Chapter 00209: Chaos Gives Rise to Monsters
# Chaos Gives Rise to Monsters
Chapter 209
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 209: Chaos Gives Rise to Monsters
"That's not bad. Dunyu is closer to the front lines, and the surrounding roads are easier to navigate," the Marquis of Songyang pondered.
"However, there are no connections in Dunyu for the Songyang residence, so I will have to trouble Lord He to help me find a good piece of land."
He Chunhua naturally agreed readily, "It's a small matter."
The two then began discussing the current situation.
He Lingchuan leaned against the side, sipping tea, eating snacks, and observing as a spectator.
The Marquis of Songyang had bright eyes and a charming smile, and regardless of whom she looked at, she always gave the other person a feeling of a gentle spring breeze.
He Yue was unable to lift his head under her gaze.
She was at most in her twenties, but exuded a gracefulness that was both elegant and imposing.
When discussing state affairs with He Chunhua, she surprisingly had great insights, and some of their political opinions coincided.
He Chunhua had grand ambitions but rarely had the opportunity to speak freely with outsiders.
Their conversation went on for over half an hour without realizing it.
Madam Ying coughed several times to signal him, and only then did He Chunhua reluctantly change the topic, still feeling unsatisfied.
At that moment, the Marquis of Songyang was saying, "I heard that the Demon Puppet Master Dong Rui is vengeful. He suffered a loss under you two, so he most likely won't let it go easily."
"Thank you for the reminder," He Chunhua said with a bitter smile.
"I don't even know who thinks so highly of me to hire an assassin with a large sum of money."
"It could be either Yan Zanli or Dong Haoming. The former has a grudge against you for the death of his son, while the latter was thwarted by you in his attempt to seize a divine artifact. Regardless of who it is, killing you would help weaken the royal court's power."
"Or perhaps it could be the remnants from Sun Fuping's side?"
The Marquis of Songyang shook her head.
"Sun Fuping's influence has been completely eradicated; it can basically be ruled out."
He Lingchuan interjected, "I thought his former students and acquaintances were spread throughout the capital."
"Sun Fuping does have students and acquaintances, but once he became the National Master, he had to deliberately distance himself from them. The censors would focus on monitoring him. This is one of the most basic national policies; if the National Master has private dealings with important officials, those officials will face severe punishment."
He Lingchuan shrugged.
"Yeah, so he colluded with the Grand Marshal."
Isn't national policy just a facade?
"Sun Fuping has no children or relatives, and after his death, there will be no close kin to seek revenge for him," the Marquis of Songyang said with a smile.
"When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter; the eldest son worries too much."
As she spoke, she covered her mouth and yawned.
It was indeed very late.
He Chunhua saw the opportunity to stand up and take his leave, then said, "Since the Marquis is also heading north, why not travel with my army?"
The Marquis of Songyang readily agreed, "That would be great. With the escort of the support army, the journey will be worry-free."
As everyone left the courtyard, He Chunhua looked back one last time before returning to the village cottage.
The cottages had been fully allocated, mostly to the generals, and Madam Ying had specifically set aside two for the elderly and young.
As the He family entered the house, the fire basin was already burning charcoal, filling the room with warmth.
Seeing that there were no idle people around, Madam Ying's expression turned serious.
"In this desolate wilderness, in a village that has just been slaughtered, the Marquis of Songyang can suddenly come to 'coincidentally meet' us! This woman has ulterior motives; we must be on guard!"
The more she looked at the Marquis of Songyang, the more she felt something was off.
He Chunhua chuckled.
"If she had ulterior motives, why would she choose such a place, only to raise our vigilance?"
Madam Ying shot him a glare, then turned to her two sons.
He Yue sensed his mother's discontent and blinked, not wanting to get involved.
However, Madam Ying directly called out, "Yue'er, what do you think?"
He Yue had no choice but to cough lightly.
"Father, Grand Craftsman Li Fubo once inquired about Sun Fuping's relics, which must have also been at the behest of the Marquis of Songyang. This 'Marquis' has some connection with Sun Fuping; it would be wise not to get too close until we clarify things."
He Chunhua took this statement to heart and thought for a moment.
"You make a valid point."
Madam Ying gave her second son an approving look.
He Lingchuan, however, lightly slapped the table.
"The Marquis of Songyang is actually a woman? Why has no one ever mentioned this?"
Everyone referred to her as the Marquis, calling her "My Lord" repeatedly; it was strange that he could connect this to a woman!
He Yue was surprised.
"Brother, you didn't know?"
"How would I know?" He Lingchuan replied irritably.
"Am I the only one living in this information-deprived border town?"
"The Marquis of Songyang's surname is Li, and her given name is Qingge. The title is hereditary, but there is only one Marquis who is a woman in the current dynasty. I've heard the common folk in Heishui City talk about her with great interest," He Yue found it strange.
"Eldest Brother, you love digging for gossip; how could you not know this?"
He Lingchuan pointed at everyone in front of him.
"So, you all knew?"
Everyone in the He family, except for him, nodded, looking as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
Even the steward, Old Mo, who was waiting at the side, nodded with a smile.
So, Li Fubo didn't mention it, Sun Hongye didn't mention it, and even that chatty Liu from Shihuan City didn't mention it, all because it was a well-known fact?
He Lingchuan stretched and felt utterly exhausted.
"What about dinner? I'm hungry!"
￥￥￥￥￥
A night without dreams.
He Lingchuan was preoccupied with thoughts of the aftermath of the great battle, but unfortunately, he couldn't dream back to Panlong City.
Perhaps the Broken Blade was considerate of his exhaustion from the previous night's dreams.
