Chapter 365 - 168: "Guanxi Plain, the Jiangbei Mortal Realm Has Come.

Chapter 365: Chapter 168: "Guanxi Plain, the Jiangbei Mortal Realm Has Come.

Chen Fan waved his hand and rubbed his tired eyes, signaling that they could head back.

It had taken a full two hours to finish the digging.

The destruction had been a bit too thorough. Especially after the Ghost Fire’s core was shattered, the surrounding structures, like the City Walls, had instantly become much more fragile.

’If only Hey Hey were here.’

’I haven’t seen Hey Hey in so long.’

’I wonder how Hey Hey is doing on the New Continent. Why hasn’t he come back to visit after all this time? It’s been two weeks now.’

...

「Seven days later.」

For the first time in a long while, the Guanxi Plain entered an era of peace. The various factions, once in constant conflict, had now become surprisingly harmonious.

The Jiangbei Mortal Realm had made no further moves since its southern expedition to the Guanxi Plain.

In the days that followed, many things were subtly affected.

Case in point...

Mortal Realm Stew!

The West Lake Tower Master stood on the City Wall, grinning so wide he could barely close his mouth. Following the Mortal Realm’s battle seven days ago, the sales of Mortal Realm Stew could not simply be described as "surging"—they had skyrocketed!

Every day, he had to send several groups of people to the Mortal Realm by High-speed Rail to procure the stew.

’Such is fate!’

’If his father knew he would one day lead West Lake Tower to sell stew, the old man would surely roll over in his grave. But his profits from the stew now surpassed even those from selling Skeleton Horses.’

"Elder Qiu!"

The West Lake Tower Master declared, full of vigor, "Before the rainy season this year, take out our Ghost Stones and build a city for West Lake Tower! I want you to plan it meticulously. This city must be able to shelter our descendants, keeping them safe and undisturbed."

On the Eternal Night Continent,

almost everyone had the same dream: to earn enough Ghost Stones, build a city safe enough for their descendants, and leave it to them.

To shelter their descendants from the incursions of Ghost Objects.

...

「March 15th, Year 380 of the Eternal Night Calendar.」

「New Continent Base One.」

"..."

Chen Fan stood on the City Wall, a grim look on his face, not uttering a word. Seven days ago, the warning had been delivered. Under normal circumstances, they should have already started expanding the Signal Tower and High-speed Rail networks.

’But laying the High-speed Rail required Hey Hey’s help.’

He hadn’t seen Hey Hey in a while and was starting to miss him, so he had come to the New Continent to find him personally. He never expected to arrive only to learn that Hey Hey had disappeared over ten days ago.

At this point, he had been missing for over ten days.

Before he left, Hey Hey had left his Identity Token as the Beast Pavilion Master in the city. As a result, they couldn’t use the Token to track him. No one knew where he had gone.

’He must be somewhere on this continent.’

But this continent was massive. Wang Mazi had been exploring for ages and still hadn’t covered it all. Finding a single alligator would be anything but easy.

"Young Master..."

Lame Monkey, standing beside him, whispered, his eyes filled with guilt and panic, "I... I..."

"It’s not your fault."

Chen Fan shook his head, frowning. "You’re responsible for all the excavation here on the New Continent by yourself; you were already swamped. You couldn’t be expected to watch Hey Hey all day."

"What I want to know now is whether Hey Hey left the Mortal Realm of his own accord..."

"Or was he forced?"

"Or did he just get lost?"

"When we were mining the Earth Gold, I told you to have Hey Hey stop once we had enough to make pickaxes. Did you tell him to stop?"

’He remembered how Hey Hey had shied away from that vast expanse of Earth Gold, reluctant to dig because there was just so much of it. He’d only cheered up after being promised a double portion of stew.’

’Could he have gotten exhausted and just left?’

"He stopped!" Lame Monkey said decisively. "He only dug for about a month before we told him to stop. Hey Hey despises that the New Continent is covered in Ghost Stones, so he never participated in the excavations here. After that, he just went back and forth between the New Continent and the Mortal Realm whenever he felt like it."

"Most of the time, he was just playing around by himself or going to play with that troop of monkeys."

"Absolutely no one mistreated him."

"..."

Chen Fan glanced at Lame Monkey. ’That wasn’t what worried him. Hey Hey’s strength was obvious; he would have bitten anyone who actually mistreated him. But if he hadn’t run away from home... that meant the situation was even worse.’

He gazed out at the distant Thunderstorm over the sea.

’Could that Thunderstorm have done something to lure Hey Hey away?’

’But...’

’Hey Hey normally only cared about eating stew; he didn’t have any other particular interests. What could possibly be so alluring that it would make him leave New Continent Base One, abandoning even his most prized Beast Pavilion Master Token that he never let out of his sight?’

’Could it be... Hey Hey’s parents?’

’Did the Thunderstorm create an illusion of his parents?’

For the past seven days, he had dispatched several Flying Ships and Sea Ships. They sailed as close as they dared to the Thunderstorm Sea Realm, risking being dragged in, searching for any sign of Hey Hey among the endless Ghost Objects churning in the water.

All to no avail.

"..."

Chen Fan fell silent, his expression grim. He found it hard to accept Hey Hey’s absence. Over the past year, he had grown used to Hey Hey’s presence—used to this alligator that loved to lie on the ground with its mouth open, waiting to be fed. His sudden disappearance was surprisingly painful.

Just then—

The Sound Transmission Talisman in Lame Monkey’s possession suddenly chimed.

"Domain Lord, Wang Mazi is on his way back. He’ll reach New Continent Base One in a little over an hour. He says he’s made an important discovery."

"Mm."

Chen Fan grunted in annoyance, his gaze fixed on the Sea Ships and Flying Ships still searching the distant waters. If Hey Hey had died in battle, he would have been grief-stricken, but at least he would have known who to take revenge on. This inexplicable disappearance, however, was not only frustrating—it was a stark reminder that the New Continent was not as safe as he thought.