Chapter 26: Li County Pear Blossom Lantern Festival (End)
Liu Sheng’s intense emotional fluctuations infected Little Tentacle, which then amplified and transmitted through the lantern in her hand.
This “Zhang Hengyuan Custom-Made Lantern” was originally designed to induce sadness. With Liu Sheng’s complex emotions layered on top, its effect was strengthened to a tangible degree.
The lantern on Little Tentacle emitted an unprecedented glow, illuminating the surroundings as bright as day.
Why was it so sad?
Did it have a heart?
The Pear Tree Wraith was confused.
But it felt a sour ache deep within its trunk, as if something had been crumpled into a tight ball.
In its sadness, the wind stopped, and the flying petal blades also ceased, scattering back onto the ground.
The Pear Tree Wraith trembled, seemingly weeping.
Fu Ze survived, slumped on the ground, covered in blood.
Seeing his completely unconscious state, he likely couldn't take the medicine himself, so Liu Sheng quickly ran over and fed him a Small Return Pill.
But all of this was only a temporary reprieve.
It was unknown how long this effect would last.
There were still many people inside the tree trunk; according to initial estimates, there were nearly a thousand, and many more were likely hidden deep within the vast roots beneath the ground.
Despite their arduous efforts, they had only dug out a few dozen people, and many of them had already lost vital signs.
Just as Liu Sheng despaired, several streaks of spiritual light of different colors struck the Pear Tree Wraith from behind.
Each streak of spiritual light carried immense power, causing the massive, eerie pear tree to tremble once more, seemingly suffering severe damage.
Three cultivators wearing Exploration Division uniforms flew in; they were precisely the reinforcements sent by the Weaving Bureau!
All of them possessed Mingzhen Realm strength, and upon arrival, they immediately unleashed their various techniques on the Pear Tree Wraith.
One woman conjured a giant, light-blue longbow, drawing it taut like a full moon, manifesting a blue light arrow, and shot it at the Pear Tree Wraith, deeply embedding it in the tree trunk.
The blue light arrow radiated countless blue light veins, spreading across the entire “tree bark.” With a flash of light, the “tree bark” instantly shattered into countless fragments, and all the trapped people slid out along with the flowing viscous fluid.
A middle-aged man nearby took out a fishing rod, cast it into the Void Realm, and immediately a pure white net woven from fishing line appeared, enveloping these people, to prevent these ordinary commoners from falling into the water or onto the rockery, causing secondary injuries.
He then continuously reeled in and let out the line, swiftly “fishing” all the people on the ground into the adjacent long corridor. When the corridor was full, he “fished” them outside the garden.
Liu Sheng, in her dazed state, was also dropped at the entrance of the flower hall.
Another woman took out a lamp post taller than a person, with a vertical row of three lamps on top, sequentially flashing red, yellow, and green.
She formed a Spell, swept a beam of light over the crowd, and distinct red, yellow, and green lights also appeared on everyone’s bodies. Red likely indicated severe injuries, yellow minor injuries, and green no injuries.
The woman inspected the injuries according to the light colors, one by one, and performed healing Spells.
As for those who did not emit light, there was no longer any need for rescue…
“Liu Siku, you did very well.”
Liu Sheng was admiring the seamless and delightful coordination of the Weaving Bureau’s Exploration Division team when she suddenly heard Yuan Zheng Zhang’s voice beside her.
It turned out Yuan Zheng Zhang had also followed them in, and was currently at the entrance adjusting his Qi and recovering his spiritual power; his already sparse white hair looked even thinner.
Liu Sheng shook her head, feeling a bit disheartened.
“We still had to rely on you all…”
“No, that’s not true. If it weren’t for you all, many people wouldn’t have lasted until now,” Yuan Zheng Zhang corrected.
“Furthermore, the reason we could come here unimpeded is because you all weakened its power. I imagine you went through a fierce battle.”
“Especially you, with no cultivation whatsoever, I don’t know how you managed to do it…” Yuan Zheng Zhang said with great emotion.
At this moment, Liu Sheng had silently put away Little Tentacle and the lantern; such things were not suitable for public display yet.
“Perhaps it’s because I’m particularly good at guessing riddles…”
Yuan Zheng Zhang gave a slight smile but did not respond.
He was fully focused on resisting the negative effects of the Guai Qi-dense Weird Domain’s core on him, while also striving to recover some spiritual power.
