Chapter 22: Ancient Bacteria (Part 1)

The soil was damp and soft, flowing with the same lustrous glow as this space. The moment it appeared before their eyes, it released the pure, rich fragrance of earth.

Old Zhang and Old Huang could not wait. They each grabbed a handful of soil, kneaded it, sniffed it, and in the end even put it in their mouths.

Chen Yi did not even have time to stop them.

Although things from the cultivation world were not uncanny or terrifying, they still should not be casually eaten, right?

“Good soil!”

“It really is good soil!”

“We need to study it!”

“Exactly!”

The two experts were full of wonder. “It’s like the most fertile black soil, but clearly looser and softer. There’s also faint spiritual energy flowing through it. Is this why it can be called a spirit field?”

“The fruit it grows will definitely be different. Eating it must be greatly beneficial to the human body.”

“We can’t eat it recklessly.”

“Right. We need to study it first.”

Chen Yi looked at the two men who were still eating soil. “…”

On the other side, Lou Ting was a little surprised. His brows lifted slightly, not because Chen Yi had tossed out spirit soil from thin air, but because he said in surprise, “About a ton, right? I thought a spirit field was a field laid out on the ground. I didn’t expect it to directly provide soil.

“This is good, though. It can be arranged according to the terrain.”

After thinking for a moment, Lou Ting asked Chen Yi, “Do the buildings appear directly?”

Chen Yi nodded.

Lou Ting lowered his eyes in thought and said nothing more.

Seeing that the official business was done, Tang Qirui brought up another matter. “Something happened in the village last night. One of our action team members’ family went missing. They weren’t found until two in the morning, over by North Mountain.”

The moment he heard North Mountain, Chen Yi became especially sensitive and immediately asked for details. “Pingyuan? Third Brother’s younger brother, Wang Pingyuan? He went to North Mountain? What for?”

Tang Qirui looked at his expression and said, “I know you’ve always been worried something might happen at North Mountain, so after the incident last night, I specifically had them investigate it once and pay attention to any traces of aberrations.”

“And then?”

“The Wang family’s fourth son having an accident at North Mountain really is suspicious. Pang Xiaolei personally made a trip there and said he didn’t sense the presence of any aberrations. Do you want to go take a look?”

“Yes!”

Chen Yi did not hesitate. He turned and left the sect.

Whether it was Wang Xiaosi’s accident, or the fact that this matter was related to North Mountain, both were very important.

He had gone looking for the aberration on North Mountain twice during the day, and had even gone out at night specifically to sense it, but had not detected anything unusual.

If it were someone else, they might have thought they had smelled wrong and put it out of their mind.

But Chen Yi did not.

He had kept the matter of North Mountain in his heart all along. The slightest disturbance would make him alert. After all, this was not an ordinary world. In a high-risk world, anything could happen.

Why did Wang Xiaosi have an accident at North Mountain, and not anywhere else?

What secret of life was North Mountain hiding?

Although the adults in the village never let the children at home run to North Mountain, in reality, what half-grown boy had never been there? Even the original owner, who was relatively quiet, had followed the village’s “big brothers” to North Mountain to play twice.

It was, in the end, a familiar place. For Wang Xiaosi to go missing there, this could not possibly be a small matter.

When he went out, Chen Yi thought for a moment and used the Aura Concealing Art.

He entered the village in a low-key manner. Even though many villagers were standing outside the Wang family’s door, none of them reacted to Chen Yi’s arrival.

It was as if Chen Yi had been here from the very beginning. Everything that should have been said had already been said, and there was nothing left to say, so naturally, they ignored him.

Of course, being ignored was not the same as being invisible. If Chen Yi came face to face with someone, touched them, or spoke on his own initiative, he would still be sensed and then discovered.

Chen Yi passed through the middle of the crowd and heard their conversation.

“…They say he went to the back of North Mountain to pick nectarines for Third Brother.”

