A dark and windy night.
Liu Jinghong made full use of his expertise, using the Qian hexagram to steal six shovels.
The shovels were handed out, and Chu Hongluan waved her hand, "Start digging!"
Everyone picked up their shovels and got to work, one peach tree fell, then two peach trees fell... then a whole cluster of peach trees fell...
There's nothing under this tree!
"Mine is too!"
"This one isn't there either!"
"..."
A flurry of speculations, but a look at the results reveals a dismal record.
The six men stood there, covered in dust and dirt, staring at each other.
"...At least the measure of blocking the sense of smell is effective. Since everyone will not be assimilated by Peach Blossom Village for the time being, let's not rush it. Let's go back and get some sleep first."
After everyone returned to their rooms, washed up, and went to sleep, Liu Jinghong and Chu Hongluan were still looking at each other in bewilderment.
I forgot about that.
When the rooms were assigned, I hadn't actually planned to sleep there.
"How about I sleep on the floor?" Liu Jinghong stammered.
Chu Hongluan stared at him with a complicated expression: "You'd rather sleep on the floor with me than let out your jade-carved hut?"
"..." I was too nervous and couldn't think of it for a moment.
In the end, Liu Jinghong summoned his own jade hut next to her and gave it to Chu Hongluan, while he slept in the thatched hut assigned by the village.
The thatched hut was dilapidated and crumbling. Lying on the uncomfortable bed, Liu Jinghong secretly rejoiced: "Thank goodness I brought the Jade Hut. My junior sister is delicate and precious; she can't sleep in a place like this."
While the six members of the team drifted off to sleep, a man in the peach orchard was carrying a shovel, laboriously replanting the fallen peach trees one by one. As he planted, he cursed, "A bunch of little bastards! All you do is dig! You don't even bother to bury them! When that crazy woman wakes up tomorrow and sees her peach trees ruined like this, she'll skin you all alive!"
After working all night, the man finally restored all the trees and narrowly managed to return all six shovels that Liu Jinghong had stolen before dawn. More importantly, he had to hurry back; if his wife woke up and found him missing, she would become suspicious again.
The next day, just as dawn broke, Qiao Yue darted out of the house, craning her neck to peer into the house where Chu Hongluan and Liu Jinghong were. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that a new jade-built hut had been erected next to the original thatched house.
Afterwards, Gu Chunxiao, Song Nanhe, and Li Dazhuang also looked in that direction as soon as they came out, but when they saw the jade-built hut on the side, they sighed heavily and shook their heads in unison to express their regret.
Once Chu Hongluan and Liu Jinghong had also gotten up, the six of them strolled leisurely towards the Peach Garden.
However, the scene before them left them stunned.
"...No way? This Peach Blossom Village has a one-click restore function?" Chu Hongluan was dumbfounded.
"Chunxiao, come to your mother." A gentle female voice came from under the peach tree ahead. Chu Hongluan looked in the direction of the voice and saw a very young woman with a large checkered floral headscarf, wearing a light green homespun jacket and a blue apron with a small white flower embroidered on her chest. She had one hand tucked into her apron and was waving to Gu Chunxiao with the other.
This must be the mother Chunxiao mentioned that day.
Chu Hongluan turned her head to observe Gu Chunxiao's expression and saw that she was staring intently at the woman, looking extremely serious.
"What's wrong?"
"Perhaps it was the fragrance of the peach blossoms that made me feel inexplicably close to her when I saw her yesterday, as if she really was my mother. But today, I feel that she is nothing like my mother. If my mother were really here, I think she would run up to me breathlessly and hug me, instead of standing far away and just beckoning me over."
Chu Hongluan gently patted her head again, offering silent comfort.
Her eyes, however, held a deep thought, for she looked at the woman and realized she was indeed a person; at least to them, the woman was indistinguishable from a human. Just what kind of being was the master of this Peach Blossom Village, capable of creating people out of thin air like a creator? This must be a dream!
It was time to get down to business again. Chu Hongluan inspected the peach trees that had been "restored with one click" and found that although the soil underneath had been compacted by someone, traces of disturbance could still be seen upon closer inspection.
“Someone helped us replant the trees overnight.” Chu Hongluan smiled. “That old man Wangsheng is indeed here.”
Yesterday they searched the entire village but couldn't find Wang Sheng. Either he's hiding, or he's not here. There's no possibility he's been imprisoned, because so many cultivators here have only been assimilated; there's no reason for Wang Sheng to be the only one targeted.
So the traces from last night were deliberately left by her.
If Wang Sheng were alive, he would definitely step in to clean up the mess.
But if Wang Sheng isn't here, then there's no need for them to waste any more time here.
Perhaps the traces they left behind will anger the owner of this place, but it doesn't matter. This fight was bound to happen sooner or later, so the sooner it's over, the sooner we can call it a day.
"So what should we do next?"
Chu Hongluan sighed, "Actually, I have another guess."
The other five immediately rushed over, looking all ears.
"A peach tree is just a peach tree, and peach blossoms are just peach blossoms. Nothing is buried under a peach tree, so the fragrance of peach blossoms is just the fragrance of peach blossoms. The fact that blocking our sense of smell works proves that what affects our consciousness is indeed some kind of odor. Perhaps this strong peach blossom fragrance is used to mask and hide this odor."
Chu Hongluan looked at Liu Jinghong, "What did you think of?"
Liu Jinghong pursed her lips, seemingly incredulous: "You mean... the Windflower?"
Others may not be familiar with the Wind Grass, but Liu Jinghong is definitely familiar with it.
He now only needs two medicinal herbs: Phoenix Blood and Amorous Grass. Amorous Grass typically grows in hot, dry areas, preferring dryness and avoiding water. Its scent has the danger of consuming a person's will.
"It's just a suspicion. If it really is the Love Grass, then we've hit the jackpot this time." Chu Hongluan smiled sarcastically. "But have you ever considered that the Love Grass is just a grass? Even if it were to become a spirit, it couldn't possibly cause such a big commotion. The master of this Peach Blossom Village can read our minds and create life at will. Could he be a deity from the heavens?"
"But after thinking it over and over, if he really is a deity descended from the heavens, his power should not be confined to this small Peach Blossom Village!"
"To have the power to create everything in a small world—I think we can all do that. Just like... when we're dreaming."
The Peach Blossom Spring was originally a dream of Tao Yuanming.
So how can we prove that the world before our eyes is not a dream world?
Everyone stared wide-eyed, feeling as if they had been struck by lightning.
"It's a dream monster!"
The moment everyone unanimously revealed the truth, the scene before them changed drastically: the stream dried up, the vegetation withered, and the spring peach blossoms turned into a vast wilderness.
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