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Chapter 137 A Shocking Secret
"Push this tree down?" Yuan Shoucheng's mustache trembled violently, and his voice cracked.
"No, no, my Scholar Chen! This ginseng fruit tree is the spiritual root of heaven and earth, the eye of Wuzhuang Temple, and the lifeblood of Zhenyuan Daxian. If you knock down Zhenyuan Daxian's lifeblood, he won't be able to get hard anymore. That would be like tearing a hole in the sky! We'd be forging an irreconcilable blood feud with Longevity Mountain!"

He was incoherent, and his voice was trembling uncontrollably.

The Silver Furnace Boy beside him was also stunned by this earth-shattering suggestion. His face turned deathly pale, and his eyes widened in disbelief and immense panic.

"Push down the tree? Mr. Chen, you can't be serious, can you? We ate a few of these fruits and ran away, which is just stealing some. But if we push down this tree, Zhen Yuanzi will skin us alive when he comes back. Even the ancestor can't protect us! This will cause chaos."

Chen Guangrui's gaze remained fixed on the towering ancient tree, the moonlight casting cold, stern lines on his face.
“It’s alright,” he said, his voice unusually calm, as if he were talking about something completely ordinary.

"Zhen Yuanzi is currently at Guanyin Bodhisattva's South Sea sacred site. And since the tree was pushed by Zhu Bajie, this is a good opportunity to see what kind of entanglement they have with Guanyin. Let's make our move."

At this moment, he vaguely pieced together a certain relationship. He knew that Zhu Bajie was ultimately brought into the pilgrimage team by Guanyin. And Wuzhuang Temple was also involved in this matter, while Zhen Yuanzi was still in the South China Sea.

This raises the question: what exactly is the relationship between them?
I'm afraid a few ginseng fruits might not be enough to tell the difference; we'll need to add more fuel to the fire.

As Chen Guangrui finished speaking, he didn't hesitate any longer. He suddenly rushed forward and forcefully swept his body across the thick, gnarled roots of the ginseng fruit tree!

boom!
The ginseng fruit tree emitted a series of loud, teeth-grinding cracking sounds as it struggled under the weight, its massive canopy swaying violently and countless jade-like leaves falling like a torrential rain.

Under the impact of the terrifying force, the massive tree trunk began to tilt toward the ground extremely slowly, with a suffocating sense of despair!

The spiritual root of heaven and earth that had existed for countless millennia, the core treasure of Wuzhuang Temple, collapsed with a deafening roar under the horrified gazes of Yuan Shoucheng and the Silver Furnace Boy!

Although the sound wasn't loud, the two people at the scene were already terrified.

"Heavens...Heavens..." Yuan Shoucheng collapsed to the ground, his lips trembling, his eyes unfocused, only unconscious murmurs remaining, "It's over, it's all over!"

Silver Furnace Boy plopped down on the fruit he had just finished eating, his face as white as paper, his whole body trembling like a leaf in the wind, he even forgot to cry.

rustling...

At the base of the fallen tree, the massive root system was torn apart and twisted by immense force, mixed with fresh soil and broken rootlets. As the dust gradually dissipated, the scene beneath the tree roots was revealed.

"Mr. Chen, Master Yuan, look!" The Silver Furnace Boy, who had been terrified, glanced at the upturned tree root and his fear instantly turned into astonishment.

He scrambled to the edge of the pit, pointing below, "Those tree roots are rotten! Many parts are rotten! They're black and hollow."

Chen Guangrui and Yuan Shoucheng, who had just struggled to get up, were both startled upon hearing this. They immediately walked quickly to the side of the huge tree pit and looked down.

The bright moonlight clearly illuminated the massive, upturned root system. Nearly half of the roots had taken on an eerie brownish-black hue, devoid of any life-giving sheen.

Some of the thick roots are rotten and decaying, and you can even see hollow holes from which a thick, slightly fishy-smelling black sap oozes out, which is completely out of place with the fresh soil around them.

