[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-after-the-immortals-disappeared":3,"chapter-after-the-immortals-disappeared-after-the-immortals-disappeared-chapter-38":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","After the Immortals Disappeared",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2283922,4468,"Chapter 38: The Capital for a Safe Return Home","after-the-immortals-disappeared-chapter-38",38,"\u003Cp>\"Human life is precious, but the war in the central region is a race against time. If we cannot bring back the Great Square Pot in time, the rebels will move down the river, and the capital may be washed in blood!\" Sun Fu sighed heavily. \"By then, the number of innocent civilians who die will be more than a hundred, a thousand... or ten thousand?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He Chunhua opened his mouth but could not say anything. On one side was the righteousness of the nation, on the other the lives of those on the border; which was lighter and which was heavier? Seeing him remain silent, Nian Songyu also exhaled slightly, secretly relaxing the tension he had been holding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If He Chunhua were to be pedantic, he would not mind drawing his blade swiftly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Crazy Sand Season generally appears in September each year and lasts until February or March of the following year.\" Sun Fu was well-versed in this data. \"But there are occasional exceptions, right?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He Chunhua thought for a moment and nodded slowly: \"There are. According to the official history of Qiansong County, there were a few years when the Crazy Sand Season did not arrive on time, causing heavy casualties to people and livestock.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What is the scene like when it arrives?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"First come the gale-force winds and torrential rain, thunder and lightning, then it is as if fierce ghosts are howling in the desert, with wind and sand dancing like dragons and snakes.\" That is why it is called the Crazy Sand Season. \"At this time, if a person walks into the desert, they will be buried alive within a few breaths. And the wind and sand will not cease until the following year.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I have also checked the records. In fact, over the past hundred years or so, the Crazy Sand Season in the Panlong Desert has changed its timing five times. Three times it was early, twice it was delayed. The most recent one was twenty years ago, when the Crazy Sand Season arrived early in mid-May.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He Chunhua also had an impression: \"I had just arrived in Qiansong County at that time, and the local residents talked about it for many years afterward. Even in the seven years that followed, the passenger flow on the Red Cliff Trade Route was affected, and it only slowly recovered later.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone took the Red Cliff Trade Route because it was safe; if the temper of the Panlong Desert flared up at irregular times, who would dare to earn this life-risking money?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The interesting thing is, I obtained a clue from Grandmaster Zhu Gen: twenty years ago, he sent a team to set out from the Baling Kingdom to probe the Ancient Panlong City once more. He did not go himself, but calculating the time, that team should have arrived here right around April or May!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time even Nian Songyu was surprised: \"State Preceptor, are you saying... that the early arrival of the Crazy Sand Season that year was man-made?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Very likely! At least the timing fits.\" Sun Fu said, \"This team was led personally by the eldest grand-disciple valued by Grandmaster Zhu Gen. Before setting out, he must have received personal instructions, and after arriving here, he successfully triggered the early arrival of the Crazy Sand Season.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He Lingchuan said with a straight face: \"But did they succeed in returning?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Fu sighed and shook his head: \"That failure was a great blow to Grandmaster Zhu Gen. Later, Baling no longer organized expeditions to Panlong City.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Doesn't that prove it's a one-way trip?\" He Lingchuan laughed out of extreme anger. \"Then why are we still coming?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What if I told you that when the Crazy Sand Season descends, the safest place in the entire desert is actually the Ancient Panlong City?\" Sun Fu turned slightly and pointed to the full set of coarse porcelain wine utensils on the counter. \"Look, are these things that could withstand a storm? Yet, they are exactly as they were when the coalition forces left the Panlong ruins.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The crowd's expressions shifted, and they could not help but look around.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Indeed, this restaurant was open to the wind on three sides, but the tables and chairs in the front hall and the stoves in the back kitchen were all in order. From Situ Han's angle, he could even see two earthen jars on the stove, containing either salt or lard. If the crazy sand descended here every year, how could these still be preserved? Why hadn't this restaurant, these two rows of street-front shops, and the many civilian dwellings in the city—all hundred-year-old wooden structures—collapsed in the high winds and sand?