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Noticing Mu Bai's gaze, Jiang Huali used her feet to brace herself on the ground to stop the swing, and looked at him, saying, "Are your injuries fully healed?"

Mu Bai put down the empty bowl in his hand, looked at Jiang Huali, and tried to figure out the meaning behind her words: "Alright."

Jiang Huali nodded, seemingly just offering casual concern.

Mu Bai suddenly said, "Would you like to hear a story?"

"What story?" Jiang Huali asked.

Mu Bai: "Once upon a time, there was a man who accidentally fell into a swamp. It was said that there were monsters in the swamp, and everyone thought he was dead. But the next day, he came out of the swamp unharmed and even had incredible power."

"And then?" Jiang Huali listened intently.

“Guess,” Mu Bai walked up to her, “was he a human or a monster after he came out of the swamp?”

Jiang Huali sat on the swing and looked up at him. He had a half-smile on his face and was staring intently at her.

His eyes seemed to have a slightly dark red tinge.

Jiang Huali gently lifted her foot, causing the swing to sway slightly.

"Maybe he's a warrior?"

Mu Bai was stunned.

“But you probably haven’t heard fairy tales, have you?” Jiang Huali smiled.

Just as Mu Bai was about to say something, Jiang Huali's expression changed, and she suddenly stood up from the swing.

She frowned slightly, her expression somewhat serious: "Someone is trying to breach the barrier down the mountain."

She sensed fluctuations in the spiritual energy barrier she had set up.

"I'm going down the mountain now, you come with me."

Seeing this, Mu Bai said nothing more: "Okay."

Jiang Huali used her spiritual power to teleport down the mountain, with Mu Bai following closely behind.

Sure enough, they saw a group of unfamiliar, fully armed people.

Jiang Huali and Mu Bai hid in the shadows. These people were holding guns, and some others stood at the front without weapons, but they could use spiritual power and were attacking the spiritual power barrier with their spiritual power.

The barrier wasn't so fragile that it could be easily breached. Jiang Huali sensed something, looked around, and found Yuanyuan and Shushu tied together under a tree.

They were caught.

Mu Bai also noticed them and said to Jiang Huali, "Should I go and rescue them?"

Jiang Huali shook her head: "No need."

She flicked a burst of spiritual energy, which silently flew towards Yuanyuan and Shushu, completely destroying the already damaged rope.

That rope was imbued with spiritual power; it wasn't an ordinary rope.

Yuanyuan and Shushu were stunned for a moment. Sensing the familiar spiritual energy fluctuations, the two little fairies exchanged a glance, used their spiritual energy to confuse the people guarding them, and took advantage of the gap to dig a hole and burrow into the ground.

Those around them were completely unaware; in their eyes, the two demons were still safely tied to the tree.

Jiang Huali and Mu Bai are currently invisible and inside the barrier, so these people cannot detect them for the time being.

Among the crowd was a shifty-eyed man who kept touching the back of his neck, looking somewhat uneasy.

That man was Huang Shu.

Standing next to Huang Shu was a middle-aged man in a suit and tie, and the people around them seemed to regard that man as their leader.

Jiang Huali smiled slightly.

Let's go back to many days ago—

"...You'd better listen carefully to what I'm about to say."

Jiang Huali half-squatted in front of Huang Shu, who looked terrified, raised her hand, and a stream of spiritual energy pierced directly into the back of Huang Shu's neck.

Huang Shu felt a chill on the back of his neck and exclaimed in surprise, "What did you do?"

"It's just a little gadget," Jiang Huali smiled kindly. "But if you don't obey, he might just kill you."

As she spoke, a thought flashed through her mind, and Huang Shu felt a sharp pain on the back of his neck.

Huang Shu's face turned ashen. He clutched the back of his neck and asked, "What do you want me to do?"

Jiang Huali gave him a leaf and said, "Find a way to stick this under your organization's boss's bed, understand?"

Huang Shu's face turned even paler: "I'm just one of the lowest-ranking people in the organization, how could I possibly get close to his room?"

Jiang Huali smiled and said, "Who said that? You'll take valuable information back with you. As for whether you can actually do it, that depends on how much you value your life."

Huang Shu held the leaf in his hand, remained silent for a moment, and then nodded: "I understand."

...

Jiang Huali sent Huang Shu back to inform him of the situation and gave him a complete map of Ling Mountain. As for whether the map was real, that would depend on what he said.

