Weird Cultivation, I have a five-organ temple

Chapter 637 Everything Was Planned
"Om-"

A low hum erupted from the mountain spirit's mask, carrying an extremely strong life force.

At the same time, a beam of green light surged from Shang Lu's body, and like a living thing, it instantly swept outwards.

The plants and trees that were swept by the green light were infused with a violent vitality and began to grow wildly.

Thick vines transformed into ferocious giant pythons, and tough grass stems twisted into thick chains, wrapping around the fleeing Chu Kingdom's secret lairs from all directions, as if weaving a net that stretched from heaven to earth!
The green light also enveloped the Chu Kingdom's secret agents.

But it wasn't to heal their injuries, nor did it grant them any benefits.

The violent wood energy, once it entered their bodies, immediately disrupted their energy flow and turned into shackles!

The Chu Kingdom secretly felt that their Qi Sea and meridians were blocked by countless plants, making the flow of Qi extremely difficult.

His full cultivation level was forcibly suppressed, and he couldn't even unleash half of it!
Several Chu spies sensed the abnormality in their internal energy and were immediately alarmed. They all exerted all their strength to try to break through the strange "wooden energy cage" within their bodies.

Just then, the mutated plants, like venomous snakes, pounced with lightning speed, wrapping around their ankles, locking their waists, and binding their arms... In an instant, they were bound hand and foot, their escape halted.

Strangely, neither the desperately struggling secret agents of Chu nor the cultivators of the county school who were chasing the murderer paid any attention to the mutated plants at this moment.

In their eyes, what trapped the Chu secret service was not this strange cage of vegetation, but entirely the work of the old scholar—

Under the cover of night, the old scholar, with his bushy beard and hair, and his robes fluttering without wind, looked like an immortal descending to earth!

Centered on him, a mysterious network of light appeared on the ground, pillars, and even in the air above the county school! This was the convergence of the energies of Heaven, Earth, and Man, forming a cage that suppressed the thief!
Unbeknownst to anyone, a faint blue light lurked deep within their eyes.

The soft light slowly rotated, like a blooming blue lotus!

"Hmph! This sacred place of the county school under my jurisdiction is not a place where you demons and monsters can come and go as you please!"

Xue Zheng was also affected by the illusion of the Ice Crystal Blue Lotus, and thought that he had really suppressed and trapped this group of Chu spies, so he was very proud.

However, the next moment, Xue Zheng's expression turned somewhat ugly.

But then, out of the crowd, came a comment that seemed out of place: "Exactly! Do you think our county school is some kind of roadside outhouse?"

Xue Zheng's face turned pale, and he hurriedly looked around to see who was so tactless.

If the county school is a roadside outhouse, then what are these people?
However, a quick glance revealed no clear indication of who had uttered those words.

The furious Xue Zheng could only vent all his anger on the Chu Kingdom's secret agents.

He pointed a finger and roared, "These thieves are now in my grasp! Attack with all your might and blast them to pieces!"

Before he could utter the word "them," a voice from the crowd interrupted his order: "Capture them alive! Interrogate them about their origins and intentions!"

Who is it? Who on earth is going against me time and time again?!
Xue Zheng was very displeased, but he knew the voice was right, so he decisively changed his words: "Cripple these thieves' cultivation and capture them alive!"

In fact, even if Xue Zheng did not change his tune, the cultivators still harbored the idea of ​​"capturing and interrogating him alive".

Under the influence of the Ice Crystal Blue Lotus, Shang Lu's orders had long been ingrained in their hearts.

But they were completely unaware, taking it as their own inner voice, as the correct decision they had made at that moment.

Although the Chu Kingdom's secret forces struggled desperately, their cultivation level was insufficient to break free from the Myriad Wood Array activated by the Mountain Demon Nuo Mask.

The leaves wrapped around them, like predatory pythons, tightened their grip and frantically drained their spiritual energy and vitality.

At the same time, wisps of miasma seeped from the leaves, entering their mouths and noses, further disrupting their breathing.

The cultivators in the county school seized the opportunity and launched a fierce attack on the Chu Kingdom's secret forces.

A sharp claw wind, imbued with the Legalist concept of "punishment and killing," precisely pierced through the Qi Sea of ​​a Chu Kingdom spy!

The Confucian scholar's longsword swiftly pierced the vertebrae of another Chu spy, the sound of bones shattering clearly audible!

The Taoist cultivators unleashed several "Breaking Qi Talismans," which transformed into a rain of golden arrows that pierced the limbs of yet another Chu spy, instantly sealing his meridian nodes and rendering him unable to breathe or exert any strength!

