Chapter 00285: Borrowing
# Borrowing"
Chapter 285
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 285: "Borrowing"
He Lingchuan calculated with his fingers, "Out of the five heads, I caught two? You guys are way too inefficient, aren’t you? Isn’t there a night curfew?"
What he really wanted to say was that Panlong City must have the three尸虫 patrolling often, yet they still couldn't catch those monsters?
"They changed their schedule; they don't come out at night anymore."
Que Ying said, "They don't show up in broad daylight either, only during cloudy days. They probably fear the sun's true fire. These creatures aren't smart; we suspect someone is behind this. Also—"
It hesitated for a moment.
"What else?" Experience told him that such hesitation often meant that the next bit was crucial.
"Commander Zhong summoned the most experienced pharmacist to examine these monsters. I was there too. The conclusion they came to was that these creatures are still in their larval stage."
"Laval stage?" He Lingchuan frowned.
"They're still young?"
"Their fontanelle suture is very large and hasn't begun to close yet; the pharmacist judged them to be larvae," Que Ying reiterated.
"They are either infants or fetuses."
"Fetuses?" He Lingchuan was thoroughly shocked.
"How troublesome, and they're fetuses?"
Then how terrifying would these ghostly things be when they grow up?
"Therefore, they instinctively fear strong light and only move on cloudy days."
Que Ying suppressed the impulse to flap its wings.
"Since the first monster appeared, there have been very few cloudy days."
So the few monsters they had captured were not due to a lack of effort on their part.
"That little monster, did it come by itself?"
"Yes, it walked and stopped, as if looking for something, and finally ended up on your wall."
Que Ying had been monitoring from the sky.
"I saw it was about to turn around and bite you, so I came down."
"Thank you."
He Lingchuan was deeply moved and gently patted its head.
Que Ying disdainfully dodged his hand.
"If you want to thank me, just stoke the fire in the furnace!"
This room was freezing; it was about to freeze to death!
"Okay, okay."
He Lingchuan considered that he indeed had not been a good host.
"I'll stoke the fire now."
He turned around in the kitchen and found that there was no charcoal and no firewood left.
Right, he had used it all up the last time he entered the dreamland, and he had been too lazy to replenish it.
But anyway, he was strong and healthy; with his own upright character, he could get by.
So what to do now? He thought for a moment, picked up the only quilt, and wrapped it around Que Ying, "Wait here, I’ll go borrow some charcoal and be back in a moment."
...
After leaving He Lingchuan's home, the patrolman took several twists and turns, getting more lost until he finally entered a deserted alley.
The walls on both sides were low, the trees overhead were tall, and a nearby residential house was under renovation, with its main gate wide open, materials piled up, but no one inside.
The sky was overcast; it seemed it would rain soon.
The patrolman glanced around, confirmed that no one was following him, and slipped inside.
He stood in a corner at the back of the house, picked up a woven basket and aligned his gaze with the small monster nestled inside.
For a few breaths, man and monster locked eyes.
Then, the small monster suddenly made a pattering sound, as if trying to communicate.
The patrolman stood still.
After the monster finished, he unexpectedly made a pattering sound as well!
Listening closely, the sound didn't come from his throat but rather from his chest!
Then the patrolman set down the basket, intending to pour the small monster out onto the snow outside.
If he coated it with several layers of snow powder, after a while, once the snow melted and reduced the adhesive nature of the gel, it might be able to escape.
However, at that moment, an arrow shot in from a distance, nailing the patrolman's arm to the wall.
He didn't even feel pain nor did he shout, and only after a brief delay did the sound of the arrow piercing the air arrive.
The patrolman reached out to pull the arrow out, but before he could, another arrow came and nailed his other arm to the wall.
He finally let out an angry roar and, regardless of the circumstance, yanked hard, pulling his hand free from the entire length of the arrow!
The arrow remained lodged in the wall, covered in blood from tip to tail.
Yet he was still a moment too slow; the third arrow struck him right in the heart!
The patrolman instantly froze, his head dropping, but something suddenly jumped out from behind his heart armor and made an attempt to escape along the wall's edge.
Its movements were unusually decisive and as fast as lightning, anyone else watching could only see a fleeting shadow in the air.
Unfortunately, the fourth arrow came in just then, striking it dead on as if it had calculated precisely where it would leap.
As it jumped, it looked like it was actually leaping onto the arrow itself.
"Ga—" a rough, wretched scream echoed.
Such unspectacular four arrows had forced it from its hiding place and pinned it dead to the wall.
Calmly and easily.
Now one could clearly see that the creature that jumped out from the patrolman’s back was also a monster resembling a long-legged spider, with eight legs stretching at least three feet long, yet as slender as noodles, its body merely the size of a duck egg, with a savage human face concealed on its back.
Having been struck by this arrow, it clawed and scratched at the wall with its eight legs but couldn’t even break the surface of the wall—
Its long legs were adept at delicate work, like injecting venom and controlling human nerves, allowing the body to speak and act normally, rather than being used for looting and pillaging.
Clearly, this patrolman had inadvertently fallen victim to its ambush and subsequently became the vessel in which the monster resided.
It had deceived He Lingchuan into trusting it simply to rescue the small monster within the basket.
Unfortunately, there was a ‘yellow bird’ lying in wait.
At that moment, a figure suddenly jumped down from the wall, moving silently closer, drawing out a feathered arrow, and stuffing both the arrow and the spider monster into its quiver.
