The immortal is beside me

Chapter 23 Have you ever heard of Zhou Wuqing?
Yiyuan Power Plant is located in the suburbs of Liangzhou City.

Built in the early years of the People's Republic of China, the power plant flourished for decades before being decommissioned five years ago. Today, the abandoned plant lies desolate, its dilapidated units coated in a thick layer of dust. The entire plant resembles a giant, old black-and-white photograph.

According to intelligence, five evil cultivators had briefly stopped here a month ago. The next day, they left and went looking for Zhou Qing together, and were subsequently killed by the Five Consecutives.

Originally, the case had been closed with the deaths of the five evil cultivators. However, after negotiations with Zhou Qing, the investigation was reopened, and the first step was to thoroughly investigate the evil cultivators' movements.

There were three specialists coming with Qin Jiajia, two men, one with a crew cut, one with a beard, and a woman with a beauty mole at the corner of her mouth.

The three of them were all veteran specialists who had been working for the company for many years. They had been chatting animatedly on the way here. After arriving at the mission site, the three of them completed the division of labor very skillfully and started to cooperate in the search. Qin Jiajia, as a newcomer, could not join in and had to do auxiliary work on the side.

After completing the negotiation task with Zhou Qing, the department arranged a special instructor for her according to the procedures, and taught her basic cultivation knowledge such as Qi Refining and Spiritual Power Control.

With the help of this knowledge, although she still didn't have any specific combat power, she could barely draw the Qi into her body and transform it into strength. At least she could use some of the simplest spiritual objects.

Qin Jiajia paced around the power plant, holding a yellow talisman in her hand. With her cultivation level, which was not even halfway through, the number of spiritual objects she could control could be counted on one hand, and this was one of them.

A primary soul-detecting talisman with an effective range of ten meters, one of the most common on-site search props in supernatural cases.

She had just started learning the Qi-refining method these past two days and hadn't quite gotten the hang of it yet. Even the most basic talisman, the Soul-Detecting Talisman, was not easy to control. After walking only half a circle, she was already sweating profusely.

She wiped the sweat from her head and was about to take a breath and continue searching when she suddenly saw something unusual in the corner with her peripheral vision.

A few dried flowers.

The flower looked like it had been dead for some time. The stamens were as brittle as corn paper, and most of the petals had fallen off. It could only be barely identified as a peach blossom by its shape.

The area around the power plant is very desolate. There are hardly any trees within a ten-mile radius. Where do the peach blossoms come from?

"Xiao Qin, what did you find?"

The three veteran commissioners noticed her movements and gathered around, soon seeing the unusual situation as well. The bearded man walked forward, squatted down, and carefully tapped the flower with the spirit-detecting talisman. Nothing happened.

"No spiritual reaction."

He shook his head and stood up again: "Look at these petals, they are all dried on the ground. This thing fell here at least a month ago. Even if it has spiritual power, it should have dissipated by now."

This result was a little disappointing, but it was also a gain after all. The specialists skillfully completed the on-site photography, took out the sampling bags and packed them, preparing to take them back to the bureau for further testing.

This was just a minor incident. Afterwards, the four of them wandered around the power plant for another two or three hours, but found nothing. Seeing that the sun was already setting, they packed up and prepared to leave.

"I didn't expect that the biggest discovery was made by Xiao Qin." On the way to the exit, the man with the crew cut exclaimed, "He has a good eye. He's a good candidate for a specialist position."

"No." Qin Jiajia scratched her head, "Doesn't that flower have anything to do with Chaofan?"

"Just because there's no spiritual reaction doesn't mean there's no problem," said Beauty Mole. "There aren't any blooming peach trees nearby. These flowers couldn't have just drifted here by chance. They must have been brought in by someone. If we just check for peach trees nearby, we might be able to track the person's movements."

"That sounds like how the police would solve a case."

"That's right." The bearded man laughed. "This power plant is a haunted house. We're here to investigate the suspect, but the suspect is most likely a monk."

The laughter suddenly stopped, and his next words were stuck in the middle. The expressions of the two commissioners next to him changed at the same time.

The atmosphere suddenly changed. Qin Jiajia was completely confused and was about to ask something when she felt a heat on her waist and the spirit-detecting talisman in her pocket began to vibrate violently.

This proves that a strong spiritual reaction occurred within ten meters!
“Get out of the way!!!” the guy with the crew cut suddenly yelled.

