The immortal is beside me

Chapter 38 Of course it’s Senior Wuqing!

Thirty kilometers southwest of Liangzhou City, a black prison van was driving on the highway, accompanied by five other cars, escorting it forward.

From the outside, the car looked just like an ordinary police prison van, but in fact, the inner layer of the car was engraved with complicated spirit-isolating formations, which were strong enough to withstand a full-strength attack from a Nascent Soul cultivator.

In terms of the status of criminals, the monks who can ride in this kind of prison car are definitely considered to be dignitaries among the prisoners. If they are sentenced to death, the bullets they will be shot with will be of a higher grade.

In addition to the prison cells where the prisoners were housed, the front half of the vehicle was the driver's cab where the escort specialist was located.

There were six people in the room, a driver, a medical technician responsible for taking care of the prisoners' physical conditions, and four protection specialists, all of whom were combat personnel of Class B or above.

"That's right, it's the criminal we just caught the day before yesterday. He's at the Golden Core stage, and his technique has characteristics of Peach Blossom Spring. We believe he's one of his direct lineage members."

"No problem. If nothing goes wrong, we should arrive in Yizhou tonight. I'll need your help to pick us up then. I'll fill out the application form now."

The specialist in the passenger seat put down the phone, clicked on a link on his phone, and started typing.

Within this week, the Environmental Sanitation Bureau captured several direct members of the Peach Blossom Spring. Each of them underwent the established torture and soul-searching procedures, but the results were unsatisfactory.

It was difficult to pry anything out of these people through ordinary interrogation, and the soul-searching results showed that their spirits had all been cleansed without exception. Not only were their memories fragmented and no clues could be found, but the mental imprints left in them almost implicated the soul-searchers.

The Environmental Sanitation Bureau seems to have exhausted all the means available to it, but the road to intelligence search is by no means over.

As an extraordinary organization backed by the government, they have one final and highest-limit method - recruiting people.

Just like they had asked for help from the Chao Research Institute during the previous investigation in Baiyun Mountain, this time they chose the foreign aid called the Institute of Astronomical Observation and Monitoring, abbreviated as Tianji Institute.

This is the largest and most mysterious official intelligence agency in China's supernatural world. Its headquarters is located in Yizhou City, 700 kilometers away from Liangzhou, which is their destination.

In order to safely escort the remnant in the car, the Liangzhou branch specially selected the most elite team to accompany him. A total of six vehicles formed a mobile iron cage, sliding all the way from the Liangzhou city to the uninhabited suburbs.

"Beep-beep-"

The monitor installed in front of the cell suddenly sounded an alarm, attracting the attention of the commissioners in the car.

For a moment, everyone subconsciously grabbed their weapons. Only the medical officer with the Red Cross badge stood up, stepped forward to check the monitor, and then his face suddenly changed.

"The criminal's spiritual energy is disrupted. The Great Circulation is abnormally blocked, and the Qi and blood are squeezed. What's going on?"

He muttered to himself, moved closer to the palm-sized one-way glass in front of the cell, and peeked at what was going on inside.

There was an iron bed fixed in the prison van, and the bed was engraved with array runes. A figure was tied to the bed with a specially made soul-isolating bondage vest, with dozens of different tubes and monitoring equipment connecting cables inserted into his body.

At this moment, the entire iron bed was shaking violently, and even the wires connected to it were shaking, as if the person tied up in it was struggling nervously.

"Something's wrong!"

The medical staff stared at the monitor, and the screen showed the measured figures of the prisoner's circulation of Qi and the speed of his spiritual power.

These two items represent a monk's basic physiological data, equivalent to an average person's heart rate and blood pressure. Based on the person's current monitoring, their heart rate was roughly equivalent to an average person's 240 and blood pressure of 180, reaching a level that made one question why they were still alive.

"What's going on?" The specialist next to him also caught a glimpse of the shocking data. "Didn't they replenish the tranquilizers and spirit-blocking drugs?"

"Impossible. I just had two injections before getting on the bus. The dosage is definitely correct."

"Then why did he suddenly start having seizures?"

"I don't know," the medical officer said, his face twitching. "But looking at his condition, if we don't take some measures, he's going to explode and die. Let's stop for a moment."

The people in the front exchanged glances, and the specialist in the passenger seat picked up the walkie-talkie and said a few words. The entire convoy turned together and drove to a stop on the side of the highway.

All the members of the escort team got out of the car. One group held guns, while the other group held protective talismans. They completed the deployment within a few minutes.