“There really is a pretty good peach grove behind North Mountain. The road’s just too hard to travel. Every year, boys run in there. Why was it only Wang Xiaosi who had an accident this year?”

“Playing games with his day and night flipped upside down. He’s so skinny he’s like a bamboo strip. Climbing a mountain takes strength. I’ve always said that Old Wang and his wife spoil their child too much! He’s already been back home living off his parents for two years, and they still keep him by their side.”

“If spoiling children could produce three eldest sons that everyone envies, then enough, enough. Stop staring at other people’s family affairs. What I want to say is, Wang Xiaosi fell into a mountain pit, and so many of us went and couldn’t find him, but the moment his brother went over, he found him.”

“That really is a case of blood brothers having a spiritual connection. If Old Third hadn’t come back, Old Fourth would have been gone.”

“How is he now?”

“What could be wrong? He’s hiding in his room and won’t come out. So many people came to see him, and he doesn’t even know to come down and greet them.”

“Exactly. I’ve always said that child was raised useless.” When this person spoke again, their voice lowered. “Old Wang said he wants to treat the people who helped to a meal. Is that true? I didn’t go up the mountain last night, but when they came back later, I did go move water…”

This was how the countryside was. Whenever something happened to any family, a crowd would gather. They were not all there just to watch the fun. As fellow villagers and neighbors, they would still show concern.

Of course, some people did come over just to see whether they could get a free meal.

It was now past five in the afternoon, almost mealtime. More and more people would gather here.

Chen Yi stopped listening at this point.

After hearing a rough account from the villagers, he began heading into the house.

The three-story building was the most luxurious house in the village, almost like a villa.

In the past, the Wang family had been like most people in the village, relying on the heavens for their livelihood. But the Wang family’s eldest son knew how to make money. Fifteen years ago, he went to work in a developed city. He started as a brick carrier on a construction site and soon pulled together a construction team. Now he was a boss.

The second son left after graduating from middle school to help his elder brother work. Later, he became an online livestream seller. His popularity was decent, and his annual income was even higher than his elder brother’s.

After the two sons earned money, they came back and built this house.

Back then, who in Lishui Village had not envied them? People also liked to compare the Old Wang family with the village chief’s family, which meant comparing them with Chen Yi.

There were always some gossipy women who would say, what use was studying? It was not as good as knowing how to make money. Even if Chen Yi got into a good university, he still could not build such a big house for his family.

Fortunately, Comrade Chen Jiankang had always placed the overall situation first and had no conflicts with the Wang family. When Old Third, Wang Ping’an, joined the army, it was Comrade Chen Jiankang who handled arrangements for him from beginning to end.

Because of that, the relationship between the two families became much better.

Now, when Chen Yi entered the house, he saw Comrade Chen Jiankang sitting beside Old Wang and smoking. Together with several respected elders from the village, they were chatting on and off about who knew what.

Chen Yi passed through the living room, and no one noticed him. He openly went up to the third floor just like that.

He knew where Wang Xiaosi’s bedroom was.

Inside the bedroom, the atmosphere was strangely tense.

Third Brother stood at the foot of the bed with his arms crossed, his face dark as he glared at Wang Xiaosi.

Wang Xiaosi was leaning against the headboard, still holding his phone, but he was not playing. Under his own third brother’s stare, he did not even dare to breathe.

Chen Yi’s gaze swept quickly over Wang Xiaosi’s face. Other than heavy dark circles and a lack of energy, he could not see any major problem.

He heard that after the person was found, they were sent directly to the hospital. They had only returned a short while ago.

Only…

Chen Yi refused to believe nothing was wrong and used the Delusion-Piercing Eye Technique again.

With this look, he really did see a problem.

Wang Xiaosi’s entire body was wrapped in a layer of hazy gray stuff, like fog. This was clearly not something that should be on a normal person.

He moved his nose. There was no stench of aberrations. That much was certain.

Then what was this?

Chen Yi wanted to see more clearly, so he simply walked into the room.

