Chu Shaoqiang had left the Peak of the Sages. The Sage was still pacing back and forth in the garden, while his disciples stood quietly to the side.
Halting his steps, the Sage swept his gaze across them. "Well? What do all of you have to say?"
This was a tricky question to answer. If everyone remained silent, the Sage was certain to fly into a rage, and someone might very well lose their life.
Yet anyone speaking had to mind their words carefully and discern what the Sage wanted to hear.
A disciple named Song Deke stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Master, your disciple suspects foul play. We should send someone to keep Chu Shaoqiang under surveillance."
Another disciple named Du Xiangwen felt Song Deke's suggestion was ill-advised. "Junior Brother Song, if we do that, I fear it will chill Lord Chu's heart. Among those who came from the Inner States, Lord Chu has never once failed in courtesy toward Master..."
"That is his duty as a subject!" the Sage fumed. "If he did not even know basic courtesy, what right would he have to stand here and speak to me?"
The disciples lowered their heads in silence. Gritting his teeth, the Sage snarled, "To keep Chu Shaoqiang safe, how much blood and sweat did I spend? How many connections did I exhaust? How many troubles did I shoulder on his behalf? And now he dares brush me off with worthless nonsense about losing the Heavenly Heart Stones along the way!"
Song Deke said, "Chu Shaoqiang has broken faith and betrayed his word! We should take that scoundrel's head to assuage Master's wrath!"
"Under no circumstances!" Du Xiangwen urged. "This is Master's golden opportunity to reclaim our lost realm. We cannot ruin the great undertaking over a momentary mishap."
The Sage let out a long sigh and said slowly, "We shall wait three more days and see how Chu Shaoqiang explains himself!"
***
At the foot of the mountain, Li Banfeng gave Lao Niu repeated instructions: "Have the brothers patrol below. No one is permitted up the mountain. The local spirit offers generous rewards, but if anything goes wrong, the punishment will be just as severe!"
Lao Niu nodded repeatedly in agreement. "Seventh Master, put your mind at ease. Whether for your sake or for the local spirit, we'll certainly do our absolute best."
Critick had packed his gear and said to Li Banfeng, "Time's about up. Let's head up the mountain."
"We?" Li Banfeng shook his head. "I have no desire to climb that mountain again."
Critick looked at the dense forest and the mountain mists, speaking in earnest. "I know nothing about Daogui Ridge and can't even find a suitable path up. If I die on this mountain, do you know what the consequences will be?"
Li Banfeng said, "You'll turn into a Daolao ghost."
Critick nodded. "Do you know what happens when a Disease Cultivator turns into a Daolao ghost?"
"The consequences would be severe. You would bring about a catastrophe." Weighing the alternatives, Li Banfeng thought of a better solution. "If I kill you right now, you won't turn into a Daolao ghost."
Critick sighed with feeling. "Saying such a thing wounds our friendship. My request for you to come up the mountain is entirely a well-intentioned warning. If I truly turn into a Daolao ghost, even if you can't stop it, you'll at least be prepared. When I go on a slaughter, you might still have a way to deal with me."
Li Banfeng considered it carefully. "I think the best way to deal with it is still to kill you before you turn into a Daolao ghost."
Critick let out a long sigh. "Our friendship was forged at Haichiling. Back then, we worked together as one to confront disaster. From that moment, I knew you harbored unique feelings for Puluo Province. Now we join hands once more, likewise to avert a disaster. In a certain sense, the Daolao ghosts can be considered my fellow disciples. You should know how Disease Cultivators treat their fellow disciples."
Li Banfeng thought for a moment and gave a slight nod. That was indeed a viable way of looking at it.
If all the Daolao ghosts were wiped out, more than half the problem would indeed be solved.
The two headed up the mountain together. To tell the truth, even without Critick's pleading, Li Banfeng would have climbed Daogui Ridge anyway. Hong Ying was right; the temptation of increasing one's cultivation was simply too great.
"The scent of dark energy..." Critick walked through the forest, his steps somewhat strained. "The dark energy here is too intense. I might not be able to resist it."
Hong Ying had said thirty-three pathways could derive obvious benefits on Daogui Ridge, but she hadn't mentioned Disease Cultivators because she had no idea what a Disease Cultivator was.
