Chapter 00005: An Enemy You Can't Afford to Provoke
# An Enemy You Can't Afford to Provoke
Chapter 5
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 5: An Enemy You Can't Afford to Provoke
When his beloved son was attacked and fell unconscious, He Chunhua also sent a swift message to the leopard demon of the Western Mountains, but there was no reply.
He sighed, "Additionally, urgent reports from the inland have been cut off for over ten days. The Pingning region was occupied by rebel forces, and then a flood hit. The relay stations along the way are all out of service, and all communications have been severed. Blackwater City has been busy reorganizing its troops these past few days."
He Lingchuan was slightly taken aback, "Are we going to war too?"
He had heard some unusual movements in the military camp recently but hadn't paid much attention.
The Qian Song Prefecture hadn't seen a major battle for a long time, but skirmishes around Blackwater City were frequent, mostly involving the official army going out to suppress bandits, dealing with petty thieves.
Both the military and civilians were used to it.
"Hard to say," He Chunhua's expression was grim.
"Forget it," He Lingchuan thought to himself, not really blaming his stepfather.
The prefecture's affairs were heavy—grain production, trade, border threats, defense, natural disasters—none could be neglected.
They also had to guard against rebel forces from the inland.
He Chunhua rose earlier than a rooster and slept later than a dog, a diligent local official.
Even though he exhausted himself for Qian Song Prefecture, the worst news often came from the heart of the Yuan Kingdom!
This country was trapped in internal strife.
"Why did you call me here? What do you want me to see?"
"This," He Chunhua pried open the leopard's mouth.
The sharp teeth were terrifying, but He Lingchuan immediately noticed something unusual, "The canines are gone?"
All four canine teeth had been forcibly removed, leaving only bloody holes.
"The leopard demon that attacked you also used its canines to hide things. Additionally, the internal injuries of that leopard are very similar to this leopard king," he pondered, "Where did you put the things from its canines? Show them to me."
When He Lingchuan was found at the bottom of the cliff by the He family, he was unconscious and covered in blood, while the leopard was already dead.
So the He family moved both back, quickly treating the living and dissecting the dead leopard.
He Lingchuan had only gone to hunt rock sheep but ended up with a leopard demon, so this was considered his trophy.
After He Chunhua examined the contents of the leopard's teeth, he gave them to his eldest son as a memento.
Demons also had storage needs, but most didn't wear clothes, so where could they hide things? The common practice was to refine a part of their body into a storage space.
Of course, this required innate talent.
For example, crocodile demons liked to use their stomachs as treasure bags, while tiger, leopard, wolf, and jackal demons usually refined their canines to hide things.
Humans who understood this trait would, of course, take the canines as trophies when they killed a leopard demon.
Opening the storage space required spiritual power.
At that time, He Lingchuan, who had just crossed over, didn't understand and thought the leopard's teeth were truly empty.
"It's in my room, I'll go get it in a moment," He Lingchuan finally got to the main point, "Father, there's something else I need to tell you."
He then recounted the entire story of the Donglai Mansion's guards investigating the sand leopard.
The more He Chunhua listened, the tighter his frown became.
When he heard the words "Donglai Mansion," he suddenly stood up, "What did you say?"
His face turned pale, and he swung his hand to slap He Lingchuan.
He Lingchuan instinctively took half a step back.
However, He Chunhua's slap stopped mid-air and didn't actually land.
After a few seconds, his palm turned into a fist, slamming onto the table with a loud "bang."
"Setting up private interrogations, this is utter madness!"
He knew this son of his was reckless and never learned his lesson, bound to hit a wall sooner or later.
But he didn't expect the wall to come so quickly and so accurately.
The Grand Marshal!
How could they have offended the Grand Marshal!
He Chunhua had always been described as "steady" in official circles, but in He Lingchuan's memory, his father often got angry with him.
He wasn't particularly afraid and instead argued back, "Those two were asking around everywhere. The city is full of gossiping scoundrels. I was afraid they would quickly trace it back to us."
At this moment, he somewhat admired He Chunhua's caution.
Regarding the leopard demon incident, Prefect He not only didn't publicize it but also demanded that those who knew keep their mouths shut.
Otherwise, the news of the Blackwater City's little tyrant killing a leopard demon alone would have spread throughout the city, and those two wouldn't have needed to investigate to know.
Of course, there are no walls without cracks.
"Six years ago, the Grand Marshal initiated the Zhang Hongbin case, involving one duke, two marquises, seven earls, and implicating over two thousand six hundred people. How many do you think survived in the end?"
His father's face was like dark clouds pressing down.
He Lingchuan cautiously replied, "Not many, I suppose?"
"Seventy-three people!" He Chunhua said word by word, "How many of them were women and children? Hah, only seventy-three survived in the end!"
A chill ran down He Lingchuan's spine.
Not to mention commoners, even the lives of nobles were as cheap as grass, to be cut down at will.
"Compared to that, our family's misfortune isn't the worst..."
He Chunhua sighed, then returned to the topic, "When you received the message from the Red and White Path, why didn't you report it directly?"
"I wanted to find out more before reporting," He Lingchuan's expression hardened, his eyes showing a fierce glint, "If those two had no significant background, it would be best for me to take revenge; if their backer was too powerful, then we couldn't let them know the escaped sand leopard was in our hands."
He Chunhua was initially full of anger, but after carefully considering his son's words, his expression gradually softened, and he even showed a hint of agreement, "Not unreasonable."
Whether to capture these two or not wasn't the main point.
The troublesome root was that what the Grand Marshal wanted might be in their hands.
He looked at He Lingchuan, "You're starting to use your brain too."
Facing his father's approving gaze, He Lingchuan grinned to avoid it, "I'll go get the things."
A quarter of an hour later.
He Lingchuan returned with the leopard's teeth, pouring out the stored items onto a small table.
"That's all."
The belongings of the sand leopard that attacked He Lingchuan included several demon cores of varying sizes and colors, a set of razor-sharp daggers, a few pieces of mutton-fat white jade, a string of pearl necklaces, some miscellaneous items of unknown use, and even a dozen gold and silver ingots!
Demons weren't just ferocious; they also traded with humans.
The appearance of gold and silver as hard currency wasn't surprising to the He father and son.
"The Grand Marshal couldn't possibly want this string of pearls, could he?" He Lingchuan held the pearl necklace up to the light.
The pearls had a warm, enchanting luster, each slightly larger than a melon seed, with a faint blue glow under the sunlight.
Just after taking it out, a light mist began to condense around the necklace, making the surrounding air feel cool and refreshing, as if standing on a breezy coast.
"It has a slight water-condensing effect, nothing special," He Lingchuan thought.
All living beings need water.
In the dry desert, this necklace would make the sand leopard feel comfortable, but the Grand Marshal probably wouldn't be interested in it.
He Chunhua's gaze fell on the pile of miscellaneous items.
Last time he checked, he had set these aside, but now he needed to take a closer look.
These items were quite varied: withered flowers and plants, half a piece of black musk, bones with meat still on them, a blood-stained ring likely taken from a human victim, a broken hairpin, a few packets of spices, a dozen feathers, half a comb, and...
A pile of dried insects, snakes, and lizards.
(End of Chapter)