23 Chapter 23

◎The unusual things after the spiritual energy is enhanced◎

Chapter 23

Xiao Tiandao rushed around in the collapsed cage, and with the last collision, he successfully knocked off a piece of debris from the gap he had previously opened.

Although it doesn't look as big as the previous one, it is at least a psychological comfort.

At this time, the researcher who was surveying the spiritual energy content of the pit outside looked at the value on the detector which suddenly jumped up and leaned back.

"No, the instrument is broken?"

I reached out and tapped the instrument, turned it off and restarted it to test again. I found that the value had returned to normal, and then I breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's okay, it's okay. It scared me."

He patted his chest, calmed his heart which had been beating violently from fear, and muttered a few words.

"What are you mumbling about?"

A colleague who had just returned from testing on the other side heard his words and asked with some confusion.

"What else could it be? The instrument we rushed out so urgently is still having some issues. The value just jumped, it startled me. I thought this evolution was going to accelerate."

After saying this, he shook his head with some relief.

"That's right. If we hadn't asked the military for samples, we wouldn't have created a stone that's hard to understand, and it would have accelerated the mutation that should have been slow."

The colleague said this, feeling somewhat helpless, and complained in a low voice.

But things have already happened, and now they can only complain and regret a few words.

There is nothing much that these two small fry can do.

"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. The higher-ups are really fretting over this. It would be terrible if anyone heard. Did you remember the data?"

My colleague patted the notebook in his hand and turned to ask.

"Okay, let's go back and hand it in after we finish sorting it out."

The two of them didn't avoid anyone when talking. It wasn't a confidential matter anyway, so after they finished talking, they turned around and walked back.

The few people who were absorbing spiritual energy and practicing nearby opened their eyes only after they felt that everyone had left. They looked at each other.

"Dunzi, can't you take that thing back?"

Tang Ji asked with some hesitation.

He rubbed his hands left and right. Whenever he felt sad, he wanted to smoke. But now the captain had strictly forbidden Zhuang Dun to steal cigarettes for him. No matter how much he rubbed his hands, he couldn't rub out a cigarette, but he could make smoke.

"Well, I can't put it back. If I could put it back, I would have put it back directly."

Zhuang Dun was also somewhat helpless about his own abilities.

When he first found out that he couldn't put it back, he didn't take it seriously. He was going to take it out as a sample anyway, so it didn't matter whether he could put it back or not.

It was not until he realized that something was wrong with the aura around him that he wanted to put the stone back, but he couldn't do it.

Unfortunately, it is easy to take it, but it is too difficult to put it back intact, and he can't do it now.

"Okay..."

Tang Ji shrank back helplessly, patted the sparks that had just come out, and continued to absorb spiritual energy.

Although he can now release his supernatural powers, he cannot control them very well.

If he is not careful, sparks may easily fall from his body.

Especially now, they have been absorbing spiritual energy here recently, and the spiritual energy content in their bodies has increased, making it even harder for him to control it.

According to the captain, they wanted him to control his abilities first before coming to absorb spiritual energy, but this was rejected by his superiors.

The amount of spiritual energy a person absorbs is fixed and depends on time.

Don’t worry about whether you can control it now. Just absorb it first, strengthen your own abilities, and put the control aside for later.

The authorities can easily provide them with a training ground.

With this idea in mind, even if they want to be more stable and have better control before continuing to absorb, the official top leaders will not let them stop the absorption.

Fortunately, the higher-ups still put their lives first.

They had communicated with the Taoist priest beforehand, and the reply they received was that it was fine to absorb it in this way at this stage, as it did not involve any fundamental issues at present.

Even if they still want to absorb it in this way later, this spiritual energy will not be available to them.

The Taoist came to this conclusion after he went home and read a large number of classics.

No matter how much spiritual energy is coming out of the pit now, it is still far from the spiritual energy recorded by our ancestors.

Of course, the most important point is that the spiritual energy coming out of the pit is different from ordinary human smoke.

No matter how small or large the point where it appears is, or how dense it is.

After it emerges and floats into the air, it will quickly merge with the air. How much people can absorb after fusion depends on the spiritual energy content in the air.

Unless the concentration of spiritual energy in the pit increases again, the content of air fusion will also increase accordingly.

However, at this stage, not only the top leaders of the Flower Planting Family, but even the Taoist who loves spiritual energy very much, want to keep the spiritual energy as it is now and not increase it any more.