Critick's deduction was likely correct: Daogui Ridge was very possibly the origin of the Disease Cultivators, which was why he was experiencing such a violent reaction.
"No need to walk any further. Let's begin our first round of investigation right here." Critick sat down beneath a tree. Lumps rose beneath his skin from time to time, shifting back and forth around his cheekbones.
"The disease focus of the Daolao ghost is getting hard to suppress," Critick said, rubbing his cheeks. "This feels quite different from the Patriarch's. The Patriarch's disease foci mostly exist in the form of bacteria and viruses. In the scientific terms of the Outer States, the foci the Patriarch can manipulate are all life forms based on deoxyribonucleic acid. Am I being too technical?"
Li Banfeng smiled. "Aren't you just talking about genes? What's so complicated about that?"
Critick continued, "What's truly complex isn't the concept, but the principle. Nucleic acids encode proteins—that is a principle of life accepted by everyone. But what if there are no nucleic acids? Can proteins achieve self-replication on their own?
"Prions have achieved this process, posing a challenge to the principles of life. Did nucleic acids come first, or did proteins? Which one truly dominates life?
"Just like you and me. We are both dark-energy users. Dark energy is altering the protein structures of our bodies, granting us abilities beyond ordinary mortals. In that case, is dark energy also altering our very essence of life?"
Li Banfeng frowned. "You use science to study cultivation?"
Critick chuckled. "Nations across the Outer States are engaged in corresponding research, because science and cultivation were never in conflict to begin with.
"Cultivators of every pathway have undergone the influence of dark energy. Scrying Cultivators possess extraordinary sensory perception; that is an orderly alteration caused by dark energy in their bodies. That is the significance of the pathways.
"As for the Daolao ghosts, they have also undergone changes from dark energy, but of an impactful, destructive, and chaotic nature. This alteration is not merely physical, but perceptual.
"What kind of effect does chaotic alteration have on a Daolao ghost's perception? I pondered this for a long time, and yesterday I even conducted an experiment on myself.
"Why do Daolao ghosts only appear during thunderstorms? Everyone says it is their nature, but how did that nature come to be?
"Only after contracting the Daolao ghost's disease focus did I gain true insight. The prions destroyed part of my nerves, disrupting my perception and leaving me consumed by intense thirst.
"Yet my vision was also impaired by the prions. I could not distinguish which object was a water flask, nor could I even tell what water was.
"Without being able to see water, I had to endure excruciating thirst. And at such a time, thunder became vitally important to me.
"Thunder means rain. When it rains, I only need to open my mouth to drink. That is why Daolao ghosts invariably appear amid thunderstorms.
"In their ears, the sound of thunder and rain is the sound of salvation. It excites them and makes them intensely aggressive. That is the origin of their so-called nature.
"As for where the Daolao ghosts remain when it isn't raining, that still requires further research."
Li Banfeng expressed genuine admiration. "To be able to explain the fruits of your research in such plain terms, just how much effort have you poured into the origins of the pathways?"
Critick gave a bitter smile. "All roads lead to Puluo, yet some are born right here in Puluo Province. I have no choice but to make up for my congenital disadvantages through acquired effort."
He produced two seeds and scattered them into the soil.
"These are crops possessing the traits of Scrying Cultivators. I bought them from a friend nearby."
These seeds had clearly come from Zhang Wanlong. Critick knew his goods and knew from whom he could purchase quality items.
After applying drops of a medicinal liquid, the seeds sprouted rapidly. Two minutes later, a morning glory bloomed before their eyes.
Critick pressed his ear to the trumpet of the flower. After listening for a moment, he said to Li Banfeng, "There's a Daolao ghost down below. Judging by its breathing and heartbeat, it should be sound asleep."
Li Banfeng asked, "Do you intend to dig it out?"
"That would be too barbaric, the equivalent of ripping away someone's blanket. If we dig it out, it will inevitably become furious, which would be terrible for subsequent communication." Facing the morning glory's trumpet, Critick vibrated his throat and produced an exceedingly strange sound.
*Gurgle-gurgle-gurgle—*
It sounded as though an unknown fluid had been pushed to the back of his throat by an airflow, making Li Banfeng want to cough just listening to it.
Critick explained, "I am imitating thunder."
