Chapter 00273: Hong Chenglue's Inference
# Hong Chenglue's Inference
Chapter 273
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 273: Hong Chenglue's Inference
Despite the old woman's home looking as messy as a garbage dump, her memory was shockingly good; she could pull out any item that had been shoved into some corner or crevice.
Before long, a black and white large jar was found, and astonishingly, there were as many as eight of them.
He Lingchuan carefully opened one for inspection, and then revealed a relieved smile: "Perfect, not damp at all."
He then put it away into his storage ring.
At this point, the vast benefits of storage spaces were evident.
Shan Youjun took out a silver ingot and handed it to the old man: "Let's go."
In the northwestern direction of Bailu Town, there lay an abandoned mine pit.
This was a poor mine, small in scale, and had only been dug for a little more than a decade.
The mine tunnel had long since turned into a large water pit, with shimmering green waves still holding fish, while the dilapidated houses where the miners lived had found new inhabitants.
In the woods, a large group of warhorses grazed, and soldiers were stationed around the mine pit.
Inside the broken house, a military doctor was giving emergency aid to Baili Qing.
After being disarmed of his arm by He Lingchuan, he commanded battles and the retreat.
When the reinforcements brought him back, he had lost too much blood and his consciousness was slipping away.
The deputy officer Xu Yingshan, sent by Hong Chenglue for reinforcement, was reporting that their forces had crossed the river and had shaken off the 'tail' that had been following closely behind.
There were three other generals in the room; one named Tao Ze asked Hong Chenglue: "General, what are our plans next?"
Hong Chenglue's face was heavy.
Originally, the number of cavalrymen was not much, and he had split them into two teams to carry out this risky surprise attack.
Bailu Town was his personally led mission, which succeeded, but Xinhuang was defeated, losing two hundred men in the process.
This was a significant loss for the cavalry behind enemy lines in Xunzhou, especially with so many injuries; the medical supplies and manpower were severely lacking.
Two heavily wounded men from Baili Qing’s return had just died.
"What do we plan to do? Naturally, we should take advantage of the instability in the Summer Province troops' morale to burn the remaining half of the supplies, leaving Zhao Pan's army to starve!" another general slammed his thigh decisively, "I didn't expect the Summer Province Commander to come. Cut the snake at its head, capture the king to catch the thief... yes!"
"Right! As long as we take down the Summer Province Commander, the entire northern region will fall into chaos. Who knows, Zhao Pan's army might collapse without even fighting! General Hong, you will lead us to great merit!"
Although Baili Qing was unconscious, the soldiers beside him recounted the details of the ambush on Xinhuang.
Tao Ze immediately poured cold water on their enthusiasm: "We just lost two hundred men! With this remaining manpower, how do you intend to kill the Summer Province Commander? Xinhuang Town was a trap set by General Baili, and in the end, he was severely injured and retreated. How can we compare to General Baili?"
The other two were momentarily taken aback, but their expressions remained unconvinced: "But we still have General Hong, right?"
Could an unknown Summer Province Commander compare with the renowned General Hong?
"Quiet."
Seeing Baili Qing frown even in his unconscious state, Hong Chenglue called for the others to lower their voices, "The Summer Province Commander is not dead, whether it's luck or caution."
This situation was set up personally by him, yet He Chunhua had evaded capture.
"Those killed in the tavern were his subordinates, which means this He likely did not publicly reveal his presence."
Otherwise, why wouldn't He Chunhua have participated in such a normal social gathering hosted by the county magistrate?
One of the generals questioned: "As the leader of a province, would he secretly tail a supply convoy heading north?"
"This man has some tricks up his sleeve. Ever since assuming office in the Summer Province, he has been very high-profile. I heard he has made the four great families of Dunyu submit to his authority. He demands money when he needs it and grain when he wants it; otherwise, Zhao Pan wouldn't have been able to win those two recent battles."
While living as a commoner in Bailu Town, Hong Chenglue had instinctively gathered information.
"I have heard he was originally a minor official on the western border of Yuan, but he has repeatedly gained military merit. If we don’t understand this person's temperament, future battles will be difficult."
At that moment, a sentry rushed in to report:
"Report! There’s something in the sky!"
Everyone rushed outside to see a growing black dot in the sky heading towards the mine pit.
Hong Chenglue glanced and stated: "Dong Rui is back."
One of the generals couldn’t help but sneer, "Look at this person, always boasting, with his eyes seemingly stuck to the top of his head. General Hong sent him to aid General Baili, yet he returned in defeat!"
The strange bird landed quickly beside the mine pit, causing the critic to fall silent.
Dong Rui jumped down from the back of the bird; others noticed his hand was wrapped in cloth, and he held a monkey in his arms, his clothes stained with blood, while the monkey appeared to be barely alive, its eyes closed.
He looked rather disheveled, not seeming any better off than Baili Qing.
He was a wanted criminal pardoned by the Master of Frostleaf, acting as a guest expert during the Xunzhou cavalry's operations.
Hong Chenglue still maintained politeness towards him and stepped forward to ask: "Are you badly injured? Do you need a military doctor?"
He had heard from the escapees under Baili Qing that the monkey Dong Rui carried could transform into a giant gorilla, possessing incredible strength, even without fear of armies.
Upon hearing this, Hong Chenglue understood the "guest expert's" true value.
"You can't heal its wounds."
Dong Rui's face turned pale, "The life-saving spirit medicine was stolen. Where’s the ghost-headed ginseng you promised me? Hurry and bring it here!"