Even with the current levels, the animals and plants in the laboratory have already demonstrated extraordinary attack power. If it increases further, humans will not know where to survive.

While the authorities are trying to get people to absorb spiritual energy, the authorities in remote areas are arranging the relocation of people in the more isolated villages below.

If the official actions were somewhat relaxed and not so urgent before, the official top leaders became a little anxious after the spiritual energy content increased and the plants in the laboratory could hurt people.

In the past two days, the above documents have been issued several times, each time urging grassroots personnel to organize the transfer.

In fact, even if the upper level did not give the specific reasons, the grassroots people below would already know something. It’s not that their network of contacts is so wide that they can communicate with the higher-ups.

Rather, the area where they are located can become an important place for transfer, and there are always some unusual situations discovered.

Just like the green onions in the mayor's house. His wife wanted to eat scallion oil noodles in the morning. When he got up to pick them, the tip of the green onion poked him directly and almost pierced his hand, leaving a bloody hole.

With such an unusual thing happening right under their noses, the town leaders, after hearing that two villages below were not planning to move out of the mountains and were unwilling to move even with financial compensation, decided to go directly to the countryside to ask the villagers what they were thinking.

Is it because the compensation they gave was not enough, or is there some other reason?

It can't be that you like those newly emerged species and want to live in love with them, right?

It's not that he has a strong desire for control. He usually keeps an eye on the movements of these two villages and takes action if he sees any non-cooperation from them.

In fact, all the other surrounding villages followed their wishes and moved to the town, but these two villages made excuses and refused to implement it.

It has come to this critical moment, and the residents have signed a joint letter to express their unwillingness to move out, which he cannot afford to ignore.

This involves life safety. He can't let so many people make hasty decisions because they don't understand the dangers.

With this idea in mind, he traveled all the way from the town to the countryside, specifically heading towards Daxi Village, the more populated of the two villages.

As soon as he approached the village from afar, he felt the unusual atmosphere of Daxi Village, which was completely opposite to the somewhat tense atmosphere in the town.

While the people in the town were startled by the inexplicable appearance of some special animals and plants in their homes or around them, this place in the mountains, where there were obviously more special animals and plants, appeared to be very peaceful and calm.

It seemed that the villagers were not surprised at all by the sudden appearance of some special plants.

"Could it be that the villagers have never seen these plants before and are just treating them as weeds?"

The secretary next to the mayor is always there to handle things. Many times, the work in the mayor's hands is screened by him before it reaches the mayor.

Therefore, they showed extraordinary curiosity about the only two villages on the mountain who did not want to leave the mountain even though they offered extremely generous financial compensation.

Are these two villages too reckless and don't take those plants seriously, or is it because they have something to rely on?

"Can you treat a blade of grass that could knock you over if you're not paying attention as a weed?"

The mayor was speechless when he heard his words.

Not to mention those that could poke people, on the way up the mountain, they encountered a lot of weeds that didn't have very strong attack power in the lush grass on the roadside.

These weeds don't cause much harm to them, but just tripping over them while walking is annoying.

"That's not possible."

The secretary was helpless and could only make a bold assumption that it was not the case.

Their group was discovered as soon as they entered the village. It was not because they were so conspicuous, but because the plants that appeared in and around the village in the past few days made the villagers curious.

The village chief felt that although these plants looked annoying now, there was no guarantee that there might not be some more powerful plants hidden among them that could harm people.

Today, I asked the villagers to put aside their work for a few days, bring back those unusual plants, and put them next to the godmother, so that the godmother can help see if there is anything wrong.

When the mayor and his group arrived, the villagers were gathering to dig up the plants that liked to move around and put them next to Ying Huaishu, hoping that he would check them.

With so many people standing at the entrance of the village, how could they not be discovered?

"Hey, Mayor Xiao, how come you have time to come to the countryside?"

Hearing the noises of the villagers nearby, the village chief looked in their direction and saw the mayor and his entourage walking towards them.

"You want to come down and see how our people live, don't you?"

The mayor and his group had no intention of hiding the purpose of their visit to the countryside. The village chief could of course guess what it was, but he was not prepared to point it out.

Since the other party didn't explain clearly, he pretended to be confused.

"These past few days, there have been some moving plants appearing around the village, and some animals that like to attack people have come down from the mountains, so we thought of catching them all and studying them."

The village chief didn't tell a single lie, but he hid an important piece of information. He didn't say who he wanted to give it to for research.

"Hmm? So what did you guys figure out?"

