Chapter 00282: Collision with Heaven, Earth, and Air
# Collision with Heaven, Earth, and Air
Chapter 282
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 282: Collision with Heaven, Earth, and Air
"Spit it out!"
The gluttonous beast only glared at him, its mouth still full.
At that moment, a hornbill swooped down and landed on the ox's horn, making a series of loud calls.
Reluctantly, the wild ox finally spat out a pile of half-masticated leaf remnants.
Over there, the parasol tree finally ceased its growth.
"As expected, the parasol tree can withstand it for a longer duration," Ling Guang remarked, collecting a few leaves of each color along with some of the tree bark.
"Withstand it for a longer duration?" He Lingchuan frowned.
"What were you using for tests before?"
As they spoke, the giant parasol tree began to shake violently again.
This time, it was inwardly retracting.
It was as though invisible hands were twisting and pressing the entire tree, as if wringing out a towel.
With crisp "crack, crack" sounds, the branches began to break, twisting into grotesque shapes.
The onlookers shivered slightly.
Although it was just a tree, they all felt as if it were suffering immensely, extending its hands in a desperate plea for help from humankind.
No one knew how to save it.
So, the parasol tree quickly stopped its self-destructive breaking, but immediately afterward, its branches and leaves began to wither.
Amidst the falling leaves, the entire tree gradually became nothing more than a bare trunk.
The tree bark shifted from purple to gray, cracking into fissures that shed large clumps of dark brown powder, causing the nearby soldiers to cough and quickly retreat again.
The whole camp fell into a hushed silence, all waiting for what would happen next.
After a long while, the giant tree exhibited no further unusual movements.
Only then did Ling Guang step forward and gather some of the brown powder into a bottle.
"It's dead."
"What happened?" Anyone with eyes could see that the giant tree was already dead.
From sprouting to towering, then from towering to bizarre, and finally decaying to death, it all took less than a short moment.
Those with eyes were now fixated on Ling Guang's every move.
"The drug diluted a hundredfold can stimulate living growth. However, the direction of growth cannot be controlled, or rather, it deviates from the original parent form," Ling Guang explained.
"For example, this parasol tree. After being stimulated, it underwent mutations that made it completely unlike its original appearance."
"That’s still a relief. The last time I experimented with four rabbits, one sprouted three buttocks; another's outer skin peeled back, leaving it covered in blood; there was one with teeth longer than its ears, and the last one exploded into a mist of blood just after being given the drug. Of course, they all died in less than fifty breaths," Ling Guang counted off on his fingers.
"It seems that the parasol seeds have a stronger potential for life, thus they can withstand the drug's effects for a longer time."
The audience fell into silence for a while, before He Lingchuan remarked angrily, "So the four live rabbits I caught the other day were stolen by you?"
Zhao Pan stepped forward and kicked the dead tree.
"This thing won’t cause trouble again, will it?"
"It won’t."
"Then what are you all standing around for? Get back to your positions!" Zhao Pan glared at the soldiers nearby, who promptly turned and made their way back to their posts.
At this time, word from the Xunzhou camp arrived as someone rowed over to inquire.
Zhao Pan gave a perfunctory response and was about to send the messenger back when a panicked shout came from behind: "General, be careful!"
Zhao Pan was startled, sensing the wind shifting behind him, and without a moment's thought, he jumped aside.
With a loud "whoosh," a monstrous black figure rushed past him.
Before the Xunzhou messenger could discern what was happening, he had already been knocked skyward, leaving behind a scream of "Ah—!"
He He Lingchuan and his father, witnessing the scene, felt a collective surge in their minds:
It’s all over.
What charged through was a wild ox.
The very same wild ox that had just been chewing on parasol leaves like betel nut.
Anyone with eyes could tell that the parasol tree was abnormal, yet this creature still dared to eat it.
When the hornbill tried to stop it, although it spat out the remnants, a small portion of the leaf juice had already slipped down its throat and into its stomach.
While others were focused on the massive tree, it suddenly erupted with rage.
After bumbling through and knocking people aside, the wild ox's eyes turned red as it rampaged through the camp, steam visibly shooting from its nostrils in the night air.
Seeing this bulldozer-like beast charge toward them, the soldiers in the front hurriedly dodged to the side.
It knocked over three tents in succession; the canvas fell over its face, making it even more frantic due to its obscured vision.
Torches fell, igniting tents, and the fire that sprouted from its nose sent its crazed demeanor into overdrive.
What was initially a calm and orderly camp erupted into chaos, with commanders shouting orders that proved useless as fear spread amongst the soldiers.
This was their own beast; no, their own ox—who would dare stab it with swords and spears?
Luckily, the long canvas seemed to wrap around its hooves like bandages, slowing its advance considerably, and it stumbled several times over the fabric.
With a grim expression, Zhao Pan turned to issue orders as several soldiers lifted clubs to smash the stakes securing the camp, loosening a massive timber three feet in diameter.
A disciple from the Yun Cloud Pavilion surprisingly appeared out of nowhere, murmuring incantations to summon a blue-cloth brute, then blowing a whistle at the raging wild ox.
This kind of brute was indeed a summoned being, divided into various ranks, with blue-cloth being the lowest tier, capable of doing only the heaviest of labor.
The talisman used to summon it was commonly called the "grass-head talisman."
The whistle sounded particularly sharp, and the wild ox interpreted it as a challenge, charging toward them with its head down even though it couldn’t see.
Dust kicked up beneath its hooves as it approached rapidly.