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Walking into the city, no one had thought much of it until Sun Fu gave them a reminder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He Chunhua exhaled softly: \"There is often no wind in the eye of the storm.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So even if the Crazy Sand Season began, no matter how the sand and stones flew outside, the interior of Panlong City remained unaffected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You should have said so earlier; we wouldn't have had a misunderstanding.\" He Lingchuan laughed toward the sky, stopped bickering with Nian Songyu, and walked back to sit down and drink water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Situ Han muttered softly: \"But the Crazy Sand Season lasts at least four or five months. What will we eat and drink during this time?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>People have to eat; they only brought a few days' worth of food and water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This team was full of vigorous men, all big eaters, not sorcerers who could abstain from grain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before anyone else could speak, He Lingchuan mocked him: \"Use your brain. If the Great Square Pot is taken away by the State Preceptor, how could it continue to create the Crazy Sand Season? Our return trip might even be more peaceful than the journey here.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He Chunhua frowned slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although this brat was reckless, he was not wrong. Sun Fu relaxed slightly and stroked his long beard: \"Exactly!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had taken much effort to persuade this father and son to follow his arrangements; but if he were to kill them casually, the team would be hard to lead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>People's hearts are fickle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When out and about, such local tyrants in the middle of nowhere, even with low official standing, are truly quite troublesome.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who knew He Lingchuan would turn back and ask him: \"State Preceptor, you haven't made it clear yet. If we summon the Crazy Sand Season but fail to get the Great Square Pot, how are we supposed to go back?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the point! Sun Fu smiled, light and airy: \"Before setting out, I received special permission from my King to utilize the primordial power of the divine altar!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone was overjoyed and set aside these worries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Primordial power is the collection of a nation's destiny, the will of the people, and the morale of the army.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It provides great enhancement to divine abilities, can suppress all demons and monsters, and can break the enemy's divine spell arrays; it is one of the nation's most precious strategic resources and has all sorts of wonderful uses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the nation's strategic reserve, primordial power is usually sealed within the divine altar, and even high officials cannot mobilize it at will. Fortunately, the State Preceptor's job is exactly this, and Sun Fu had even received special permission from the monarch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With this promise, the possibility of everyone leaving the desert alive increased more than tenfold. Although the destiny of the Yuan Kingdom was not what it was in its prime, protecting two hundred people as they left the desert was not a difficult task.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that said, He Lingchuan was full and satisfied. He stood up and stretched: \"In that case, shall we start work at daybreak?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nian Songyu smiled coldly: \"Where do you think you're going?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Tired, going to sleep.\" He Lingchuan yawned. \"Aren't we busy tomorrow? There are no beauties here to keep me company, no little tunes to listen to; what else is there to do but sleep?\" This kid just loved to go against him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Who told you that you could rest?\" Nian Songyu did not even bother to hide his contempt. \"You will do the work tonight, right now!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Do what?\" He Lingchuan disliked him the most. \"You?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nian Songyu stepped forward with a dark face, and He Lingchuan stepped back twice, standing next to Zeng Feixiong and saying: \"Deputy Commander Zeng, protect me!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Fu coughed lightly: \"Business is important. Bring the puppets up.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He Lingchuan then remembered that the State Preceptor had tied up two puppets parasitized by Three-Corpse Insects back on the walnut boat and had brought them all the way into the city; they were still being kept outside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1460,"2026-06-20T02:23:30.219Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","e872a4777809631dc0ee6795fcb68e2e05762c2cdc1ce11764e0365a2264a36e","after-the-immortals-disappeared-chapter-39","after-the-immortals-disappeared-chapter-37",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fafter-the-immortals-disappeared-cover.jpg"]