Li Banfeng felt it sounded nothing like thunder. Critick replied, "To the hearing of a Daolao ghost, this sound is identical to thunder."
Li Banfeng frowned. "You make it sound as if you're a Daolao ghost yourself."
"I can be!" Critick's forehead and cheeks swelled up, his facial features blurring into an indistinct mass.
He let out several more roars into the morning glory's trumpet, and the soil on the ground shifted.
Li Banfeng quickly backed away, and Critick also maintained a safe distance.
After a moment, a Daolao ghost crawled out of the earth, threw its face toward the sky, and opened its mouth.
It was trying to catch rainwater to drink.
It was a female; this Daolao ghost had distinct female traits.
After waiting for a long time, no rainwater fell. Thirst and disappointment drove her gaze toward Critick.
Li Banfeng stood in the distance, deeply curious to see what method Critick would use to fight the creature.
If Critick could truly discover a way to eliminate Daolao ghosts, the threat of Daogui Ridge would decrease dramatically, giving Li Banfeng far more options in handling the mountain.
Critick's swollen face had some effect; the Daolao ghost across from him did not rush to spit poison, seemingly mistaking him for one of its own kind.
Critick was in no rush to use any technique either. From his breast pocket, he took out a drawing.
To be precise, it wasn't really a drawing, but a geometric figure composed of curved lines of varying lengths.
At first glance, it appeared to be a static image, but staring at it for a while gave the illusion that something was moving across the surface.
This was an optical illusion created by line guidance. Li Banfeng had encountered similar concepts during his schooling.
He watched the Daolao ghost's reaction.
The creature walked up to the picture and repeatedly rubbed its sausage-like fleshy arms against the surface.
After rubbing it for a good while, the Daolao ghost opened and closed its lips, wiped its mouth, and retreated back into the earth.
Critick let out a long breath. The swelling on his face receded, returning to normal.
Li Banfeng was astonished. What kind of method had Critick used to subdue the Daolao ghost?
Holding the drawing in his hand, Critick said, "If I told you right now that I'm a Painting Cultivator, would you believe me?"
Judging by how frequently the tattoos on his chest were updated, it actually might have been true.
Critick put the scroll away and chuckled. "I'm not a Painting Cultivator. I merely drew some water for that Daolao ghost just now."
"Those things you drew were water?"
"In your eyes, certainly not. But in the eyes of a Daolao ghost, that was water. The Daolao ghost's visual system has been wrecked by prions; what it sees is entirely different from what we see."
Li Banfeng still didn't understand. "Those lines you drew just now looked like water to a Daolao ghost? Haven't they seen real water before? Why would they mistake such lines for water?"
Critick took out a piece of paper, drew a fountain pen from his coat pocket, and traced several gentle wavy lines across the white sheet. "This is the simplest way to draw a river. Why do we perceive such lines as water?"
Li Banfeng had no answer.
Critick tucked the paper away and smiled. "A Daolao ghost's vision is different from ours, just as other creatures cannot perceive lines as river water the way humans do.
"When these lines travel through our sight into our minds, our brains generate the corresponding amines and enzymes, producing the corresponding proteins. These proteins solidify within our cognition, leading us to perceive lines as water.
"Yet if I said this is a disease, would you believe me?"
"What kind of disease?"
"A contagious one," Critick said, pointing at the lines on the drawing. "People from different places possess different languages, cultures, and customs, yet all of them recognize these lines as water. Isn't that an epidemic?
"Proteins have infected all of humanity across the world with the very same epidemic. That is why I have always believed one thing: proteins are the masters of life."
Li Banfeng pondered this for a long time, yet surprisingly, he couldn't find a single reason to refute him.
***
At dusk, the two descended the mountain. Li Banfeng asked Critick, "How certain are you?"
Critick offered a slight smile. "Faced with such an extraordinary life form, I dare not speak of certainty, only of doing my best. Wiping out one's fellow disciples is the tradition of Disease Cultivators, as well as my personal desire."
That night, Critick spent the entire evening compounding a flask of solution.
To be precise, it wasn't medicine, but a disease focus. Critick had immense confidence in the focus he had crafted.
After sleeping for two hours before departure, he followed Li Banfeng up Daogui Ridge once more.
Returning to the same clearing, Critick poured the solution into a washbasin and arranged six drawings around it.
