Chapter 00153: The Water Spirit Has Come Again
# The Water Spirit Has Come Again
Chapter 153
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 153: The Water Spirit Has Come Again
As He Lingchuan, Li Xiaowei, and others rushed over, Zhao Duwei had already lifted the head of the bandit and shouted loudly to the four directions, "Eradicate evil to the end, Lu the bandit has been executed!"
Beheading the bandit leader at Woling Pass was indeed a great achievement.
"Hey..."
Zhao Duwei looked over, "What is it?"
"Lu Yao died so simply; it really is a pity for him."
He Lingchuan scratched his head.
This Zhao Duwei was truly skilled at claiming credit, sigh, and no one was competing with him.
The remaining Lu bandits in the area immediately scattered to escape, unable to stir up any more trouble.
However, He Lingchuan felt a warmth rising in his neck.
The Divine Bone Necklace was acting up again at this moment?
It had done the same this morning in the Immortal's cave, then burrowed underground and did something, resulting in the entire cave collapsing.
Now it had discovered something good again? He Lingchuan's spirit lifted, and he tried to walk a few steps away.
The further he walked, the hotter the Divine Bone became, as if it were roaring at him to turn back.
What are you running for? There’s treasure here!
He pretended to wield his sword to chase down the bandits, walking back and forth several times, only to find that the Divine Bone Necklace would quiet down only when he stood close to Lu Yao's headless corpse.
In other words, there was something on Lu Yao that the Divine Bone coveted?
He Lingchuan's eyes flickered, and he crouched down to rummage through the corpse.
Regardless of whether what Lu Yao had was useful or not, he collected it all; the man-eating demon had two rings on his hands, and He Lingchuan had no time to discern whether they were storage spaces, directly pulling them off and putting them on his own hands.
He had done this kind of work many times today, and now he was practically an expert, finishing the job in a few swift motions, while others didn’t even have time to stop him.
Zhao Qinghe coughed twice from the side, "Young Master, Zhao Duwei is watching you."
The battle wasn’t even over yet, and he was already scavenging corpses; the young master’s behavior was too out of line, making him feel a bit embarrassed.
He Lingchuan didn’t need to look up to feel Zhao Duwei's displeased and contemptuous gaze.
Looting the treasures from the big boss should have been the reward for the soldiers of the Zhechong Mansion, yet this kid had taken the lead.
If he weren’t the son of the local governor, Zhao Duwei would have slapped him with two resounding slaps by now.
He Lingchuan rummaged a few more times before standing up and walking away, fortunately, this time the Divine Bone Necklace finally stopped heating up.
This proved that the item it was fixated on had already fallen into He Lingchuan's hands.
At this moment, the outcome was already decided, and Pei Xinyong and the soldiers gradually ceased their actions.
The officials and bandits exchanged wary glances, both seeing the caution in each other's eyes.
Lian Deng rushed over and immediately asked Pei Xinyong, raising his voice by three degrees, "Is this the reinforcements you mentioned?"
Lian Deng had no choice but to confess, "General Wu was rescued by the soldiers and has accepted the amnesty along with the Crocodile Spirit!"
He let out a bitter laugh, "From now on, we will have to eat public rations."
Pei Xinyong gasped, feeling that the world was too surreal.
Last night, Wu Shaoyi and the frontline intelligence had told him that it was clearly Lu Yao who had accepted the amnesty from the Yuan Wang Court, so how had the narrative changed completely by today, with Wu Shaoyi now needing to eat from the public pot?
What had happened in these few hours, or had Wu Shaoyi already betrayed them?
Yet Zhao Duwei's attitude remained quite arrogant, raising his head to ask him, "Pei Xinyong, will you surrender or not?"
At this time, the mist had completely dissipated, and Pei Xinyong could see that the number of soldiers was around a thousand, not enough to match his side.
The problem was that the troops that Lian Deng had recalled were now standing with the soldiers.
The numbers on both sides were not vastly different, and moreover, Pei Xinyong had his left shoulder injured, every movement causing him sharp pain.
The atmosphere was quite delicate.
He Lingchuan stepped forward and coughed forcefully, "There are still Lu Yao's remnants in Dèngshèng Town, and the surrendering General Wu Shaoyi is fighting there with difficulty. How about we set aside our disputes and go eliminate the bandits first?"
Zhao Duwei had no objections.
Pei Xinyong hesitated for a moment but also nodded.
Thus, the three armies marched together towards Dèngshèng Town.
On the way, Zhao Qinghe noticed a shadow lurking in the small woods by the roadside.
He signaled, and several supporting soldiers rode over.
After that, there was nothing more to say; Wu Shaoyi's troops were entangled with the Lu bandits in Dèngshèng Town, and the addition of the soldiers immediately tipped the scales of victory to their side.
The Lu bandits either died or fled, but most surrendered, throwing down their weapons.
In the chaos, Pei Xinyong led his troops to chase the fleeing bandits, but the further he chased, the farther they got, and soon they disappeared from sight.
He Lingchuan understood the outcome; the two generals of the Zhechong Mansion seemed too lazy to intervene, turning a blind eye.
Pei Xinyong was quite strong in battle; they had already gained quite a bit of merit today and didn’t want to complicate matters further.
In any case, this group of Pei bandits wouldn’t linger in the area; wherever they fled to next would be a headache for the local officials.
After reclaiming Dèngshèng Town, Zhao Duwei left Li Xiaowei to deal with the prisoners and divided the troops to head east to Xianling Village, while he himself went with Wu Shaoyi, He Lingchuan, and others to Qianteng Town.
The journey was finally smooth sailing.
Before long, He Lingchuan reunited with his own convoy.