At this moment, all the cultivators unleashed their most powerful and secret techniques, with a clear objective—to destroy the Qi Sea of ​​the Chu Kingdom's secret forces, sever their main meridians, and cripple their cultivation!
In an instant, the sounds of bones cracking, meridians bursting, and the shrill screams from the dark corners of Chu mingled together, echoing throughout the county school and terrifying the people in the nearby brothel even more.

By the time the county magistrate, accompanied by two constables and a group of county soldiers, stormed into the county school, the battle was already over.

Chu Guo was secretly covered in wounds, his Qi Sea was destroyed, his meridians were broken, his cultivation was completely ruined, and he was on the verge of death.

All that remained in his eyes was despair and resentment.

If it weren't for the idea of ​​keeping them alive for interrogation, they would probably have been beaten to death by the angry monks from the county school long ago.

Surprised, the magistrate hurriedly found the school administrator and asked, bowing respectfully, "Administrator, what happened here?"

The scholar did not answer the magistrate's question. He stood tall in the night wind, stroking his beard, and coldly retorted, "Magistrate, why did you arrive so late? The fierce battle was over, and you only just arrived! Hmph, if it weren't for the profound feng shui formation I set up, and if it weren't for everyone here working together and fighting bravely, you would only be here to collect our corpses... no, you wouldn't even be able to collect our corpses!"

The magistrate's lips twitched slightly as he cursed inwardly: "That old bastard, he actually put on an act at this moment!"

But he couldn't accuse them, because these thieves were indeed captured by Xue Zheng and his men. At least that's how it appeared to them.

The magistrate could only bow and apologize, explaining, "Please calm down, Your Excellency. I was really quite late in arriving... As soon as I heard that something had happened at the county school, I immediately summoned the county soldiers on duty and rushed over without delay. I can only say that Your Excellency and your men are too capable, taking down these thieves with lightning speed."

The magistrate was pleased to hear this and, abandoning his usual airs, recounted the events to the county magistrate: "This gang of thieves broke into the county school in the dead of night, intending to kill and steal souls..."

The magistrate was terrified upon hearing this.

The information he had received before was not detailed enough. He only knew that thieves had attacked the county school late at night. On his way there, he was even wondering if the attackers were some kind of demons or monsters.
What normal person would dare to attack a county school?

This is a greater crime than storming the county government office; it is tantamount to provoking the Jiang Kingdom's court!
Therefore, after listening to the account of what happened, the magistrate urgently asked, "Does the magistrate know the origins of these thieves?"

"I don't know."

Xue Zheng shook his head, but quickly added, "However, at the beginning of the incident, it seemed that I heard them shouting that they wanted to take our hearts and livers, take our blood, and kidnap our souls to take back to Chu and present to the king..." In fact, these words were shouted out by Shang Lu's mad ghost.

However, under the influence of the Ice Crystal Blue Lotus, everyone, from the schoolmaster to the students in the county school and the cultivators staying there, believed that these words were shouted out secretly by the Chu Kingdom.

Even the Chu state's own secret agents believed this.

"People from Chu? Why would they come to our Jiang state to kill and abduct souls?"

The magistrate was utterly shocked.

At this moment, Xue had already filled in many possibilities in his mind, and he snorted coldly:

"What's so strange about that? Haven't you heard the rumors? The King of Chu has turned into a demon, devouring his own children and subjects! These Chu traitors are most likely acting on the orders of that demon king, infiltrating our Jiang Kingdom to plunder blood and food for their demon king! Killing our Jiang people to feed the King of Chu... it's killing two birds with one stone, achieving multiple benefits in one fell swoop!"

The magistrate's expression grew increasingly grave. He clasped his hands and said urgently, "This matter is of utmost importance! Instructor, please allow me to take these Chu traitors back to the county office for proper interrogation!"

"That's how it should be!"

The school administrator thought the same thing and nodded, saying, "These Chu thieves were able to bypass all the traps and formations and sneak into the county school silently. It's obvious that they planned this all along! The problem is that they might have discovered our secrets, and it's not just in this county that we've been exposed!"

He immediately ordered the magistrate to take all the Chu traitors away, and even volunteered to go to the county office to assist the magistrate in interrogating the Chu traitors.

He then turned to the instructor beside him and instructed, "I remember there was a Legalist monk lodging at the county school? Go check if he's dead. If he's not, ask him to come with us to the county government office to interrogate the traitor Chu!"

"Yes!" The instructor clasped his hands in acceptance and immediately went to find the person.

The dying Chu state secret service was quickly taken away by the county soldiers.

Also leaving were the schoolmaster and the Legalist monks.

The cultivators, including Shang Lu, were strictly ordered to remain in the county school and were not allowed to leave without permission.

