Chapter 73 It's a very long story. Yu Jitang continued shouting, "We..."
Yu Jitang continued, "We, the disciples of the Divine Palace, are on a winter hunt and have only just arrived in Xiyuan. What brings you here?"
Jin Hua didn't want to pay attention to him, but an old servant beside him whispered, "Young Master, we are in a bad situation, but those two are in an even worse one. At this point, I don't think Yu Shenshi would chat with you for no reason."
Jin Hua steadied himself and raised his voice, "We came in with Attendant Zou to rescue people."
"Save people? Save who?" Yu Jitang craned his neck, echoing him, creating a highly ironic scene against the backdrop of the chaotic group of people fighting in the middle.
"I don't know who to save! Anyway, we didn't manage to save anyone, but quite a few of our Jinmanlou's experts were killed."
Yu Jitang clicked his tongue twice. "Is that so? How strange! We didn't take long to get here from the edge of Xiyuan! We didn't encounter anything along the way. What happened to you? How come even your experts from Jinmanlou were defeated?"
What?
Jinhua was stunned for a moment, then looked at the two men's clothes again. Sure enough, they were perfectly neat, not a single hair was sticking out. How could this be? Had they encountered no danger along the way?
Yu Jitang added fuel to the fire, "Have you been tricked? I thought Xiyuan was quite peaceful. You didn't fall into someone's ambush, did you?"
An ambush? Whose ambush? Zou Buming had been leading the way the whole way. If there were traps and ambushes, and everyone was walking right into them, then it could only be the person who set them up.
Some of the rogue cultivators became suspicious and shouted, "Zou Shenshi, don't you want to explain anything?"
Zou Buming stood with his hands behind his back, completely ignoring what Yu Jitang was saying, and coldly mocked, "Explain? Explain what? You begged me to come in and save people. I also said that my abilities are limited and that you should stay outside. If you insist on coming in, you are responsible for your own lives. I don't know what you want me to explain."
The independent cultivators gradually calmed down and gathered together, confronting the experts from the Divine Palace. Someone shouted, "This is your conspiracy!"
Zou Buming gave a mocking smile, "A conspiracy? Tell me what my conspiracy is. I brought you here in front of the Spirit Fruit so you could fight me for it."
Everyone was speechless for a moment.
In fact, this is something that Wu Chen has never been able to understand.
“I know why,” a woman’s voice suddenly rang out.
Everyone turned around and saw that three people had appeared beneath the Spirit Tree at some unknown time. One of them, a woman, was speaking, while two tall men stood guard on either side of her.
Whether it was their imagination or not, everyone felt that even the gentle breeze blowing in their faces was trembling.
Wu Chenwei breathed a barely perceptible sigh of relief. Qi Wu had finally arrived.
Jin Hua recognized her at a glance, "Madam Luo?!"
Qi Wu smiled and nodded at him, "Young Master Jin, how have you been?"
Jinhua is embroiled in a lot of trouble; "Things haven't been going well since we parted. You've seen it yourself."
Qi Wu's gaze swept over him, his tone utterly sincere, "It seems you've suffered heavy losses. What a pity. Young Master Jin, you must be patient and make sure you don't get into a fight with Servant Zou later; it wouldn't be good to ruin the harmony."
"What do you mean?" Jin Hua looked at Zou Buming.
Zou Buming stared intently at Qi Wu, his eyes filled with an unusual expression.
Across the crowd, Qi Wu stared directly in Zou Buming's direction. "The legend of the Spirit Fruit has been circulating among humans for a long time. Ever since the first priest obtained the Spirit Fruit, all cultivators in the world have coveted it, hoping to use it to ascend to heaven in one step. So, starting with Zou Yubo, almost every Spirit Fruit, which is only available once every thousand years, has been stolen by human cultivators."
Some people felt that the word "steal" sounded awkward and argued, "The fruit of spiritual communication is a treasure of the human world. What's wrong with the virtuous possessing it?"
Qi Wu glanced at him. "Virtue? What is your virtue? Stealing, killing, deceiving, trampling—that's your virtue?"
Before the man could refute, Qi Wu laughed, "If that's really the case, then repay kindness with kindness. People like you dying at his hands is truly not unjust at all."
Jin Hua sensed the hidden meaning in her words, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead. "Madam Luo, what exactly do you mean?"
Qi Wu glanced at him. "Still don't understand? Sigh, you were just sent into the Western Abyss by him to serve as fertilizer for the Spirit Fruit."