The small monster in the basket continued making pattering sounds, its little eyes seemingly filled with fear alongside its name-calling.
The figure scooped up the basket and disappeared into the alley with a few leaps.
...
He Lingchuan jumped onto the wall.
Yes, it was the low wall between his home and Sun Fuling's.
The way he came up with to solve the problem was to borrow some firewood from his good neighbor.
The teachers at Shuming Academy received more salary than they could burn every month; otherwise, how could it be called "salary"?
By the way, why did that little monster run to this place?
In the instant he jumped over the wall, a flash of inspiration struck his mind, and he suddenly realized where the previous incongruity lay:
The small monster in the basket had struggled the whole time, except—
Except when he was talking to the patrolman.
Except when he handed the basket to the patrolman.
During those two moments, the little monster had been as quiet as a child.
Why?
He Lingchuan stood there dumbstruck for several seconds, hitting his head in annoyance.
That patrolman must have had a problem! But after so long, who knew where that person had slipped off to?
What was he thinking at the time, to trust so easily?
The matter had passed, and overthinking was of no benefit.
He sighed and continued searching for firewood.
Sun Fuling’s little courtyard was empty, with only a chair and a ladder under the eaves.
The snow on the ground had melted and turned to ice, glistening and transparent, making it very slippery to walk on.
This courtyard was cleaner than his own face, yet it was devoid of any liveliness.
It seemed Sun Fuling had not returned for several days.
Wasn't she on winter break? Why hadn't anyone seen her?
There was no firewood in the courtyard, so He Lingchuan decided to go into the kitchen to look, and if worse came to worst, he could leave her a note.
After all, they had a good relationship, so he could be a bit casual.
He pushed the door in and found that the kitchen corner indeed had a tall stack of firewood, and there was even charcoal nearby.
He didn’t know how long she had been saving that bounty.
He Lingchuan looked at the pile of firewood, which was taller than a person, and secretly wondered if this young lady Sun never warmed her home?
Otherwise, how could she have accumulated so much firewood?
Looking around the kitchen, it was equipped with pots, pans, and utensils, but everything was placed way too tidily, with no signs of smoke or fire, like a showhouse.
He Lingchuan reached beneath the stove and dug around, finding no scorch marks, just a little bit of dust.
Miss Sun said she didn't know how to cook, and as it turned out, she wasn’t being modest.
But didn't she boil water either? Did she normally just gnaw on snow for thirst?
The door between the bedroom and kitchen was ajar, and He Lingchuan knew he shouldn’t go in, but his legs wouldn’t listen to him.
Sun Fuling's bedroom was equally spotless, the bedclothes neatly arranged, the chair positioned against the wall with two books on top.
He Lingchuan looked and saw they were just idle books.
In the corner stood a locked chest, but it wasn't locked.
There was half a plate of burned candles on the lid of the chest.
He Lingchuan took another scan of the room, not seeing anything unusual, and then his gaze moved to the chest.
Should he open it?
He had seen Sun Fuling go into her room to fetch medicine several times, but there were no medicine boxes visible, so the medicine must be stored in the chest?
What else was inside?
Suddenly, a creaking sound came from outside, the courtyard door opened.
Oh no.
He Lingchuan quickly slipped around to the kitchen and opened the door to go out.
Then, he collided with Sun Fuling, who had just stepped into the courtyard.
Both of them froze.
Sun Fuling looked surprised, blinking her eyes, with both hands full of things.
Caught red-handed, He Lingchuan didn’t even need a mirror to know that his face was undoubtedly a picture of embarrassment.
"Uh, hey."
His voice felt very weak, “You’re back.”
Sun Fuling looked at the courtyard wall and then at him, seemingly understanding something.
"Is there something?"
"I came to..."
He Lingchuan chuckled awkwardly, "Borrow some firewood."
He noticed the bulging leather pouch in her hands and hurriedly stepped forward to help.
"Let me carry it for you."
Sun Fuling handed the things over to him and then went into her kitchen, bringing out a large bundle of woods and a large bundle of charcoal, stuffing them all into his hands.
"I don’t need it all; take as much as you want."
Suddenly, a sound echoed from next door.
Sun Fuling noticed: "What was that sound?"
"A bird call."
He Lingchuan gestured with his chin towards the ground.
"Just now, Que Ying was fighting a monster in your yard, got injured, and is being treated by me. It keeps complaining about being cold, so..."
He shook the firewood in his hands.
"It's hurt?" Sun Fuling's expression softened slightly; she had been present last time Que Ying visited.
"I'll go check."
With that, she turned around and pushed the door open to leave.
He Lingchuan certainly couldn’t return the way he came and had to follow her out, taking a few steps to push open his courtyard gate.
"Please, go in."
He went to the kitchen to stoke the fire and turned around to see Sun Fuling crouched down examining Que Ying’s injury, even reaching out to stroke its back.
Que Ying not only didn’t dodge but instead closed its eyes, looking quite content.
"..."
Did this bird have a grudge against him for some reason for being so disdainful just moments ago?
"Poor thing, its feathers are all torn, seems like it will take some time to recover before it can soar again."
Sun Fuling, he didn’t know where she got it from, pulled out a small packet of jerky, tore it into thin strips, and started feeding it piece by piece, "I bought it at the market; it's not salty."
(End of Chapter)