After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 167: Chapter 168: The Spirit Rain Comes to Panlong Wasteland

The Kuzhu County Magistrate, acting on behalf of the Yuan Royal Court, immediately enfeoffed it as the Hongchuan Water Spirit. He took out a Document, dashed it off, and had the creature stamp it with its thick fish lips. Then he took out his own yuan coins and Official Seal to apply his stamp.

The moment the seal was pressed, the large black fish flashed with a green light, signaling the completion of the process. A new Water Spirit was born.

Only then did the soldiers push the last fattened pig into the water.

The black fish bit down on it and sank into the depths of the pool, disappearing from sight.

The Kuzhu County Magistrate, looking somewhat weary, came over to thank Hee Chunhua. Without the support of the Supporting Army, his ceremony wouldn’t have gone off so splendidly.

With the new Water Spirit in place, the Hongchuan River would be much more peaceful. Fengling Ferry could now reopen, and the merchants who had been waiting on the banks happily boarded the boats.

Taking advantage of a bit of free time, Hee Lingchuan wandered around Fengling Ferry. He discovered a particularly conspicuous old locust tree growing on a sandbar about three hundred zhang from the ferry crossing.

There were many locust trees here, but Hee Lingchuan’s gaze was immediately drawn to this one, for it was truly special:

It was thunderstruck wood.

The old locust tree had once been enormous, its trunk requiring four people to encircle it. It had grown for who knew how many years before Celestial Thunder took a disliking to it and struck it several times. The top branches were all gone, and the entire tree was nearly reduced to charcoal.

But life is just that tenacious. From the locust tree’s charred, lifeless-looking main trunk, new shoots had actually sprouted, growing into new branches...

The new branches and trunk were much smaller than the mother tree, but they were thriving and full of vitality from top to bottom.

Hee Lingchuan finally understood what the Old Turtle Demon had meant by the "Revived Old Locust Tree." It was indeed recognizable at a glance.

And it grew on a sandbar, far from prying eyes.

He walked a few circles around the tree but didn’t find the Tree Cave. He wasn’t discouraged, though.

’If the Tree Cave were that easy for me to find, then other birds and beasts would have discovered it too.’

Hee Lingchuan felt around the charred trunk, found a depression at the base of the roots, and took out his Broken Blade to start digging in the sand.

The sand was loose and easy to dig. Hee Lingchuan dug deeper and deeper.

Soon, he discovered a large hole beneath the roots, but it was normally buried under the sand. Only a few crabs were dozing inside.

He tossed the crabs out, took out the turtle egg and placed it inside. After a moment’s thought, he gathered some water weeds to cover the egg and then placed a small bottle of Pills next to it.

’Might as well see it through.’

Then, he refilled the hole with sand, completely covering the Tree Cave. The water current would do the rest, smoothing the area over until, just like before, there was no trace of the Tree Cave’s existence.

Having done this, he had fulfilled the Turtle Demon’s request.

"Farewell, then." He dusted the sand from his hands, now understanding why the turtle egg had to hatch here:

This old locust tree was able to return from the brink of death, so its Life Force must be incredibly resilient. This was the power the Turtle Demon needed to hatch for a second time.

’Perhaps the Turtle Demon grew up here in the first place. After all, the locust tree was much older than it was.’

Just then, Hee Yue called out to his elder brother from a distance, "Brother, the boat’s leaving!"

"We’ll meet again if fate allows. I hope by then you’ve found the broad path of Cultivation." Hee Lingchuan patted the charred wood, stood up, and left.

The Supporting Army also boarded boats at Fengling Ferry, riding the surging river toward Shihuan City.

***

Hee Lingchuan stretched and sat up in bed.

He was still groggy when someone outside shouted, "STREET—CORNER—PROCLAMATION—"

’What a familiar cadence.’

The hand he had stretched out almost forgot to retract. He looked out the window. The sky was darkening, and the vat in the yard was full of water.

’A vat?’

He remembered falling asleep on the boat. The last thing he heard was the sound of waves gently lapping against the hull, not a noisy street.

’In other words, I’ve entered Panlong City again, and—’

Hee Lingchuan scrambled to the doorway in a few quick steps and stood in the middle of the street. Sure enough, the announcement was the same as before: the Emperor’s Liquid was coming, and Panlong City would be under a three-day curfew starting tonight.

’Does this mean I’ve picked up where the last dream left off?’

Unbelievable. Four days had passed in reality, but less than a single double-hour had gone by in the Panlong City of his dreams!

’The time dilation between the two worlds is so arbitrary.’

The sun had already set, so he couldn’t go far. But there was a tavern nearby. He rushed in, bought several jars of wine, and went home. He emptied the wine and cleaned the jars, preparing them to collect the Emperor’s Liquid.

He also emptied and cleaned the water vat, then brought out all the pots, bowls, ladles, and spoons—every container he had—and set them up in the courtyard.

He remembered Hu Min’s instructions and sawed off two large branches from the tree in his yard to prevent its "long arms" from reaching into his neighbor’s property.

Just as he finished these preparations, a clamor arose outside, like countless people cheering.

Hee Lingchuan stepped out of his house and saw that it was raining. A green rain.

Having been through this once, he was familiar with it now. He knew this was the Emperor’s Liquid.

’Panlong City’s forecast is incredibly accurate. To think they can even predict such a strange Celestial Phenomena.’

What surprised Hee Lingchuan even more was that this time, the falling Emperor’s Liquid was still fragrant and sweet-smelling, but it was far more viscous and darker in color than the one in reality. It was more of a thick slurry, finally living up to its name.

