Chapter 00281: The Crossroads of Reality and Dreams
# The Crossroads of Reality and Dreams
Chapter 281
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 281: The Crossroads of Reality and Dreams
"That is to say, as long as we deal with this trouble called Hong Chenglv?" Zhao Pan nodded, "That would greatly help me!"
At this moment, the hornbill on his shoulder suddenly took off and landed a hundred zhang away behind them.
The warhorses were grazing in the forest, and at the riverbank, the tender green shoots of early spring began to sprout, which was quite to their liking.
After gnawing on lichens all winter, it was high time to change their diet.
However, He Lingchuan seemed to notice that several other large creatures had also mixed in among the warhorses, similarly grazing with their heads lowered.
Their sizes were far greater and more robust than those of the warhorses.
A herd of black barbaric bulls.
Their shoulders were at least six feet high, each glossy and muscular.
The hornbill landed atop the largest and strongest among them.
The pair of thick, curved horns gleamed darkly, and if they were fully extended, they would stretch at least seven feet wide.
Anyone caught by them would likely have half their life knocked away.
The hornbill perched on its horn and called out a couple of times.
The bull raised its head to glance at the crowd, flicked its ears, and seemed unconcerned.
They congregated like an impenetrable wall, occupying the most sumptuous patches of grass, forcing even the warhorses to yield and stand to the side.
A few of these large creatures stood out remarkably.
He Chunhua looked at them and drew in a breath of cool air, "So these are the bull demon herd?"
"Indeed," Zhao Pan replied with a smile, "These are our vanguard. Once they charge into battle, they become unstoppable on the plains."
Zhao Pan continued, "These bulls are naturally a variant breed, but only those few large fellows are actual demons. They lead the entire herd."
"And that hornbill is?"
"A messenger," Zhao Pan explained, "Otherwise, no one could approach this herd once they charged."
"A bull formation," He Chunhua clapped his hands, "I feel like I've heard of this kind of tactic somewhere."
Zhao Pan smiled, "In half of General Nanke's military treatise."
"Right, right, General Nanke."
"General Nanke? The General from Panlong City?" He Lingchuan hadn't expected to hear this name in this context, momentarily losing his voice, "He even authored a military treatise?"
Zhao Pan casually replied, "Yes, his tactics were quite practical. Unfortunately, he passed away young, and thus only wrote half of the treatise."
He Lingchuan's heart stirred, "How did he die?"
Zhao Pan was momentarily taken aback by the question.
After thinking for a moment, he said, "It seems he was escorting a merchant convoy and ended up ambushed by the enemy. This incident took place in the Panlong Desert; Lord He should be more informed about this than I am."
He Chunhua nodded, "Yes, that area is called the Ghost Needle Stone Forest. The Balin people made use of the demon spiders within the stone forest to inflict heavy losses on the army of Panlong City, resulting in General Nanke's death in battle. However, they did manage to pin down the enemy's main force, allowing the Wind Army to seize Wei City in the north."
He Lingchuan murmured, "So that's how it is."
But deep inside, he was stirred by tumultuous waves.
In the Panlong dream he had experienced, although there was indeed the battle of the Ghost Needle Stone Forest, because he successfully detonated the lair of Zhu Erniang, the great demon had hurried back to its lair, allowing the Panlong army to preserve its strength and not be exploited by the enemy stationed outside the stone forest.
Of course, General Nanke had also returned alive to Panlong City, and later wanted to recruit He Lingchuan.
The same battle, due to his presence, had entirely different results from historical reality.
He Lingchuan had often pondered that his existence must have some impact on the dream.
But at this moment, he suddenly realized that it was indeed he who had changed the outcome of this localized battle in the Panlong dream and altered many people's fates.
In this world, he was capable of making a difference.
Then, if he were to become stronger and hold a higher status, could he alter the final outcome of Panlong City?
The moment that thought emerged, He Lingchuan's heart raced several beats faster.
"Chuan'er, what's wrong?" He Chunhua noticed his gaze had become distant.
"Nothing, nothing!" He Lingchuan replied hastily, "These bulls are raised really well."
He couldn't tell how the meat quality would be.
"Their ferocity is all thanks to their food intake; the fodder you've brought must be prioritized for them. Thankfully, the hardest winter is over, and now there’s grass to eat by the riverbank. They are not picky with their food; if there’s no forage, they can eat meat as well. Otherwise, we truly wouldn't be able to afford it."
Zhao Pan guided them to complete the front line inspection, and the He family father and son had a clearer understanding.
Upon returning to the camp, the moon had begun to lean to the west, and the rock wolf said to He Lingchuan, "The monkey is looking for you."
……
He Lingchuan returned to his tent, and the Medicine Monkey Lingguang immediately came up to him, "That medicine is too interesting!"
"What stuff?" He Lingchuan's mind was still occupied with the battle at Ghost Needle Stone Forest.
"The medicine you gave me a few days ago," Lingguang pulled out a glass bottle containing half a bottle of red liquid, "You obtained it from Dong Rui."
How could he have forgotten about this? "What have you figured out?"
"There are at least ten different herbs in here, but I've been experimenting for several days, and the main herb cannot be separated. It doesn't belong to any medicine I know," Lingguang said, "Just a drop can kill all the plants within an acre."
