On matters like this, the Three Great Holy Lands were uncharacteristically unanimous, always maintaining a stance of cracking down hard!
Zhang Deming’s expression changed dramatically, and he took several steps back. Without a second thought, he said, "Let’s go. We’ll head back for today and figure this out later..."
Before he could finish, Zhang Deming froze. Not far behind him, standing before Yang Guangfu, a weathered middle-aged man had appeared out of nowhere.
He had an upright posture and a refined, scholarly face, yet his expression was one of profound melancholy and sorrow. His mature, handsome features seemed to hide countless tales of heartbreak.
This bearing was completely unlike that of a farmer. An aura like this would likely hold a deadly allure for naive young women.
But what sent a chill down Zhang Deming’s spine was that the middle-aged man was now calmly watching him with impenetrable eyes, a pair of pitch-black orbs that resembled a bottomless abyss.
"You saw?" he asked Zhang Deming, his question coming out of nowhere.
Zhang Deming looked at the man, his heart skipping a beat. Without the slightest hesitation, he flipped his hand, produced a Jade Pendant, and said respectfully, "Zhang Deming, Fourth Peak Master of Spirit Nurturing Peak, greets Senior Brother Yunfei!"
Yang Guangfu, who had been standing obediently to the side with his head bowed, trembled violently before quickly calming himself and lowering his head again.
Fanx Yunfei paused. A flicker of emotion crossed his calm, impenetrable gaze. He asked again, "You saw?"
Holding the Jade Pendant, Zhang Deming replied, "What are you talking about, Senior Brother? The Nine-Turn Profound Spirit Grass? Oh, yes. I saw it."
Fanx Yunfei’s expression remained unchanged. "And you saw it clearly?"
A pained expression crossed Zhang Deming’s face. ’I’ll kill Dang Xiangjun for this,’ he thought, cursing the man a thousand times over. But the situation was what it was. Although with his current strength he wasn’t afraid of an old master at the Peak of Three Talents, he couldn’t just start a fight.
After a long moment of deliberation, he finally nodded. "I saw it clearly!"
Fanx Yunfei paused, then said, "Many have come here over the years. Not one has seen it clearly, let alone offered any hope. Are you certain you saw what was there?"
Zhang Deming didn’t answer. Instead, he turned to Yang Guangfu. "Go and wait outside. Yes, guard the door. Tell the Gate Guard Disciples that no one is to be let in without our permission."
Fanx Yunfei’s eyes flickered again. This time, he began to study Zhang Deming in earnest.
Yang Guangfu heard the command and glanced up at Fanx Yunfei. Seeing no reaction from the man, he immediately gave a respectful bow and retreated.
Once the man was gone, Zhang Deming spoke. "I did see it clearly. In fact, I saw it a bit too clearly, to the point that I’m not sure what to do."
Upon hearing this, Fanx Yunfei’s aura grew even more unfathomable.
"Well? Aren’t you going to invite me to sit down, Senior Brother Fanx?" Zhang Deming asked, holding his Jade Pendant and gesturing toward the nearby courtyard.
Fanx Yunfei hesitated, then suddenly asked, "Can it be saved?"
Zhang Deming was taken aback. "What?"
Fanx Yunfei said, "This ’medicine’... can it still be saved?"
Zhang Deming was stunned for a moment before he understood the man’s meaning. He had only taken a hurried glance earlier. The moment he realized it was a person, he had been so frightened he’d wanted to flee, desperate to avoid getting involved in this mess. He hadn’t looked closely.
Now, prompted by Fanx Yunfei’s question, he came to his senses and looked again at the Nine-Turn Profound Spirit Grass shrouded by the Array.
As Zhang Deming examined it carefully, the true state of the "thing" slowly became clear to him.
Zhang Deming hadn’t been mistaken. There really was a person planted in the ground—a stunningly beautiful woman. ’Or rather, a stunningly beautiful female soul?’
’Not entirely. It seems to be a female soul, some of her Essence Blood, and other things.’
The original Nine-Turn Profound Spirit Grass had already developed a certain degree of Spirit Wisdom. So, in order to fuse the female soul and her Essence Blood into it without harming the consciousness of her Soul Body, someone had deliberately snuffed out the herb’s nascent Spiritual Wisdom.
Then, they had forcefully inserted the female soul and some of her Essence Blood, intending to cultivate a new body for her—a Medicine Lady.
However, because its Spiritual Wisdom was snuffed out and a foreign soul was introduced, the plant had a rejection reaction. This, combined with the instinctual backlash from its nascent Spirit Wisdom, created the current condition of the Nine-Turn Profound Spirit Grass.
After examining it for a long while and discovering the herb’s true state, Zhang Deming’s initial shock subsided considerably.
If he had previously feared that Fanx Yunfei had strayed onto the Demon Path, most of that worry now vanished.
If Zhang Deming wasn’t mistaken, the woman planted in the ground had to be the long-vanished Zhou Qiaoru.
If so, this wasn’t a matter of the Demon Path. At most, Fanx Yunfei was just a heartbroken man who had taken his love to a tragic extreme.
’In that case, I don’t need to be too worried,’ Zhang Deming thought. ’Killing me to silence me should be off the table.’
At this thought, Zhang Deming froze. ’No wonder Dang Xiangjun said it wasn’t a good idea to come to the Spirit Nurturing Holy Land. Son of a bitch, you knew he was growing a person here, didn’t you? Or was this your idea all along?’
’Then what’s with the long-standing feud between you two?’
’Was it all an act for the Sect? To keep too many people from finding out?’
’Damn it all!’
’Not even a heads-up. He’s really screwing me over!’
’I thought I was just hitching a ride this time, but it looks like I got a raw deal. I came along for the ride, and now I’m the one pushing the cart?’
"Well?" Fanx Yunfei finally asked again, breaking into Zhang Deming’s racing thoughts.
Zhang Deming paused, collecting himself. He chose his words carefully. "She can be saved. There’s more than one way, in fact. However..."
"Really?!!!" A joyous, surprised expression broke through Fanx Yunfei’s calm facade. "Whatever the difficulties, just tell the person who sent you. He’ll take care of everything."
’I’ll be damned,’ Zhang Deming thought. ’So these two old foxes really were just acting? A thousand-year grudge? Refusing every little favor? Never speaking to each other again?’
’Bullshit!’
Still, Zhang Deming could understand why they acted this way. After all, the matter of growing a person in the ground needed to be handled with extreme secrecy.