One person: Senior brother Zhang Zhiwei, the Celestial Master begged me to descend the mountain.

The night wind carried the acrid smell of the ruins, swirling through the desolate Biyou Village.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on what was happening before them.

Chen Duo, the Gu-body Saint Child who made the temporary workers of the six districts of Na Du Tong Company feel like they were facing a great enemy and whom Ma Xianhong cherished like a treasure, was now like a dirty little wildcat being dragged along by Zhang Taichu by the scruff of her neck, her feet off the ground.

Chen Duo offered no resistance.

Or rather, she simply didn't know how to resist.

Those little feet, which should have exuded an aura of death, were now helplessly suspended in mid-air, swaying with Zhang Taichu's steps, and even looked somewhat... adorably dazed.

"Make way, make way."

As Zhang Taichu walked, he waved his hand impatiently, as if shooing away a swarm of annoying flies:

"What are you all staring at each other for? Haven't you ever seen someone take a child to a public bathhouse?"

The remaining villagers who had been holding their magical artifacts and looking wary, twitched at the words and instinctively backed away as if they had seen a ghost.

They glanced at Chen Duo, who, even while being carried, still faintly emanated a chilling purplish-black poisonous aura, and then at Zhang Taichu, who looked disgusted as if he were carrying a mud monkey. Their minds completely went blank.

That's incredibly aggressive!

That's a primitive poison that can turn a person into pus with just a touch!

Can't you at least show some basic respect?

"Master...Grandmaster..."

Zhang Chulan followed behind, carrying that incongruous suitcase in his hand, his face scrunched up in a bitter expression.

"Where are you taking her? You've demolished half the village, where's she supposed to take a bath?"

"Besides... this is a Gu-infused holy child! What if the poison gas explodes while she's bathing? Would we all have to die with her?"

Zhang Taichu didn't even turn his head. He simply turned and walked straight towards the only relatively intact two-story building at the edge of the ruins.

That was Ma Xianhong's residence.

"Bang!"

A loud bang.

The exquisitely carved nanmu wood gate, along with half a wall, was kicked away by Zhang Taichu, flying through the air in an ungraceful parabola before crashing into the distant pond.

"Isn't this readily available?"

Zhang Taichu swaggered in, his gaze sweeping around the room before finally settling on the excessively spacious bathroom on the first floor.

Without any ceremony, he grabbed Chen Duo and carried her inside, casually picking up a handmade essential oil soap that looked expensive from the shelf next to him and stuffing it into Chen Duo's hand.

"Go in."

Zhang Taichu pointed to the large bathtub that could easily accommodate four or five people, his tone exuding an undeniable domineering authority:

"Wash yourself clean."

"You're not allowed out until you're properly clean."

After saying that, he tossed it aside as if it were trash.

puff.

Chen Duo landed barefoot on the cold bathroom tiles, clutching the bar of soap that smelled faintly of sandalwood, looking somewhat dazed.

The bathroom door slammed shut in front of her.

Chen Duo stood there, looking down at the soap in her hand.

For her, who was raised as a Gu vessel from childhood, spent most of her time in the dark and gloomy Medicine Immortal Society, and was later locked in the Nowhere-to-Have Isolation Room, taking a bath was not an enjoyable thing.

No one had ever told her that she needed to use this fragrant stuff when taking a bath.

No one ever told her why she needed to wash herself clean.

All she knew was that the man in white thought she was dirty.

A faint hint of grievance suddenly flashed in Chen Duo's eyes, which had been completely calm.

This emotion was unfamiliar to her, and also dangerous.

hum-

As her emotions fluctuated, the primal poison within her body seemed to sense its master's unease and instantly became agitated.

A visible purplish-black poisonous gas seeped out from her pores, threatening to fill the small space in an instant.

The tiles that were originally as smooth as mirrors immediately began to hiss and corrode upon contact with the toxic gas, and their surfaces quickly became pitted and uneven.

The deadly gas was about to burst through the bathroom door and explode outwards.

Just then.

"snort."

A cold snort, though it came through the thick door, clearly reached Chen Duo's ears.

In that instant, she felt an indescribable, terrifying pressure pressing down on her like a mountain through the crack in the door.

"Behave yourself."

That lazy voice came from outside the door:

"If you break something, I'll throw you out to feed the dogs."

Chen Duo shuddered violently.

The Gu poison within her body, which had been frantically clamoring and trying to rush out to protect its master, suddenly seemed to encounter its natural enemy, letting out a terrified wail and abruptly retreating.