The sound of a silver bottle breaking suddenly resounded throughout the factory area. The glass windows above their heads exploded without warning. Amidst the rain of debris, a white figure fell from the sky!

The chaotic footsteps merged into a mess. The bearded man and the crew cut retreated quickly. In just one breath, they had drawn their guns and loaded them. The man with the beauty mark closest to Qin Jiajia suddenly pounced on her, pushed her several meters away with a shoulder.

In a flash, Qin Jiajia suddenly remembered a sentence she had read online.

The rent for haunted houses where murders have occurred is often very cheap, and this is not because they are haunted or affect feng shui.

But because - the murderer is likely to come back again!
Continuous gunshots rang out, and several pieces of glass that had not yet fallen to the ground were shattered. The bullets were heading straight for the target, but the white shadow flashed like a ghost, and in the split second of zero tenths of a second, the bullets approaching him were deflected in mid-air, passing by him as if interfered by an invisible magnetic field, and only made a few smoking bullet holes on the wall behind him.

"Spiritual power protects the body. It's foundation building!"

Seeing the strange scene unfold, the three commissioners were all shocked, but their hands did not stop moving at all.

The bearded man and the crew cut kept shooting to hold the opponent back, but the girl with the beauty mole gave up her gun and quickly took out a talisman in her hand. The talisman paper was glowing with light, as if she was about to cast some spell.

Cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage and above could already form shields by releasing spiritual energy to protect against bullets from light weapons. Since they had arrived in such a hurry, their only equipment was a few small pistols, and they had no special spiritual-breaking bullets for dealing with cultivators, so they could only rely on magic.

However, the opponent did not intend to give them this opportunity.

A gentle breeze blew, and a faint floral scent filled the factory. It was a refreshing aroma, but the three specialists who caught it froze in place, as if frozen. With a flick of the monk's sleeve, three figures fell to the ground with a thud. The talismans they hadn't yet activated fluttered to the ground, turning into a handful of burnt ash in a few breaths.

All this happened in less than ten seconds. By the time Qin Jiajia came to her senses from her shock, none of the three commissioners were still standing.

The fallen commissioners were still breathing, but the foundation-building cultivator had no intention of finishing them off. He glanced sideways and his eyes fell on Qin Jiajia in the corner.

He wants to capture someone alive?
It was not until this time that Qin Jiajia reacted and wanted to run, but before she could take a step, she saw a flash in front of her eyes, and the next second a white figure flashed in front of her!

A faint floral scent rushed into her nose, and her vision suddenly became blurred. The factory and human figures in front of her were distorted and transformed into a pastoral scene.

The land is flat and the houses are neat. There are fertile fields, beautiful ponds, mulberry trees and bamboos.

Her body froze, her pupils slowly dilated, and she lost all her senses in a few seconds.

In the reality that she could not see, the figure in white clothes raised the corner of his mouth slightly and stretched out a hand towards her, as if to drag her into an endless dream.

Boom—the blazing flames stung my eyes, and the paradise scene collapsed in an instant.

Before she lost consciousness, she saw a red-gold flame rising up in front of her eyes. With unparalleled power, it instantly engulfed the white figure in front of her, and the entire space was bathed in blazing flames.

In front of the chess table, Zhou Qing's fingers holding the chess piece paused.

Was the true fire that had remained in Qin Jiajia's body triggered?

According to his settings, the spell would only work when attacked by someone with malicious intent. That young woman had only been a cultivator at the Environmental Sanitation Bureau for a few days, had she already encountered a crisis?

Next time you run into her, ask her what's going on.

"Xiao Zhou, it's your turn."

Uncle Wu, facing him, pressed the button again, urging him on with enthusiasm. He glanced at the chessboard in front of him, and lightly lowered the chess piece in his hand, pushing away one of the opponent's pawns.

"have eaten."

Half an hour later, Lu Zhenhai arrived at Yiyuan Power Plant by car.

The once desolate, abandoned power plant was now surrounded by sanitation bureau vehicles, a cacophony of sirens and chatter. Looking inside, plumes of white smoke were billowing from the plant shed, resembling the scene of an accident.

"We checked the surveillance footage, and it shows that there was a violent spiritual reaction here half an hour ago. A fire of unknown cause broke out in the factory."

The commissioner in charge of relaying the situation told him, "There were four commissioners from our bureau inside the factory when the accident occurred. We've confirmed they were all Director Li Yulan's subordinates, and they're here today to carry out a mission."

"When we arrived, all four were unconscious. Examination results showed they had suffered no other injuries, only slight disturbances to their spirits. Medical staff are currently providing emergency treatment to them."