After returning to the organization, Huang Shu used this inside information to quickly rise in his position and successfully became a member of the organization's leader. Now he can stand next to the leader and looks like a qualified subordinate.

Jiang Huali sensed it and confirmed that the thing was nearby, so she and Mu Bai left the barrier.

With a wave of her hand, all those who were trying to attack the barrier were thrown back by a powerful spiritual force and fell to the ground around them.

The others sensed the fluctuations in spiritual energy in the air and retreated, forming a circle around each other.

Jiang Huali and Mu Bai revealed themselves.

"What brings you all here from so far away?" Jiang Huali stood at the front, facing them directly.

The man in the suit, who was in the lead, flicked the cigar in his hand, looked at the two who had suddenly appeared, and sneered: "Two little devils dare to speak in such a tone? I advise you to be sensible. If you are smart enough, I might spare your lives."

Jiang Huali's face turned cold: "You seem quite arrogant."

The man in the suit gave a fake smile: "We just want to catch some demons, we won't kill them all. If you run now, you might still survive."

Jiang Huali said, "Such arrogance! We'll see if you have the ability to back it up."

At this moment, Huang Shu stepped forward and whispered a few words in the man's ear.

The man in the suit suppressed his smile.

"You're here to rescue those two little devils, right?" The man in the suit waved his hand. "They're in my hands now. If you want to save them, open the barrier, and I guarantee they'll return to you unharmed."

Jiang Huali: "What if I say no?"

The man in the suit sighed, "Then we'll just have to wait and collect the corpses of these two poor little vixens."

The atmosphere around them suddenly became very tense.

Jiang Huali suddenly smiled: "Oh? Why don't you turn around and see if they're still there?"

Upon hearing this, the man in the suit turned cold. He turned around and found that the two bound demons had vanished, and the guards around him were all unconscious on the ground.

His expression changed slightly: "What did you do?"

Jiang Huali shrugged, and suddenly a hole appeared in the ground beneath her feet. Yuanyuan and Shushu crawled out of it.

The mouse clung to Jiang Huali's leg, warily eyeing the stranger in front of it.

Yuanyuan and Shushu, one a potato spirit and the other a groundhog spirit, both can burrow underground.

Before Jiang Huali arrived, they had already tried to cut the ropes. Once they were freed, escaping would be a piece of cake.

The mountains and forests are full of mud, making this their natural battlefield. These outsiders think they can easily wipe out these demons, but they are just being presumptuous.

The man in the suit turned ashen-faced and ordered his men to attack Jiang Huali.

Their attacks included not only spiritual power, but also bullets and tranquilizer darts. However, these were all blocked by an invisible barrier when they flew towards Jiang Huali, unable to penetrate any further.

The spiritual energy attacks were all reflected back, sending them flying and crashing heavily to the ground.

The man in the suit ordered Huang Shu to lead his men to charge forward. Huang Shu hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth, and attacked Jiang Huali with obvious intent to kill, but Jiang Huali blocked all his attacks.

Huang Shu's attack failed, and he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck. He turned around, picked up his gun, and started shooting at the people around him. Those people were injured by his sudden action and fell to the ground, clutching their wounds.

The man in the suit was also shocked by his sudden rebellion and angrily shouted, "What are you doing?"

His first move was to grab Huang Shu by the neck from a distance and throw him aside.

Huang Shu collapsed to the ground, breathing weakly.

Although they were human, they were all very skilled in using spiritual power. In addition, the human-tree combination gave them an advantage, so Jiang Huali was unable to subdue them all for a while.

Mu Bai rushed out like a ghost, his hands swirling with black energy, and in just a few breaths he had taken the lives of more than a dozen people.

Jiang Huali stretched out her palm and reversed it. The moment the spiritual power in her hand surged into the ground, countless vines grew from the ground.

These enormous vines, covered in poisonous thorns, entangled everyone else, the thorns digging into their skin, gradually weakening them and rendering them unable to move.

The man in the suit was the most tightly entangled. Realizing the situation was turning against him, he immediately changed his tune and begged for mercy: "I was wrong, please let me go, I promise I won't show up again!"

Jiang Huali tilted her head: "Coming and going as you please? There's no such thing as a free lunch."

As the vines tightened around him, the man in the suit wished he could kneel down and beg for mercy. In his dying moments, he revealed everything.

Jiang Huali watched coldly from the sidelines.

It turns out that these people are from an organization called "Zhutian". Members of the organization can use spiritual power, but nowadays, unlike thousands of years ago, spiritual power is scarce, making it even more difficult for humans to cultivate.

