Chapter 427: Becoming Their Common Enemy

“Gu Qianqian? What did you mean by what you just said? Do you not believe that miracles exist in this world?”

The Miracle Order member peered at the girl before him through the hood that concealed his face, his eyes narrowed to slits with a cold light flickering within.

The cold light here was literal; Lu Yibei suspected that if she said one more wrong word, this Miracle Order member would unleash some cruel “eye technique” she knew nothing about.

“Don’t look at me like that, you’re scaring me,” Lu Yibei said weakly, quietly casting a faint charm.

“It’s not that I don’t believe in miracles. On the contrary, I’m quite interested in your Order. It’s just that there are so many temptations-I wonder if you could help me with some answers?”

As she spoke, a strong thirst for knowledge flickered deep in Lu Yibei’s clear eyes, as if silently shouting, “Give me, give me the answer now!” making it hard for anyone to resist the urge to satisfy her.

“……”

Who could withstand that!

The Miracle Order member was silent for a few seconds, the cold light in his eyes fading, and he replied gently, “Of course. Our Heavenly Father is the greatest being in this world. It’s understandable if one cannot fully comprehend His spirit. Answering the doubts of the lost is our duty as members of the Order.”

“Oh, I see!” Lu Yibei nodded thoughtfully, her tone serious. “Then I want to ask: If you believe your Heavenly Father exists, why would the Miracle Order be hunted by The Midnight Watchers Society, instead of miraculously remaining undiscovered?”

“Is it because He can’t do it? If He can’t, then He’s not an omnipotent god, right? If He can but chooses not to, doesn’t that mean He harbors malice and is an evil god?”

“If He can and is willing, why did the Miracle Order lose 3,721 members killed and over 20,000 captured during The Midnight Watchers Society’s purge, with not a single miracle descending upon any of them?”

“If He can’t and won’t, why do you still believe in Him?”

Lu Yibei’s small mouth fired off this long string of questions in just a dozen seconds, like a Gatling gun spitting blue flames. The Miracle Order member stared at her in a daze, then his expression darkened and his psychic energy fluctuation surged.

It was just like a teacher with a terrible temper, stumped by Xiao Ming’s unanswerable question-the only result: “Get out!”

“You-how do you know the exact number of casualties when The Midnight Watchers Society attacked the Order? Are you a spy sent by The Midnight Watchers Society?!”

This Miracle Order member, clearly not very competent, couldn’t think of a rebuttal to Lu Yibei’s points, but quickly came up with a reason to kill her in front of all these illegal psychic energy organization members.

“Ah, don’t be mad!” Lu Yibei exclaimed, backing away a few steps, then pointed at Suolang Baima, who had been watching her suspiciously from not far away. “He told me all this! He even said he’s a member of The Midnight Watchers Society, and when things get chaotic later, he’ll protect me!”

As she spoke, Lu Yibei subtly intensified her charm ability. “It’s true, please believe me! I’ve even seen his Death Owl Emblem!”

As soon as she finished, several gazes turned toward Suolang Baima, their malice undisguised.

Suolang Baima, “???”

I haven’t even accused you of being an accomplice of The Midnight Watchers Society yet!

And you have the nerve to throw the blame on me?

Lu Yibei looked at Suolang Baima with deep meaning. The moment their eyes met, her brows arched provocatively.

Little brat, I’ve had my eye on you for a while!

Strike first to gain the upper hand; hesitate and you’ll suffer.

If I don’t deal with you first, am I supposed to wait for you to point the finger at me?

–

Deep within Taoyuan.

The cave where the Fusang divine tree once grew had already collapsed amid violent psychic energy explosions.

In the mountain, now little more than an empty shell, everything in sight was being shaken, torn apart, shattered, even vaporized.

Layer upon layer of intricate silver incantations floated and drifted, sealing, covering, and enclosing the terrifying psychic energy, forcibly confining it within the mountain.

Fuyang’s revived psychic energy, in this limited space, was like silver, gold, or some other metal melting-scalding copper and iron swirling in the cauldron, gathering into a vortex, endlessly churning.