The mayor listened to the village chief's words and turned curiously to look in the direction he pointed. That direction happened to be the direction where the animals and plants were randomly placed under the locust tree.

When the villagers were digging plants and catching animals, they would think of letting the godmother take a look first, so they would not harm the lives of these animals and plants.

So now we have these animals and plants lying on the ground, but they are restless and twisting around in a mess.

"Not yet, it may take some time."

When the village chief heard the question from Mayor Xiao, he answered without changing his expression.

"Okay, I won't beat around the bush with you. Let's find a place to talk."

Seeing that he was beating around the bush and was unwilling to cooperate, the mayor felt helpless and could only speak up and make a suggestion.

"Okay, come with me. My house is just up ahead. Let's talk when we get home."

As the village chief spoke, he extended his hand and was about to take the person home to talk.

As he walked, he explained to Mayor Xiao and others.

"Normally, I should have taken you all to the village office to discuss business, but there was a creeper growing there a while ago, and now it's completely sealed the door, preventing us from entering. We can only make do with this for now."

The village chief said this without proposing any other solutions. Before the godmother gave the hint, the villagers were still very tolerant of those plants.

As long as they are not the kind that will hurt people on their own, the villagers will not think of harming them and will just let them grow like this.

It is rare to have the opportunity to grow up like this.

The village chief did not tell the mayor and his entourage what he was thinking at all. If these people knew about it, they would think that everyone in their village had mental problems.

"Are you having any difficulties? The mountain is in such a state now. Would Daxi Village like to consider moving down the mountain?"

The mayor spoke, but his tone was relatively gentle, and he did not directly issue a document for forced relocation.

"Mayor, it's not that we're unwilling to cooperate. It's simply that we've all lived in the mountains for so many years, eating and drinking here. We know everything there is. If we rashly move to another place, most of the people left in our village are elderly. What will we do if they can't find food?"

The village chief explained to the mayor with a bitter face.

"Of course we know that life in town is good, and the government provides housing and subsidies, but we only have houses and no land. How long can we use those subsidies? Once they are all spent, we old guys can't ask the young people who have just established themselves outside for food and drink, right? It's not easy for the young people to earn that little money..."

Mayor Xiao and his group hadn't said anything to persuade him yet, but the village chief just started talking nonsense.

He didn't say anything forceful about not wanting to take the villagers down the mountain. The only reason was that these old people who had been dealing with the land all their lives were afraid of having nothing to eat if they went down the mountain, so they thought it was fine to maintain the status quo.

"Of course, we all know that there are some abnormal plants and animals on this mountain. We have already called the young people in the city back. When they come back, they will build a wall around the village to enclose it. The village will be well maintained in the future, so there is no need to worry so much."

The village chief said this with a smile on his face.

Anyway, he was just walking around in circles because he didn't want to go down the mountain.

The mayor was speechless after hearing what he said.

"Since you've said that, let's put it aside for now and talk about it this afternoon. Now think about it."

The mayor and his entourage came all the way here not to listen to his nonsense.

"Let's walk around the village today and check to see if all the potential hidden dangers in the village have been dealt with, as you said."

After saying that, Mayor Xiao stood up, made his decision, and without caring what the village chief thought, he turned around and was about to walk out.

The village chief was a little embarrassed. He didn't expect that the mayor, who had just taken office and had little contact with him, was even more shameless than him.

"Okay, do you need to put down what you're holding? It's feeling heavy."

Seeing that they were really not going to leave, the village chief had no choice but to speak out his advice.

"Hmm? That's fine. Xiao Liu, put down your bag."

After hearing what the village chief said, the mayor turned to look at the secretary next to him. Seeing the briefcase in the secretary's hand, he simply said that he had accepted the village chief's words.

They didn't plan to bring any information that couldn't be known to the villagers when they went to the countryside this time, so Xiao Liu looked around the village chief's house and found a cabinet that looked taller. He took out his notebook and put it aside, then put his bag on it.

Although he didn't put anything important in the bag, it would be better to put it higher so that it would be difficult for others to touch it.

After finishing all this, he turned around with a notebook, glanced at the village chief, smiled and nodded, then stood back next to the mayor.

The colleagues who followed him and the mayor up the mountain were like decorations. They hadn't said a word until now. They just watched their conversation, and from time to time they lowered their heads to write something in their notebooks.

Seeing that the mayor and his entourage really wanted to stroll around the village, the village chief had no choice but to send them out without saying a word. Then he turned around and found a few children playing in the backyard and asked them to go out and find the uncles and aunts in the village to pass on a few words.