Just as it was about to collide, the brute swung a log and struck forcefully against the ox's head!
With a loud "bang," wood splintered everywhere.
The brute couldn’t even maintain its footing, staggering back a full ten feet before turning into a palm-sized straw man that dropped to the ground.
The wild ox fared worse; its head was thrown off balance, causing it to lose its center of gravity.
It squatted down and slid like a bowling ball against the camp's entrance.
The gate collapsed with a thunderous crash, and the wild ox fell unconscious, lying still.
Nearby soldiers surged forward, binding its four hooves.
This effect of the ox had stirred the camp into a frenzy, but that wasn’t the greatest issue.
The Xunzhou envoy it had thrown flew into the river with a loud splash.
Such commotion could not be concealed from the opposite shore, and the Xunzhou camp erupted in chaos, with soldiers rushing to the river's edge to see their envoy thrown into the water.
This was unacceptable, and they clamored for action.
Watching the envoy struggle in the water, probably injured by being thrown, unable to swim back to the shore, Zhao Pan hurriedly sought someone to fish him out.
Unfortunately, the commander in the Xunzhou camp had the same thought.
Just as Zhao Pan’s men rowed out, three Xunzhou soldiers jumped into the water to rescue their comrade.
Unbeknownst to them, the situation escalated, and suddenly two arrows whistled through the air—one hit the bow of Zhao Pan's boat while the other struck the rowing man's arm.
Seeing him collapse, the camp of the Yun people boiled over, clamoring for battle.
The Xunzhou soldiers, observing flames rising from the camp of the Yun people suggesting something was amiss, then witnessing the tent's collapse as the wild ox charged out, both group of soldiers were left pondering if they should seize the opportunity to strike.
This thought repeatedly whirled in the minds of the Xun people.
Zhao Pan, knowing that the unrest in his camp was surely visible to the opposite side, felt a surge of anxiety, ordering his men to prepare for battle.
What had been two camps at peace suddenly became a situation tense with hostility, bloodshed loomed, and even a skirmish could ignite an all-out chaos.
He Chuanhua looked at his son and Ling Guang with fiery eyes: "What kind of trouble did you cause!"
Causing unrest on the very first night at the front!
He certainly did not wish for the spark of conflict in this battle to be ignited by his eldest son.
How would his son endure the consequences if it came to accountability?
He Lingchuan lowered his head, gripping Ling Guang, who was aiming to sneak away: "I was wrong, I was wrong! Who knew a drop of medicine could be so powerful!"
"A drop?" He Chuanhua’s fury momentarily halted.
"You used just a drop to stimulate a tree this bizarre?"
"Why, yes!"
Over on the other side, the Yun and Xun armies faced each other across the river, the atmosphere so tense it felt ready to burst.
The troops were noticeably quieter now.
Zhao Pan was trying to piece together what had just happened: “What on earth happened?”
He Chuanhua sighed as he explained the events that transpired, then added, "This lad has caused a great disaster. General Zhao, you can reprimand him at will; do what you must!”
Zhao Pan glanced at He Lingchuan with an inscrutable expression.
Recently, the camp had been well-stocked thanks to He Chuanhua; could he truly go as far as punishing the son of the newly appointed commander?
At that moment, an arrow whizzed from the Xunzhou camp, artfully making a parabolic arc, and landed on the Yun people's camp column.
This particular projectile made an unsettling sound as it flew, warning everyone to "clear out, clear out!" Its only purpose was to deliver a message without malice.
The personal guard handed over the tied note attached to the arrow, and after a glance, Zhao Pan exclaimed, "Nian Zanli is asking me what’s happening?"
Nian Zanli!
Hearing that name, the hearts of the He family father and son plummeted.
This longtime enemy whom they had never met was finally making an appearance?
He Chuanhua’s gaze flickered slightly.
"Do you wish to meet him?"
"Meet what?!" Zhao Pan scoffed.
"My men were just playing in the camp and accidentally knocked one of your envoy into the river. He’s not dead, and this matter should be settled."
Afterward, he instructed his men to write a rebuttal, tying it to one of the arrows before shooting it back.
Perhaps the Xun people accepted his reasoning, for the soldiers standing by the riverside quickly returned to their camp, and the gate was secured.
This confrontation came to a swift halt, everything seemingly reverting to how it had been half an hour earlier.
Clearly, neither side was ready for war.
Zhao Pan also ordered his men to return to the camp and keep watch, turning to He Lingchuan and saying, "Young Master He, ever since you arrived, things have certainly become lively here!"
He spoke quickly, letting his dissatisfaction be known.
He Chuanhua hurriedly apologized.
Zhao Pan dismissively accepted his words, as he would not genuinely act against the commander's son.
Just then, there was further commotion in the thickets, and a few sturdy figures squeezed through.
The herd of wild oxen had arrived.
Seeing their companion tied up and tossed on the ground, several cow demons became enraged.
With their anger, the entire herd stirred restlessly, shaking the very ground as it seemed ready to be trampled.
The nearby horses became skittish and anxious.
Zhao Pan feared that what had just settled would erupt into trouble again.
The wild oxen were notoriously stubborn and could not be easily persuaded; one of these beasts could already cause great chaos, but if this entire herd of over three hundred went wild, it wouldn't even take the opponents attacking—the Yun camp would collapse under its own frenzy.
Grinding his teeth, he turned to He Lingchuan: "Hurry, find a way to heal that wild ox!"
He Lingchuan spun around, grabbing Ling Guang.
"Heal that wild ox!"
(End of Chapter)