Chapter 00286: The Monster That Cannot Be Found
# The Monster That Cannot Be Found
Chapter 286
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 286: The Monster That Cannot Be Found
She turned to He Lingchuan and asked, “What about that monster?”
“He was pursued by the patrolling guards after making a noise, and they said they would hand him over for me,” He Lingchuan sighed, “Now that I think about it, there’s something off about that person.”
“What’s the issue?”
“When he got close, the monster I captured stopped making noise.”
Sun Fuling did not raise her head: “It could just be a coincidence.”
“Let’s hope so,” He Lingchuan scratched his head, “But I don’t understand, why do these monsters keep gathering here?”
“Here?”
“Look, we’ve encountered three so far and captured two of them, while the entire city has only caught a total of six."
With the vastness of Panlong City, why are monsters not going elsewhere?
Sun Fuling thought for a moment: “Could their lair be nearby?”
“Perhaps,” He Lingchuan also contemplated this, “The hawk said that the pharmacist summoned by Instructor Zhong believes that these monsters are all in their juvenile stage. From the osteological age assessment, they might not even have been born yet at this stage.”
“And I just smelled a strange salty odor on the monster, wet and sticky, somewhat like…” He Lingchuan’s expression was peculiar.
“Like what?”
He Lingchuan hesitated; he really did not want to say that word out loud.
“Amniotic fluid?” Sun Fuling boldly asked instead.
He Lingchuan could only say, “I was just guessing.”
“If the most qualified pharmacist says they are unborn infants,” Sun Fuling seriously fed the hawk some meat, “then your guess makes sense.”
“Are you saying they have such strong combat abilities right after being born?”
That defied biological common sense.
While some animals can hunt and survive on their own right after birth, like crocodiles, their young are generally weak, often becoming a meal for others.
“Strength and weakness are relative,” Sun Fuling analyzed, “Perhaps compared to their adult parents, they are already considered weak.”
Take for instance, the young of a giant whale which is more than ten feet long and weighs thousands of pounds—wouldn't tossing a person away be an everyday occurrence for them?
In other words, the prey of these juvenile monsters—humans—are too weak compared to them.
“Then we need to catch them sooner,” otherwise, Panlong City will face disaster. “No wonder we can’t find them even after searching carefully; how do you find unborn creatures?”
No wonder the Three Corpse Insects couldn’t locate these monsters; they were hiding inside their mothers!
The Three Corpse Insects only drilled through the seven orifices, and at most, they could penetrate one more orifice.
How could they go into the mother’s abdomen to check for a fetus?
“Wait! Hold on!” He Lingchuan suddenly jolted, feeling something was off.
“What’s wrong?”
“Hmm…” If the Three Corpse Insects could detect their mothers, why didn’t they raise an alarm to the master of the Great Square Cauldron?
Could it be that the mother of the monster isn’t a monster herself?
At this moment, Sun Fuling had finished feeding the meat: “We could look for the mother.”
“…” She hit the nail on the head with that remark.
“After all these days, every corner of Panlong City has been turned upside down and searched several times, yet there’s been nothing,” Sun Fuling said matter-of-factly, “Then it must have been hidden by someone.”
“Indeed.” What He Lingchuan thought, however, was that the high-ranking officials of Panlong City likely understood the marvelous utility of the Three Corpse Insects better than he did.
It must have long been deduced that the ‘mother’ of the monsters could be a human.
He was worrying about something trivial.
“The issue is, why did these monsters infiltrate the city?” He Lingchuan stoked the fire and boiled some water, while Sun Fuling poured a bowl of hot water and placed it beside the hawk. “Panlong City is extremely unfriendly to illegal intruders; what kind of monster would be willing to risk death to come in?”
He Lingchuan exhaled: “Ultimately, the information we have is too limited.”
Lacking intelligence made it difficult to analyze, and they could mostly only rely on guesses.
“So, why should people like you and me, munching on cabbage, worry about those feasting on meat?” Sun Fuling said languidly, “Alright, I’m going back to take a bath, so don’t come over temporarily to borrow anything.”
He Lingchuan's face turned red: “Do you need soap pods? I have them.”
Sun Fuling chuckled lightly and was about to walk out when she suddenly remembered something: “By the way, today is the Day of the Heavenly Sacrifice in Panlong City, presided over by Mr. Wen Daolun. Would you like to come with me? Perhaps there’s a chance to seek enlightenment from Wen Daolun.”
Wen Daolun? He Lingchuan thought for a moment and finally remembered that this seemed to be the strategist beside Instructor Zhong, allegedly also well-versed in divination. “Yes, of course!”
Then he asked, “What is the Day of the Heavenly Sacrifice?”
Sun Fuling looked at him steadily.
He Lingchuan rubbed his nose: “I’m not originally from Panlong City.” He was unfamiliar with their customs.
“Three years ago today, Instructor Zhong used his only daughter to offer a sacrifice to the divine, allowing the deity to take notice of Panlong City, enabling its continuation until now,” Sun Fuling said slowly. “Panlong City has only held a human sacrifice once, and that was with the flesh and blood of Instructor Zhong's own kin. The townspeople are grateful, so every year on this day they go to pay their respects. Starting this year, Panlong City has designated this day as the Day of the Heavenly Sacrifice.”
“Since we’re going to pay respects,” He Lingchuan thought for a moment, “I should buy some flowers and fruits.”
“In this weather, where would you find flowers?” Sun Fuling laughed, “I’ve already bought some fruit cakes.”
…
An hour later, the two set off in a donkey cart.
They rode in silence.
