After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 324: Chapter 323: My Name Is Aunt Yun

"You’re not a Sadist, and you don’t have a mother-body to draw from. If you want to activate the Flesh Fortress, you’ll have to rely entirely on the Brain Core itself. But the residual Divine Power inside is pitifully scarce... Hmm, it can probably only be used once, for two double-hours at most. The fortress will also be much smaller, nothing as vast and complex as the one in the Red Peak Mine Cave," the Red General said. "You can think of it as a Magical Artifact. If you can lure an enemy inside to fight, you’ll have a considerable advantage. As for the specifics of how to use it, you’ll have to figure that out on your own."

’Just a speck of Divine Power can conjure an entire Flesh Fortress out of thin air?’ Hee Lingchuan felt the Red General’s definition of "pitifully scarce" was quite different from his own. Then again, considering she was actually the Celestial God Mitian, perhaps it wasn’t so strange after all.

Holding the Sadist’s Brain Core, Hee Lingchuan felt that the suffering of the past few double-hours had not been in vain. But when he recalled the price paid for this Brain Core, he could no longer bring himself to smile.

"Oh, and by the way, using the Sadist’s Brain Core will most likely alert the Jindu Mother. After all, they share the same lineage—that is, if this Jindu Mother still exists."

Hee Lingchuan asked cautiously, "What will be the consequences?"

"As long as you don’t prostrate yourself in worship before it or pray for a Divine Descent, there usually won’t be any immediate consequences," the Red General said nonchalantly. "But it will remember you."

’What happens when you incur the wrath of a Deity?’ Hee Lingchuan understood the subtext: do not use it unless absolutely necessary.

He had another question.

"This mission..." ’Why would it be assigned to Patrol Guards?’ Hee Lingchuan hesitated for a moment. "Never mind. It’s nothing."

"We only just discovered that this time, there was a Sadist among the Jindu Cubs that descended into the Mortal World." The Red General seemed to read his mind. "But even without a Sadist, this mission truly should not have been assigned to you."

Her saying it "should not have been" meant that once they returned to the city, someone would be held responsible. Someone would pay the price.

Before the moon rose above the treetops, the group finally returned to Red Peak Town.

As they returned from the desolate Wilderness, a Flood Dragon Head Mask automatically materialized on the Red General’s face, concealing her features behind the ferocity of a Black Flood Dragon.

Hee Lingchuan stole a glance. Behind the Flood Dragon Head Mask, there seemed to be only a void of darkness.

’That’s right. When a normal person wears a mask, at least their eyes are visible. The shape of their eyes, the wrinkles around them, the distance between their pupils—none of that can be hidden from an acquaintance.’

But the Red General’s mask was bizarre. Inside the Flood Dragon’s eye sockets was an empty, absolute darkness. Even when she walked into a brightly lit room, it was as if the light could not penetrate it in the slightest.

The Red General’s dark-red-and-black armor was intricate and imposing, her chest adorned with a dark gold Flood Dragon Head. Paired with this mask, she radiated an aura of chilling ferocity that was almost palpable.

The residents of Red Peak Town came out to spectate. The moment a four- or five-year-old child laid eyes on the Red General, he was scared into wailing fits.

Turning his head, Hee Lingchuan was surprised to see an old acquaintance here: Hu Min. Hu Min gave him a smile, then went to whisper a brief report to the Red General before coming over to greet Hee Lingchuan.

The party moved indoors. The severely wounded were taken to be cared for, and the Red General walked over to the unconscious woman, gently passing a hand over her face.

The woman awoke with a soft groan.

Her expression was one of terror; she tried to sit up but had no strength.

The face was a stranger’s to Hee Lingchuan. ’So the human mother the Jindu Mother found for the Ghost Embryo wasn’t the person I thought she was.’

’So I guessed wrong, huh?’

The Red General’s voice was as placid as water. "Your internal organs are destroyed. You’re beyond saving. The only reason you’re not writhing in agony is that the venom the Sadist injected into you has an anesthetic effect. I won’t be neutralizing it."

Despite their attempts to treat her, the stretcher beneath her was still soaked red.

The blood simply would not stop. If the Red General hadn’t woken her, she would have passed away in her sleep.

"The Sadist?" the woman asked, her voice trembling. "Are you talking about my child? How is it?"

"Dead," the Red General stated. "It used your body to build a fortress and digest its food. All told, the two of you partnered up and devoured over two hundred people. Is there anything you’d like to say?"

"I... I didn’t eat anyone." The woman struggled to shake her head. "I only prayed to a Celestial God to deliver me from my sea of suffering."

The Red General said coldly, "Countless people pray to the Celestial Gods, but very few are answered by a Jindu Mother." ’Otherwise, wouldn’t Ghost Children be running wild all over the world?’

Tears streamed down the woman’s face. "My life has been so hard, I..." She thought her sincerity had moved a Celestial God.

"Which Celestial God did you pray to?"

"Yao... Yaoji," the woman murmured. "The Deity answered me, saying I would have a lovely child and never be bullied again."

A quick mental tally suggested that both of those promises had, in a way, been fulfilled.

The Red General then asked, "Why did you come to Red Peak Town?"

"The Celestial God originally told me to stay in Panlong City for a while, but I... I went into premature labor." The woman was growing weaker. "Panlong City put out a warrant for my child, so I had to leave. But it was freezing outside. I found a post station, hoping to steal some food, and then... then the children ate someone again, so I headed north."

She sobbed, "The Celestial God was very displeased and told me to go to a crowded place. But I gave birth to the youngest on the way, and after that... I don’t remember anything."