After discovering signs of abnormality in the animals and plants in the village over the past two days, the adults in the village began to restrict the children from going out.

Just like the children of the village chief, who used to run around outside all day, have been kept at home for the past two days and can only play with the livestock in the backyard.

The reason why the village chief allowed them to go out was because the villagers caught the abnormal-looking animals and plants in the village and sent them to their godmother today.

Most of the possible dangers have been eliminated, so there is no need to worry about letting a few children go out and run around.

"Master, since we're talking about this, can we go somewhere else to play the rest of the time?"

Shi Tou was a little surprised when he heard what the village chief said.

"Yeah, but you have to be careful when you play."

The village chief nodded and gave some advice.

There have been many strange things happening in the village recently, and these children have become curious just by hearing about them. They have been locked up at home for the past two days. Although they haven't complained a word, as soon as the adults come home, they will surround them and ask questions.

"Then can Zuzu go out?"

Shi Tou was just about to call his younger brothers and sisters out when he suddenly thought of something and asked.

Because the grass in the village likes to trip people, not only are the children not allowed to go out these two days, but even their grandfather has stayed at home for two days.

Grandpa doesn't like to stay at home, so kids like him can find other things to do at home to divert his attention.

But Zuzu could only stay in the room and look at the sky outside through the window.

"No, your grandpa's legs are not flexible enough to begin with. How can he run around with you? There is no need to worry about him falling."

The village chief refused, and then changed the subject.

"I'm going to go to my godmother's place later. You guys can do whatever you want. I'll take your grandpa to sit with her for a while."

"Okay, then we'll be leaving first. Be careful with Grandpa and don't let him fall."

When Shitou heard that Zuzu could also go out, he jumped for joy. Before turning around to call Momo and the others to go out together, he imitated the way the village chief had instructed him before and turned around to give the village chief some instructions.

"Okay, I remember it, and the stone has to remember it too. Do you hear me?"

The village chief agreed with a smile.

"Don't worry! We won't do anything dangerous!"

Shitou said this and waved his hand, indicating to the village chief that he was leaving.

Seeing Shitou calling out to all the children in the house and sending them out, the village chief turned around to look for his mother and prepared to take everyone out for a walk.

All the children in the family know what kind of personality the child's grandfather has. He has been with his mother since he was a child and has been living with her for decades. How could he not know?

If it weren't for the fact that something really wrong had happened in the village in the past two days and he was afraid that her old arms and legs would be broken, he really wouldn't have restricted his mother so much.

After all, she is old and I don’t know how long she can stay with them, so it is more important to follow her preferences.

The village chief turned around and took my mother out, preparing to take a walk to my godmother's place. He didn't know that the children he had previously warned not to do anything dangerous squatted on the side of the road and poked at the small black strip on the ground curiously soon after they went out.

They followed what the village chief and Shitou had said before, and the first thing they did when they went out was to find those uncles, convey the village chief's words to them, and then find a place to play by themselves.

A lot of changes have taken place in the village in the past two days. The animals and plants that were familiar to them have been taken away, and a lot of newly grown weeds have sprouted on the ground.

"Shi Tou, does this wild vegetable only sprout green shoots in spring? I see it's already here."

Just as Shitou was squatting and making eye contact with a little black snake, Gangbi, who was playing on the other side, came over to ask him something.

Gangduan is a good student and is usually taken to school in the city by the village chief's third son. He doesn't have much time to stay in the countryside and can only come back during the winter and summer vacations when he doesn't have tutoring classes.

Therefore, his understanding of some plants in the village was not as deep as Shitou's, but he was curious and wanted to know more, so he would ask Shitou a few questions from time to time.

Shitou often helps his grandmother distribute the fresh medicinal herbs she brings home to dry in the sun. Through observation and observation, he has gained a relatively good understanding of these plants.

"Well, yes, it can be eaten as a vegetable, and it is also a common medicine. My grandma dries some at home. If it can't be eaten as a vegetable, then don't talk about it."

Shi Tou looked in the direction Gang Duan's finger was pointing, and nodded after confirming the appearance.

Without waiting for Gangduan to answer whether the grass was tender or old, he pulled off a sharp piece and put it in his mouth.

"Pfft, it's edible. If you want to eat it, just take some back and we'll have a cold dish for lunch."

Nodding to confirm that it was done, Shitou continued to look down at the little black snake that was shyly hiding in the grass.