He Lingchuan remained quiet, and Sun Fuling didn’t speak either, with only the sound of the cart’s wheels rumbling.
But her presence was strong.
Sun Fuling had already changed into a set of clothes, her damp hair had dried, and her dark curls were fluffy, emanating a scent akin to pinewood—a refreshing, neutral, pleasant aroma.
When He Lingchuan closed his eyes, he felt as if he were again in the mountains and forests.
He had heard that young ladies liked to bathe in floral scents, but this girl beside him was quite different.
The donkey cart was small, so the two had to sit close together.
Sun Fuling rested her chin on her hand, looking outside, while He Lingchuan turned his head and found himself near her slender neck.
Her skin was delicate and pale, with faint blue veins visible beneath.
No matter how you looked at it, she was a beautiful young woman in the prime of her life.
He Lingchuan couldn’t help but recall the various doubts he had about her and finally broke the silence: “By the way, have you been out having fun these past few days?”
“A few days ago, I left the city; yesterday I went to clean my brother’s house,” Sun Fuling sighed, “Though it’s just a dirt house, it might be reclaimed soon.”
Right, accommodation in Panlong City had always been tight.
Aside from luxury houses, other residences were all allocated by the city, theoretically making everyone a tenant.
In cases like Sun Fuling’s where the tenant has died, the authorities would reclaim the house and reallocate it to someone in need.
“Did you move his things back?”
“He didn’t have much,” when someone died, it was like a light going out, leaving no trace in this world.
Another wave of silence fell as if they’d run out of topics to discuss.
Yet his heart was filled with questions, and finally one burst forth, disregarding any abruptness: “Miss Sun, are you also a practitioner?”
“Hmm, yes,” Sun Fuling turned to look at him, seemingly a bit surprised, “I’ve learned divine skills, rigorously practiced martial arts, and even served as a patrolling guard; I almost joined the Great Wind Army.”
She paused before continuing: “In Panlong City, there are many women who practice and train in martial arts; both the patrolling guards and the Great Wind Army don’t lack females. Many of the girls I’ve taught aim to join the Great Wind Army when they grow up.”
He Lingchuan thought of his teammate, Liu Tiao; her fierceness rivaled that of men.
To defend against external aggression, Panlong City had to muster all its strength for over a decade; as long as it meant protecting home and city, women were also bound for the battlefield.
“But then you went to teach?”
“I was seriously injured in battle, and my elder brother advised me to abandon martial arts for literature. Just so happened that the Xueming Academy was hiring lecturers with good pay, so I…” She tapped her temple, “Though fighting against the enemy is important, nurturing future warriors is also good.” She said gently, “Even if the environment of the Panlong Wilderness is poor, I believe Panlong City still has a future.”
As long as there were people, there was hope; as long as there was hope, this place had a future.
At least, there was still seventeen years.
He Lingchuan was aware that the average lifespan of a person in the Yuan Kingdom was around thirty.
For most common folks, seventeen years was already half a lifetime.
Suddenly, Sun Fuling pointed ahead and said, “Is that your shop over there?”
They had already walked onto the most bustling main street, with carts and pedestrians constantly flowing by.
He Lingchuan followed her finger and indeed saw that it was the shop he had spent a large amount of military merits to lease!
After he tidied up the miscellaneous items in the shop last time, he had handed it over to the authorities for management.
Now, the shop had reopened after decoration, featuring a large piece of tree bark as a sign with green characters reading:
Yunling Island.
Just by looking at this sign, one could tell that they didn’t sell food and clothing.
Moreover, there were quite a few customers in the shop.
He Lingchuan recalled that the first month’s rent had already been handed over to him, and it was quite generous.
One shop could sustain a family of four for twenty years without any problem.
If it were a family of four, they wouldn’t need to do anything else; just this shop alone could cover food and drink and even save up enough for a bride for their son.
However, Panlong City despised those who sought unearned gains, so commercial taxes were not low.
Fortunately, if someone in the family served in the military, they could receive reductions based on quotas.
Sun Fuling, looking very interested, said, “Shall we go take a look?”
Of course, He Lingchuan wouldn’t refuse.
But when Sun Fuling got off the cart, she stepped on a stone, causing her foot to slip slightly.
He Lingchuan quickly reached out to support her arm: “Be careful.”
Her almond-shaped eyes curved, and she seemed to smile.
It was then that He Lingchuan noticed the candy snail shell that was pinned to her left temple.
Her simple attire contrasted elegantly with this splash of brightness.
Once inside the shop, He Lingchuan realized that it was a shop dedicated to magical tools.
Not only did they buy and sell various magical artifacts, but they also provided after-sales service, repair, and maintenance.
It was easy to imagine that the shop's clientele was targeted towards practitioners; most commoners who entered were primarily there to browse.
He Lingchuan even ran into a few familiar faces who were patrol guards.
These people greeted him and even exchanged knowing glances because Sun Fuling was right beside him.
The shopkeeper was a plump man named Bai Guo; he had a rounded belly and a smiling face, clearly a proper businessman.
It turned out to be his third branch in Panlong City.
The rent on Wanglin Street was shockingly expensive, and the shops that could thrive there fell into one of two categories: either their business was exceptionally bustling, or their goods were expensive and in high demand.
Yunling Island belonged to the latter category.
Upon hearing that He Lingchuan was the landlord, the shopkeeper’s enthusiasm doubled; he offered tea and insisted that the landlord could buy any magical item in the shop at a ten percent discount in the future—as long as he could give him a better deal next year's rent.
(End of Chapter)