Chapter 288: The Creature That Can't Be Found

Sun Fuling lifted her head and turned to He Lingchuan. “And where’s the creature you caught?”

He Lingchuan let out a long breath. “A patrolman heard the commotion and ran over. He insisted he had to take it back and submit it on my behalf. Thinking back now, that fellow was very suspicious.”

She paused. “Suspicious how?”

“When he approached, the creature I had pinned down stopped making any noise.”

Sun Fuling did not even look up. “Could just be a coincidence.”

“I hope so.” He Lingchuan ran a hand through his hair. “But what I can’t wrap my head around is why these things keep coming here of all places?”

“Here?”

“Think about it. Just us alone have already run into three of them and managed to catch two. Yet the entire city has only captured five in total.” Panlong City was enormous. Why weren’t these creatures attacking anywhere else?

Sun Fuling thought it over. “Could their nest or den be somewhere nearby?”

“It crossed my mind, too.” He Lingchuan nodded. “The sparrowhawk earlier said that Commander Zhong brought in physicians to examine the creatures. According to them, these creatures are all in a very early developmental stage. Judging from bone age, they’re still newborns or fetuses. And just now, when I grabbed the creature, I smelled this strange, salty, fishy scent on it. It was sticky, damp, and almost like...” His expression twisted.

“Like what?”

He Lingchuan clearly did not want to say it out loud.

“Amniotic fluid?” Sun Fuling supplied it for him with no shame whatsoever.

He Lingchuan finally admitted, “That’s my guess.”

Sun Fuling said mildly while feeding strips of dried meat to the sparrowhawk, “If the most senior physicians are all saying they’re newborns, then your guess is perfectly reasonable.”

“Meaning these things come out of the womb already this strong?”

That ran contrary to everything known about biology. Some animals, such as crocodiles, could hunt right after hatching, but newborns were pretty much always weaker and easy prey.

“Strength is always relative,” Sun Fuling explained. “Maybe, compared to their fully-grown parents, these things are considered extraordinarily weak.”

A baby whale was already over three meters long, and it weighed over a ton the moment it entered the world. If such a creature flung its head, it could send a grown person flying without even trying.[ref]Note that the author stated the whale to be over six tons, but I refrained from translating as such, as no such whale exists. Of course, if the author accounted for a change in gravity, then it would make a bit more sense, but I honestly don’t

In other words, these so-called newborn creatures simply preyed on humans, and humans were pitifully fragile by comparison.

“Then we have to catch them early. Otherwise, Panlong City is going to be in some serious trouble. No wonder the search for them has proven to be so difficult. How do you catch something that hasn’t even been properly born?”

And of course, no wonder the Three Corpses Worms could not locate them. All the monsters were still hidden inside their mothers!

Three Corpses Worms could burrow into a person’s seven orifices, but how could they possibly enter a womb to inspect a fetus?

“Wait, hold on.” He Lingchuan froze mid-thought.

Something about this feels wrong.

“What is it?”

“Well...”

If the worms are able to detect the mother’s presence, if they already know which living bodies housed the unborn creatures, why haven’t they sounded an alarm to the master of the Generous Pot?

Unless... the mothers aren’t the same as those creatures at all.

Sun Fuling finished feeding the sparrowhawk and stood up. “Then we just need to find the mothers.”

That hit him like a hammer to the skull.

“These past few days, Panlong City has been searching every nook and cranny and has failed to find the mother,” Sun Fuling explained. She then said with complete certainty, “Someone must be hiding them.”

He Lingchuan exhaled slowly. The city’s upper echelon understood the Three Corpses Worms far better than he did. If even he could guess that the “mother” might be human, then surely they had already thought of it.

He was worrying about radishes while the city elders were fretting over entire orchards.

“The real question is why these monsters are infiltrating Panlong City in the first place.” He Lingchuan fed the stove and boiled water. Sun Fuling poured a bowl of hot water and set it beside the sparrowhawk. “Panlong City is extraordinarily hostile to intruders. What kind of creature would risk certain death just to enter? We just don’t have enough information.”

With so little information, all they could do was guess.

Sun Fuling gave him a languid look. “And we’re just lowly cabbage-eaters. Why worry about matters meant for the meat-eaters?”

She stood and stretched. “Alright, I’m going back to take a bath. Don’t come knocking to borrow anything.”

He Lingchuan flushed. “I have some soap if you need.”

“I’m fine.” She laughed softly and headed for the door, and then she suddenly turned back around and added, “Oh, right. Today is Panlong City’s Day of Heavenly Sacrifice. The Master of Rites, Wen Daolun, is presiding. Want to go together? Maybe you can ask Wen Daolun your questions.”

Wen Daolun?

It took He Lingchuan a moment to remember that this was the strategist who served Commander Zhong, famous for divination and augury. “Yes! Of course!”

Then he asked, slightly embarrassed, “Um, what exactly is the Day of Heavenly Sacrifice?”

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Sun Fuling stared at him.

He Lingchuan rubbed his nose. “I’m not originally from Panlong City. I don’t know your local customs.”

“Three years ago today, Commander Zhong sacrificed his only daughter to the god Mitian. In exchange, the god bestowed the city with their protection, allowing Panlong City to survive,” Sun Fuling said slowly. “It was the only human sacrifice Panlong City has ever performed, and it was Lord Zhong’s own flesh and blood. The people were moved. Every year on this day, they go to offer their respects. Starting this year, it has been officially designated as the Day of Heavenly Sacrifice.”

