Chapter 494 - 493: What the Hell Is This Thing?

Chapter 494: Chapter 493: What the Hell Is This Thing?

The window wasn’t deliberately shut, allowing the evening breeze to drift in. But the smoke from the burning offering coiled above the tribute candle, refusing to disperse, growing thicker and thicker.

After just over ten breaths, the dense smoke coalesced into a gray shadow.

Looking closely, the shadow’s form eerily resembled the wooden carving on the table, but it only had seven or eight faces on its body. The centermost face even rolled its eyes, glaring down at the child’s soul below.

Although the child’s soul was naive, it instinctively knew something was wrong. It gave up on the incense and tried to retreat into the wooden ball.

The smoke shadow pounced, swallowing it in one gulp.

Such a small, weak, fragmented soul wasn’t even an appetizer for it; instead, it only whetted its appetite.

Its mouth opened and closed, as if saying something to the caster. The Curse Master, prostrated on the ground, said respectfully, "The mark has been set. Please, go and enjoy the bountiful sacrifice!"

Upon hearing this, the smoke shadow swirled around the room once before vanishing into thin air the next second.

The caster straightened up and saw that the number of faces on the wooden carving had correspondingly decreased by seven or eight.

...

Hee Lingchuan had always been a good sleeper. Even when not Entering Panlong City, he could still get a night of deep, sound sleep.

This ability to fall asleep the moment he lay down, anytime and anywhere, was the envy of Shi the Second.

In the northern Panlong Wasteland, several conflicts, both large and small, had broken out one after another.

The Baling and Xianyou alliance army kept probing the borders.

This was the aftermath of the Panlong Army’s swift capture of the Xiji Kingdom.

The Broken Blade Squad was consequently transferred to the northern front, fighting six battles in just over thirty days.

Two of these escalated into white-hot intensity, with both sides fighting until their eyes were red with bloodlust, nearly turning the local clashes into an all-out war.

Both battles were exceptionally difficult. In one, they were heavily outnumbered; three hundred Great Wind Army soldiers relied on the terrain to hold off two thousand opponents for two days and one night.

The entire Broken Blade Squad had several near-death experiences.

Hee Lingchuan, relying on his Undying Body, fought with reckless abandon. He was wounded countless times and even served as a human shield for Willow and Aluo on separate occasions.

Even so, the two new members of the squad didn’t make it, tragically dying in battle.

On the final day, even Hee Lingchuan couldn’t hold on. After spitting out his last mouthful of blood, he was forced to go "offline" on the spot.

Fortunately, when he next entered his dream, he finally received good news: reinforcements had arrived right after his "death," attacking from both inside and out to repel the enemy forces.

When he fell and stopped breathing, Willow thought he was a goner. It’s said that this female warrior, tougher than any man, burst into tears on the spot.

Of course, this was only hearsay. Willow herself would never admit it; she’d beat up anyone who mentioned it.

After these few battles, Hee Lingchuan also earned the nickname "Mad Blade."

Having failed to gain any advantage at the border, the Immortal Ba Alliance Army sullenly withdrew its troops.

This confirmed Hee Lingchuan’s prediction. The enemy really hadn’t intended a full-scale invasion; they just wanted to force the east-campaigning Red General back to Panlong City and, while they were at it, seize some territory while the Panlong Wasteland’s defenses were weak.

They only achieved their first objective, and at a considerable cost.

Panlong City also withdrew its forces from the border, returned to the city in triumph, and began rewarding merits.

The Broken Blade Squad, led by Hee Lingchuan, was loyal, brave, and sharp. With their superb quality, they had the highest kill count, had slain the highest-ranking enemy leader, and had contributed greatly to the victory on the northwestern flank. Adding in their military honors from Xiji, everyone received a hefty reward.

As for Hee Lingchuan himself, he was promoted two ranks directly to Brigade Commander, with a hundred men under his command.