Once there was movement, the two brothers who had been facing each other in the room also noticed him.

Wang Third Brother looked delighted. “Sect… Great! You’re back!”

Wang Xiaosi also shouted excitedly, “Chen Yi!”

Both Wang brothers wanted to see Chen Yi. Although their reasons were different, their goal was the same.

As soon as Chen Yi appeared, he was surrounded by the two brothers, one on each side.

Wang Xiaosi seized the initiative. “Have you been doing something weird and strange lately? You even called in the Criminal Protection Team? I saw it all. If there’s something good, why aren’t you sharing it with your brother? Are you treating me like an outsider? I—”

Seeing his younger brother behaving so carelessly, Wang Third Brother was afraid that one wrong sentence from him would offend Chen Yi. While nervously looking at Chen Yi, he tugged Wang Xiaosi’s collar from behind.

“Ahem!”

He coughed heavily.

A moment ago, Wang Xiaosi had still been glaring at his own third brother, but strangely enough, he immediately turned into an obedient younger brother and shut his mouth.

He also knew in his heart that whatever Chen Yi was doing, his brother definitely knew best. Since his brother had spoken to remind him, what he had just said must have been inappropriate.

As for what exactly was inappropriate?

Forget it. He was too lazy to think.

Wang Xiaosi smiled awkwardly. “Forget it. It’s nothing. It’s enough that you knew to come see me. Look, nothing’s wrong with me. I’m alive and kicking. The hospital wouldn’t even keep me.”

With Wang Xiaosi watching him, Chen Yi found it inconvenient to use the Delusion-Piercing Eye Technique. Captain Ye had said he looked strangely handsome when using a divine ability, so he knew he had to use it behind people’s backs.

So after casually chatting nonsense with Wang Xiaosi for a couple of sentences, he looked at Wang Ping’an and asked, “Third Brother, you were the one who went to find him last night?”

Wang Third Brother was not the fearless Wang Xiaosi, who did not know what he did not know. He was much more restrained when speaking to Chen Yi. In detail, as if making a report, he recounted everything that had happened last night from beginning to end.

After dark, when Wang Xiaosi did not come home and his phone could not be reached, Old Wang and his wife began searching the whole village for him. The news quickly spread, and in the end, it reached Wang Third Brother’s ears.

Wang Third Brother, who had been cultivating in the sect space, was called away by Pang Xiaolei and went with the villagers to North Mountain to search for him.

In truth, the first one to find him was Pang Xiaolei.

Wang Third Brother said, “Captain Pang felt something was wrong over there. We followed his sense and searched in that direction, then saw Old Fourth unconscious at the bottom of a pit. After I carried him back, we sent him to the hospital before dawn.”

“Something was wrong?” Chen Yi was very sensitive to that.

Wang Third Brother nodded. “I can’t really describe it, but I could tell it wasn’t that thing. In any case, something wasn’t quite right. But I was in a hurry to save him at the time, so I didn’t have time to look carefully.”

Wang Xiaosi pricked up his ears and listened. Recalling it, he also said, “…Actually, halfway there, I didn’t want to keep going anymore. But I was already halfway there, right? Thinking about that, I kept going forward.

“The peaches really looked good. Before I knew it, I’d picked more than half a bag with the bag I brought. Every single one was big and red. They smelled so fragrant, and they were sweet when I ate them too…

“When I came back to my senses, the sky was already dark. I hurried back, but for some reason, I couldn’t get out after a long time.

“Then, when I got anxious, my foot slipped, and I rolled back again.

“As for how I fell into that pit, I can’t remember. Anyway, I woke up halfway through. My phone had no signal, and I couldn’t even dial the emergency number. I kept shouting for help, and I also tried to climb up by myself. In the end, I fell again and passed out.

“When I woke up again, Third Brother was shaking me awake…”

Wang Third Brother thought for a moment, then asked Chen Yi, “If you have time now, I’d like to take you to the place where we found Xiaosi.”

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