He Lingchuan fell silent, then said, “Then I should buy some offerings. I’ll go buy some flowers.”

“Flowers? In this weather?” Sun Fuling snorted. “I bought fruit cakes. Those are good enough.”

* * *

Two hours later, the two of them set off in a small donkey cart.

Neither of them spoke on the road.

If He Lingchuan kept quiet, Sun Fuling kept quiet. The only sound was the steady rumbling of wooden wheels over the road.

And yet, her presence filled every inch of space.

Sun Fuling had changed clothes. Her damp hair was now dry and fluffed like dark clouds. She smelled faintly of pine—fresh, clean, and oddly intimate. If he closed his eyes, He Lingchuan could almost imagine himself wandering through a peaceful forest.

He had heard that girls liked to bathe with floral fragrances, but it seemed that Sun Fuling really was different from your run-of-the-mill girl.

The donkey cart was quite tiny, so they were forced to be close. If he turned his head even slightly, his gaze brushed against her slender neck.

Her skin was so pale and fine that faint blue veins could be seen beneath it.

By all appearances, she was nothing more or less than a young woman in her prime.

And yet, all her mysteries hovered in the back of his mind.

He held his silence until finally he blurted out, “By the way, have you gone out much these days?”

“Mm-hm, I went out of the city a few days ago. Yesterday, I went to my brother’s old house to clean it.” Sun Fuling sighed. “Even though it’s just an earth house, it’ll probably be repossessed soon enough.”

Yes, Panlong City housing was notoriously tight. Aside from the noble districts, homes were allocated by the city, and technically, everyone was only a temporary occupant. When Sun Jiayuan died, his place would be reclaimed and given to someone else.

“You moved his things out?”

“There wasn’t much left to move.” She smiled faintly. For most people, when they died, the world would barely remember them.

Silence crept between them once more.

He gulped. There were too many suspicions in his mind, and eventually, one question broke out on its own, “Ms. Sun, are you a trained fighter?”

She gave him an amused look. “Mm-hm. I learned divine techniques and martial arts, and even served on patrol. I came really close to joining the Gale Army.”

She paused, then added, “In Panlong City, plenty of women practice martial arts. The patrols and the Gale Army divisions have many female soldiers. Several of the girls I taught aim to join the Gale Army when they grow up.”

When he heard this, He Lingchuan thought of Willow. Her ferocity put grown men to shame. Panlong City had spent more than a decade resisting enemy forces. Anyone capable of fighting was thrown into battle, whether they were male or female.

“But you later switched to teaching?”

“I was badly wounded in a battle, and my brother persuaded me to choose books over blades. Shumin State Academy just so happened to be hiring lecturers at the time. The pay was good, too, so... I took the job.” She massaged her temples. “Charging into battle matters, but so does nurturing the next generation of warriors.”

Her voice softened as she added, “Even if the Panlong Wasteland is harsh, I believe Panlong City still has a future.”

Where there are people, there is hope. And this place does have a future.

At least, for the next seventeen years.

He Lingchuan knew the truth. The people of Yuan lived short lives, most barely surpassing the age of thirty. Seventeen years for them would already be over half a lifetime.

He was still dwelling on some thoughts when Sun Fuling suddenly pointed ahead. “Isn’t that your store?”

They were on the city’s busiest street. Carts, horses, and people filled the thoroughfare. He Lingchuan followed her finger, and his eyes widened.

Indeed, she was pointing at the storefront that he had exchanged a mountain of military merit to acquire.

He had cleaned it out months ago and entrusted it to the city for rental. Now, the shop had been renovated and reopened, its new signboard displaying the large green words: Spirit-Nurturing Isle.

Just from the sign alone, it was clearly not a shop that sold food or clothes. And judging by the number of customers inside, business was good. He had already received his first month’s rent, which came out to be a rather hefty sum.

A single shop could feed a family of four for two decades without working and still set aside enough money for a daughter-in-law.

Panlong City despised freeloaders, so taxes were high, but households with soldiers received tax deductions.

Sun Fuling’s eyes gleamed. “Should we take a look?”

He Lingchuan naturally did not refuse. “Of course.”

But when Sun Fuling hopped down the cart, she just so happened to land right on a pebble and stumble. He Lingchuan reached out and caught her by her elbow.

“Careful.”

Her almond eyes curved, smiling. Only then did he notice the small candy-snail shell hairpin tucked by her left temple. It created a delicate and bright contrast against her plain clothing.

As they entered the store, they discovered that it was a magical artifact store. The store sold, maintained, and repaired all kinds of magical artifacts.

It was thus no wonder that the clientele was mostly cultivators, while ordinary civilians were only browsing.

A few patrol guards who he was familiar with greeted him, and they even made exaggerated eyebrow waggles at him, clearly because Sun Fuling was standing right beside him.

The shopkeeper was a plump, cheerful man known as Fatty Bai, whose name was Bai Guo. He was round-bellied and smiling like a proper merchant.

This was his third branch in Panlong City.

Rent on Wanglin Avenue was enough to make one faint. Only businesses with huge demand or expensive goods could afford to stay open. Spirit-Nurturing Isle was clearly among the latter.

When Bai Guo learned that He Lingchuan was the landlord, his enthusiasm doubled instantly. Tea was poured, flattery flowed, and he eagerly promised that if He Linghuan fancied any magical artifact in the store, he would receive ten percent off! He only asked He Lingchuan to be gentle when renewing the rent the following year.