The twisted, corrupted giant tree stood amidst this terrifying scene, its roots extending downward like the blood vessels of some colossal beast, tangled and writhing all the way to the edge of sight.

One hundred and eight bronze pillars, each over a kilometer long, were driven deep into the giant tree’s sprawling roots, once buried beneath the earth.

These bronze pillars, personally forged by Gou Meng, were far more than mere decorations recording Taoyuan’s history. From the moment they were created, they bore the mission of suppressing the corrupting power within the Fusang divine tree.

This was a magnificent cage.

“Boom-!”

A deafening crash, like giant machines colliding, suddenly erupted.

As the piercing roar assaulted the eardrums, the trembling mountain shook even more violently.

At first, it was just a faint tremor, but it soon became a thunderous rumble!

Like blades and axes hacking, dragons battling, or the earth exploding as meteors fell.

The tsunami-like roar spread, carrying astonishing psychic energy fluctuation, striving to break free from layer upon layer of shackles and restraints.

Like blades chopping, dragon scales scraping, the earth cracking as stars fell. Endless shrieks spread, condensing into massive ripples, struggling to break free from all the shackles and restraints.

Violent tremors erupted, shockwaves swept through.

Within the empty mountain, the light seemed to liquefy and roll.

At that moment, countless strands of Ley Line Energy, like waterfalls pouring down, cascaded from the shattered opening at the mountain’s summit, merging into the one hundred and eight bronze pillars.

A high-pitched, melodious bird call rang out.

In an instant, the bronze pillar trembled and buzzed, cracking inch by inch, erupting from within with a dazzling emerald green light.

As the emerald light shot out in all directions, the buzzing from the bronze pillar converged, making it seem as if it were singing.

It was as if countless people were singing praises, celebrating another deity born from the Fusang divine tree.

“In the first month of spring, its deity is Gou Mang…”

“In the first month of spring, its deity is Gou Mang. The remaining spring months are the same. The holy deity succeeds to the heavenly position, with the virtue of wood ruling the world, bringing merit to the people.”

“……”

Accompanied by this prayer that sounded like a hymn, the restless power of Fuyang temporarily quieted down…

–

At the top of the corrupted Fusang divine tree.

Gou Meng stood at the very crown, eyes tightly shut, standing alone, her toes fused with the branches.

Thus, a bizarre scene appeared.

At the top of the giant tree, every branch burst with vibrant life; slender twigs constantly sprouted new buds, which grew into fresh leaves, clusters of emerald foliage piling up to form a canopy that blocked out the sky and sun. Delicate pink-white peach blossoms soon withered and drifted down, beginning a new cycle.

Petals fell in profusion, like rain, as if the season had switched from deep winter to warm spring in an instant.

Yet beneath the canopy, on the thick branches of the giant tree, some were covered in decaying flesh, some were dry and cracked, emitting intense heat and light, while others were riddled with tumor-like protrusions, densely packed, resembling the sores of a skin disease.

Life and death converged, appearing together on this single, twin-born giant tree.

If Lu Yibei saw such a sight, she would definitely complain, “This must be a server bug in the world, right?”

A long time passed.

By using the belief contained within the Ley Line Energy, Gou Meng temporarily suppressed the corrupted psychic energy within the Fusang divine tree. She slowly exhaled a turbid breath, opened her eyes, and looked down with a grave expression.

Inside a huge tree hollow of the Fusang divine tree, a mass of dark red, blurry flesh kept writhing, splitting into various organs of different creatures, only to necrotize in an instant, until it grew jet-black feathers or beaks resembling those of crows.

It was as if, among the hundreds or thousands of possible haunting powers related to the Fusang divine tree, it kept evolving, imitating, and trial-and-erroring, until it found the power belonging to Fuyang.

Shifting her gaze from that flesh, Gou Meng looked at Crow Slave.

The dark red, blurry flesh clung to Crow Slave from all sides, almost completely engulfing his body, leaving only his face exposed, his hollow eyes staring at the sky.

“Tsk, stupid fool. It’s because familiars like you exist that that irresponsible brat dumped this mess on me and walked away…”

After so many years, once again fused with the Fusang divine tree, Gou Meng instantly understood the ins and outs of the shocking events in Taoyuan.

