Chu Shaoqiang left the Sage Peak. The sage was still pacing back and forth in the garden, and his disciples were standing quietly by the side.

The saint stopped and glanced at his disciples: "What do you want to say?"

This problem is difficult to deal with. If no one speaks, the saint will definitely get angry and may even kill someone.

But you must be careful when speaking and know what the saint wants to hear.

A disciple named Song Deke stepped forward and saluted, saying, "Master, I suspect there is a trick here. We should send someone to monitor Chu Shaoqiang."

Another disciple was called Du Xiangwen. He felt that Song Deke's idea was wrong: "Junior Brother Song, if we do this, I'm afraid it will make Master Chu feel disappointed. Among all the people from Inner Province, Master Chu has never been impolite to Master..."

"That is his duty as a subject!" the sage said angrily, "If he doesn't even know the etiquette, what qualifications does he have to stand here and talk to me?"

All the disciples bowed their heads in silence. The Saint gnashed his teeth and said, "In order to keep Chu Shaoqiang safe, I have spent so much effort, used so many connections, and shouldered so many things for him.

Now you tell me that the Heavenly Heart Stone was lost along the way. How dare you treat me with just these few words of nonsense!"

Song Deke said: "Chu Shaoqiang is treacherous, we should take his head to relieve our master's hatred!"

"Absolutely not," Du Xiangwen advised, "This is a great opportunity for Master to recover our territory. We must not let this happen due to a temporary change."

The saint sighed and said slowly: "Wait three more days and see what Chu Shaoqiang has to say!"

…

At the foot of the mountain, Li Banfeng repeatedly told Lao Niu: "Tell the brothers to patrol the foot of the mountain and do not allow anyone to go up the mountain. The rewards from the local gods are high, but if something goes wrong, the punishment will be severe!"

Lao Niu promised again and again: "Seventh Master, don't worry, whether it is for you or for the local god, we will definitely do our best."

Cuitik packed his bag and said to Li Banfeng, "It's almost time, let's go up the mountain."

"We?" Li Banfeng shook his head. "I don't want to go up this mountain again."

Cuitik looked at the dense forest and the fog in the mountain and said sincerely: "I know nothing about Daogui Ridge. I can't even find a suitable route to the mountain. If I die on this mountain, do you know what the consequences will be?"

Li Banfeng said: "You will become a Dao Lao ghost."

Cuitik nodded: "Do you know what the consequences are for a sick cultivator to become a Dao Lao ghost?"

"The consequences are serious and you will bring disaster," Li Banfeng weighed the pros and cons and thought of a better solution, "If I kill you now, you won't become a Dao Lao ghost."

Cuitik sighed and said, "You are hurting our friendship by saying this. I hope you go up the mountain just to remind me with good intentions.

If I really turn into a Dao Lao ghost, even if you can't stop me, at least you can be prepared. When I start killing people, you may still have a way to deal with it."

Li Banfeng considered it again and again and said: "I think the best way to deal with it is to kill you before you turn into a Dao Lao ghost."

Cuitik sighed and said, "Our friendship originated from Haichiling. At that time, we worked together to fight the disaster. Since then, I know that you have different feelings for Prozhou.

Now we have joined forces again, also to prevent disasters. In a sense, Dao Lao Gui is my fellow disciple, and you should know how Bing Xiu treats his fellow disciples. "

Li Banfeng thought for a moment and nodded slightly. This was a way to solve the problem.

Killing all the Dao Lao ghosts has indeed solved half of the problem.

The two of them went up the mountain together. To be honest, even if Cuitik hadn't asked him to do so, Li Banfeng would have gone up Daogui Ridge by himself. Hong Ying was right, the temptation of cultivation was too great.

"The breath of dark energy," Cuitik walked in the forest with some difficulty, "The dark energy here is too strong, I may not be able to resist it."

Hong Ying once said that there were thirty-three sects that could benefit significantly from Daogui Ridge, but she did not mention illness cultivation because she did not know what illness cultivation was.