Earlier, he had sent Mao Tao back to report, and the He family was eagerly awaiting news.
Father and son met, both overjoyed.
He Chunhua broke through the crowd, riding towards his son, grabbing his shoulder and exclaiming, "You brat, you little brat!"
He was so excited that the words behind got stuck in his throat, unable to come out, and his handsome face turned bright red.
Seeing him like this, He Lingchuan was also moved, chuckling, "Dad, I’m not that easy to die!"
This time, He Chunhua automatically translated "die" into "hang," gritting his teeth, "I knew you were a lucky star, with a strong life; you wouldn’t die even if you fell off a cliff!"
The others also gathered around, congratulating the young master on escaping death and returning safe and sound.
Everyone looked closely at He Lingchuan; he had quite a few minor injuries but no major ones, all marveling at what great luck this was.
While others fell and became minced meat, he fell and only got a few bruises, his face not even scratched.
The scene of the father and son reuniting became joyous.
He Yue rushed over and hugged his elder brother's shoulders, laughing, "You came back alive!"
With his press, He Lingchuan gasped, baring his teeth, "It hurts!"
There was a wound from an axe on his shoulder; the bleeding had already stopped, but with He Yue's press, it cracked open again.
He Yue was startled and quickly apologized, turning to call for the military doctor.
Ying Furen's eyes were a bit misty as she looked at her eldest son, murmuring, "As long as you’re back, as long as you’re back!"
He Lingchuan grinned, showing a mouthful of white teeth, "Don’t worry, Mother."
Then he pulled out the peach wood mirror from his bosom and handed it to Ying Furen, "This is yours, right?"
Ying Furen was overjoyed, taking it and gently rubbing it, "You brought it back!"
Seeing her eldest son covered in blood, she couldn’t help but gently lift a handkerchief to press against his forehead where blood was seeping out again, "There’s water in the carriage; go wash your face properly."
This action surprised He Chunhua, but He Lingchuan smiled, "Alright."
He strode towards the carriage, asking Qian Ma to fetch some water to wash his face.
Then, He Yue brought the military doctor over.
After a night and day of fierce battles and rushing about, He Lingchuan finally lay down on the soft brocade quilt, and as the military doctor treated his wounds, he couldn’t hold on any longer and fell into a deep sleep.
However, after the military doctor left, the Divine Bone Necklace hanging on He Lingchuan's chest suddenly began to flicker with red light.
The light was very faint and lasted only a few breaths, so no one noticed.
However, the turtle egg hidden in He Lingchuan's bosom suddenly moved.
...
He Lingchuan was sleeping soundly, and in a daze, he seemed to hear an old voice:
"He Lingchuan, when you pass by the Resurrection Old Huai at Fengling Ferry, please bury the turtle egg in the root hole beneath the tree."
This voice was very unfamiliar, and He Lingchuan felt puzzled: Who is it?
The other party seemed to hear his thoughts and directly said, "I am the Water Spirit of Xianling Lake. I originally wanted to find you in a dream, but was rejected at the door. No matter how I tried to plead, even without malice, I could only transmit this wisp of divine thought after much effort. Ha, even getting close to your dream is so difficult; I must have found the right person."
Oh, is this the old turtle demon? He Lingchuan remembered that he seemed to have a life-and-death question to ask, but for a moment, he couldn’t recall it.
"You are the only one I have calculated who can help me distance my true body from the Crocodile Demon; that is why I ask for your help."
The voice continued, "But the ominous signs I have divined are certainly not empty words."
He Lingchuan wanted to ask if he was destined to die without a doubt?
"There is no such ending in this world called fate."
The Water Spirit continued, "It’s just a pity that your fate is constrained by great power, and others cannot test it at all. I can barely decipher a few lines of verse, hoping to help you escape the calamity of death soon."
Another riddle?!
...
He didn’t know how long it had been when He Lingchuan was shaken awake by He Yue: "We’ve arrived; hurry and get off the carriage!"
He sat up, mumbling something.
He Yue seemed to hear his brother muttering something about "hiding one's talents" and then "virtual and real," which made him laugh, "Bro, what are you reciting?"
"I had a dream, and there was an old man who kept nagging me, but he just wouldn’t say anything useful."
He Lingchuan yawned as he jumped off the carriage, discovering the stars were bright and the evening breeze was gentle.
He had slept for at least two hours.
"We’ve reached Qianteng Town?"
"We passed Qianteng Town long ago; we are in Wuliu County now. Qianteng Town is just a small town with over three hundred people; the convoy needs to resupply properly here."
He Yue laughed, "The county magistrate has sent someone to convey that they will hold a banquet for us at Hongtai Tower to welcome us and ease our worries."
"The county magistrate of Wuliu is so attentive?" He Lingchuan was taken aback, "His news travels fast."
"Xianling Village, Qianteng Town, Dèngshèng Town, all the locations of this incident belong to Wuliu County."
He Yue accompanied him outside, "The county magistrate has already heard that the traitors are slaughtering villages here and chasing after the officials of the Wang Court, and he is deeply shocked, thus wanting to extend his heartfelt condolences to us."
The official of the Wang Court refers to Father, right? Hey, that’s right, He Chunhua has already received an official appointment, legally the governor of Xia Prefecture, indeed a local official.
It was only right for the county magistrate of Wuliu to be attentive.
Thinking of this, He Lingchuan stretched lazily, looking around, "Huh, why are there so few people in the convoy?"
"The county's post station is not small, and there are gentry providing two villages for us to stay for free, so we are all settled. Moreover, the commoners of Xianling Village had already left the convoy in Qianteng Town, and the follow-up will be managed and settled by Wuliu County."
(End of Chapter)