As his lieutenants, Willow and Door Panel began organizing the hundred-man team after returning to the city.

Hee Lingchuan had benefited greatly from these few battles.

The battlefield was truly the ultimate crucible. It was full of endless surprises and variables; one moment you could be slaughtering enemies in every direction, and the next you could be shot full of holes.

He had walked out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, emerged from the meat grinder of war, and learned to be aware of his surroundings at all times. He learned to assess situations and preserve his strength, learned that when paths narrow the brave are victorious, and learned to remain clear-headed and sharp-eyed even at the brink of death.

A rookie fresh on the battlefield might be so scared his legs tremble, but fighting for too long can easily lead to one’s head being clouded by bloodlust and fervor. They forget that the lines between bravery and recklessness, or between astuteness and cowardice, are often razor-thin.

That is the line between life and death.

The more perilous the situation, the more one must be calm and restrained. This wasn’t a natural talent, but the result of countless trials by death.

Carefully reviewing and consolidating his experiences afterward, Hee Lingchuan clearly felt that:

His Mental Realm and Sword Technique had improved again.

His Sword Technique had become sharper and more practical.

His Mental Realm had become calmer and more stable.

For now, only the Panlong Soul Village could provide such precious battlefield trials. The Grand Square Pot was also relentless with Hee Lingchuan. While he was working hard during the day to solve cases and mediate between various parties, at night it would force him back into the mountain of corpses and sea of blood, constantly grinding him down.

If his will weren’t so firm, his mind would have probably collapsed long ago.

’Well, after suffering such inhuman abuse, my Divine Soul even seems to have gotten stronger.’

In any case, after this series of upheavals, the Panlong Wasteland had temporarily returned to peace.

At this moment, Hee Lingchuan was in the northwest of the Chipa Plateau, helping Aluo capture a peculiar creature—

The Monkey Bat.

According to Aluo, it was an invasive species. It was an omnivore, but it likely carried blighted-gall seeds, which were harmful to the plateau’s wheat. Once the seeds fell to the ground, they would burrow into the soil and latch onto the wheat roots to absorb nutrients. After the wheat withered, the blight itself would grow and thrive.

In its early stages, the growth of this thing is very subtle, making it difficult to detect and deal with.

The Pill Bureau of Panlong City was also partially responsible for crop disease and pest control, so they were especially vigilant against all sorts of invasive creatures.

Aluo had also posted a related quest at the Pengcheng Bureau, but the warriors seemed to be very busy lately, and no one had taken it. So, he simply came to Hee Lingchuan for help.

"You’re just sitting around idle anyway."

Those were Aluo’s exact words.

So, Hee Lingchuan came.

The Monkey Bat was large, about the size of a duck, but with a pointed snout, puffy cheeks, and a face that did indeed resemble a monkey’s.

Most bats move in colonies, but Monkey Bats operated only in mated pairs, or at most with a brood of their young. This made their movements relatively secretive and hard to track.

Following the clues Aluo provided, Hee Lingchuan searched for a whole day before finally finding Monkey Bat droppings on a stalactite pillar in a karst cave.

’I have to go deeper,’ he thought, sighing as he gazed at the pitch-black pool of water ahead. ’Have I lost my mind? Why am I here catching bats for Aluo in this pitch-dark water cave you can’t even see your hand in, instead of sweet-talking my beautiful neighbor?’

Of course, there was water inside the cave, and it was moving water, because he had felt a strong wind blowing in his face when he first entered.

It was the height of summer, but inside it was only eleven or twelve degrees. Staying too long would make one sneeze.

Still waters run deep; only the shallows would SPLASH and gurgle.

Hee Lingchuan could barely hear the sound of flowing water as he entered the cave, so he knew it had to be very deep here.

Having no other choice, he pulled out a suit of Water Armor, put it on, and jumped into the pool.

The Monkey Bats could fly in; he could only swim.