After getting up, he discovered that He Yue was still asleep, and his face was flushed, mumbling words in his sleep.
He Lingchuan leaned closer to listen, but unexpectedly, He Yue suddenly opened his eyes and let out a loud "ah!" upon seeing him.
Both were startled, and even the guards outside rushed in.
He Lingchuan rubbed his ears.
"What are you shouting for? You almost deafened me."
The sound echoed in his mind.
He Yue's face was very red, and he didn't look at him.
"I... I was just sleeping. What are you coming over for?"
"I heard you say 'good, good,' and then you said 'slow down.' What is it that is both good and needs to be slow?" He Lingchuan asked leisurely.
"Uh."
He Yue looked down suddenly and jumped up, running outside.
"I need to pee!"
"There's a bucket in the back."
It was unclear whether He Yue heard him or not; he just hastily threw on an outer garment and dashed away.
The snow had stopped, but the morning outside was particularly cold.
He Lingchuan clicked his tongue; young people really had a lot of energy.
He suddenly made an unpleasant discovery:
Ever since he obtained the Broken Blade, his dreams had only been related to Panlong City, or he would sleep deeply without dreaming at all.
The only exception was dreaming of the Immortal's cave, but that was also related to the Divine Bone, which indirectly connected to Panlong City.
In other words, he had lost the ability to visit other dreams.
Could it be that for the rest of his life, his dreams would only be about Panlong City? That would be too monotonous.
He was still young and wanted to have some vibrant, sweat-soaked, passionate, and ethereal youthful dreams like He Yue.
"Eldest Brother, let's make a deal," He Lingchuan patted the Broken Blade.
"Can you occasionally let me have other dreams?"
The Broken Blade naturally showed no reaction.
But He Lingchuan was sure it heard him.
……
The deceased villagers had been buried, and before the team set off, He Chunhua offered incense and recited prayers for them.
"In this world, only human lives are worthless," the Marquis of Songyang, Li Qingge, also clasped her hands together.
"Lord He truly has a kind heart."
At that moment, the little ferret perched on Wu Shaoyi's shoulder squeaked a couple of times, and Wu Shaoyi whispered to everyone, "My ferret says that the crows on the branches have been watching us, and they carry a strong scent of human blood."
He Chunhua was startled and looked up.
Sure enough, he saw nearly a hundred crows perched on the large tree beside the grave pit, looking down at everyone.
Crows were common birds in winter, and the support army had likely seen countless of them along the way, instinctively ignoring them.
But with Wu Shaoyi's reminder, everyone sensed something was off:
When did crows become so quiet?
Moreover, among them, there were more than a dozen that were larger than their kind, almost the size of vultures.
Their gazes towards humans were strange, as if they were staring at dead flesh.
But the two wolf demons on the ground were also staring at them, licking their lips.
He Chunhua said slowly, "These creatures have sharp beaks; don't they resemble crane beaks?"
The more he looked, the more it seemed so.
He Lingchuan pulled out the Ghost Eye Bow from his storage ring, wanting to show these crows a bit of power.
However, before he could nock an arrow, the flock of crows seemed to recognize the danger, cawing loudly as they flapped their wings and flew towards the back mountain.
The large tree shook, shedding snow.
He helplessly patted the snow off his clothes.
"Not long ago, the Imperial Flowing Juice was clearly of poor quality and in small quantities; how could it attract so many monsters?"
He Chunhua's expression turned serious.
"In chaotic times, monsters are born; in peaceful times, there are few demons."
Li Qingge looked at him and asked, "Then how can we achieve peace?"
He Chunhua shook his head.
How many strong individuals have been searching for this answer? Instead, He Lingchuan smiled and said, "It probably requires a world-shaking hero to emerge."
Although this group of man-eating crows was detestable, humans could not catch birds, especially in broad daylight.
Thus, both He Chunhua and Li Qingge abandoned the idea and began packing up the camp to set off.
The murderer roamed free; reality was always so helpless.
The so-called law is just a self-deception of the world.
How many new monsters were roaming across the land of the Yuanguo? What could this group of over six hundred people do to intervene?
The aide Mo Zhe Jingxuan could only comfort the angry Madam Ying, "Monsters with initial intelligence will always go through a period of confusion; after some time, they will settle down."
Most would settle down; otherwise, human armies would soon teach them how to behave as monsters, after all, this was still the territory of the Great Yuan.
But He Lingchuan understood that this referred to "under normal circumstances."
The current Great Yuan was struggling with two fronts and was overwhelmed; did they even have the energy to eradicate these "scabs" on their territory?
That was why He Chunhua lamented that chaos gives rise to monsters.
Some ailments, if not eradicated, would ultimately develop into stubborn diseases that invade the bones and marrow.
As the support army departed, the flock of crows followed them in the sky for over ten miles, cawing incessantly, both mocking and provoking, particularly arrogant.
A few even attempted to fly above the group to defecate, startling Madam Ying into a sharp scream.
Zhao Qinghe and Zeng Feixiong suddenly ordered to draw bows, and the support army shot arrows together.
With a flurry of arrows, they shot down about ten crows on the spot.
These ghostly creatures wouldn't back down without a show of strength.
The crow flock, startled, flapped their wings and flew higher.
The group shot another round, bringing down four or five more.
Two giant wolves dashed out to retrieve them, providing lunch and toys.
After this bitter lesson, the crows finally realized that this group of people was different from ordinary villagers and could not be offended; they reluctantly turned to leave.
It started snowing again.
Tomorrow (10.1) we will be going out for the festival, and the update will be moved to around 3 PM tomorrow.
Please spread the word.
(End of Chapter)