"Who?" Everyone felt a chill run down their spines and followed Qi Wu's gaze to see Zou Buming.
Standing next to Zou Buming, Luo Heqing felt a chill run down his spine. "Cousin, what nonsense is she talking about?"
Zou Buming remained silent, but Luo Heqing, who was standing close to him, noticed the slight tension in his back and the faint flush on his cheeks. Zou Buming stared at Qi Wu with almost gleaming eyes.
Luo Heqing couldn't help but take two steps back, "Cousin?"
Qi Wu laughed heartily at the comical yet cruel scene before him. "Everyone says demons are ferocious, vicious, and cunning. But compared to you human cultivators, they are worlds apart. I can't bear to see you all be so foolish. Zou Shenshi, will you speak for yourself, or should I speak for you?"
Zou Buming smiled but did not reply.
Qi Wu maintained his gentle demeanor and said in a very considerate tone, "Fine, I'll just go all the way and explain the cause and effect of this matter to you before he kills you."
Apart from the experts who came with Zou Buming, the rest of the people looked at her and Zou Buming with suspicion and uncertainty, their gazes shifting back and forth.
"In your human cultivation legends, the Spirit Fruit is only considered a treasure for advancing cultivation, but in reality, it is part of the spiritual energy cycle in the Western Wilderness. The creatures of the Western Wilderness also experience birth, aging, sickness, and death. The dissipated spiritual energy is re-condensed by the Spirit Tree, bearing the Spirit Fruit, which is then returned to the creatures of the Western Wilderness. However, because Zou Yubo learned of the Spirit Fruit, and due to the greed and ignorance of human cultivators, generation after generation of Spirit Fruits have been stolen. Without the Spirit Fruit, the cycle of the Western Wilderness is incomplete, causing the spiritual energy in the Western Wilderness to become increasingly scarce, making survival increasingly difficult for the creatures here."
Looking at the indifference on everyone's faces, Qi Wu sneered inwardly, "But at the same time, because the spiritual power of living beings is weakening, the spiritual power contained in the Spirit Fruit that human cultivators dream of is also becoming weaker and weaker. You disregarded everything and sacrificed countless lives to break into this place, hoping to ascend to heaven in one step by consuming the Spirit Fruit. But in reality, the Spirit Fruit nowadays can only barely transform into human form and has no supernatural powers at all."
Qi Wu spread his hands, raised an eyebrow, and said, "Unexpected, aren't you? Surprised?"
Everyone's expressions twitched in disbelief. "What are you talking about? What do you mean by taking human form? Isn't it just a fruit?"
Qi Wu pointed to the tree behind him and said, "See for yourself."
The wooden egg flashed briefly, clearly revealing one of the curled-up human figures.
Even these vicious people weren't capable of eating living people. Upon seeing the clearly defined human figure, everyone felt a chill run down their spines. "What do you mean? You mean the Spirit Fruit isn't a fruit, but actually a person?"
"What did Uncle Zou Yu eat back then...?!"
Qi Wu nodded. "As you can see, the Spirit Fruit is not as simple as a spiritual fruit. Once it ripens, it takes on a human form upon landing and grows rapidly upon exposure to the wind. Zou Yubo did indeed eat the Spirit Fruit back then, so I don't need to explain what he ate, do I? Am I right, Zou Shenshi?"
The crowd couldn't help but start whispering among themselves.
Someone said, "You're talking complete nonsense."
Qi Wu didn't bother to look at him. "Thank you for Zou Shenshi's help. The Spirit Fruit is about to ripen. Whether I'm talking nonsense or not, you'll find out in a moment. Oh..." Qi Wu covered his face and laughed, "I forgot, you probably won't be able to wait until then."
"What do you mean?"
"Witch, what do you want to do?"
"Fellow Daoists, let's take her down first."
Qi Wu remained calm and spoke softly, "Don't interrupt, I haven't finished my story yet."
What she just said was already horrifying enough, and this wasn't even the end of it...
Qi Wu didn't care what they were thinking and continued, "You human cultivators often say that every effect has a cause, and you always like to talk about retribution. The creatures of the Western Wilderness don't like to say that. They believe that everything is ordained by Heaven, and if you go against Heaven's will, you will naturally be punished by Heaven. Just like Zou Yubo."
Zou Buming finally reacted. He didn't interrupt Qi Wu, but simply reached out and slowly untied the knot in Qi Wu's cloak.
