Collaboration

Blood sprayed in all directions as the bear's snout was knocked askew. Skinny happened to drop right then, slamming onto the giant bear's shoulders and rolling down its sleek fur, one hand grabbing the spear. The spear was already lodged in the bear's hindquarters, making it bleed incessantly; bearing the weight of a full-grown man on top of it, the agony made the beast whip its claws around to rake at him. Fortunately, using that momentary stall, Skinny stabilized himself and scrambled down the tree using hands and feet. Barely had he found his footing when the giant bear plummeted from the sky. It hit the ground with a resounding thud, kicking up a cloud of dust that sprayed across his face. "Pah, pah, pah!" Skinny hurriedly took several steps back. He saw the giant bear sprawled face-down, completely motionless, uncertain whether it was dead or knocked unconscious. Six or seven figures emerged from the trees, the undergrowth, and the sorghum field, gathering around the giant bear. Skinny panted heavily, barely able to string words together. "The poison... wasn't it supposed to... kill it if I just held out for twenty breaths?" Damn it, he had been chased for the time it took to drink half a cup of tea, nearly puking out his gall. That bear had been utterly stubborn—it hadn't pursued anyone else, only him! "The bear was too big. The dosage wasn't enough." The squad's only female soldier had a bow slung across her back. "Didn't I put two more arrows into it?" She had slender brows and narrow eyes. Her face was sun-baked by the Chipa Plateau sun to a ruddy tan, lending a hardened cast to her features. Skinny was still furious. "Your aim was terrible! It was Broken Saber who saved me." Otherwise, the bear would have popped him in its mouth like a grape, bursting with juice. "Wait, where is Broken Saber?" "Here." Another figure stepped out from behind a tree, having just retrieved the saber that had shattered the bear's cheek. It was He Lingchuan. In this nine-man squad, the moniker he had taken for himself was "Broken Saber." The basic unit of the Panlong Patrol Guard was the huo, usually called a squad, with ten men to a squad led by a squad leader. This unit had recently lost two men and taken on He Lingchuan to replace one, so it currently had only nine. Squad Leader Liu Tong wrenched his spear back from the bear's body. "Stop chatting and attend to business! Willow, chop off the bear's head." Willow was the archer who had just spoken. Her figure was supple and graceful, indeed somewhat resembling a willow branch. At the squad leader's order, Skinny curled his lip, resentful. According to the Patrol Guard's unwritten rule, the one who took the head or severed the ears was credited with the greatest merit. He had contributed the most and paid the highest price in this hunt, so by rights, he should be the one chopping off the head. However, Willow was the most senior member after the squad leader, and she was the main attacker. She took the great axe from a comrade. Even lying prostrate, the bear demon was like a small hill. She had to pin its head down with one foot, gripping the axe with both hands, before bringing it down with all her might. Before the axe blade could reach its neck, the unconscious giant bear suddenly erupted. Caught off balance, Willow had no time to retreat. The giant bear's claw struck her calf, wrenching a shrill scream of agony from her lips. The beast pinned her down, preparing to tear her apart alive. Tigers and leopards would throttle their prey's throat, waiting until it stopped breathing before eating, but bears often preferred to rip prey open from throat to belly, devouring them alive. Knowing its own end was near, the giant bear sought only to tear open her chest and rip out her entrails, venting all its fury upon its enemy. Just as its fangs were about to pierce Willow's belly, a glint of cold steel flashed from above. The bear's head tumbled away, warm neck blood spraying Willow across her face and into her mouth. It was Skinny, the closest of them, who had seized the axe and brought it down in one swift strike. The bear's head rolled twice across the ground, its steel-like teeth snapping shut with a violent click, its tiny crimson eyes still glaring wide. Trapped beneath the massive bear carcass, Willow saw this and shuddered. A breath later, and a gaping hole would have been torn through her stomach. Only now was the bear demon truly dead, and the group breathed a collective sigh of relief. "Help me..." Willow gasped for aid. The squad worked together to heave the bear's carcass off her. Willow cried out in pain—the bear's claw was still hooked into her calf, leaving the wound a mangled mess of flesh and blood. Another burly man, Door Plank, brought out wound medicine and helped dress her injury. Liu Tong told the others, "Go dig graves and bury the villagers." The soldiers returned to the village to search for picks and shovels. The place was in complete shambles. Gaping holes had been smashed through the wooden houses, furniture was overturned everywhere, and following the trails of blood led straight to the corpses. The bear demon had killed eight people, but had eaten only the young children and youths, taking particular pleasure in gouging and chewing eyeballs. The remains were horrifying to behold. One squad member had enlisted three months ago; he was no stranger to dead bodies, but upon stepping into a house, he found a victim with an open mouth, two bloody empty sockets staring straight back at him. Unable to stomach it, he heaved and vomited. The scene was gruesome enough to rattle He Lingchuan as well. He turned his head away, silently chanting to himself, This is a dream. In silence, the men gathered the remains, carrying them to an open clearing behind the village to bury them properly. The bear demon had charged down from the mountains. When the Military Merit Division received the village's plea for help, it dispatched He Lingchuan's squad to eliminate the threat. As they dug graves, the men talked among themselves, noting that the demons they had slain recently were far stronger than those from a few months ago. In the world of Panlong City, two months had passed since the Emperor's Flowing Dew had descended, and the aftereffects of that event were now fully apparent. Across the Panlong Wasteland, newly enlightened demons were springing up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, while the older demons were growing increasingly