This little snake gave Shi Tou a familiar feeling. He didn't know where this familiarity came from, but what Shi Tou was sure of was that this little snake would not bite him, so he came so close to take a look.

"Brother Shitou, what are you looking at?"

Gangduan saw that Shitou was in this state just now. After spitting at him, he still maintained this state. He imitated Shitou's appearance, squatted down and looked down along the line of sight of Shitou.

Only then did I vaguely see the little snake hiding in the grass.

"Wow...it's so dark."

Gangduan was amazed. This was his first reaction when he saw the little snake.

"What's so dark?" Momo heard his voice, came over to see, and squatted down with them to look at the grass.

"Really? It reflects light, and it's colorful!"

As Momo said this, he wanted to reach out and touch the snake, but he was afraid that the snake would bite him, so he could only watch curiously.

"Xiao Ling'er, what are your brother and the others doing?"

Hearing the noise here, Chu Xinran looked up and asked Xiao Ling'er.

Since they decided to stay with Xiao Ling'er for the past two days, her little ornaments have become very well-behaved. Chu Xinran followed Xiao Ling'er very attentively and acted as her big tail.

"Sister Xinran, don't worry about it. They're all gathered together, so they're definitely not watching something we like."

When Xiao Ling'er heard what Chu Xinran said, she looked at the three of them. Based on her long-term understanding of her brothers, it was definitely not a good thing.

"Um, I feel like it wants to go home with me..."

Shitou reached out and poked the little black snake carefully. Seeing that the little black snake was staggering after being poked by him, it did not dodge and even tried to get close to his hand.

Shitou turned around and said this to his friends who were huddled together with him to watch the snake.

"Last time you said the mountain egg wanted to go home with you, but you actually wanted to take it back for Grandpa to eat. Then you got chased and beaten by your uncle, and tied to your godmother for the entire afternoon to reflect on your actions."

Hearing what Shitou said, Momo turned around and repeated what he had done before with a speechless look on his face.

"This is different. It really wants to go home with me..."

Shitou lowered his head to look at the little snake's eyes on the ground, then turned around to look at his two brothers squatting on his left and right, muttering to himself.

"Brother Shitou, if you take it back, your butt will be beaten to a pulp."

Gangduan stretched out his hand to Shitou's left hand, blocking Shitou's eyes from looking at the little snake, and stated a fact that could happen as long as Shitou brought the little snake back.

Shitou was still determined to steal the snake and stretched out his hand in front of it.

The little snake hesitated, poked its head out from the grass, and slowly climbed onto the palm of the stone.

The snake is very small and looks like it has just hatched from its shell. Its jet-black scales reflect colorful light, and its whole body exudes exquisiteness and is extremely beautiful.

Looking at the little snake in his palm and feeling the closeness from the little snake, Shi Tou turned his head.

"Family, it really wants to go home with me!"

"Come on, can you take care of it if you bring it back? If you bring it back at noon, your uncle will chase you around the village and beat you up in the afternoon. It's not enough, he will definitely hang it on your godmother and then beat you up."

Momo felt embarrassed to see him like this.

"Snakes eat mice. Be careful when bringing it back. It might have secretly eaten Brother Rufeng's little mouse."

Gangbi added another sentence.

Shi Tou was unwilling to give in and wanted to retort, but before he could say anything, he heard some movement coming from the other side of the bushes.

"Ali! Brother Shitou, run quickly. You caught the snake again. Ali is coming to beat you." Gangbi saw clearly first, turned around and shouted at Shitou.

From a distance, a cat that looked much bigger than the big dog in the village jumped out from an inconspicuous place.

The cat moves so fast.

When it got closer, it knew its limits and didn't stretch out its claws, but its paw pads went straight towards the stone's butt.

"Wow! Ahri, why did you hit me? I didn't do anything!"

Shitou was hit on the butt and staggered forward, but his hands were steady and he carefully put the little snake into his clothes.

Then he screamed and twisted his body to hide.

Ahri is not like his father, and he gave him some time to hide.

Before the stone started to dodge, Ahri's paw pad had already predicted the position where he was about to turn around.

"Bang, bang, bang..." The paw pads made a dull sound as they hit the soft flesh.

【Author’s words】

Hey guys, I saw the incident where Jiang Bengbeng collected Jinjiang coins twice for a chapter. I sent a message to customer service, but they didn't reply. I don't know how they handled it in the end, so you may need to wait a little longer. I'll urge them again. (Hugs, hey guys~)