The number of branching paths and caverns in here was insane, and unidentified creatures often appeared in the water.

Hee Lingchuan swam for more than a quarter of an hour, and by the light of Fluorescent Grass, he finally spotted the silhouettes of Monkey Bats on the rock ceiling!

’These damn things!’ The sooner he caught them, the sooner he could go back and report.

Hee Lingchuan didn’t have eyes in the back of his head, so naturally, he didn’t notice the flash of blue light that suddenly appeared in the depths of the pool behind him.

The Monkey Bats were hanging upside down on the rock wall directly above him. The whole family of seven was here, probably full from eating, all fast asleep with their heads tucked in.

’How to catch these things?’

Of course, Hee Lingchuan had already thought of a plan before coming in. He took out two Earth Cave Spider Webs and tiptoed up a stalactite to fasten them in place.

In this time and space’s Panlong City, the Red General and Second Madam Zhu had revised their agreement, and the Earth Cave Spiders were to give Panlong City exclusive distribution rights for their products.

This way, Panlong City gained another flagship export product, and the Earth Cave Spiders no longer had to waste their efforts dealing with treacherous human merchants.

Since then, the equipment issued to Panlong City’s Warriors, as well as the selection of items available for trade and purchase, included special products made from Earth Cave Spider Silk, such as Dust Nets, Flying Ropes, and Spider Silk Armor, all of which were highly acclaimed.

Hee Lingchuan had replaced his own rope nets with the spider webs because they were lighter, stronger, and more durable.

He set up the two webs to block the way out of the cave, forming an "L" shape.

After setting them up, Hee Lingchuan took out a few pebbles and threw them near the Monkey Bats, creating a few THUDDING sounds.

The Monkey Bats woke at the sound, spread their wings, and began to flee.

Of course, Hee Lingchuan had chosen his angle carefully, herding them toward the nets.

The webs retained the properties of spider silk; the more a victim struggled after hitting them, the more entangled they became.

According to Aluo’s request, the more Monkey Bats he brought back, the better.

With Hee Lingchuan’s scare tactics, four bats flew into the nets, while the others scattered in different directions.

He leaped over and gathered them all in the net.

’Job done. Time to go report back.’

Just then, a sinister wind gusted up from behind, and a chill ran down Hee Lingchuan’s spine.

A warning sign.

Without a second thought, he leaped two zhang in a single stride, landing on another stalactite before turning back to look.

What he saw gave him a shock:

Where he had just been standing, a person in tattered clothes had appeared.

To call it a person was a bit of a stretch. It had all four limbs, but it also had several heads—male and female, old and young, their faces twisted in agony. More than a dozen eyeballs stared at Hee Lingchuan simultaneously.

’That look... Is it hungry?’

Only a Wolf Pack starved for seven days and seven nights would have such a green glint in its eyes.

’What the hell is this thing?’

"Sacrifice!" one of the heads on the monster’s neck cried out. "Come and be eaten!"

Hee Lingchuan frowned. ’Who is it calling a sacrifice?’

He flicked his wrist and rewarded it with a Sleeve Arrow first. "Eat this."

"Eat! Eat! Eat!" The creature didn’t even try to dodge. An infant’s head simply moved from its belly to cover its heart. The Sleeve Arrow should have pierced its heart, but the head’s mouth opened, and the arrow flew right in.

That mouth was like a bottomless pit; the arrow caused no damage whatsoever.

"Tastes bad!" the infant face roared. "I want to eat meat!"

A head on its shoulder turned, saw the bats flying everywhere, and then its mouth suddenly opened, spitting hundreds of bats at Hee Lingchuan!

These bats were two sizes smaller than the Monkey Bats, but they had human heads with eyes that glowed green, mouths full of sharp teeth, and front claws that looked like human hands.

The cavern wasn’t large to begin with, and now it was crammed with hundreds of bats. The air filled with the FLAP FLAP FLAP of wings and ear-piercing screeches.