"The Spirit Fruit was actually a living person. Zou Yubo killed the Spirit Fruit back then, probably by eating a part of it raw. After all, even with his high cultivation level, he couldn't fit a whole living person in his stomach. So he took the uneaten Spirit Fruit back with him and probably refined it into some kind of secret medicine, leaving it for his descendants."
Upon hearing this, many people felt enlightened and stared at the wooden egg with flickering eyes.
Qi Wu ignored them and continued, "But even children know they can't eat random things, or they'll cause problems. Generation after generation of the Zou family has suffered, yet generation after generation continues to consume it. They know this secret medicine will make them wish they were dead, but they still can't resist the temptation of taking a shortcut. All the Zou priests are eventually tormented by pain beyond recognition, forced to seek medical help everywhere. Until one day, the Zou family unexpectedly obtained a medicine that could slightly alleviate their symptoms. The Zou family investigated further and discovered that the one who tied the knot must untie it. So they came to Xiyuan again, hoping to solve the problem by consuming the Spirit Fruit. But this time, the Zou family discovered that the Spirit Fruit was no longer spiritual, weaker than a mere spirit fruit. So, guess what clever solution the Zou priests came up with?"
Jin Hua instantly understood what she meant by "fertilizer," and a chill ran down his spine. "You mean..."
Qi Wu clapped his hands and laughed, "Although I don't know where the Zou family got their information, they certainly know a lot about the Spirit Fruit. Once they figured out the key to the problem, they came up with a solution. The Spirit Fruit is inherently deficient because of the lack of spiritual energy in the entire Western Abyss. But just like your human cultivators' fetuses, it can be completely compensated for through supplementation. And you..."
Qi Wu ran his fingers across their faces one by one. "These are the medicinal herbs that the Zou family brought in. Hmm, I still prefer the term 'fertilizer'."
Wu Chen and Yu Jitang suddenly realized. Although they had long felt that Zou Buming's behavior was strange and contrary to common sense, they knew very little about the Spirit Fruit and the Zou family's past, making it difficult for them to deduce the whole story.
Now that Qi Wu had been slowly telling his story for a long time, the two of them had come to understand many things.
But after figuring it out, Yu Jitang was furious. "Zou Buming, are you out of your mind? What winter hunt? You're just sending the Divine Palace disciples to their deaths."
Zou Buming sneered, "Winter hunting is about training oneself in dangerous situations. I brought them here to give them a chance to train. What's the problem?"
"And what about us? You actually tricked us into coming here to die!" Some rogue cultivators were already cursing the ancestors of the Zou family. They had previously thought Zou Buming was a fool, but now they finally understood. From the moment the Divine Palace announced the winter hunt, the Zou family had been luring them step by step into a trap. Whether they died in the Western Wilderness or the Western Abyss, their fate was the same: to become fertilizer for the Spirit Fruit. Now, without their spiritual power as fertilizer, the Spirit Fruit was just an ordinary fruit. So, after paying such a high price, they had only been courting death.
"Zou Buming, you treacherous and vicious brat, prepare to die!" The rogue cultivators rushed over and engaged in a fierce battle with the experts surrounding Zou Buming.
Zou Buming casually tossed his cloak to the ground. "People die for money, birds die for food. You yourselves are blinded by greed, how come you're now blaming it on me?"
Qi Wu nodded upon hearing this, "That's why I said it's not unjust for you to die at his hands."
The independent cultivators were going crazy. Regardless of Qi Wu's true identity, Zou Buming's attitude was clear: he was determined to leave them behind as fertilizer.
Luo Heqing's face was extremely unpleasant. If what this "Madam Luo" said was true, even if he ate the Spirit Fruit, the consequences would be endless. What was the point of him fighting for the Spirit Fruit then? Moreover, although Madam Luo spoke softly and appeared to be a gentle lady, she dared to confront Zou Buming directly, so she was definitely not a simple person; she might even be a powerful demon from the Western Abyss. Rather than staying and pleasing neither side, it was better to leave.
Luo Heqing slowly retreated, moving closer to the crowd at the Zhan Yan Platform.
Zou Buming seemed oblivious. He moved his wrist, placed the sword on the hilt, and with a clang, the sword was drawn, flashing a rainbow of light. Luo Heqing's head flew up and rolled far away on the ground, landing right in the direction of the Spirit Fruit.
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Author's Note: Finally completed the ranking task. Completely exhausted. Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 2020-08-04 12:16:12 and 2020-08-05 00:41:34!
Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: You Suozhu (1 bottle);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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