Hu Min chimed in from the side, "You gave birth to the Ghost Child near the Mine Cave?"

"I think... so?" The woman thought for a good while. "Before I fainted, I saw a row of low buildings."

Hu Min muttered under his breath, "So you’re saying this was all just a series of accidents?"

"The area near the Red Peak Mine Cave is sparsely populated, making it a terrible place to establish a Flesh Fortress," the Red General said to the group. "The Jindu Mother lures women in deep suffering to bear its Ghost Embryos in the name of salvation. This time, however, it seems to have picked the wrong person."

Hee Lingchuan couldn’t help but ask, "Why didn’t it just pick someone else?"

"Perhaps it couldn’t find a suitable candidate," the Red General answered. "The residents within the Panlong Territory already have their faith."

The people living under Panlong City’s influence naturally believed in Mitian for the most part.

’A Celestial God has to keep a tight grip on its base of followers, after all.’

As if she had already gotten the information she wanted, the Red General turned and walked away.

Seeing the woman’s face grow even paler, Willow brought her a bowl of water and said, "Don’t cry. You need to save your strength."

"I couldn’t go on living like that." The woman grasped her hand, tears streaming faster. "What did I do wrong to deserve such suffering? I just didn’t want to be so lonely anymore."

Watching from the side, Hee Lingchuan suddenly asked her, "What is your name?"

Finally, someone had asked for her name. The woman looked at him. "Aunt Yun. My name is Aunt Yun! I’m from Luan City! My family... before... before..."

She mumbled a few more words, her voice growing fainter and fainter until it was gone.

Willow felt for a pulse on her neck, then shook her head. "She’s gone."

She let out a soft sigh and instructed the townsfolk of Red Peak Town to take care of Aunt Yun’s final rites.

Hee Lingchuan vaguely recalled that Luan City had once been on the map of the Panlong Wasteland. It had been wiped out by the Xianyou Kingdom some twelve or thirteen years ago.

Along with the city, the lives of many commoners were erased as well.

Such a lonely and helpless woman had, in the final month of her life, thrown a city into turmoil, only to now be ground to dust and returned to quiet obscurity.

The room was getting stuffy. Hee Lingchuan grabbed Hu Min and led him outside, offering him a leaf of Chewing Tobacco.

Hu Min popped it into his mouth and chewed a few times before letting out a contented sigh.

"You went through hell this time, which means someone’s about to have some seriously bad luck."

"How so?"

"A mission like this should have gone to the Great Wind Army, at the minimum." Hu Min clapped him on the shoulder. "No offense, my friend."

"I know. The Red General said as much," Hee Lingchuan said. "By the way, why did the Red General come here herself?"

"The higher-ups found out that the Hu Village Chief of Red Peak Town lied about the true number of deaths in the Mine Cave, underreporting by more than half. On top of that, he deliberately delayed reporting for two days, tipping someone else off first by saying there was a Demon haunting the cave. That other party sent a team of forty to fifty men to slay the Demon, and they were completely wiped out."

"He told someone else first?" Hee Lingchuan froze, remembering what Skinny had found. "That’s right. The Red Peak Mine Cave produces gold. Others might not have known, but the Hu Village Chief definitely did."

"They were secretly mining Gold in the cave without reporting it to Panlong City!" Hu Min had also managed to get the Hu Village Chief to talk, learning some inside details. "When things went south, he reported to his own handler first. That person wanted to be the first to slay the Demon and sweep everything under the rug, but they never expected the thing in the cave to be so formidable."

"Then this den of Demons went north and devoured an entire village," Hu Min sighed. "There were only three of them left, but they had such an appetite. That’s how the Red General deduced there was a Sadist in the mix. And that’s not something an ordinary army can deal with."

"So why else would I say someone’s in for a world of hurt?" He chuckled darkly. "Almost allowing a Sadist to take root on the Chipa Plateau... that’s a massive screw-up!"

Seeing no one else was around, Hee Lingchuan draped an arm over his shoulder and whispered, "Let me ask you something else. Is the Red General... always like this?"

"Like what?"

"Wearing a mask all the time!"

"Er." Hu Min shrugged. "That’s why I told you before that words fail me. I can’t really describe her."

"The Red General—" He glanced back at the main building, his voice instinctively dropping to its lowest volume. "On the battlefield, and in public, she usually appears with her mask on. She only shows her true face in private. I heard it’s a combat custom from the Deities of Ancient Times. Let me tell you something that happened a while back."

"A few years ago, when the Red General first showed up, everyone was dying of curiosity. But she was a recluse and rarely made public appearances, so no one got a chance to see her. Then, there was one time we had to make a long-haul raid to reinforce an outer city, and everyone placed bets on how many days it would take before someone saw her true face."

"And?"

"And then everyone lost," Hu Min sighed. "The Red General never, ever took off that mask."

"So she ate alone?" ’But during a war, how could there be such a luxury?’

"That’s the incredible part." Hu Min lowered his voice. "According to her Personal Guard, the Red General doesn’t eat, drink, or even use the privy!"

’Well, if you don’t eat or drink, of course you don’t need the privy. Nothing in, nothing out. Hmm...’ ’Wait, I think I’m focusing on the wrong thing here.’

"The Red General is always full of vigor; she doesn’t need to sleep," Hu Min said with a wry smile. "Two years ago, when Baling and Xianyou joined forces to attack West Beach, the Red General was in command for seven straight days and nights without a single break. Her energy is boundless."

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