"Hiss..." Yuan Shoucheng gasped, his obese body trembling slightly.
"How could the roots of this ginseng fruit tree be rotten like this? This is a spiritual root of heaven and earth!"

He looked at the Silver Furnace Boy and asked, "Young Master, while you were in the Tushita Palace, did you hear any rumors about the Ginseng Fruit Tree having problems?"

The Silver Furnace Boy shook his head vigorously, his little face filled with certainty and astonishment.
"Absolutely not. When the Ancestor mentioned the ginseng fruit tree at Wuzhuang Temple, he always said it was a rare spiritual treasure in the Three Realms, evergreen for ten thousand years. He never heard of the tree roots rotting. When I was there, everything was fine!"

"How could Wuzhuang Temple have kept such a momentous matter so well hidden?"

Chen Guangrui stared at the rotting roots, his eyes as deep and unfathomable as a still pool.

"The withering of the ginseng fruit tree is no small matter. Zhen Yuanzi's cover-up of such a secret must mean he has a grand scheme. We must return to the Tushita Palace as soon as possible and report to Laozi."

However, the Silver Furnace Boy was still thinking about his job.

“If I go back now, wouldn’t that mean I haven’t done this job well?”

"This news is a thousand times more important than your job." Chen Guangrui turned to the Silver Furnace Boy, his tone resolute.
"You must set off immediately to return to the Tushita Palace and report the news of the tree root rotting to Laozi. There is no time to lose. Leave now, or we will be trapped here forever if the tree falls at dawn and the truth comes out. It will be difficult for us to leave."

The Silver Furnace Boy knew the matter was of great importance and nodded vigorously.

"I understand. I'll leave right now and do everything in my power to get the message back!"

After saying that, he didn't even look at the fallen tree or the limp Yuan Shoucheng. He got up, hugged his small bottle, and transformed into a faint stream of light, disappearing into the deep night like lightning.

Seeing the Silver Furnace Boy disappear, Yuan Shoucheng looked at Chen Guangrui with a mournful face and a last glimmer of hope, "Scholar Chen, then...then we should also..."

That means we should hurry up and slip away.

Chen Guangrui's gaze fell on the massive tree trunk and the chaotic scene, and he slowly shook his head.

“No. I am from the Tushita Palace. If I were to disappear without a trace along with the silver furnace, wouldn’t that confirm that the Tushita Palace was guilty and had fled in fear of punishment? At that time, the Wuzhuang Temple would surely use this as leverage to pin all the blame on the Tushita Palace and file a complaint with the Heavenly Court. Laozi would be in an extremely passive position. I must stay.”

Yuan Shoucheng's mouth was agape, his jaw almost dropping to the ground, and the flesh on his face was frozen. He pointed at himself, then at the surroundings, his voice trembling with tears, "What about me? If I, an outsider, stay here, won't I become the scapegoat? I'm not from your Tushita Palace."

He felt like he had been pushed to the edge of a fire pit, and he was filled with remorse.

Chen Guangrui looked at him calmly, as if she didn't see his despair.
"You are the sorcerer I brought with me. If you leave now, you will be just as suspicious. Why don't you stay and help me deal with this?"

These words contained both comfort and an undeniable pressure.

Yuan Shoucheng was on the verge of tears, his mouth feeling like it was stuffed with a bitter gourd, realizing he had truly been tricked this time.

The sky is getting brighter.

"It's not good, the big thing is bad!"

A shrill, piercing scream shattered the morning tranquility of Wuzhuang Temple, carrying with it indescribable panic and despair.

Like cold water being poured into a hot oil pan, the entire Wuzhuang Temple instantly erupted into chaos.

Countless figures rushed out from various palaces and houses, their clothes disheveled, their eyes still sleepy but filled with panic.

Everyone rushed towards the backyard.

"The tree! The ginseng fruit tree has fallen!"