Cuitik's inference should be correct. Daoguiling may be the origin of the sick cultivators, which is why Cuitik has such a strong reaction.

"No need to go any further, let's start the first round of exploration here." Cuitik sat under the tree, with a lump appearing on his face from time to time, moving back and forth near his cheekbone.

"Daolaogui's lesions are a little out of control," Cuitik rubbed his cheeks. "This is still different from the taste of the ancestor. The lesions of the ancestor mostly exist in the form of bacteria and viruses. Using the science of other states to explain, the lesions that the ancestor can control are all based on the life of DNA. Am I too professional?"

Li Banfeng smiled and said, "Aren't you talking about genes? How complicated is that?"

Cuitik continued, "What is really complicated is not the concept, but the principle. Nucleic acid encodes and manufactures proteins, which is a principle of life that everyone can accept. But what if there is no nucleic acid? Can proteins achieve self-replication?

Prions realize this process, which poses a challenge to the principles of life: which came first, nucleic acid or protein? Which one is the dominant one in life?

Just like you and me, we are all dark energy users. Dark energy is changing the protein structure of our bodies, giving us abilities that are different from those of ordinary people. So is dark energy also changing the essence of our lives? "

Li Banfeng frowned and said, "You use science to study cultivation?"

Cuitik smiled and said, "All the countries in other states are conducting relevant research, because science and cultivation are not contradictory.

Every Taoist practitioner has been influenced by dark energy. The perception of the Taoist practitioners is particularly strong. This is the orderly change caused by dark energy to their bodies. This is the meaning of Taoism.

As for Dao Lao Gui, they also accepted the impact, destructive and disorderly changes brought by dark energy. This change is not only in appearance, but also in perception.

What kind of impact will disorderly changes have on Dao Lao Gui's perception? I thought about it for a long time and even did an experiment on myself yesterday.

Why do Dao Lao Gui always appear during thunderstorms? Everyone says this is their habit, but where does this habit come from?

I was infected by Dao Lao Gui and finally realized that the prion virus destroyed some of my nerves and caused problems with my perception. I would feel very thirsty.

But my eyesight was also affected by the prion, and I couldn't tell which one was the kettle, or even what was water.

In the absence of water, I had to endure extreme thirst, and thunder was very important to me at this time.

Thunder means rain. When it rains, I can drink water by opening my mouth. So when there is a thunderstorm, Dao Lao Gui will definitely appear.

The sound of thunder and rain is like the sound of life-saving in their ears, which makes them excited and highly aggressive. This is the origin of the so-called habit.

As for where Dao Lao Gui is when it's not raining, we still need to continue researching."

Li Banfeng praised: "How much effort have you put into the origin of Taoism to be able to describe your research results in such a popular way?"

Cuitik smiled bitterly: "All roads lead to Pro, but some people are born in Pro. I must make up for my innate disadvantages through acquired efforts."

He took out two seeds and sprinkled them into the soil.

"This is a crop with the ability to repair peeping. I bought it from a friend nearby."

These seeds were obviously produced by Zhang Wanlong. Cuitik was a connoisseur and knew who to buy good stuff from.

After the potion was applied, the seeds grew rapidly, and two minutes later, a morning glory bloomed before their eyes.

Cuitik put his ear to the mouth of the horn, listened for a moment, and said to Li Banfeng, "There is a Dao Lao ghost down there. Judging from his breathing and heartbeat, he should be fast asleep."

Li Banfeng asked, "Do you want to dig him out?"

"That's too barbaric. It's like lifting someone's bed and digging him out. He's bound to be very angry, which will be very detrimental to subsequent communication." Cuitik said to the trumpet with a trembling throat, making a very strange sound.

Hululu~

It was as if a ball of unknown liquid was pushed to his throat by the air flow, and Li Banfeng wanted to cough.

"I was imitating thunder," said Tretik.

Li Banfeng felt that this sound was not like thunder. Cui Tike said, "To the Dao Lao Gui's hearing, this sound is exactly the same as thunder."

Li Banfeng frowned and said, "You talk as if you are a Dao Lao ghost."

