Why did you provoke me?

Niannian couldn't figure out what was going on and looked at Yu Meng in confusion, "Fourth Sister?"

"It's cruel, and it's better if you don't know."

Niannian then looked at Jia Daoyi, "Old sir?"

Looking at Nian Nian like this, Jia Daoyi's mood suddenly improved. "Didn't you call me Clan Chief? Why are you calling me Old Man again?"

"How could the head of a clan be an ordinary person? That's why we call him Clan Chief. Calling him 'Master' is because I want you to teach me the key to this. This is my humble attitude; I'm asking for your guidance."

Jia Daoyi looked at Niannian and then at Yu Meng, "I really want to know what your sect is like? How can it produce such intelligent and powerful people like you?"

Yu Meng silently drank her tea without responding.

Jia Daoyi shook his head with a smile, "That's because the main reason this Third Palace Master married a woman was because he wanted her superior genes. It wasn't because he loved her that he married her."

Niannian was still a little confused, and she looked at Yu Meng.

Yu Meng rolled her eyes at her. "Women are just reproductive tools. Marrying her means having children to use for experiments."

"Huh?" Niannian was stunned. "Isn't getting a wife for the sake of living life together? How can it be like this?"

She looked at Jia Daoyi as if pleading for help.

A thoughtful expression appeared on Jia Daoyi's face. This Teacher Yu really hit the nail on the head.

"That's exactly what Teacher Yu said." Jia Dao nodded in agreement with Yu Meng's statement.

"This is too terrible. Maybe I shouldn't get married in the future."

Jia Dao paused for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing. "These are just a few individuals in the Underworld, not everyone is like that. If I've given you that thought, then I'm the one who's guilty."

Yu Meng laughed too, "Researchers can be crazy sometimes; nothing is more important than their experimental data. As long as you don't work with researchers in the future, this kind of thing won't happen."

"Really? Then, who will be able to get a wife?" Niannian's thinking is really unconventional.

"Is that something you should be worrying about?" Yu Meng glared at her. Clearly, Yu Meng knew who "who" was referring to.

By this time, it was already dark outside. Yu Meng stood up and said, "Aunt Qing will probably be gone for quite a while. Why don't you go and rest, Chief? It won't make any difference tonight."

Jia Daoyi also stood up, "Then I'll trouble you to take care of it."

Niannian stood up. "Will there be another story tomorrow? I'll bring the snacks and treat you to a big gift."

"Don't worry, clan leader, I will have someone take good care of those bone painters," Yu Meng said softly.

Jia Daoyi got up and went outside, where Secretary Wu was already waiting.

"Teacher Yu, I will take good care of the old man. You should go and rest too; you must be tired from the journey."

After Jia Daoyi left, Yu Meng sat back down in her chair, stretched, and asked, "Fourth Sister, aren't you tired?"

"I'll wait for Aunt Qing, you go back."

Niannian's eyes darted around. "I'll go check out those bone artists. Maybe my Little Grey can still have a midnight snack."

"Don't go too far, I don't want to make an enemy."

"Okay." Niannian ran out.

After dismissing Secretary Wu, Jia Dao did not return to his own residence but went to the bone painter's room. Sure enough, everyone was there, and they all stood up and bowed respectfully when he entered.

Jia Daoyi sat in the main seat. "Please sit down, everyone. Has someone come to treat you?"

"A teacher named Sun came over, but she was alone. She suggested that we learn to absorb energy ourselves."

"She's willing to teach? That's a very powerful skill?" Jia Daoyi asked in a deep voice.

"That's what I find strange, but that's what she really said," said a very old bone painter.

"Fifth Sister is in the next room. She's in the most serious condition. Teacher Sun is helping her draw out the energy from the lines. But she also said that what's drawn out is essentially a complete loss."

"What exactly have you been in contact with? Don't you have any suspects yet?"

The old bone painter fell silent for a long time before raising his head. "There aren't many things that we can all access. I can only think of two: food and water."

"Food and water?" Jia Daoyi repeated.

"Yes!" The old bone painter nodded firmly. "And I don't think it was an accident."

Jia Daoyi sat up straight. "Explain it more clearly?"

"I have a feeling that we're being watched. Our movements are kept secret, no one knows when we'll be able to get together, and most importantly, we don't eat the same things, and the food isn't prepared by the same person."

Jia Daoyi's heart sank. "Don't worry about the treatment. I'll have someone investigate the rest."

Yu Meng closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep. Qing Yuan and Qian Chuan entered the room one after the other.

"Yu Meng is a bit complicated. There's a special substance in her blood that we don't know what it is," Qingyuan said as she sat down on the chair next to her.

"What is its purpose?"

"Accelerates the decomposition of matter."

"That's it?" Yu Meng opened her eyes.

"That's all we can find out; we don't know in which direction the others are heading."

Yu Meng tapped her fingers on the armrest of the chair for a long time before looking at Qing Yuan.

"Aunt Qing, you said their lines have evolved a membrane, does that mean their lines have evolved? Our lines don't have that membrane."

Qingyuan glanced at Qian Chuan.

"You and Xiaochuan seem to share the same idea."

"Oh." Yu Meng looked at Qian Chuan. "Tell me your thoughts."

Qian Chuan coughed lightly. "This is what I think: the substances in the blood enable the lines to absorb energy, but the lines themselves do not absorb or digest, so they overeat."

Qingyuan frowned as she looked at Yu Meng's expression.

Yu Meng's facial expression control was excellent; she simply didn't react much.

Seeing that Yu Meng didn't react to his statement, Qian Chuan continued, "When people are overeating, they also feel uncomfortable and will digest the food by walking or exercising. But the line doesn't have this idea or ability, so in order to protect itself, it had to evolve and developed that membrane."

He paused for a moment, then said, "I just have one question: what kind of energy could allow lines to evolve so rapidly in such a short time, as if this substance was made specifically for lines?"

As Qian Chuan spoke, his brows furrowed. "It's like this thing is all ready; all that's left is to experiment with it."

Qingyuan clenched her fists. "How is this possible? That's a bone-drawing master! How could they not have noticed at all?"

"Aunt Qing, this is just a guess, and it may not be true," Qian Chuan explained weakly from the side.

Qingyuan frowned. "Your guess is terrifying, don't you know that?"

At this moment, Yu Meng did indeed think of Yan Dian. Could it be such a coincidence?

Yu Meng took out a stone from her backpack. "This was found on the battlefield. It has a special energy. You guys should study it. Maybe it's related to what's happening now."

"Let me see." Qingyuan took the stone. "Are there many of these?"

"There should be a lot. It seems to have a symbiotic relationship with some kind of alien. I had Jingyi and the others collect some, but I don't know when they'll be back." Yu Meng sighed. How did the dense forest manage to hide it again? She knew she wouldn't be able to find it in the same spot this time, because she had pulled up all the grass that could hide it, which was quite annoying!