now it’s been expanded to fifteen. There are tons of detailed rules like that; you’ll get to know them in time."

"I’ve always been curious—what’s the Red General really like?" he asked, attentively refilling Hu Min’s cup and putting on the air of an eager student.

Hu Min raised his cup and downed it. "It’s hard to say. In any case, you’ll understand when you meet them."