"I can be!" Cuitik's forehead and cheeks swelled up, and his facial features became blurred.

He roared a few more times at the trumpet of the morning glory, and the soil on the ground moved.

Li Banfeng walked away quickly, and Cuitik also kept a certain distance.

After a while, a Dao Lao ghost crawled out of the mud, raised its face towards the sky and opened its mouth.

She is drinking rain water.

It’s her. This Dao Laogui is a woman, and her features are very obvious.

After waiting for a long time, she didn't receive any rain. Thirst and disappointment made her look at Cuitik.

Li Banfeng was standing in the distance, and he really wanted to know how Cuitik fought against Dao Laogui.

If Cuitik can really find a way to eliminate Dao Laogui, the threat of Daoguiling will be reduced a lot, and Li Banfeng will have more options in dealing with Daoguiling.

Cuitik's swollen face had a certain effect. The Dao Laogui on the opposite side did not rush to spray poison, as if he regarded him as a fellow.

Cuitik was not in a hurry to use his techniques. He took out a painting from his arms.

To be precise, it should not be a painting, but a geometric figure formed by arcs of varying lengths.

At first it looks like a still picture, but if you look at it for a while, you'll start to see something moving on the picture.

This is an illusion caused by line guidance. Li Banfeng has been exposed to the corresponding knowledge in school.

He looked at Dao Laogui's reaction.

Dao Laogui walked closer to the picture and kept stroking the picture with his flesh-like arms.

After rubbing for a long time, Dao Laogui opened and closed his lips, wiped his mouth, and then returned to the soil.

Cuitik let out a long breath, and the swelling on his face disappeared, returning to normal.

Li Banfeng was very surprised. How did Cuitik subdue Dao Laogui?

Cuitik held the painting in his hand and said, "If I say now that I am a painter, would you believe it?"

Judging from the frequency of updating his chest tattoo, this may actually be true.

Cuitik put away the scroll and said with a smile: "I am not a painter. I just painted some water for the Dao Laogui just now."

"Those things you drew are water?"

"It's definitely not in your eyes, but in Dao Lao Gui's eyes, it is water. Dao Lao Gui's visual system has been damaged by prions, and what he sees is different from what we see."

Li Banfeng still didn't understand: "Those lines you just drew are the same as water in Dao Laogui's eyes?

Haven't they seen real water? How could they mistake those lines for water?"

Cuitik took out a piece of paper, took out a pen from his jacket pocket, and drew a few gentle wavy lines on the white paper: "This is the simplest way to draw a river. Why do we regard such lines as water?"

Li Banfeng couldn't answer.

Cuitik took the paper and said with a smile, "The vision of Dao Lao Gui is different from ours. Just like we can see lines as river water, other creatures can't do this.

When these lines are transmitted to our minds through our sight, our brains will generate corresponding amines and enzymes, and will generate corresponding proteins. These proteins are solidified in our cognition, making us regard the lines as water.

But if I say this is a disease, would you believe it?"

"What's wrong?"

"A contagious disease," Cuitik pointed at the lines on the screen and said, "People from different places have different languages, cultures and customs, but they all regard these lines as water. Isn't this a plague?

Protein has infected all human beings in the world with the same plague, so I have always believed that protein is the master of life. "

Li Banfeng thought hard for a long time but could not think of any reason to refute him.

…

At dusk, the two men came down the mountain, and Li Banfeng asked Cuitik, "How sure are you?"

Cuitik smiled and said, "Faced with this special type of life, I dare not say that I am sure of my chances. I can only do my best. Killing all my fellow disciples is the tradition of the sick cultivators, and it is also my personal wish."

That night, Cuitik spent the entire night preparing a potion.

To be precise, this is not a medicine, but a lesion. Cuitik is very confident in the lesion he made.

After sleeping for two hours before setting off, he followed Li Banfeng to Daogui Ridge again.

In the same open space as before, Cuitik poured the potion into the washbasin and placed six pictures around it.

Each picture was made up of fine lines. Li Banfeng did not look at the specific patterns, and he didn't even want to look at the pictures any more.