When the man from the Weaving Bureau began to use his spiritual net to delve into the Pear Tree Wraith’s roots to rescue people, Yuan Zheng Zhang had also recovered fifty percent of his spiritual power.
He let out a long roar towards the sky, then soared upwards.
With a pair of rainbow-colored wings on his back and a five-colored longsword drawn in his hand, he charged towards the Pear Tree Wraith, which had already been riddled with holes by the arrow-shooting woman, and joined the battle.
Liu Sheng watched, dumbfounded, never expecting Yuan Zheng Zhang’s skills to be so flamboyant and ostentatious.
However, his wings indeed matched the man.
With Yuan Zheng Zhang’s addition, the already one-sided situation became even clearer.
The Pear Tree Wraith, after all, had only recently undergone Awakening. Its greatest reliance was the vast Weird Domain that confused people’s minds, but this was largely weakened by the lantern’s “heartbroken” effect, allowing people to directly breach its core.
Once enemies entered Zui Bai Garden, its immobile body became a giant target.
…
The battle ended quickly.
The leading woman from the Weaving Bureau held a weird objects containment vessel; the dying Pear Tree Wraith had been contained within it, ready to be taken back to the Weaving Bureau for analysis.
Where the Pear Tree Wraith once stood by the pond, only a bottomless, massive pit remained, containing a considerable amount of flesh and blood that had melted into a mass.
In this weird objects incident, many people still ultimately lost their lives.
Among those who could be excavated, many had already lost vital signs.
Even among the living, some suffered permanent disabilities, while others experienced mental derangement and delirium.
Fortunately, Wang Dongdong had cultivation protecting her and only nearly suffocated to death; it was fortunate that Liu Sheng discovered her in time.
However, her close friend Yue Shan had already died, and another friend, Yi Chunxian, was completely corroded but fortunately survived.
Also, Song Haiyin, who came in with Fu Ze and Liu Sheng, died directly in the Weird Domain because she lacked Fu Ze’s cultivation and Liu Sheng’s cheat…
Liu Sheng confronted weird objects directly for the first time.
She realized for the first time how weak a Mortal’s strength was in the face of weird objects.
If she didn’t have the “world,” even if she could coincidentally guess the first lantern riddle, what about the second or third?
As long as she guessed wrong once or tried to escape once, she would be buried within it like Song Haiyin.
Liu Sheng also asked Fu Ze how he got in.
“Nothing special, just breaking through with strength,” Fu Ze said calmly.
He looked only in his early thirties, but in reality, his aging had simply slowed down after cultivation. He had been in the Initial Realm eighth stage for thirty years, and his mastery of various basic Spells had long reached perfection. This was also his fundamental basis for surviving among weird objects for so many years.
This kind of problem-solving through sheer power was truly enviable.
Liu Sheng’s inner self also underwent some changes.
She had always believed her intelligence could solve many problems, but in the face of absolute power, all her cleverness was just a joke.
…
“The on-site handling here can only be left to the Weaving Bureau,” Yuan Zheng Zhang said respectfully to the leading woman, his face looking worn.
“Naturally,” the woman said sternly to Yuan Zheng Zhang, “In this incident, Li County directly lost hundreds of people, and even all the county yamen officials were trapped within. The Li County Weaving Institute’s dereliction of duty is undeniable.”
“Yuan Zheng, do you know how many people are left in the Li County Weaving Institute?”
Yuan Zheng Zhang looked deeply struck: “Including the three colleagues who returned home, there are only seven people left now.”
“I will report this matter to the Weaving Bureau’s Wenshu Pavilion for careful deliberation. You may return home to rest for now; the Li County Weaving Institute will be temporarily taken over by the Weaving Bureau.”
The Wenshu Pavilion is the Weaving Bureau’s highest decision-making body, primarily responsible for the management and deployment of the Weaving Institute system and major policy decisions.
With these words, Yuan Zheng Zhang was temporarily suspended from his duties.
Liu Sheng listened silently from the side, seeing that Yuan Zheng Zhang seemed to have already anticipated this; he merely nodded calmly in response, then slowly walked away with a stooped posture.
A very short chapter, considered a turning point.
Based on suggestions, the emotions regarding Fu Ze in this part have been revised. Sheng Sheng is more resentful of her own lack of strength and inability to help, which is difficult for her, who has always been strong, to accept.