Once everything was ready, the captain in the prison van gave the go-ahead. The medical officer donned specialized protective gear and, escorted by several specialists, carefully opened the van door and headed straight for the iron bed.

The person on the bed was indeed convulsing violently, with blood oozing out of the bulging blood vessels on his face, as if his entire body was expanding like a balloon.

"What's wrong with this?"

"I'm not sure. Anyway, give him a sedative first to calm him down before we check."

As the medical officer spoke, he stepped forward and touched the instrument connected to the prisoner, preparing to adjust the input value.

But just as he stepped forward, the prisoner on the stage suddenly turned his head and cast a distracted look at him.

Sneak attack? !
The medical officer was quite experienced. When he noticed the gaze, he turned around quickly and at the same time used his spiritual power to protect his spiritual platform to prevent himself from being intimidated by the other party.

But when he turned around, he met another pair of eyes.

The owner of those eyes seemed to be an old man in his twilight years, wearing rough linen clothes and holding a hoe covered with dirt in his hands, as if he had just finished plowing the fields.

But this is clearly on a modern highway! Where did this old man who was farming come from?!
The medical worker was shocked and turned his head to avoid the old man, but when he turned his eyes, he met another pair of eyes.

This time the owner of the eyes was a child with loose hair, holding a wooden windmill in his hand, and looking at him with his head tilted.

Turning my head again, I saw another pair of eyes, and turning again, I saw another pair.
Pairs of eyes surrounded him, and he suddenly realized that he had unknowingly stood in an open field, surrounded by quaint thatched cottages, and behind him he could vaguely see patches of swaying peach blossoms.

Among them, people come and go and work, both old and young, all happy and contented.

With a thud, the medical box in his hand fell to the ground.

The next second, a huge explosion engulfed everything. Boom boom boom——

A huge pillar of light rose from the side of the highway, and the entire prison van exploded in the halo. Amidst exclamations, a tornado composed of petals shot straight into the sky, enveloping everything around it.

"Director Lu has read the secret history of our sect before, so you should know that there are indeed methods in Peach Blossom Spring that can quickly increase the strength of cultivators."

In the car, Lu Zhenhai turned his head towards Jiang Ruifeng who spoke beside him and nodded slightly.

"Yes. According to the information, the Peach Blossom Spring has a unique secret method."

He paused at this point, as if weighing his words. "It's said that the secret technique relies on infecting and devouring the souls of others to strengthen oneself. If the soul being devoured is from a cultivator, one can even directly gain the cultivation level of the devoured soul."

This is the conclusion given in the Environmental Sanitation Bureau's database, which is consistent with the behavioral pattern of the Peach Blossom Spring in reality that targets souls.

Further research shows that this devouring also has restrictions. The higher the cultivation level of the devoured person, the greater the probability of failure, unless the devoured person voluntarily gives up resistance and sacrifices himself.

The latter situation sounds very absurd, but reality always tells people that history is not short of absurdity.

It is also because of this that the Environmental Sanitation Bureau specifically detained the arrested members of Taohuayuan separately, and there must not be any idle people within the activity range except the supervisors, so as to prevent the devouring from reappearing.

"exactly."

Jiang Ruifeng, who was sitting next to him, said, "I went back a few days ago and looked up the sect's secret manual. There's a record that says that a thousand years ago, the Peach Blossom Spring used this method to elevate a Jindan cultivator to a level close to the Divine Transformation level in a short period of time, at the cost of sacrificing thousands of cultivators."

Although he had seen similar descriptions before, Lu Zhenhai's face still darkened when he heard Jiang Ruifeng say it in person.

He whispered, "So, the number of Peach Blossom Land members we've found in the past two days is decreasing, but their strength is growing stronger. Could it be because..."

"I'm afraid it's just as Director Lu thought."

Jiang Ruifeng sighed and said, "According to the elders, our sect encountered a similar situation a thousand years ago. The further the battle progressed, the stronger the enemy became. Fortunately, many colleagues from the immortal sects responded and continuously strengthened the power of the immortal alliance, which enabled us to maintain the trend of confrontation."

Lu Zhenhai responded silently. Although he had seen the description of "devouring" in the database before, his thinking at the time was more about evil cultivators using human souls as sustenance to strengthen themselves. He never imagined that Peach Blossom Spring itself was a huge breeding ground for poisonous insects.

From his perspective as a bystander and descendant, he knew that the Peach Blossom Spring was also in a state of division at that time. The immortal sects, Buddhist sects, barbarian gods and other factions were in constant conflict, which probably led to the process of raising the Gu not being smooth, and eventually it was defeated by the Jiuli Immortal Alliance.

