Chapter 00134: The Water Spirit's Selfless Sacrifice
# The Water Spirit's Selfless Sacrifice
Chapter 134
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 134: The Water Spirit's Selfless Sacrifice
After Zhao Qinghe and the personal guards advanced several miles, they suddenly saw several people lying dead on the road ahead, the ground stained with blood, which startled them.
Everyone dismounted to inspect, only to find that the deceased were all unfamiliar faces, none of whom they recognized.
There were also weapons scattered on the ground, making it hard to tell whose they were.
Zhao Qinghe was anxious and said in a deep voice, “Get on the horses, quickly!”
More than ten riders swung their whips and hurried on, finally catching sight of their own caravan in the distance.
There were also commoners accompanying them, and it seemed… not too bad?
Zhao Qinghe and Mao Tao were somewhat puzzled, and the tension in their hearts eased a bit.
The convoy appeared to be normal; the official carriages were moving in an orderly fashion, and the commoners were helping the elderly and children.
Madam Ying, being soft-hearted, allowed the elderly who could not walk to sit in the carriages to save some strength and avoid slowing down the pace.
Upon hearing the hoofbeats from behind, the entire convoy tensed up, but they breathed a sigh of relief when they realized the newcomers were their own people.
He Chunhua and He Yue rode forward to greet them, but the joy on their faces gradually faded into seriousness upon seeing Zhao Qinghe and the others.
More than thirty people were left to cover the rear, and only a few had returned?
He Lingchuan was not among them.
He Chunhua's voice turned hoarse, “Where is Chuan'er?”
He Yue simultaneously questioned, “Where is my brother?”
“Subordinate is incompetent.” Zhao Qinghe glanced at Mao Tao, “When we retreated, the young master was struck by a cold arrow and fell off the cliff along with his horse.”
The He family father and son were stunned.
A gust of mountain wind blew past, chilling their limbs.
He Chunhua found it hard to believe and murmured, “This is not right! How could this happen?”
He Yue, as if waking from a dream, shouted, “Nonsense!” He spurred his horse to charge back the way they came.
Mao Tao grabbed his reins, “Second Young Master cannot go; there are pursuers behind!”
He Yue shouted angrily, “Let go!”
Mao Tao refused to release him.
He Yue struck him with his whip.
Zeng Feixiong rushed over from behind and grabbed He Yue's whip, urgently asking Zhao Qinghe, “We must see him alive; did you see the young master at the bottom of the cliff?”
“No.” Mao Tao shook his head, “I lowered a rope to search, but only found the horse's corpse, no sign of the young master.”
Zeng Feixiong breathed a sigh of relief, “We must see a corpse; if there is no body, perhaps the young master is still alive. Below the cliff is Xianling Lake!”
Upon hearing this, He Yue's eyes sparkled with hope.
“The bottom is a rocky beach; the horse must have died there…” Zhao Qinghe nudged Mao Tao, who immediately changed his words, “...but the young master is lighter, perhaps he was blown away by the mountain wind and fell into the lake; it’s also possible?”
“Absolutely!” He Yue insisted, “Is there a small path to go back? I will find him!”
He Chunhua firmly grasped his shoulder, “The overall situation is paramount; your brother is fine!”
“Father?” He Yue was stunned.
He Chunhua's complexion was also grim, pale and ashen, yet he gritted his teeth and said, “Your brother is a natural-born fortune bearer; he will surely turn misfortune into fortune. There is no need to worry excessively! Do not run around; we need you here.”
“Just because the Great Shaman said he has good fortune, does that mean he doesn’t need our help… Father?” He Yue retorted halfway, only to see cold sweat bead on He Chunhua's forehead, his breathing rapid, which startled him.
His own brother had fallen off a cliff; his father could not have another mishap.
He Chunhua grasped his arm tightly and said sternly, “He is fine! Do you hear me?”
The county magistrate's facial muscles twisted, “He will turn danger into safety, understand?”
The last three words were almost shouted out.