Each drawing was composed of intricate, dense lines. Li Banfeng didn't look closely at the specific patterns; he didn't even want to glance at them.
He was gradually beginning to understand Critick's way of thinking. Certain perceptions derived from vision were diseases in themselves.
Having completed his preparations, Critick offered Li Banfeng a brief explanation: "These six drawings form a layout with three-dimensional perspective. To Daolao ghosts, this is equivalent to letting them see bubbling spring water. The pathogen I crafted will be consumed by them as spring water."
"Will they die upon drinking it?"
Critick shook his head. "A rapidly lethal pathogen is unsuitable as a vector for an epidemic.
"If a Daolao ghost ingests the agent and dies within an hour, it will be difficult for it to transmit the pathogen to the next target.
"Even if transmission succeeds, the chain of transmission can easily break. The infected Daolao ghost must survive for a period of time, giving it ample opportunity to spread the plague."
Li Banfeng said, "If it doesn't rain, Daolao ghosts slumber underground without contacting one another. In other words, for your plan to succeed, it must rain before the infected Daolao ghost dies."
Critick shook his head. "I never gamble on luck. I have made far more thorough preparations."
He aimed a vocal fry into the morning glory on the ground.
*Gurgle-gurgle-gurgle—*
The soil loosened, and the female Daolao ghost they had awakened yesterday crawled out from the earth.
She approached the washbasin, using her sausage-like limbs to crawl in a circle around it.
"*Wuu, wuu—*"
She let out a cry unlike before. Critick lowered his voice and said, "Hear that? She is delighted. She has found a water source!
"I have successfully altered her cognition. I made her understand that aside from rainwater, she can find other sources of water."
The Daolao ghost crouched on the ground and took a huge gulp. Li Banfeng warned, "You have so little of that agent; be careful she doesn't drink it all herself."
"She won't!" Critick said with total confidence. "The agent contains a special component that rapidly suppresses her thirst while inducing an intense feeling of satiety. See? She has stopped drinking."
After just one gulp, the Daolao ghost was completely full.
Critick smiled. "Now she wishes to contact her own kind. She has an urge to communicate with her peers. That is the key element in the agent."
"*Wuu, wuu—*" The Daolao ghost squatted on the ground, howling repeatedly.
Before long, rustling sounds arose from the surrounding woods.
Numerous Daolao ghosts were drawing near. Li Banfeng cautioned, "Shouldn't we be leaving?"
Critick said, "Don't rush. We still need a little time to observe. I cannot determine the infection efficiency just yet.
"The agent is limited, so there won't be many primary infectees. Next, it will depend on them infecting one another."
Over a dozen Daolao ghosts burst from the underbrush, quickly drinking the washbasin completely dry.
They squatted on the ground, howling together. At their summons, over a hundred Daolao ghosts gathered in one place.
Li Banfeng urged once more, "We should go."
With so many Daolao ghosts, if each of them spewed a single mouthful of black mist, it would be enough to cost Li Banfeng his life.
Critick remained unperturbed. "Don't rush. Let's wait a little longer. After ingesting the agent, they shouldn't pay any attention to us. They only want to communicate with each other. Against their own kind, they won't use their toxic mist."
"Then what will they do?"
"Let me guess. They will dispute with one another, because all of them want to know where the water went."
Critick's prediction was spot-on. The Daolao ghosts snarled endlessly, already bickering.
"They will also brawl. All of them yearn for water, and those who didn't get any will be rather furious."
He wasn't wrong about this either. Several Daolao ghosts had already begun scuffling, all part of the transmission process Critick had planned in advance.
"And then they will..." Critick froze.
A male and female Daolao ghost embraced each other.
Critick had assumed they were wrestling, only to discover that parts of them were locked together.
"I never imagined that even though their life form has undergone such an enormous transformation, they still retain this instinct."
Moments later, massive numbers of Daolao ghosts embraced one another, joyful roars rising and falling in waves.
Critick pursed his lips and said, "Li the Seventh, it seems a certain component in the agent was overdosed. They are currently far too excited. I think we should leave.
"Li the Seventh? Li the Seventh..."
Critick looked to his side.
There was no Li the Seventh beside him.
Li the Seventh had already left—and had been gone for quite some time.
