Chapter 227: The Immortal

"What about our casualties?" "Not bad, not many, after all, we had the initiative this time." The sparrowhawk didn't give specific numbers, just continuing, "Later, Zhu Xiuer and General Hong negotiated."

"What did they say, is it convenient to disclose?"

The sparrowhawk didn't hesitate at all: "Convenient, because I don't know either."

"..."

"We were all waiting on the hillside, including other cave spiders; only General Hong and Zhu Xiuer were talking on the top of the mountain." The sparrowhawk continued to eat. "We saw Zhu Xiuer baring its fangs and brandishing its claws, seeming very angry, but General Hong was calm the whole time, and finally, they negotiated terms before returning. As far as I know, the cave spiders will still abide by the original agreement and will no longer attack passing humans. A new clause was added: the cave spiders must help Panlongcheng defend the southern part of the Panlong Wasteland, which means Zhu Xiuer must send spider monsters to patrol the main road in the south regularly, and report any abnormal situations."

A local snake is most suitable for this kind of thing.

In the past, the agreement between Panlongcheng and the cave spiders was relatively loose and maintained respect, but Zhu Xiuer attacked the Panlongcheng army this time, so General Hong was not polite to them at all.

"Counting General Nanke's failure, we also lost quite a few people in the Ghost Needle Shi Lin. Actually, according to General Hong's original plan, it seemed he wanted to burn the Ghost Needle Shi Lin to the ground."

He Lingchuan had been to Zhu Xiuer's nest and knew very well that it was a large ranch underneath. Now that the external trouble was temporarily removed, if Panlongcheng wanted to deal with the cave spiders, although it wouldn't be easy, it wasn't impossible.

Zhu Xiuer had a big family and many descendants, and it was hard to find a second suitable habitat in the vast Panlong Wasteland. Perhaps that was why it finally compromised?

"However, Panlongcheng also has to transport five hundred camels, two thousand goats, one hundred roosters, and seven hundred hens to the cave spiders before the arrival of midwinter, as their winter reserves. In exchange, the cave spiders will produce more demon spider silk to trade with Panlongcheng, which is a good thing for refining magic treasures. And they must provide fluorescent spores, fungal mats, and aphid dew, etc. In the past, the cave spiders wouldn't give these, but from now on, these can only be sold to Panlongcheng and cannot be sold to other merchants."

"They even specified hens?" He Lingchuan was very surprised. "What do they want hens for, to lay eggs?"

Thinking carefully, it didn't seem unreasonable. Those cave spiders could plant moss and raise aphids like ants, running a big ranch; what was strange about raising some hens to lay eggs?

The cave spiders indeed suffered heavy losses in the battle between the Baling people and the Panlong army, with their nests and ranches suffering fire disasters. If there were no other food, they might very well take passing humans to satisfy their hunger.

From now on, Panlongcheng would become the exclusive agent for the cave spiders' specialties. Zhu Xiuer was so angry, perhaps because General Hong suppressed the price too hard?

However, it was the defeated party, so the price it had to pay must be very high.

"How would I know? I'm leaving." The sparrowhawk swallowed the last bite of meat and flapped its wings. "By the way, General Hong and General Nanke both appreciate your bravery. I also heard that General Nanke intends to recruit you into the guard, are you interested?"

He Lingchuan sighed: "In other words, although General Hong appreciates me, he doesn't intend to recruit me into the Great Wind Army?"

He had hoped that after making a great contribution, the superiors would open an expedited promotion channel.

"To escape from the cave alive, both agility and luck are indispensable; but you are too young and still need to be tempered." The sparrowhawk tilted its head. "These are General Hong's original words."

He Lingchuan subconsciously straightened his back; General Hong actually commented on him?

Just then, the sound of a door opening came from the neighboring courtyard.

Sun Fuling is back?

He Lingchuan raised his voice and asked: "Is it Miss Sun?"

"Hmm."

Just one word, and He Lingchuan could tell it was her.

He Lingchuan's job was a patrol guard, walking south and north, so logically, he was the one who was often not at home. But he felt that this Miss Sun was the one who was elusive.

Since their first meeting, he had entered the dream three or four more times, and the small courtyard next door was always empty.

So he hesitated for a moment and decided to seize this opportunity: "The stolen Exoneration Order, did you get it back?"

"Got it back." Sun Fuling's voice came from across the wall. "The government sent it to me yesterday, and Liu Tailai from the west of the city has also been arrested for interrogation."

"That's good, that's good." He Lingchuan coughed lightly. "I have something to ask Miss Sun."

Sun Fuling didn't answer.

He Lingchuan thought she was impatient and touched his face. Could it be that he wasn't white enough? The young ladies and wives in Dunyu City hadn't stopped throwing flirtatious glances at him these past two days.

However, the sound of stepping on something came from the opposite side, not knowing if it was wood or bamboo, and immediately after, Sun Fuling's figure actually appeared on the wall.

Her upper body.

"What is it?" She looked down at He Lingchuan, still wearing a face veil.

So she had gotten a ladder to climb the wall.

"You raised a new bird?" She also saw the sparrowhawk in the courtyard.

"No, it serves in the Great Wind Army."

The sparrowhawk finished eating the magpie and flew to the wall, walking two steps in front of Sun Fuling, tilting its head to look at her.

Sun Fuling didn't care that it still had meat crumbs on the corner of its beak and reached out to touch its head.

He Lingchuan was a step too late to speak, fearing the sparrowhawk would peck a hole in her hand.