He gradually began to understand Cuitik's thinking patterns. Some of the cognition came from vision, which was a disease in itself.

After making preparations, Cui Tick gave Li Banfeng a simple explanation: "These six paintings form a layout with a three-dimensional perspective. For Dao Lao Gui, this is equivalent to letting them see the surging spring water. The pathogens I created will be drunk by them as spring water."

"Will you die if you drink it?"

Cuitik shook his head and said, "A pathogen that kills quickly is not suitable to be a carrier of the plague.

If a Dao Lao ghost dies within an hour after taking the potion, it will be difficult for him to pass the pathogen to the next target.

Even if the transmission is successful, the transmission chain can be easily interrupted, so the infected Dao Lao Gui must be allowed to survive for a period of time to give him enough time to spread the plague. "

Li Banfeng said: "If it doesn't rain, the Dao Lao ghosts will all be sleeping underground, and they won't come into contact with each other.

In other words, if your plan is to succeed, it must rain before the infected Dao Lao ghost dies. "

Cuitik shook his head: "I never gamble on luck. I have made more thorough preparations."

He made bubbling sounds towards the morning glories on the ground.

"Hulululu~"

The soil on the ground loosened, and the female Dao Laogui who was woken up by them yesterday crawled out of the soil.

She came to the washbasin and crawled around it using her meat-like limbs.

"Woo woo~".

She made a different cry than before, and Cuitik lowered his voice and said, "Did you hear that? She is very happy, she found the water source!

I have successfully changed her mindset and made her realize that she can find other sources of water besides rainwater."

Dao Laogui lay on the ground and took a big sip. Li Banfeng said, "You only have so little potion. Be careful that she drinks it all by herself."

"No!" Cuitik was very confident. "The potion contains special ingredients that can quickly suppress her thirst and increase her sense of fullness. See? She won't drink it."

After just one sip, Dao Laogui was full.

Cuitik smiled. "She wants to contact her own kind now. She has a desire to communicate with her own kind. This is the key to the potion."

"Woo woo~" Dao Laogui squatted on the ground, howling.

Not long after, there was a rustling sound in the surrounding bushes.

There were many Dao Lao ghosts approaching, and Li Banfeng reminded them: "Should we leave?"

Cuitik said: "Don't worry, it will take some time to observe. I can't be sure of the infection efficiency yet.

The potion is limited, and there won’t be too many first-generation infected people who have taken the potion. It will depend on them to infect each other in the future.”

A dozen Dao Lao ghosts rushed out from the bushes and quickly drank up the potion in the basin.

They squatted on the ground and howled together. At their call, hundreds of Dao Lao ghosts gathered together.

Li Banfeng advised again: "It's time for us to go."

With so many Dao Lao ghosts, one of them could kill Li Banfeng with just a puff of black mist.

Cuitik remained calm: "Don't worry, let's wait a little longer. After taking the potion, they shouldn't notice us. They just want to communicate with each other. They shouldn't use their poison mist to treat their own kind."

"So what will they do?"

"Let me guess, they're going to be arguing with each other because they all want to know where the water is."

Cuitik saw it very accurately. The Dao Lao ghosts were roaring and had started quarreling.

"They will fight each other. They are all very eager for water. Those who don't get water will probably be a little angry."

This was not a wrong guess. Some Dao Lao ghosts had already started fighting. This was all the infection process planned by Cuitik in advance.

"They will also..." Cuitik was stunned.

One female and one male, the two Dao Lao ghosts hugged each other.

Tritik thought they were fighting, but it turned out that they were partially connected.

"I didn't expect that their life forms have undergone drastic changes, but they still retain this instinct."

Next, a large number of Dao Lao ghosts hugged each other, and joyful roars came one after another.

Cuitik pursed his lips and said, "Li Qi, it seems that a certain ingredient in the medicine has been used in excess. They are too excited now. I think we should leave.

Li Qi, Li Qi..."

Tritik looked to his side.

There was no Li Qi beside him.

Li Qi has been gone for quite some time.