Soon, even more shrill, tearful screams rang out from the crowd.

Instantly, an even greater panic spread like a plague. Surrounded by several Taoist priests, Ninth Senior Brother pushed through the human wall. When he saw the collapsed giant tree and the rotten roots that had been torn out, his vision went black, and he almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

He pointed his trembling finger at the horrifying scene, making strange "hoarse" sounds in his throat, and then, unable to catch his breath, he fell straight backward!

"Ninth Senior Brother!"

"Quick, help her up!"

"Oh my god! The ginseng fruit tree has fallen!"

The scene was completely out of control, with cries, screams, and curses erupting in chaos.

Once it was confirmed that the ginseng fruit tree had indeed been completely destroyed, the panic of the disciples of Wuzhuang Temple quickly turned into extreme anger.

They were like a swarm of wasps whose hive had been destroyed, their eyes bloodshot. After Ninth Brother was woken up by being pinched, they learned from Qingfeng and Mingyue that they had seen Zhu Ganglie last night. The group roared and rushed towards the guest room in the west wing.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" The violent pounding on the door was like a rapid drumbeat.

"Open the door! You from the Tushita Palace, come out!" The angry roar made the door rattle.

With a creak, the door was opened a crack by Yuan Shoucheng's trembling hand. He and Chen Guangrui were both wearing their nightgowns, their hair slightly disheveled, and their faces showed signs of being forcibly awakened. "What's all this noise about?"

"What is it?" A disciple, his eyes red, pointed towards the backyard, spitting almost onto Yuan Shouchang's face.
"Stop pretending! The ginseng fruit tree in the backyard fell down. Did you do it? And where's that pig demon? Where's the pig demon you brought?"

Chen Guangrui seemed somewhat taken aback by the sudden barrage of questions, his brows furrowing slightly.

"The tree fell? What tree fell? Pigsy?" He shook his head, a hint of helplessness in his voice.
“Shortly after nightfall yesterday, he came to say goodbye, saying he was worried about his wife in Gao Village and insisted on returning overnight. We advised him that it would be safer to return with us, but he insisted on not listening. He was a guest who was traveling with us, and we could not force him to stay if he wanted to leave.”

"Bullshit!" another disciple roared. "You all came together! How could you not know about something as serious as stealing fruit? You must be accomplices, working together from the inside and outside. Now that the person has run away, you're trying to absolve yourself of any responsibility?"

Chen Guangrui's voice suddenly turned cold, "Fellow Daoists, watch your words! What evidence do you have to prove that Zhu Ganglie stole the fruit? And on what basis do you say we are accomplices? Last night, the three of us rested in our rooms and did not go out."

"That Pigsy came in a hurry to say goodbye, saying he missed his wife. But Silver Furnace Boy, remembering his acquaintance with Pigsy, saw that he was determined to leave and worried that he might get lost on the road at night, so he chased after him and hasn't returned yet. Instead of looking for that Pigsy who left without permission, you're here making baseless accusations against us? Our Tushita Palace acts with integrity; how can we allow you to slander us so wantonly? If you want to investigate, please produce real evidence!"

His words were righteous and eloquent, and his reasoning was clear. When he mentioned the words "Tushita Palace," a hint of fear flashed in the eyes of the indignant disciples, and they were momentarily speechless.

At this moment, a disciple hurriedly squeezed next to the Ninth Senior Brother, whispered a few words in his ear, speaking so quickly that others could not hear him clearly.

The Ninth Senior Brother, who had been furious, twitched his facial muscles violently after hearing these whispers, and a complex light flashed in his eyes.

He stared intently at Chen Guangrui and Yuan Shoucheng, his eyes filled with venomous hatred, as if he wanted to devour them alive.

However, after a moment, he took a deep breath and, almost through gritted teeth, nodded very slowly and heavily to the disciple who had delivered the message.

"Okay, go find it quickly!" he managed to squeeze out.

(End of this chapter)