It was the first time He Yue had seen him lose his composure, and he instinctively nodded.
He Chunhua pointed toward the convoy, his voice squeezed out from between his teeth, “Return!”
He Yue had no choice but to turn his horse around and head back, glancing back three times.
He Chunhua continued to face that road, and He Yue could only see his father's back.
Meanwhile, Zhao Qinghe gulped down several mouthfuls of clear water; after a night of fighting, he hadn’t moistened his throat.
When Zeng Feixiong came over, he quickly asked, “How did you find corpses on the way back?”
“Lu bandits.” Zeng Feixiong said in a low voice, “The lord suspected Pei Xinyong went to ambush at the Sentinel Rock, and there might be mistakes, so he specially dispatched us to block them to prevent them from slipping away to the east and causing you trouble.”
At that time, Young Master He was leading people to block the West Mountain Road; if a group of bandits suddenly appeared from the rear, it would indeed be easy to fail.
Zhao Qinghe sighed, “Lord He is truly insightful.”
“I brought over a hundred brothers, circled around to the back of Sentinel Rock, and indeed ambushed those twenty or thirty grandsons in the mountains, killing the last few on the mountain road. They were all startled birds, not hard to kill.” Zeng Feixiong said bitterly, “It’s just a pity about the young master, alas!”
Back in the convoy, Madam Ying asked He Yue, “What happened behind? Did Chuan'er and Zhao Qinghe return?”
“Mother…” He Yue felt as if a heavy weight was pressing down on his heart, so heavy that he didn’t even have the strength to speak.
When Wu Shaoyi regained his composure not far away and slowly opened his eyes, he saw He Lingchuan crawling out from the turtle's belly, covered in blood.
As soon as he emerged, he gasped for air.
The inside of the turtle's belly was truly not a place for humans; it was stuffy and foul, and he could barely catch his breath.
Seeing He Lingchuan approach, Wu Shaoyi asked him, “Did you get it?”
“Mm.” He Lingchuan had just been in the turtle's belly, in a place where he couldn’t speak, and had felt eight round, smooth orbs.
When illuminated by candlelight, a hint of bright white shone through the blood-stained seams.
If it were those orbs, there should only be two, so he was basically certain this was the “pearls” spoken of by the Crocodile Demon.
In addition to the eight pearls, he also conveniently cut off a few pieces of meat.
This Turtle Demon had been lying in the lake, absorbing the essence of the sun and moon for countless years; it was not wrong to say it was full of treasures, although he didn’t yet know what they could be used for.
The Turtle Demon’s meat was eaten by the Crocodile Demon, crabs, and water rats, so he could certainly take some as well.
All beings are equal; he should not be discriminated against.
Thanking nature for its gifts, and the Water Spirit for its generosity in selfless sacrifice.
He Lingchuan thought for a moment and then went around to the turtle's tail, cutting for a while.
What you eat is what you supplement; for some people, this was truly a great supplement, and it would surely be bought at a high price.
He was also calculating to take everything: the turtle shell should not be wasted; he would come back to collect it when he had the time.
“The turtle's head has a dan, which was eaten by the Crocodile Demon.” Wu Shaoyi said softly, “The scales produce pearls; your luck is quite good.”
The so-called scales refer to creatures like turtles, snakes, lizards, and crocodiles.
It is said that koi can transform into dragons; in fact, the scale-bearing clan can also transform into jiao and become dragons if they have the opportunity.
Within their bodies, they can also condense Yuan Pearls like dragons.
Yuan Pearls are different from demon dan.
Every successfully cultivated demon has a dan, but Yuan Pearls can only be produced by the scale-bearing clan and clams and shells.
He Lingchuan examined Wu Shaoyi's wounds closely: “No more bleeding; your complexion looks a bit better.”
Wu Shaoyi's complexion had even slightly reddened.
To put it positively, this was the effect of the dan medicine; to put it negatively, it could be a sign of returning light, indicating that life was not long.
“I need to rest and regain my strength before I can go ashore with you.”
(End of Chapter)