The Dao Lao ghost, awakened by the morning glory, came to Cuitik, crawled on the ground, and circled around Cuitik.

Cuitik saw hostility in her, and the Dao Lao ghost saw traces of alienness in Cuitik.

She opened her mouth, perhaps to spit poison or to roar.

If she just sprayed poison, Cuitik might be able to barely hold on. But if she summoned other companions to spray poison together, it would be fatal to Cuitik. He would not be able to control such a large number of pathogens in a short period of time.

At the critical moment, Cuitik relaxed the suppression of the pathogens in his body. His face swelled up rapidly, his facial features became blurred, and his body was covered with sticky juice.

Seeing Cuitik become like this, Dao Laogui's hostility gradually disappeared.

But she didn't leave.

She walked around behind Cuitik and slowly hugged Cuitik.

Cuitik had a lot to say, but at the moment, he didn't know the language to express it.

…

After a night, Cuitik came down the mountain and looked at Li Banfeng angrily: "You left me alone on the mountain. This behavior seriously hurt our friendship."

Li Banfeng asked a serious question: "How did you escape?"

Cuitik didn't answer directly: "I saved your life, and this is how you repay me?"

"Repaying a favor and accompanying you to die are two different things."

"How can this be called courting death? We are working together to resolve a disaster!"

"Has the disaster been averted?"

Cuitik was silent for a moment and said, "The process was a bit tortuous. I didn't expect the Dao Lao ghosts to have such strong vitality. The lesions I created could not kill them, but we also achieved certain results."

"What results?"

Cuitik said: "In the past, whenever there was a thunderstorm, Dao Lao ghosts would appear because they wanted to drink water.

Now, under the influence of the lesions, their physical characteristics have changed to a certain extent. They can actively seek water sources through visual perception.

This means that in the future, when there is a thunderstorm, we don’t have to worry about being attacked by Dao Lao Gui. There is no necessary connection between thunder and lightning and Dao Lao Gui’s behavior. ”

Li Banfeng's mind buzzed, and he asked in a low voice: "Can you be more direct?"

Cuitik pondered for a moment and said, "Even without thunder, they can come out now."

As the cold wind blew, Li Banfeng looked up at Cuitik and said, "I should have killed you before I went up the mountain."

Cuitik sighed and said, "Don't be so pessimistic. I will make some more improvements to the lesion. I promise there will be better results next time."

"When is the next time?"

Cuitik thought for a long time, looked at Daoguiling and said: "It doesn't depend on me, it depends on them. The lesion makes them a little excited.

After all, they can find water by themselves, which is an exciting thing for them. As for the current situation, I don’t know when they can calm down. Maybe they will never calm down. ”

Li Banfeng looked at Daoguiling and didn't know what to say for a moment.

Cuitik returned to his camp, and Li Banfeng was preparing to return to his residence. Halfway there, a man in a gray windbreaker blocked his way.

Chu Shaoqiang walked up to Li Banfeng and said with a smile: "I don't like to think the worst of people, but there is one thing I really don't understand, why is it that you are involved in every bad thing I have encountered recently!"

Li Banfeng asked, "Are you here for Daogui Ridge?"

"Yes!" Chu Shaoqiang did not deny it.

"Did you send Daoguiling here?"

"Not accurate," Chu Shaoqiang shook his head. "On the way I delivered Daoguiling, the Tianxin Stones used to guide the way disappeared. There were five pieces in total. You may know their whereabouts."

Li Banfeng did not answer, and continued to ask: "Where do you want to send Daoguiling?"

"I can't tell you this."

"If you want me to help you, you have to tell me the truth."

Chu Shaoqiang hesitated for a moment and said, "This is the peddler's order. He asked me to move Daogui Ridge to another place. I don't know the specific purpose..."

Chu Shaoqiang couldn't continue speaking halfway through.

He was blowing soap bubbles that smelled like roses.

He couldn't figure out this matter. On the Sage Peak, he told many lies to the saint. When people from Inner Province questioned him, he also told many lies. On these occasions, he did not behave abnormally.