The Daolao ghost that had been awakened by the morning glory approached Critick, creeping low as she circled him.
Critick detected hostility from her; this Daolao ghost had spotted traces of an outsider on him.
She opened her mouth, perhaps to spit poison, or perhaps to roar.
If it were merely spitting poison, Critick might have barely managed to withstand it. But if she summoned her companions to spit poison together, it would be fatal to him. He could not possibly control such a massive quantity of pathogens in a short time.
In this moment of crisis, Critick relaxed his suppression over the pathogens within his body. His face rapidly swelled, his facial features blurred, and his body became coated in viscous fluid.
Seeing Critick transform into this appearance, the Daolao ghost's hostility gradually faded.
Yet she did not depart.
She circled behind Critick and slowly wrapped her arms around him.
Critick had many things he wanted to say, but at this moment, he didn't know which language could possibly express them.
***
After a full night had passed, Critick arrived at the foot of the mountain, glaring furiously at Li Banfeng. "You left me alone on that mountain! Such behavior severely damaged our friendship!"
Li Banfeng asked a serious question: "How did you escape?"
Critick avoided answering directly. "I saved your life, and this is how you repay me?"
"Repaying a debt of gratitude is one thing; seeking death alongside you is another."
"How can you call this seeking death? We were resolving a disaster together!"
"And has the disaster been resolved?"
Critick fell silent for a moment before saying, "The process was somewhat convoluted. I didn't expect the Daolao ghosts' vitality to be so resilient. The disease focus I crafted couldn't kill them. However, we did achieve a certain measure of success."
"What success?"
Critick said, "Previously, whenever a thunderstorm hit, the Daolao ghosts had to appear because they needed to drink water.
"Now, under the effects of the disease focus, their physical traits have undergone a degree of change. They can actively search for water sources through visual perception.
"This means that whenever thunderstorms occur in the future, we don't need to worry about sneak attacks from Daolao ghosts. Lightning and the behavior of Daolao ghosts no longer share an inevitable connection."
Li Banfeng's head throbbed. He asked in a low voice, "Could you put that a bit more bluntly?"
Critick pondered for a moment. "It means that even without thunder, they can now come out."
A cold wind blew past. Li Banfeng looked up at Critick and said, "I should have beaten you to death before we climbed that mountain."
Critick sighed. "No need to be so pessimistic. I will make some improvements to the disease focus. Next time, I guarantee a better outcome."
"When will next time be?"
Critick thought for a long while, looking toward Daogui Ridge. "That doesn't depend on me, but on them. The disease focus has left them somewhat agitated.
"After all, being able to find water on their own is a thrilling development for them. As things currently stand, I don't know when they will calm down. Perhaps they never will."
Li Banfeng looked toward Daogui Ridge, momentarily at a loss for words.
Critick returned to his encampment. Li Banfeng was preparing to head back to his companion dwelling when, halfway there, a man in a gray trench coat blocked his path.
Chu Shaoqiang walked up to Li Banfeng with a smile on his face. "I dislike thinking ill of people, but there's something I truly cannot understand: why is it that you're involved in every single wretched mess I run into lately?"
Li Banfeng asked, "Did you come for Daogui Ridge?"
"Yes!" Chu Shaoqiang did not deny it.
"Were you the one who delivered Daogui Ridge here?"
"Not precisely," Chu Shaoqiang said, shaking his head. "En route to delivering Daogui Ridge, the Heavenly Heart Stones used to guide the way went missing—five in total. Perhaps you know their whereabouts?"
Li Banfeng did not answer, pressing on with his questions. "Where did you want to deliver Daogui Ridge?"
"I cannot disclose that to you."
"If you want me to help you, you must speak the truth."
Chu Shaoqiang hesitated for a moment. "These were the Peddler's orders—to transfer Daogui Ridge elsewhere. As for the specific purpose, I don't kno—"
Halfway through his sentence, Chu Shaoqiang couldn't continue.
He was spitting soap bubbles—rose-scented ones.
This was something he had never been able to figure out. On the Peak of the Sages, he had told plenty of lies to the Sage; when questioned by people sent from the Inner States, he had told plenty of lies as well. On none of those occasions had anything abnormal occurred.
Yet whenever he met the Peddler or Li the Seventh, the moment he told a lie, he would spit soap bubbles.