"Here to carry out a mission?" Lu Zhenhai turned around. "What mission?"

"This request was made by an ancient cultivator named Zhou Qing, asking him to help him trace the whereabouts of several evil cultivators who appeared two months ago."

The commissioner briefly explained the situation. Lv Zhenhai listened from the side, his brows furrowed tighter and tighter. "...Zhou Qing?"

"Oh, he seems to have another name." The specialist thought for a moment, "Director Li's investigation revealed that he used a pseudonym before. It should be called... Zhou Fan?"

Lu Zhenhai was choking on what he was about to say.

Zhou Fan still had some recollection of this name. Li Yulan had reported this case two weeks ago, saying it was an ancient cultivator suspected to have appeared during the Five Barbarians period. At the time, he was completely absorbed in Peach Blossom Spring and hadn't paid much attention.

But now this name is suddenly related to the members of Peach Blossom Spring, and two seemingly unrelated events are twisted together because of him.

"A remnant of the Peach Blossom Spring who is in the Foundation Establishment stage has escaped to this area. Have you found him?"

Jiang Ruifeng, who was standing nearby, asked. He had come with Lu Zhenhai by car and got straight to the point.

“There are discoveries, but they are not entirely discoveries”

This time, the commissioner showed some hesitation and pointed towards the smoking factory area and said, "The scene is right over there. Please move over and take a look."

Led by him, Lü Zhenhai and Jiang Ruifeng, along with a group of specialists, walked forward. Entering the factory area, still reeking of smoke, they found it already packed with people. In the center of the crowd was a white area drawn with chalk, marking the body within.

To be precise, it could no longer be called a corpse; it was merely a black, human-like silhouette formed from ash on the ground. Tiny, red-gold sparks danced among the ashes, still carrying a trace of residual warmth.

"This is..." Even Lu Zhenhai couldn't help showing a look of horror.

"This is the Peach Blossom Spring member." The commissioner's words confirmed his suspicions. "Although all of his physical information is missing, judging by the surveillance footage and the situation at the scene, it's definitely him."

Lu Zhenhai pressed his forehead with one hand and felt his brain throbbing with pain due to the overwhelming amount of information.

A month ago, an ancient cultivator was attacked by cultivators of unknown forces. Several specialists came to investigate the power plant where the attacker had stayed, but they unexpectedly encountered the remnants of the Peach Blossom Spring.

Even a fool wouldn't think this was a coincidence; the remnants must have come here with a purpose. While the specific purpose wasn't known, it was certain it was connected to the attackers who had come here before.

In other words, the evil cultivators who appeared a month ago were most likely also from Peach Blossom Spring!

Adding this information together, the original case is no longer just "several evil cultivators were killed by Zhou Qing", but "several cultivators instructed by Taohuayuan went looking for an ancient cultivator who appeared a thousand years ago and were killed by him."

As the saying goes, if someone comes to visit for no reason, it's either because of old friendship or old grudges - the current situation doesn't seem like the former at all.

And if it is an old grudge, who would be the enemy that a supernatural organization with a thousand-year history that once influenced half of the Central Plains would specifically seek out?

Lu Zhenhai looked at the pile of human-shaped ashes in front of him and felt a chill on his fingertips.

He had just understood the level of the team's specialists: three of them were just beginning their Qi Refining journey, and one wasn't even at Qi Refining level yet. Logically speaking, a team like that facing a Foundation Establishment cultivator would be completely crushed, if not completely defeated.

As a result, those specialists were almost unharmed, while the Peach Blossom Spring cultivator who was at the foundation-building stage was completely wiped out, and the means of destruction were so horrific that even Jiang Ruifeng, who was at the Golden Core stage, pales in comparison.

A wave of palpitations washed over him. He hadn't felt this kind of fear in years, as if he had missed a huge secret.

Zhou Qing, Zhou Fan, who is that person?
"Manager Lu, who started the fire?"

Jiang Ruifeng's voice came from the side, interrupting his rapid thinking. Turning around, he saw the deacon staring blankly at the spark in the ashes, with an expression that was unprecedentedly strange.

"I recognize this kind of fire. It's the fire of that senior."

He turned his head and looked straight at Lu Zhenhai.

"Manager Lu, have you ever heard of the name 'Zhou Wuqing'?"

P.S. After discussing with the editor, the update time of the new book period has been adjusted to 12:05 every night. This one is on January 1th.
(End of this chapter)