Only when he met the peddler and Li Qi, he would spit bubbles as soon as they told a lie.

He also didn't know when the pancreas the peddler gave him would be completely digested.

Li Qi saw the soap bubbles and naturally would not believe his lies. Chu Shaoqiang thought of a relatively euphemistic excuse:

"This matter actually has nothing to do with the peddler, but what I did was because of Pulululuozhou..."

When he said the word "Pu", he spit out a string of soap bubbles, choking himself and making him cough.

Li Banfeng was very disappointed with Chu Shaoqiang: "Come up with a more decent excuse."

Chu Shaoqiang wiped his mouth with a handkerchief: "Forget it, I'll tell you the truth, I want to send Daogui Ridge to Shengxian Peak, the saint on Shengxian Peak wants Daogui Ridge."

"What do you want Daoguiling for?"

"He wants an army as a way to restore his former identity."

"What is his identity?"

"He was the last emperor of the previous dynasty. Because he lost the war and his kingdom, his kingdom was divided into two parts. One part was controlled by the royal family and became today's Neizhou, and the other part is today's Prozhou."

This time Chu Shaoqiang didn't spit bubbles, he spoke the truth.

But Li Banfeng couldn't understand: "Neizhou is controlled by the royal family, why doesn't the saint return to Neizhou? Isn't he the emperor?"

Chu Shaoqiang said: "I don't know much about his past. He did live in Neizhou for a period of time. Because he couldn't stand the oppression of the royal family, he left Neizhou and occupied Shengxian Peak and even the entire Bitch Post."

"The royal family oppresses the emperor?" Li Banfeng was even more confused.

"Because the royal family has been completely controlled by the Neizhou people. As for the origins of the Neizhou people, I can't explain it clearly. I only know that they didn't originally belong to this world."

Li Banfeng roughly understood the logic: "The saint wants to turn the Dao Lao ghosts on Dao Gui Ridge into his own army and use it to conquer Pro Province?"

Chu Shaoqiang nodded.

"You were sent by Neizhou, why do you have to obey the orders of the saint?"

Chu Shaoqiang said: "In fact, this is also the fate of Neizhou..."

The soap sprayed out again, and Chu Shaoqiang lied again.

Li Banfeng shook his head and said, "This is not an order from Neizhou. This is a deal between you and the Saint."

Chu Shaoqiang nodded and said, "Yes, Ge Junma is dead. He is from Neizhou. This is not a consequence I can bear.

If I want to survive, someone has to take care of it for me.

The saint took the responsibility for me, and as a reward, I must send Daogui Ridge to Shengxian Peak."

"The minds of Dao Lao ghosts are completely different from humans. How can the saints control them?"

"The saint has mastered the means to control thunderstorms within a certain range, which is equivalent to mastering the basis for the advance and retreat of Dao Laogui."

Li Banfeng frowned and said, "Just relying on this? Do you want to control Dao Lao Gui just by relying on Thunderstorm?"

Chu Shaoqiang said: "I told the saint that this is still a long way from being a real army.

But the sage believed that as long as he could master the thunderstorm, he would have mastered the foundation of taming the Dao Lao ghost, and he believed that this was the beginning of his grand ambitions. "

Li Banfeng pursed his lips and his nose kept twitching.

Chu Shaoqiang said: "I know that the saint's idea is a bit unrealistic, and the probability that he can control Dao Lao Gui is not too high, so I agreed to hand over Dao Gui Ridge to him.

Today, the Heart Stone was dropped here, and you happened to be here. If you say you have nothing to do with this, I definitely won't believe you.

But if you are willing to provide some help and help me find the Heavenly Heart Stone, I will also give you a generous reward. "

Li Banfeng thought for a long time and said, "It's not impossible to help you, but you lost five pieces of Tianxin Stone. It's too difficult to find them back."

Chu Shaoqiang said: "We must find at least two pieces, otherwise Daogui Ridge cannot be moved."

Li Banfeng said: "Two dollars is a bit of a hope, but it depends on how high a price you can offer."