The main reason for the revival of Fuyang’s power was the existence of that dark red flesh.

According to Gou Meng’s observations, that dark red flesh possessed almost no haunting power, yet it had a strange psychic energy fluctuation. Driven by that fluctuation, it would imitate any haunting power it came into contact with, then choose the strongest one as a template for proliferation and differentiation.

When Gou Meng first touched the Fusang tree, that dark red flesh even imitated her power, carrying out a series of proliferations and differentiations.

However, the dark red flesh soon judged that her power was not as strong as Fuyang’s, abandoned its imitation of her, and continued to mimic Fuyang’s power, even copying the corrupted part as well.

This made Gou Meng feel deeply humiliated.

Yet, if only that dark red flesh existed, it would not be enough to revive the long-dead power of Fuyang.

The reason things developed to this point was all thanks to Fuyang’s most loyal familiar-Crow Slave and those Fire Crows.

The imitation and proliferation of that dark red flesh was limited to the level of power and psychic energy fluctuation, like single-celled organisms, completely lacking independent consciousness, and not enough to cause such destruction.

Without consciousness, no matter how strong the psychic energy, it was just a dead thing, far from revival.

But the problem was, when it began to mimic and proliferate Fuyang’s power, Crow Slave appeared nearby and performed a sacrifice.

Thus, after devouring Crow Slave and those Fire Crows, the dark red flesh used their memories, and even their imagined version of Fuyang, as a blueprint to condense and construct a faint consciousness, ushering in a grand awakening.

“Utterly stupid. If this thing really escapes Taoyuan, what then?” Gou Meng cursed fiercely.

A thousand people have a thousand Hamlets.

Crow Slave plus those Fire Crows numbered well over a thousand. The Fuyang in their eyes, even with some overlap, still amounted to at least several hundred completely different forms.

The consciousness born from these forms could barely move; aside from movement, its thoughts were even more chaotic than a fully corrupted fallen deity.

Corrupted Fuyang power and psychic energy, combined with chaotic consciousness, would give birth to a haunting that was foreseeably extremely destructive, yet impossible to reason with-a monster.

It would be a terrifying disaster, bringing ruin to all living things.

“If that guy were still here and saw this, who knows what he’d think,” Gou Meng murmured.

Fuyang’s act of abandoning his power and walking away was wrong, but not a capital offense-just irresponsibility.

But these familiars, like foul-smelling rabid fans, always shouting ‘Fuyang hubby, I love you,’ were different. What they did was practically wishing for Fuyang’s early death.

By comparison, everyone in Taoyuan was much more lovable, Gou Meng thought.

As she pondered, a strong wave of corruption surged again. She hurriedly gathered her thoughts, controlled the Ley Line Energy, and suppressed it.

After the suppression was complete, Gou Meng looked toward Tang City and sighed silently.

This was already her third time suppressing that corrupting force, and each time consumed a massive amount of Ley Line Energy, with her power suffering a certain degree of corruption as well.

Now, only by letting Gou Mang and Fuyang’s power, together with the Fusang divine tree, be destroyed in the dazzling beams of the city’s barrier could disaster be prevented.

Once the bow is drawn, there’s no turning back.

The moment she transformed into a bird and flew toward the giant tree that broke through the mountainside and rose from the earth, she had already lost all retreat…

–

Taoyuan Scenic Area, near Jin Chan Rock, beside that massive boulder jutting out of the rushing river, resembling a golden toad emerging from the water.

[Calamity: “It’s done. In five minutes, they’ll appear near Jin Chan Rock in Taoyuan Gorge, marked by silver sword energy.”]

Hiding in the shadows with forty operators of The Midnight Watchers Society, Xing Yuan checked the message Lu Yibei had sent her a minute ago, frowning slightly.

Why silver sword energy?

I remember, the sword energy she used before was clearly crimson, wasn’t it?

As Xing Yuan pondered, Silver Horn glanced at the content on her phone screen and quietly asked, “My Lady, how exactly did Calamity pull this off?”