Fortunately, it didn't.

She rubbed and kneaded it twice, and the sparrowhawk even closed its eyes, looking like it was enjoying it.

"This monster doesn't seem very fierce either." Sun Fuling scratched its neck. "What do you want to ask me?"

"Oh, there's something I want you to take a look at." He Lingchuan took a piece of paper from his bosom, held it high above his head, and spread it out for Sun Fuling to see.

He was tall, and he could reach the top of the wall with one stretch, showing that this wall was only meant to prevent gentlemen, not villains.

"Do you recognize this kind of writing?"

He had obtained a rubbing from the Immortal's Cave, which was one of the only two relics left by that unknown "Immortal." The other was naturally the cave heart core eaten by the God Bone.

"These characters are so ugly."

He Lingchuan was embarrassed. The rubbing was a physical object and couldn't be brought into the dream. He spent some effort memorizing the character shapes in the rubbing one by one, and after entering the dream, he copied a version.

Given that his divine soul was becoming more solid in his cultivation, memorizing an ancient text he didn't recognize was much easier than before.

"But I recognize them." Sun Fuling's answer made him overjoyed. "Hmm, let me see—"

"Which subject do you teach at the Shumin Academy?"

"Arithmetic, National History." Sun Fuling's gaze moved along the lines of characters. "Where did you get this?"

"A cave in the wild." He Lingchuan didn't say the specific location but restored the interior of the Immortal's Cave to her.

"I heard this is an Immortal's cave dwelling, so is the skeleton sitting inside really an Immortal?"

"Not necessarily, but it will have some connection with ancient Immortals, just like there is more than just mice in a mouse hole." Sun Fuling explained. "This kind of writing was popular two or three thousand years ago, also known as Immortal Language, and the modern script actually evolved from it."

"Did the Immortals teach it to humans?"

"In legends, the Immortals taught humans more than just this." Sun Fuling stared intently. "Hmm, the owner of this cave dwelling is named Dongli True Person, a 227th-generation true disciple of the Great Return Sect, a disciple of the Wood Spirit Supreme lineage, who died at the age of 767."

"This Picking Chrysanthemum True Person—no, Dongli True Person—lived to be over seven hundred years old?" He Lingchuan was envious; he would be satisfied if he could live two-thirds of that.

"He wrote it himself, who knows if he exaggerated." Sun Fuling was rational and objective.

"It is also said here that he upheld the instructions of the Supreme Venerable, having once been a teacher to mortals, enlightening them from ignorance and ensuring they did not forget their origins. Unfortunately, the great trend of the world is irreversible; humans and immortals walk different paths, and they drifted further and further apart." Sun Fuling narrowed her eyes slightly, as if carefully identifying the text. "Hmm, the key point is here: as spiritual energy grew weaker day by day, he too struggled to maintain his longevity. His hair turned white, his face wrinkled, his skin grew loose, and he suffered in helplessness. Thus, he fell into the demonic path, changing his faith to gods and demons to vainly seek the power of longevity, and because of this, he committed many wrongs, only repenting thoroughly before his death."

"Changed to believe in gods and demons?" He Lingchuan thought of Sun Fuping, Nian Songyu, and then Hong Xiangqian. These people all firmly believed in gods and demons; Nian Songyu even used his body as a vessel to welcome the descent of gods.

But none of them had a good end.

Was this an exception, or common? He couldn't help but think of General Hong again. Everyone knew Zhong Shengguang worshipped the Heavenly God and Panlongcheng worshipped the Mitian.

This city, these people, their final end was also...

Sun Fuling's words dragged his attention back: "At that time, he realized the mental cultivation method left by his master and revised the 'Collection of Passing Water.' This was originally a divination book passed down by the Wood Spirit Venerable, but deviations appeared in later generations as spiritual energy disappeared, and it was often inaccurate. Dongli True Person made adjustments and changed the name, engraving it in the Golden Book, waiting for those with affinity."

He Lingchuan's spirit lifted when he heard the words "divination book," but then he remembered that he had turned the Immortal's cave dwelling upside down and hadn't found a third usable thing, let alone any Golden Book.

Sun Fuling was also asking him: "Have you seen the 'Collection of Passing Water'?"

He Lingchuan shook his head: "Taken away by an old turtle monster. No wonder it is well-versed in this way; it doesn't look like an ordinary mountain spirit or wild monster at all." So the old turtle got the ancient Immortal's legacy.

"Dongli True Person said that time is like passing water, never to return. In today's era of declining spiritual energy, those with foresight are like fish in the water, trying their best to jump up and see the scene ahead, but it's only a fleeting glance, hard to see the full picture."

"...... So that's how it is." He Lingchuan was disappointed.

If even Dongli True Person, who revised the "Collection of Passing Water," determined it this way, his hope of changing the fate of the future seemed even more remote.

Sun Fuling sighed slightly: "Sure enough, this is how the Immortal finally disappeared. Dongli True Person died too plainly."

"Hmm?"

"You can call it sitting in meditation, but I think he was more like dying of old age—just like a mortal."

"..." So the Immortal finally died of old age? "This ending is truly boring to the extreme."

"No matter how strong the fish is, it will die if it leaves the water for too long." Sun Fuling said. "He requested that those who see this testament send his token to the former site of the Great Return Sect on Shou'an Mountain and place it in the Guihua Pagoda. Although the Great Return Sect is no longer there, he still hopes to return to his roots."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 228 =====