formidable. Newly enlightened demons were like fourteen- or fifteen-year-old adolescents—their strength surging, their confidence swelling to the point of deluding themselves into thinking they were peerless under heaven. Their newly awakened intellect was still naive and murky, yet their temperaments became exceedingly arrogant and violent. It would take months for that initial frenzy to cool. During this phase, they posed a tremendous danger to humanity. Across both the Panlong Wasteland and the Chipa Plateau, reports of demonic attacks poured in without end. Population was one of Panlong City's most precious resources; the authorities would never allow maneating demons to roam free. Since joining the patrol squad, He Lingchuan had already carried out seven monster-slaying missions. The veterans said that before the Emperor's Flowing Dew, the Chipa Plateau had been peaceful; they wouldn't have seen this many incidents in more than half a year. Before the burial, He Lingchuan reached out and closed the victim's eyes. This was a trial he had to endure. Battle and killing were the finest whetstones for honing both blade and will. Yet human life was so fragile, whether in Panlong City or in the real world. Door Plank found several sticks of incense, lit them before the graves, and chanted a prayer, wishing them passage into the divine realm. He Lingchuan had heard it many times and knew that the object of their prayer was Lady Mitian—the goddess who had bestowed the Dafang Pot and General Red, and who had guarded Panlong City all along. Having laid the villagers to rest, the squad found a fodder cart to carry the bear's corpse, hitched a horse to it, and set off back toward Panlong City. This was the squad's spoils of war. The bear's head would serve as proof to be registered at the Military Merit Division, while the rest would be divided among the members by the squad leader—those with greater merit taking more, those with less taking less. They had just finished loading the carcass when a giant sika deer strolled out from the woods. Moss grew upon its magnificent antlers, along with two small blooming blossoms. Showing no fear of humans, it stepped forward and spoke in human tongue: "The Qianling Mountain Spirit bade me inform you that many unfamiliar demons, both winged beasts and land prowlers, have appeared near Mount Baitou." Squad Leader Liu Tong stepped forward. "Are they not newly enlightened demons?" "No," the sika deer said. "They arrived alongside the wave of newly enlightened demons following the Emperor's Flowing Dew, attempting to blend in. But the Mountain Spirit has determined they come from outside." "Thank you for the warning. We will report this as soon as possible." Ever since the Emperor's Flowing Dew appeared, troubles had multiplied incessantly, born of both heaven's will and mortal machinations. The sika deer nodded, turned, and leisurely vanished back into the woods. As the hegemon of the wasteland, Panlong City held tight control over the entire Chipa Plateau behind it. The mountain spirits and water spirits here were all enfeoffed by the city, sharing the duty of governing the region. Otherwise, with a plateau so vast and empty, enemy spies and scouts would have slipped through at will. How could Panlong City's mortal manpower alone have driven them all away? At this time of year on the Chipa Plateau, the distant slopes were painted in layers of autumn foliage, showing the majestic sweep of the mountain contours. Rivers ran clear as jade ribbons, meandering through the golden plains. A landscape so vast and magnificent was enough to sweep away the sorrow and rage the group had just felt. He Lingchuan inhaled deeply; the air here felt almost sweet. Yet he had seen the Chipa Plateau two hundred years later. What kind of power could reduce such vibrant, picturesque mountains and rivers to a desolate, monotonous sea of sand? Now, perhaps, he was walking in a world constructed by that very power. Just thinking about it stirred a faint tremor of excitement within him. Before long, the squad returned to Panlong City and headed straight for the Military Merit Division. Only after turning in their mission could they divide the spoils. Commerce thrived in Panlong City, with highly specialized trades; there were even professional hunting ateliers that processed spoils brought back from the wilds by patrols. Bear demons were among the most coveted quarry: their claws and teeth could be forged into weapons, their fur fashioned into soft armor or cloaks, and their gallbladders, eyeballs, and inner cores could be used to brew elixirs. Every part was a treasure. He Lingchuan made his own calculations: after claiming this reward, his accumulated military merit should be enough to exchange for another divine ability. He had set his sights on it long ago: the art of Sacrifice the Plum to Preserve the Peach. The description of this ability was very straightforward: it allowed the user to instantly swap positions with a designated "cicada husk," provided both were in the same space and within five zhang of each other. It could only be used once every three shichen. That single sentence opened up endless possibilities. Needless to say, Sacrifice the Plum to Preserve the Peach would not only make He Lingchuan far more versatile in combat, but also grant him an additional life-saving technique. As for the spoils, He Lingchuan was allotted half a bear paw and one kidney, and Skinny handed him an eyeball as well. This too was an unwritten rule: if a comrade saved your life, you owed them a tangible gift in gratitude. He Lingchuan did not decline, accepting it happily. Few people would swallow such potent tonics raw. He Lingchuan could ask A'luo to refine it into an elixir, hand it over to the Military Merit Division for merit, or sell it outright—it had many uses. Nearby, Skinny looked utterly drained. He had served as the bait today, leading the bear on a wild chase, only to be swatted into a tree and lose a protective talisman in the process. Without that talisman's protection, the bear's swipe would likely have torn a gaping hole right through his back. Life-saving items like that did not come cheap. Just thinking about it made his heart ache, and his back still throbbed with a dull pain. Just then, Willow walked over and crisply handed him the most valuable piece—the bear's gallbladder—in thanks for saving her life. Skinny's grievance vanished in an instant, and his face broke into a grin so wide his eyes disappeared.