“I’m curious too, but…” Xing Yuan shot Silver Horn a sidelong glance, swung her terrifying pitch-black giant axe with one hand, and said coldly, “You were just peeking at my phone, weren’t you?”

Silver Horn, “…”

–

“Boom-boom-boom-!”

Multicolored lights streaked across the gorge’s sky like a meteor shower, the deafening blasts shaking eardrums as the entire gorge trembled violently.

From afar, a chorus of shrieks echoed.

“Kill her! Tear her to pieces!”

“I want to rip that little bitch Gu Qianqian apart, shred her inch by inch!”

“Judgment, our Heavenly Father! Please bring down judgment and settle Gu Qianqian’s sins!”

“…”

The cacophony of angry roars and screams merged, and the whole gorge boiled over.

All the members of illegal psychic organizations were howling, their faces twisted as they chased and blocked the girl who called herself Gu Qianqian. Tangible waves of negative psychic energy spread, filling the entire gorge.

Suddenly, the thick smoke from the explosions was torn apart.

A figure sped by, carrying a young girl on his back, stepping on the rushing river, riding the rolling waves, seizing every gap with precision, weaving nimbly through the barrage of spell formations and innate skills, racing forward, leaving a chaotic silver trail in his wake.

Once they’d put some distance between themselves and the pursuers, Bai Kai let out a small sigh of relief, turned to look at Lu Yibei on his back, and said gently, “Xiao Bei, I can barely remember how many years it’s been since you last asked me to carry you. The last time was back in elementary school-I’m really moved.”

“Save the sentimental stuff for later, watch out ahead! Keep your eyes on the road!” Lu Yibei shouted, seeing a giant boulder hurtling toward them.

She felt that letting Bai Kai carry her was the worst decision she’d made in ages-far more thrilling than the world’s biggest roller coaster with a supercharged twist.

Hearing Lu Yibei’s cry, Bai Kai suddenly leapt into the air, landing atop the incoming boulder in a flash, pausing for just a moment. In the next instant, a sonic boom and dazzling silver light erupted beneath his feet, and his body shot forward like a cannonball, covering nearly five hundred meters in a single bound.

Once he steadied himself, Bai Kai turned to Lu Yibei again and asked, “Xiao Bei, things were so chaotic just now, I was focused on getting you out and didn’t have time to ask-how did you end up provoking all these people?”

Bai Kai recalled arriving at Taoyuan’s No. 1 viewing platform and seeing Lu Yibei surrounded by dozens of vicious thugs-it still made his heart race.

“I… didn’t really do anything!” Lu Yibei said awkwardly, avoiding Bai Kai’s gaze. “I just refuted the existence of the Miracle Order’s Heavenly Father, accused a few psychics of being Midnight Watchers Society moles, mocked the Wanderers’ Poetry Society’s work, and exposed a few secrets the big hauntings didn’t want anyone to know…”

Lu Yibei spent over a minute briefly recounting how she’d stirred up trouble, and Bai Kai’s mouth couldn’t help but twitch.

You call that ‘not doing anything’?

If you were really determined to do something, who knows what would happen?

But…

“But Yibei! From what you’re saying, didn’t you pin the blame on others while provoking them? Why are they still chasing you?” Bai Kai asked, puzzled.

“Oh, that’s simple!” Lu Yibei explained. “After I threw all the blame around, I just found someone with great acting skills to play the villain, expose me, and stir up public outrage!”

“If I’d only incited disputes among those illegal psychic organizations and made them hostile to each other, it wouldn’t be enough to make them want to kill me.”

“After all, they already have rivalries and keep each other in check, reluctant to act rashly and risk weakening themselves.”

“But if, at that moment, a reliable person jumps out and points out that I’m the one secretly causing trouble, and makes them realize that I alone hold a ton of secrets they want to keep hidden, then it’s a whole different story, don’t you think?”

It’s like two people arguing until they’re red in the face, and suddenly a common enemy appears.

Even if you do nothing, you become the outlet for all their emotions.

“…” Bai Kai pondered for a few seconds, then said earnestly, “Xiao Bei, after this is over, let’s officially cut off our godfather-godchild relationship, at least on the surface, okay?”

Lu Yibei, “…”