He had no idea when that cake of soap the Peddler had forced down his throat would finally be fully digested.
Seeing the soap bubbles, Li Banfeng naturally didn't believe his lie. Chu Shaoqiang concocted a relatively roundabout excuse:
"Actually, this matter has nothing to do with the Peddler, but the reason I did this was for Puluo—*gurgle-gurgle-gurgle*—Province..."
When he spoke the word "Puluo," he spewed a continuous string of soap bubbles, choking himself into a fit of coughing.
Li Banfeng looked at Chu Shaoqiang with deep disappointment. "Try making up a more decent excuse."
Chu Shaoqiang wiped his mouth with a handkerchief. "Forget it, I'll tell you the truth. I intended to deliver Daogui Ridge to the Peak of the Sages. The Sage on the Peak of the Sages wants Daogui Ridge."
"What does he want Daogui Ridge for?"
"He wants an army to restore his former status."
"What was his former status?"
"He was the final emperor of the previous dynasty. Because he lost the war, he lost his realm. His empire was split into two parts: one fell under the control of the imperial clan and became today's Inner States, while the other is the present Puluo Province."
This time, Chu Shaoqiang didn't spit any soap bubbles. He was speaking the truth.
Yet Li Banfeng couldn't make sense of it. "If the Inner States are controlled by the imperial clan, why doesn't the Sage return there? Isn't he the emperor?"
Chu Shaoqiang said, "I don't know much about his past. He did live in the Inner States for a period of time, but unable to endure the oppression of the imperial clan, he left and seized the Peak of the Sages, and even the entirety of Jianrengang."
"The imperial clan oppressing the emperor?" Li Banfeng found this even harder to understand.
"Because the imperial clan has been thoroughly manipulated by the people of the Inner States. As for the origin of those Inner States people, I cannot explain it clearly. I only know they originally did not belong to this world."
Li Banfeng roughly pieced together the logic. "The Sage wants to turn the Daolao ghosts on Daogui Ridge into his own army to conquer Puluo Province?"
Chu Shaoqiang nodded.
"You were sent by the Inner States. Why would you obey the Sage's orders?"
Chu Shaoqiang said, "Actually, this was also an order from the Inner—*gurgle-gurgle-gurgle*..."
Soap bubbles sprayed out once more. Chu Shaoqiang was lying again.
Li Banfeng shook his head. "This wasn't an order from the Inner States. This is a transaction between you and the Sage."
Chu Shaoqiang nodded. "Yes. Ge Junma died. He was an Inner States person, and the consequences of that are not something I can bear.
"If I want to survive, someone has to shoulder the blame for me.
"The Sage shouldered the matter on my behalf, and as compensation, I must deliver Daogui Ridge to the Peak of the Sages."
"The minds of Daolao ghosts are completely different from humans. What does the Sage have to control them with?"
"The Sage has mastered a method to control thunder and rain within a certain radius. That is equivalent to mastering the foundation for directing the Daolao ghosts' advance and retreat."
Li Banfeng frowned. "Just with that? He expects to control Daolao ghosts with nothing more than thunder and rain?"
Chu Shaoqiang said, "I told the Sage that this is still a far cry from a true army.
"Yet the Sage believes that so long as he commands thunder and rain, he has grasped the foundation for domesticating Daolao ghosts. He considers this the beginning of his grand imperial scheme."
Li Banfeng pressed his lips tight, his nose twitching repeatedly.
Chu Shaoqiang said, "I know the Sage's idea is somewhat unrealistic, and the probability of him controlling the Daolao ghosts isn't very high either, which is why I agreed to hand Daogui Ridge over to him.
"Now the Heavenly Heart Stones have been lost here, and you happen to appear here as well. If you claimed you had nothing to do with this, I certainly wouldn't believe it.
"However, if you are willing to offer some assistance and help me retrieve the Heavenly Heart Stones, I will also pay you a handsome reward."
Li Banfeng pondered for a long time. "Helping you isn't out of the question, but you lost five Heavenly Heart Stones. Recovering all of them would be exceedingly difficult."
Chu Shaoqiang said, "At least two must be found, or Daogui Ridge cannot be moved."
Li Banfeng said, "Two might have some hope. But that depends on how high a price you're willing to pay."
Chapter 477