About fifteen minutes later, the county constable and the clerk of the criminal office returned to the county school with the remnant spirit. They carefully checked the identity documents of each lodging cultivator and asked questions such as where they came from and where they were going.

When Shang Lu entered the State of Jiang, he used a Confucian scholar's identity certificate from the State of Chu.

However, after entering the State of Chu, he used the identity of a local Confucian scholar from the State of Jiang.

When they followed Zishu on his hunting expedition and infiltrated the State of Chu, they prepared a number of identity documents, and the Confucian scholar from the State of Jiang was one of them.

Although Shang Lu's accent differed slightly from that of the Jiang Kingdom, he easily dispelled the questioner's suspicions with his eloquence and sophistry. The questioner simply assumed that he came from a remote place and had a heavy accent, and did not question his origins or identity.

After verifying their identities, the head constable and the clerk of the criminal investigation department respectfully invited everyone to return to their rooms to rest.

Although they were county officials, they were not cultivators. Facing these cultivators, they felt immense pressure and treated them with utmost courtesy and respect, daring not to show the slightest negligence or disrespect.

Shang Lu returned to his room and continued practicing the Heart Sutra, which he did not finish until dawn.

Pushing open the door, they found many cultivators gathered in the courtyard. They hadn't rested since the fierce battle the previous night.

Shang Lu's ears twitched slightly, and he instantly caught all the conversations of the cultivators.

An hour or two has passed, and these guys are still bragging:

"You don't know, last night, I was the first to notice that the Chu bandits were attacking! I was one of the ones who sounded the alarm!"

"If I hadn't used my 'self-inflicted trap' technique to ensnare that traitor Chu who commands corpses, he would have definitely escaped!"

“Brother Zhao, your Confucian teachings are indeed powerful, but my Taoist supernatural power, thunder magic, is not weak either... Those corpse puppets, rampaging ghosts, paper dolls, and straw figures were all shattered by my thunder magic!”

At that moment, someone spotted Shang Lu coming out of the door and greeted him warmly, "Brother Taibai, come quickly!"

It was the same group of cultivators who had invited Shang Lu out for drinks yesterday evening.

They joked, "Brother Taibai, after such a fierce battle last night, you were still able to sleep. It seems you spent quite a bit of energy in the building next door this evening."

Shang Lu had already made plans to use these people to conceal his whereabouts, so he greeted them with a smile.

With his silver tongue and sophistry, he quickly built a closer relationship with these people, almost to the point of becoming sworn brothers.

After exchanging pleasantries, someone lowered their voice and said mysteriously, "Brother Taibai, you don't know yet, do you? The group that attacked the county school last night were spies sent by the Chu Kingdom to our country. They were ordered by their king to come to our Jiang Kingdom to assassinate the cultivators who went to Taimo Academy to listen to lectures! Even the Chu Kingdom's black sorcerers have infiltrated our Jiang Kingdom!"

Shang Lu pretended not to know and feigned great surprise: "Such a thing has happened? Has the State of Chu gone mad? Do they want to start a war with my State of Jiang?"

Another cultivator sneered, "The Chu Kingdom hasn't lost its mind, but their king has become a monster... Haven't you heard the rumors that the King of Chu devoured his own son and his ministers?"

Shang Lu continued to feign ignorance, frowning as he said, "I've heard the rumors, but I thought they were just made up."

The cultivator sneered, "We used to think it was false, but after what happened last night, most of the rumors are true!"

Without Shang Lu needing to ask any further questions, these cultivators readily shared everything they had learned.

Afterwards, he still said indignantly:
"The county magistrate and the school administrator have jointly submitted a report on the interrogation! Although the traitor Chu is cunning, we know their plans and will surely thwart their shameless schemes!"

Shang Lu nodded in agreement: "That's right! Good will prevail over evil, and we will definitely thwart the Chu traitor's conspiracy!"

As the group was talking, several clerks from the county school rushed over and conveyed the school director's orders to the cultivators:
"The headmaster asked us to thank you all for your righteous help last night! Now that it's dawn and the curfew has ended, you may all leave the county school. Just be careful and don't let that Chu thief catch your eye! According to the captured Chu thief, he has quite a few accomplices..."

Several cultivators who were on friendly terms with Shang Lu all turned to look at him.

Before Shang Lu could speak, these people took the initiative to extend an invitation:
"Brother Taibai, are you going to Taimo Academy to listen to lectures? How about we travel together? If we encounter the Chu bandits again on the way, we can help each other and kill them one more time!"

Shang Lu wanted to hear those words, so he immediately cupped his hands and replied, "In that case, I'll have to trouble you brothers!"

(End of this chapter)