"There is actually such a crooked way." Lu Zhenhai whispered.

"You're not the first person to lament this."

Jiang Ruifeng said, "As early as a thousand years ago during the Civil War, our sect had already sent people to dismantle the magical power held by Peach Blossom Spring. However, that method seems to have some restrictions. Even within Peach Blossom Spring, only a certain number of people can use it, and outsiders are completely unable to understand it."

"Our sect has mobilized many people and used various methods, but we have not been able to replicate the principle behind that technique. We only know its effect—which is what you see as 'devouring'."

"In my opinion, the people from the Environmental Sanitation Bureau should act quickly and decisively. While the rats are being driven into the open, we should do our best to wipe them out completely, to prevent them from becoming desperate and causing further trouble."

"That's exactly what we were thinking." Lu Zhenhai nodded. "Speaking of which, how did your sect deal with that cultivator who reached the Divine Transformation Realm in such a short period of time? This doesn't seem to be recorded in detail in the historical records I've seen."

"At that time, our sect was still unaware of Peach Blossom Spring's methods, and was caught completely off guard. We were nearly invaded by the enemy."

Jiang Ruifeng's tone rose as he spoke: "At this critical moment, it was Senior Wuqing who entered the battle alone, fought the enemy single-handedly for hundreds of rounds, and ultimately killed him with his Nascent Soul cultivation, surpassing his level. His skills astonished everyone!"

"I see." Lu Zhenhai responded with a smile. This was not surprising at all.

He turned his head and looked out the car window. The sunset that had swept across the entire sky that day had already dissipated, but in the eyes of their group, the invisible wave was still there.

During these few days, the members of Peach Blossom Spring they encountered only dared to wander around the outskirts of Liangzhou, and no one dared to enter the urban area. This allowed the Environmental Sanitation Bureau to use various heavy weapons without restraint.

He had considered asking Zhou Qing to take action directly, but after weighing the pros and cons, he gave up the idea.

Although they had witnessed Zhou Qing's methods before and no longer had any doubts about his status and strength, as the official's white glove in the extraordinary world, the Environmental Sanitation Bureau could not rely on him like the sect did in the past.

Regardless of whether he is willing to take action, the subsequent impact of this action alone is enough to cause all kinds of trouble.

Although the domestic supernatural world seems peaceful on the surface, many cultivators are willing to regard themselves as official personnel. It seems that those high-ranking ancient cultivators have changed their appearance and are getting along well with the ordinary people.

But anyone with a little knowledge will understand that this peaceful scene is not based on the kindness and friendliness of the ancient cultivators. The foundation of all peace lies within the range of artillery fire.

It's undeniable that some ancient cultivators are sympathetic to the common people and willing to cooperate sincerely, the Jiuli Sect being an example. But ancient cultivators are just ancient cultivators after all, and the Environmental Sanitation Bureau has its own set of negotiation logic.

Friendly, but not weak; cooperative, but not dependent. This has been the core principle governing official interactions with the monastics for many years. Unless it involves internal disputes, the monastics prioritize resolving issues they can resolve themselves, and external interference is strictly prohibited unless absolutely necessary.

Unlike the Jiuli Sect, with which the Sanitation Bureau has had relations for many years, Zhou Wuqing, or Zhou Qing, is powerful, but he is unwilling to join the official system and has not shown any interest in returning to Jiuli. Therefore, he is still an "outsider" to the Environmental Sanitation Bureau.

As the official representative, the Environmental Sanitation Bureau naturally cannot act indifferent and entrust the important matter concerning the safety of the entire Liangzhou City to such an outsider with whom they have had little communication.

Ultimately, the very existence of the Environmental Sanitation Bureau is proof of the violence wielded by the authorities. As a perpetrator of this violence, Lü Zhenhai is well aware of the confidence this violence embodies.

If the country is gone, everyone will continue to move forward, the only difference is whether they move faster or slower.

The cell phone in his pocket rang, Lu Zhenhai answered it, and the commissioner's report came from the microphone.

"Captain Lu, there's an emergency!"

The voice coming from the phone trembled slightly. "Just now, news came in one after another from the four observation stations. The members of the Peach Blossom Land imprisoned inside suddenly died suddenly. The interval between deaths was no more than 5 minutes. The cause of death was the draining of the spiritual altar."

"A high-energy spiritual reaction has occurred 20 kilometers outside the city. The team escorting the prisoners to Yizhou has lost contact. All teams in the city are rushing to the rescue!"

(End of this chapter)