So they began to search extensively for ancient books, trying to find a way to extend people's lifespan indefinitely.

They initially experimented on humans, but later discovered that there were also fairies in the world, so they tried every means to capture fairies for research.

By sheer chance, they unexpectedly obtained a spiritual energy, which led them to Mount Ling. They then used this energy as a pretext to recruit some hikers to explore the area.

Not only is there a spiritual barrier on Mount Ling, but there is also a barrier several thousand meters away from Mount Ling. Anyone who gets close will be bypassed without them even realizing it.

This is also why there have been no living people on Mount Ling for so long.

That spiritual energy originated from Mount Ling. Perhaps it was taken away by a demon when the original owner was asleep a long time ago. The spiritual energy could confuse the barrier and open the entrance.

The demons on Mount Ling all possess spiritual energy, allowing them to come and go freely.

The members of this organization broke through the outermost barrier using their spiritual energy, but they were unable to destroy the barrier on the mountain.

Because Jiang Huali had reinforced the barrier on the mountain, only fairies she had identified could freely enter and exit.

This is why Jiang Huali was so surprised when Mu Bai appeared on the mountain.

Jiang Huali asked the man in the suit to hand over the spiritual energy he possessed. The man hesitated, as this was the only spiritual energy they had. If they gave it away, they would essentially lose their chance to enter the Spirit Mountain.

There are very few demons outside of Mount Ling, far from enough.

Jiang Huali urged, "Do you want your life or your spiritual essence?"

The man in the suit eventually handed over the spiritual energy.

The spiritual energy was stored in a specially made box, which Jiang Huali destroyed immediately after obtaining it.

Seeing that his spiritual energy had been destroyed, the man in the suit said, "Can you let me go now?"

Jiang Huali nodded: "Of course."

Mu Bai, who was standing next to her, suddenly chuckled softly.

Jiang Huali glanced at him and waved her hand to make the vines release these people.

The vines burrowed into the ground and disappeared without a trace.

After being released, the man in the suit suddenly attacked Jiang Huali with a specially made gun.

Jiang Huali remained expressionless. The next second, the man in the suit's neck exploded, splattering blood onto the ground.

Everyone around was stunned and didn't dare to move for a moment, especially Huang Shu, who was holding the back of his neck and his lips were trembling.

Huang Shu never expected that the thing on his neck would actually be so powerful, it was equivalent to implanting a small bomb in the back of his neck.

The man in the suit died, and the others lost their leader and dared not move.

Huang Shu then said to Jiang Huali, trembling, "I've done everything you asked me to do. Could you please remove the thing around my neck first?"

Jiang Huali said, "The mark will disappear after twenty-four hours."

Huang Shu still had some doubts, but dared not say more.

The remaining people were sent back outside the first spiritual energy barrier by Jiang Huali.

After doing all this, Jiang Huali took Yuanyuan and Shushu back to the mountain.

On the way, Mu Bai asked her, "Why not kill them all to prevent future troubles?"

Jiang Huali said, "Life and death are predestined. I've set up another barrier outside. If they can walk out alive, then they're lucky."

Mu Bai: "..."

Those trapped between the two barriers, including Huang Shu, found themselves stuck here. None of them managed to get out. There was no signal, and most of them were seriously injured and pricked by the poisonous thorns of the vines. The toxins were spreading, and they were suffering from hunger and cold. They could only watch their lives slip away.

However, Jiang Huali considered herself kind, and after fifteen days she removed the outermost barrier, but how many people were able to successfully get out was unknown.

...

As for why Yuanyuan and Shushu were caught, it was because after Mubai refused to play with them, Yuanyuan took Shushu to play near the barrier, where they bumped into those strange people. They followed these people to see what they wanted to do, and ended up being caught without realizing it.

Yuanyuan and Shushu lowered their heads as they explained, afraid of being scolded.

Yuanyuan tried to defend herself: "But we're not that easy to trap! When you came, Shushu and I were about to cut that rope..."

The mouse nodded in agreement: "We just want to drive away all those bad guys."

Jiang Huali chuckled and patted their heads: "Don't be so reckless next time, okay?"

The two little devils immediately nodded like chicks pecking at rice.

Jiang Huali released her spiritual power, which reinforced the barrier on Mount Ling once again, allowing the mountain to be hidden between heaven and earth once more.

The place has returned to its former tranquility.