He Lingchuan focused, "No way, is this poison?"
He could clearly see that when Dong Rui had taken this glass bottle out, he intended to save the ghost monkey.
Could it be that he planned to ease its suffering seeing its injuries were too severe?
No, that’s impossible.
"Later, I divided one drop into ten shares and tested it on pigs and horses. It was the same with all of them; they twitched a couple of times and fell dead, quick as can be."
He Lingchuan yawned, unable to hide his disappointment, "So it is indeed a proper poison. Is it blood-activated or edible? Could it be smeared on weapons?"
"Hey, listen to me finish."
As a future top-tier alchemist, Lingguang would not give up that easily, "I tried to dilute it little by little and ultimately found that when diluted a hundredfold—"
It gestured for He Lingchuan to grab a large bucket of water from the corner and followed it out of the tent, halting at the edge of a thicket.
The monkey squatted down and poked a hole in the ground, placing a round seed inside before covering it with soil.
The seed was brown, slightly larger than a soybean.
"What plant is this?"
"Wutongzi, that is the seed of the Wutong tree."
Lingguang pointed at the small mound of earth, "Water it."
This short monkey bossing him around to work? Who was the real master here?
He Lingchuan rolled his eyes and evenly watered the freshly planted Wutong seed from the bucket.
Just a few breaths later, the soil began to move.
Lingguang quickly pulled him back, retreating three zhang.
A green shoot suddenly burst forth from the soil and grew rapidly.
He Lingchuan had just managed to discern that it was a sprout; it had already shot up two feet, five feet, and then one zhang...
Branches and leaves rushed forth as well.
From his perspective, He Lingchuan went from looking down at it to a level gaze, and then to looking up—
In just the span of half an incense stick, it had grown into a tree over five zhang tall (16 meters)!
He Lingchuan stared in disbelief, asking the monkey, "You call this a Wutong?"
He recognized Wutong trees; the trunk and branches of this tree looked indeed no different from a Wutong, but there was one thing that was unlike:
It was too much.
Back home in Blackwater City, there was a tall Wutong tree planted, its trunk straight and its bark green, with the canopy towering above.
But the tree before them had branches growing straight out of its trunk, bloating outward like additional tree trunks, and then sprouting more branches...
Moreover, its leaves grew in the same chaotic fashion.
With this manner of growth, the entire tree had morphed into an irregular tangle of foliage, and its size was constantly expanding.
What’s more terrifying was that its branch color had changed from initial green to pale blue, and the outermost layer even turned brownish-red.
The leaves were half green, half golden, and also a portion was pure black.
Pure black leaves—He Lingchuan had never seen such a thing in his life, except for after being struck by lightning or burned.
Such a tree had no aesthetic quality whatsoever.
He Lingchuan looked up at it, thinking it resembled a jumble of seventeen or eighteen Wutongs grafted together and twisted, bizarre and warped.
No wonder Lingguang wanted to cultivate it outside the camp; otherwise, He Lingchuan’s tent would be ruined in just a couple breaths.
Certainly, the commotion had also attracted soldiers from the camp.
Everyone gathered around to look, pointing and discussing among themselves.
He Lingchuan had to order them to withdraw, for while this bizarre tree had slowed down, it was still growing, rising from five zhang to seven, then to ten zhang...
As it grew taller, it also grew bulkier, encroaching beyond the edge of the thicket and crushing several tents.
The entire treetop was writhing as if a monster were hiding within.
In reality, it was merely the branches and leaves growing too fast.
Soldiers in the tents crawled out to witness the spectacle.
He Chunhua and the various commanders, including Wu Shaoyi and others, were also startled and hurried over.
Even the Xunzhou military camp across the Han River sensed the disturbance, with torches suddenly increasing in the camp, likely thinking that the Yuan army was up to no good.
He Chunhua pushed through the crowd and entered, seeing his eldest son at a glance, inwardly murmuring, "Just as expected."
Who else could cause such a commotion on the first night at the front lines besides his son?
"Chuan'er, what's going on here?"
"I'm experimenting with a new medicine with Lingguang."
He Lingchuan scratched his head, "It's the potion I got from Dong Rui."
Dong Rui's potion? He Chunhua realized that the stuff created by that demon puppet master couldn't be anything good.
"How are you going to wrap this up?"
He Lingchuan looked at Lingguang, who shrugged its claws, "Ee?"
Now you want to be mute? He Lingchuan said irritably, "We can only wait, I see the drug’s effect is nearing its end."
At this time, Zhao Pan also heard the news and rushed over, gazing up at the giant Wutong tree.
"What is this! Could it be the Xun people have made something?"
As the commander, he immediately linked this strange phenomenon in the camp to the enemy across the river and quickly ordered a state of alert.
He Chunhua had just explained a few words when Zhao Pan noticed a dark figure moving towards the tree, stretching its head to gnaw at the leaves.
It was a barbaric bull.
Attracted by the giant Wutong, it could not help itself from reaching for the green leaves.
"Not good, don’t eat that!" Zhao Pan, disregarding his status, dashed up and pushed its head away.
But it was too late; the bull had already munched several leaves, chewing away incessantly.
(End of Chapter)
