Daoist Fang Hong's methods were relatively mild, or rather, he hadn't figured out how to cultivate tree roots.
In comparison, some people's methods could only be described as cruel and vicious.
In one village, seventy to eighty people, men and women, young and old, were all killed cleanly. Their mutilated corpses hung upside down from the trees, and the stench of decay could be smelled from far away.
Li Qiuchen didn't even dare to approach. He took one look from afar, sensed something was wrong, turned around and ran.
Gaga Pig's sense of justice flared up again. Its eyes were ice-cold and bloodshot, looking like it wanted to rush up and confront them head-on.
"If you just want to uphold justice, you can go right now."
Leaning on his bamboo staff against a tree, Li Qiuchen looked calmly at the White Crane and said, "As long as you can answer three questions for me, if you answer them, I absolutely won't stop you."
"Ga?"
"First question. Do Medicine Master believers usually exist in such great numbers? Like mushrooms after rain, sprouting up wherever they please?"
"..."
"Second question. These past few days, we've visited six or seven villages and towns in the area. Can you see any differences? I mean, besides the methods used."
"..."
"Third question..."
"Ga—!"
The White Crane was furious. Stop fucking around with all that useless nonsense and just give me the conclusion!
"The conclusion is that I think something is abnormal."
Li Qiuchen stared into the White Crane's eyes and calmly asked, "Do you know how much you eat in a day? I've counted for you. One day, you ate seven small fish, weighing about three catties. You pecked open one hundred and twenty river snails, freshwater clams, sixteen crabs, crayfish, and two snakes. You drank at least one pot of the wild vegetable and mixed grain porridge I cooked, plus all those other miscellaneous things..."
"Ga ga ga?"
Gaga Pig immediately flew into a rage out of humiliation. Are you that bored that you'd bother counting all this?
I ate your rice... fine, I did. But aren't the rest all wild river catches? Why do you care how much I eat!
"What I mean is, if even you can eat this much, don't those Medicine Master believers normally need to cultivate and eat? Don't they have their own territories? Or sects and dojos... Did these people all just pop into existence out of thin air, and now each one occupies a village without fighting each other, all so harmonious and friendly?"
Are we playing an RPG, bro? You walk over, and the mobs spawn.
Faced with Li Qiuchen's doubts, the White Crane fell into deep thought.
After pondering for a moment, it realized it would have been better not to think at all.
I'm just a bird. Why are you making me think about such complicated questions?
"Ga ga?"
So what now? What do we do?
"Among the information that the old Daoist told me, there are a few points I rather suspect. It's not necessarily that he was lying to me; he might have been deceived himself. For example... the great battle between two Golden Core experts."
Li Qiuchen had already been knocked unconscious by the water at that time; he hadn't felt any of the residual shockwaves from the battle.
But the White Crane should have been quite conscious back then.
"When you were clinging to the cliff wall, did you sense any so-called great battle between Golden Core experts?"
The White Crane tilted its head and thought for a long time, then slowly shook its head.
Just as I thought.
Li Qiuchen knew nothing about that swordsman immortal who had appeared out of nowhere, but he knew the old peach tree's roots only extended twenty li.
Those were tree roots, not Uranium-235.
Even if we assume the worst—that the old peach tree really had some supreme treasure hidden away, and taking it out could produce a magnitude-five earthquake, making the entire county feel the tremors.
He had been unconscious at the time, and Gaga Pig had been starving to the point of delirium.
Then the Mountain God wouldn't be an idiot, right?
He didn't even know what had happened, yet specifically sought him and the stupid bird out to investigate.
That doesn't make sense.
So, judging from the information given by the old Daoist and what he had seen and heard these past few days.
Li Qiuchen was more inclined to believe that someone had meticulously orchestrated this grand play from behind the scenes.
And those Medicine Master believers, they were just like Great-Uncle—thinking they were the protagonists, but in reality nothing more than extras tricked onto the stage to warm up the crowd.
Or rather... whether the things they were doing now truly came from their own subjective will was hard to say.
After all, even in something as cheap as the *Huanghuai Chapter*, there were records regarding the "Soul-Leading Technique."
Theoretically speaking, it was feasible.
"But there's no evidence."
Li Qiuchen spread his hands helplessly and said, "All of this is based on my speculation. Without actual evidence, how do you expect me to report it?"
"Ga ga?"
The stupid bird gave up on thinking entirely.
How do we get evidence?
"The March appointment, Azure Stone Platform, True Lord Mohe."
Li Qiuchen said in a low voice, "This person holds the most so-called cast-off shells of the Immortal Elder. All the legends regarding the Heavenly Lake Immortal Elder also came from his mouth. Even if he isn't the mastermind, he must possess more information than anyone else."
"The only problem is, the two of us probably can't take him."
Li Qiuchen had always been cautious, never underestimating enemies or overestimating himself.
"Ga!"
The White Crane's gaze was resolute.
"Probably can't take him" means there's a chance we can?
Are you incapable of understanding human speech?
Li Qiuchen glared at the stupid bird irritably.
"When I say 'probably,' I mean we basically can't beat him."
"Ga!"
Think of what solution? You think I'm some blue fatty with a four-dimensional pocket? Expecting me to come up with everything!
"This is a dead loop, you know? Without evidence, we can't convince the Mountain God. Can't convince the Mountain God, and he won't act. The Mountain God doesn't act, and the two of us can't get evidence... Besides, the Mountain God already said he won't act. He's only responsible for passing on messages..."
Passing on messages...
What did he say back then?
Li Qiuchen suddenly froze. After pondering for a moment, he quietly asked the stupid bird, "What did Lord Mountain God say back then? That he's constrained by the rules and won't act, but he'll spread the message and find someone to resolve it. That's what he meant, right?"
"Ga ga!"
The stupid bird nodded vigorously.
"Then if we deceive him, he won't care either, right?"
"Ga?"
The stupid bird was stunned.
Do you hear the nonsense you're spouting?
Whose side are you on anyway?
"What I mean is, even if part of the information we submit is false, that only proves our abilities are insufficient. The Mountain God himself won't act. Since he doesn't act, he won't suffer any losses. He's only responsible for passing on the message. Whether the problem gets resolved or not isn't his concern. He won't blame us for this, right?"
The stupid bird wanted to speak but stopped.
"Then there's only one problem left."
Li Qiuchen stared into the stupid bird's large eyes and quietly asked, "I'm going to write a false report now. Are you going to join me in this conspiracy and deceive the Mountain God together, or go confront True Lord Mohe head-on and fight for a less than one percent chance of victory?"