He spoke without courtesy, but Hong Chenglue did not mind, hesitating for a moment before entering the house, addressing the medical officer caring for Baili Qing: "Bring out the remaining ghost-headed ginseng."
The military doctor was startled and handed over a jade box he found among the medicines on the table.
Hong Chenglue opened the box, revealing half of a green-skinned ginseng, its entire shape resembling a howling ghost, even depicting expressions vividly and in fine detail.
However, although it was called "ginseng," it was not actually ginseng, but a mutated variety of Aconitum, which could change its toxicity based on the nutrients it consumed and the surrounding environment.
Inside the box, only the upper half of the ghost-headed ginseng remained, meaning only the "mouth" part survived.
Hence, it did not appear so gruesome.
Upon seeing this, Dong Rui was visibly displeased: "Half? This doesn't comply with our agreement!"
"Life is at stake. Just now, so many soldiers returned from Xinhuang, injured and at the brink of death; I authorized the military doctor to use it first to save lives."
Hong Chenglue was also aware they were at fault, speaking softly, "You take this half for now. When we return to Xunzhou, I will request an additional one for you."
"An additional one?" Dong Rui laughed rather than got angry, "Are you joking? Do you know how hard it is to acquire ghost-headed ginseng?"
To cultivate ghost-headed ginseng, one needed to plant Aconitum, which had become sentient, within the stomach of a powerful monster or a practitioner of Taoism; this part must be done with living planting.
Aconitum must be of considerable age to develop sentience; yet, not all aged Aconitum would necessarily attain sentience.
This was the first hurdle.
Sentient Aconitum could draw nourishment from both the soil and from flesh and blood.
This planting would take seven months and often require one or two cultivation containers, before the "ghost head" would form, at which point it would possess the potency of "great poison and great nourishment," like a combination of a heart-strengthening needle and a nourishing pill, which, if used well, could directly pull a wounded person back from the brink of death.
Hong Chenglue smiled: "General Nian or the Beijia Kingdom will have ways."
In the past, Dong Rui would have stormed away without uttering another word.
But now, with the ghost gorilla seriously injured, he had no time to quarrel.
He snatched the precious ginseng and went into another dilapidated house to brew medicine.
The ghost-headed ginseng could not be taken directly; he needed to reduce its toxicity substantially first.
Hong Chenglue followed him in, watching this demonic puppet master’s smooth operations.
Although he was busy, he seemed unfazed, looking even more skilled in medicine than their team’s military doctor.
Manufacturing demonic puppets inevitably involved dealing with biological tissue, whether through medicine or surgery, so it was only reasonable to be well-practiced.
"Who severely injured the ghost gorilla?" Hong Chenglue wanted to hear firsthand battle intelligence.
Without lifting his head, Dong Rui squeezed out a few words between his teeth: "He’s from the He family!" Then he recounted the battle process that had occurred earlier.
"I had a past resentment with them."
Hong Chenglue immediately showed interest: "What happened?"
Dong Rui briefly summarized the previous failed ambush at Shihuan City, then said angrily: "If it wasn’t for their interference, Ke Jihai would have died long ago."
Once Ke Jihai died, there would be one less major general from the Yuan Kingdom to stop the Grand General.
Hong Chenglue asked him: "Were you specifically targeting Ke Jihai?"
"... And He Chunhua."
Dong Rui glanced at him, "After all, they are riding in the two carriages in front and back. I figured I might as well deal with them both."
He had made the big mistake of trying to accomplish too much at once.
"Sounds like they possess quite a few useful magical items and have some manpower beside them."
Hong Chenglue asked, "Do you have more information about this father and son?"
"I do. Sun Fuping died at his hands."
Hong Chenglue was taken aback: "What, the Yuan Kingdom's Master Sun was killed by him?"
"Yes. It was said that this incident occurred in the Panlong Desert, but nobody knows the real details. Anyway, Sun Fuping and Nian Zanli's son, Nian Songyu, tricked their fatherly duo into sending troops into the ancient city of Panlong for treasure. As a result, they found no treasure and couldn’t leave, only the He family father and son returned alive—during the storm season of the Panlong Desert. It was said that during that time, no living creature could escape from the Panlong Desert."
Hong Chenglue frowned: "With someone like this, how could you underestimate them?"
Dong Rui coughed lightly: "He Chunhua's cultivation isn’t formidable. I think this kind of person could kill the Master Sun mainly because of luck and overconfidence."
"By the way, his entire family was killed by the old emperor."
"Which old emperor?" This information was too crucial for Hong Chenglue.
"The current emperor of the Yuan Kingdom's father."
Dong Rui wiped the blood from his hands with a cloth, "It was said that he was misled by ingratiating words, and ordered a massacre of the He family, leaving no survivors, not even a six-year-old child, with only He Chunhua narrowly escaping death. The old emperor did not pursue him further and sent him off to a small border city."
"To cut the grass but not the roots, he likely has guilt in his heart."
Hong Chenglue laughed, "So, He Chunhua is still willing to serve the Yuan Kingdom?"
"What else can he do?" Dong Rui scoffed, "What good options does he have?"
Hong Chenglue shook his head: "The Yuan Kingdom was founded only sixty years ago; its people's hearts and traditions cannot compare with an ancient country like Beijia. Here, how many people truly harbor loyalty to the king? Hmm—"
He sank into thought: "He Chunhua carries the grievances of his entire family, yet is willing to sell himself to the Yuan Kingdom; this man must be deep in scheming and very keen on wealth and reputation."
(End of the chapter)