The Emperor’s Liquid in reality was a fine drizzle; whoever it landed on had won the lottery. But here, the Emperor’s Liquid was falling at the rate of a light to moderate rain. Hee Lingchuan held out his palm, and in just a moment, he caught several drops of the green dew.

He couldn’t resist tasting it. ’So fragrant!’

The greed buried deep in his heart erupted at once. But Hee Lingchuan, having both experience and preparation, forcibly suppressed the impulse and leaped onto the roof.

He flipped over the roof tiles, temporarily creating several channels. The Emperor’s Liquid accumulated, slowly flowing down the channels and into the wine jars he used to catch it.

Even though it was just a trickle, a large enough collection would be priceless!

His neighbor also carried out two jars and climbed onto his own roof to collect the Emperor’s Liquid. Seeing Hee Lingchuan’s method, he was greatly inspired and quickly copied him, starting to rearrange his own tiles.

Hee Lingchuan noticed the man cover his mouth and nose with a facecloth. Inhaling less of the Emperor’s Liquid’s strange fragrance was very helpful in suppressing one’s latent bestial nature, so he quickly followed suit.

Everyone was flushed and red-faced, yet they fought back the urge to hoard more than their share. The Emperor’s Liquid had appeared several times in the last three years, so most people had experience dealing with it. They knew that if they could just endure for a while, a great reward would follow. Hee Lingchuan even heard children wailing. Looking down from his high vantage point, he saw two families had tied their children to tables, preventing them from running around and ruining the whole affair.

Just then, heavy footsteps passed by Hee Lingchuan’s door, accompanied by a low growl.

He looked down and saw a Mechanical Beast advancing unhurriedly down the street. The creature was the size and shape of a tiger or leopard, and its two eyes glowed green, making it look quite terrifying at first glance.

It seemed to just be plodding along, but whenever it suspected a fight or argument in a house, the Mechanical Beast would approach, paw at the wall with its front limbs, scratch the door, and let out a couple of angry roars to intimidate the residents.

About the time it takes to burn an incense stick after this Mechanical Beast left, another one patrolled to this spot.

And so they alternated.

If he weren’t so busy fighting his own greed, Hee Lingchuan would have given a thumbs-up and praised their thoroughness.

’These Mechanical Beasts must be security patrols released by Panlong City’s officials. To them, human nature is the least trustworthy thing; force is the most reliable.’

At this moment, all living things found the lure of the Emperor’s Liquid irresistible. Only inanimate objects like the Mechanical Beasts remained unmoved, continuing to carry out their original tasks.

’I wonder which Great Power’s hand created these Mechanical Beasts that can patrol, locate, and intimidate on their own.’

Sure enough, Hee Lingchuan soon heard the sound of jars and pots smashing in the distance, along with people shouting and crying. Someone, unable to resist their extreme craving for the Emperor’s Liquid, had come to blows with others.

’Human nature truly can’t be left unchecked.’

The Mechanical Beast let out a furious roar, and Hee Lingchuan heard its heavy footsteps rapidly moving away.

A few screams soon came from that direction, but they quickly fell silent. The ones who started the fight had likely been punished.

This scene served as an effective warning to the surrounding residents.

Amidst the city-wide ordeal, time slowly passed.

This time, the downfall of Emperor’s Liquid lasted longer than Hee Lingchuan’s previous experience, only stopping completely when the East grew white with dawn.

Hee Lingchuan scraped all the Emperor’s Liquid off the tree, gathered all the rain-filled bottles and jars, and poured them into one another, finally filling a single wine flagon.

Once the lid was tightly sealed, the fragrance vanished, and so did its attraction. Only then did Hee Lingchuan let out a long sigh of relief and wipe the thin sheen of sweat from his forehead.

The difficult night was over. People began to enjoy the fruits of their victory.

Staring at the wine flagon in his hand, Hee Lingchuan was in a bit of a predicament.

’The Emperor’s Liquid obtained in a Dream Realm shouldn’t be able to enhance my real body. After all, this is all just an illusion.’

’In that case, the most logical course of action is to turn in tonight’s haul to the Merit Department in exchange for credit. Hu Min said that credit is hard to come by, but it can be exchanged for the most precious things.’

This downfall of Emperor’s Liquid was an unexpected windfall for him.

Of course, this all needed to be verified. After some thought, Hee Lingchuan tucked the wine flagon away and headed out.

The curfew ended at dawn, but few residents were out and about. Most were still holed up at home, counting their spoils. He found a diligent donkey cart to take him to Hu Min’s residence.

Along the way, he saw several burnt and smashed houses, as well as the City Guard Army carrying people out or cleaning up the scene.

It seemed that even with the Mechanical Beast patrols, even with Panlong City’s repeated injunctions, even with the harsh laws and severe punishments, and even with Panlong City’s residents having been disciplined by years of war to follow orders strictly, human greed would still find a way to break through.

Hu Min lived in a Tin House. Although it was also a private residence, it was four grades higher than Hee Lingchuan’s. The roads here were wide, the streets clean and orderly, and green trees and red flowers could be seen everywhere. Every household had a small courtyard, and the properties were at least four times the size of Hee Lingchuan’s wooden hut. The environment was leagues ahead of his own neighborhood. However, the specifications were extremely uniform: black doors, black tiles, and red walls, all nearly identical in size, as if carved from the same mold.

’It seems unauthorized constructions aren’t allowed here.’

Every street looked the same, so it took Hee Lingchuan a long time to find Hu Min’s house.

The man had just finished refining the Emperor’s Flowing Powder. Opening the door and seeing Hee Lingchuan, he asked in surprise, "So early? Aren’t you refining your medicine?"

"How about I trade you some Emperor’s Liquid for a bit of your refined medicine? Just a small taste."