Chapter 49: Chapter 50: A World Without People

There was nothing in the water but bubbles.

No impurities, no sand, no waterweeds.

Curiously, he could breathe freely, as if he were a fish in water, without the slightest feeling of suffocation.

But he was furious. ’This kind of dangerous pathfinding work is something I’d never do.’ He had only been swept up by the lingering force of the Great Wind Army Commander’s attack and knocked into this place.

To put it bluntly, his cultivation was low.

He hadn’t felt it when he was throwing his weight around back in Black Water City. But after encountering Nian Songyu and National Preceptor Sunx, and then later exploring Panlong City, he saw crisis closing in at every step, and his meager cultivation felt more and more useless.

’If only I were a bit stronger.’

His body sank rapidly. Below him was pitch-black, like a bottomless pit.

In the instant before he plunged into the endless darkness, Hee Lingchuan thought he saw a dark red figure.

The thing seemed massive, flickering in and out of view around him. The part of its body he could see appeared to be cylindrical.

’Hmm, like the shape of a bucket, but magnified countless times over.’

Most importantly, the thing was moving!

Unfortunately, Hee Lingchuan didn’t have time for a closer look before his vision went black.

...

When he opened his eyes again, the scene had changed.

He was standing by a small creek. The water, just deep enough to cover the top of his feet, was crystal clear, and the gravel was clean. A small river shrimp was launching an attack on his boot.

The alligator weed and wild radishes by the creek were a delightful green. Not far off, smoke curled up from the chimneys of a few farmhouses.

Hee Lingchuan felt his clothes and found them dry, not soaked by the bloody water from the Pool Well at all. ’It seems that was just a passage.’

He climbed from the creek valley up a low slope and froze the moment he looked up.

Before him lay a plain brimming with life. Large wheat fields were sprouting, and the green trees by their edges were a bit sparse, but the tallest ones were still thirty to fifty feet high.

Huts for guarding the fields were scattered about. Hee Lingchuan even saw a Water Bag hanging from a nearby tree branch.

And in the distance, a great river surged, dividing two plains.

On the other side of the river, the land was much higher, looking from afar like a giant crocodile resting by the water’s edge.

Most importantly, the shape of the plain’s edge was unique... and very familiar.

’Could that be... the Chipa Plateau?’

Hee Lingchuan leaped down the slope and started walking toward the Chipa Plateau.

The sky was blue, the clouds were white, and the air was a damp mix of earth and fresh grass. Walking through this pastoral idyll was a refreshing experience.

Especially for someone who had just come from the Desert Ruins.

But the more peaceful it was, the more bizarre it felt. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Hee Lingchuan walked straight for several hundred zhang, passing through a village of about a hundred households along the way, but he didn’t encounter a single person.

This village was quite large.

The fields, the farmhouses, the homes—everything was silent. He even went from door to door to check; they were all empty. But in one kitchen, coarse flour steamed buns were ready, billowing hot steam.

He didn’t dare to eat one, but he took a bun out and squeezed it. It was soft and scalding hot.

’Where did everyone go?’

As he passed another wheat field, a pink butterfly happened to fly toward him.

Hee Lingchuan reached out to touch it, and his fingertip passed right through the butterfly’s body.

There was nothing there.

’An illusion?’

He then found a green grasshopper in the wheat field. He poked at it, but that too was just air.

These living creatures were all Illusions.

But the wheat shoots felt very real. He snapped off the core of a stalk, put it in his mouth, and chewed. It was a little astringent and a little bitter—exactly how a young sprout should taste.

Just then, a rustling sound came from the wheat field, and a living creature darted out.

Hee Lingchuan was startled and had already drawn his saber halfway before he realized the newcomer was actually one of the Sand Bandits.

This man was the second cousin of Situ Han’s brother-in-law. His nickname was Fuzzy Peach, which he’d gotten because he was skinny and small yet had a full beard.

He froze when he saw Hee Lingchuan, then was overjoyed. "Eldest Young Master, you’re okay!"

"Where are the others?" Hee Lingchuan looked around and saw that only one of his teammates had made it. "And why is one of the Life Fires on your shoulder missing?"

"The National Preceptor took it and put it on a candle." Fuzzy Peach’s face soured. "Then he pushed me down. Where is this? The Panlong... Wilderness?"

Anyone with eyes could see how strange this place was. "This place is fake, isn’t it? An Illusion Realm?"

"Mhm." Hee Lingchuan immediately guessed National Preceptor Sunx’s purpose. "They used you to scout the path, which means they’ll be coming down soon too."

The two walked onward together. Hee Lingchuan asked him, "When you were transitioning scenes... no, I mean, after you fell into the pool, did you see anything?"

"Just the light red, bloody water. It didn’t even make me choke. Then I blinked, and I was here."

"Nothing else?"

Fuzzy Peach thought carefully. "No. Did you see something?"

Hee Lingchuan shook his head.

’Did I just imagine that huge, unknown thing in the pale red water?’

After walking for more than half a double-hour, the two finally neared the Chipa Plateau.

The river before them was calm, about thirty feet wide, with a gentle current. Hee Lingchuan knew this must be Panlong City’s moat, but it was nowhere near as deep or wide as the one he’d seen before.

They continued west along the riverbank for another half hour, and Panlong City finally came into view.

"There, there!" Fuzzy Peach breathed out. "Is that Panlong City?"

Panlong City was in the exact same location, at the lower pass of the Chipa Plateau. But it looked nowhere near as magnificent as the one in the desert.

The walls weren’t as high or thick, and there weren’t even any Crocodile Tooth Stakes on the battlements.

When the two approached the Natural Bridge, they found its surface was paved with bluestone slabs, many of which were cracked and filled with moss and grime.

Across the bridge, the city gate was still there, but the Door Panel was not made of iron-fir, but just ordinary iron-plated thick wood.

’The defensive strength of this pass is about the same as Black Water City’s.’

However, two people were standing under the city gate, and they waved at them.

Nian Songyu and Sunx Fuping.

Hee Lingchuan frowned inwardly at the sight of them but put on a surprised expression as he walked forward. "Why is it just you two? Where is everyone else?"

"The Great Wind Army Soul found reinforcements, so Hee Prefect took his men to stay behind and hold them off outside the Pool Well," Sunx Fuping said. "This is the Great Wind Army’s territory. We can’t fight them here."

To do otherwise would be a death sentence.

It sounded perfectly reasonable, but a warning bell went off in Hee Lingchuan’s mind. He knew he had to be extra careful now. On his face, however, he showed only displeasure. "My old man is so unfair, leaving me here by myself."

Hee Chunhua and the main force hadn’t come down, leaving him to face Sunx and Nian alone. ’Now, can’t they just mold me and squash me however they please?’

’The situation is stronger than the man. I’d better be pragmatic!’

Sunx Fuping couldn’t even be bothered to respond. He just asked, "By the way, how long have you two been down here?"

"About... two double-hours?" Hee Lingchuan’s attitude softened as he pointed back the way he came. "I landed in that village over there and climbed out of the river."

Sunx Fuping’s expression changed slightly. Nian Songyu pointed at Fuzzy Peach and said, "How can that be? I came down right after this fellow. He was only a few dozen breaths behind you."

The National Preceptor mused, "The four of us came down one after another, but we all appeared here at different times. It must be an issue with the flow of time. As expected, this place is more than just an Illusion Realm."

Indeed, anyone who came down here would first define it as an Illusion Realm.