It even shrinks deeper and more thoroughly than usual.

That deep-seated fear of absolute power instantly overwhelmed all instincts.

Chen Duo bit her lip, her hand holding the soap turning slightly white.

She looked around at the tiles that had stopped corroding, and then at the enormous bathtub.

A few seconds later.

She awkwardly reached out and turned on the tap.

slam-la-

The crisp sound of water was exceptionally clear in the quiet night.

……

Outside the bathroom.

Standing amidst the ruins of the living room, Ma Xianhong felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

He had already rushed to the door, his hands even forming hand seals, ready to forcibly activate the backup program of the cultivation furnace the moment Chen Duo lost control.

He knows Chen Duo too well.

Without the aid of the Body Cultivation Furnace and the suppression of those sophisticated instruments, the Gu poison in Chen Duo's body was like a nuclear bomb with its fuse pulled, ready to explode at any moment.

How could such an extremely dangerous biological weapon be allowed to take a bath alone?

This is absolutely insane!

But now...

Listening to the rushing water inside and feeling the toxic gas fluctuations that were about to erupt but suddenly disappeared mysteriously, Ma Xianhong's face, which had always maintained rationality and confidence, showed an expression of existential doubt for the first time.

"It's...it's under control?"

Ma Xianhong muttered to himself, completely unaware that his gold-rimmed glasses had slipped down to the tip of his nose:

"How is that possible..."

"There's no cultivation furnace, no medicine, not even a Qi array set up..."

"Just based on... a single sentence?"

A profound sense of powerlessness overwhelmed Ma Xianhong like a tidal wave.

His prized mechanical skills and the cultivation furnace he painstakingly crafted seemed utterly... laughable in the face of the opponent's absolutely domineering power.

It's like a toy for children playing house.

"Tsk tsk tsk, Old Ma, don't look like you've seen a ghost."

Zhang Chulan had somehow gotten closer, still hiding about three meters behind Zhang Taichu, but his face was filled with a smug grin that said, "I knew this would happen."

You'll get used to it.

"Trying to talk about science in front of those who cultivate immortality is just asking for trouble."

Ma Xianhong ignored Zhang Chulan's teasing.

His gaze had been drawn to the commotion outside the door.

rustling.

A series of very light footsteps came from the shadows around the courtyard.

Ma Xianhong's eyes narrowed instantly.

He turned around abruptly and looked at the dark woods outside the yard.

"Who goes there?!"

no answer.

Only a few incredibly powerful auras instantly locked onto this dilapidated courtyard.

Whoosh!Whoosh!Whoosh!

Several dark figures leaped down from the treetops, forming a fan shape that completely surrounded Ma Xianhong's residence.

The man in the lead was tall and burly, holding a black tubular object in his hand and wearing a pair of sunglasses that made people feel very uncomfortable.

Temporary worker in Central China region, black pipe.

To his left was a man with long hair, exuding an effeminate aura, who was toying with an unidentified mask in his hand.

Wang Zhenqiu, a temporary worker in the Southwest Region.

In the corner on the right, a man who looked timid and like a middle-aged office worker was shrugging his neck and looking away, as if he really didn't want to be there.

Old Meng, a temporary worker in the Northwest Region.

Of the six temporary workers from the districts, apart from Chen Duo who is still inside, and Xiao Zizai and Feng Baobao who haven't shown up yet, they're all there.

The air became thick and heavy in that instant.

The energy emanating from each temporary worker was like a burning flame, violently colliding and compressing in this confined space.

The tense atmosphere made Zhang Chulan, who had just relaxed, feel his scalp tingle again.

"Oh my god..."

Zhang Chulan swallowed hard and shrank back.

"This is going to be interesting..."

"Even the Quanxing Sect's attack on the mountain wasn't this big of a show."

Hei Guan pushed up his sunglasses, his gaze passing over Ma Xianhong and landing directly on the figure sitting at the bathroom door.

His muscles tensed, and he slightly raised the black tube in his hand, aiming it in that direction.

"I originally thought they were just here to arrest Chen Duo."

"I didn't expect this..."

The clarinet's sound was deep and husky, carrying a hint of solemnity:

"To find such a big fish."

I said…

Wang Zhenqiu wore his signature playful smile, but his eyes were chillingly cold.

"Master, that girl is the one we need."

"You detained him without saying a word, isn't that a bit...unfair?"

Surrounded and questioned by several top temporary workers.

Zhang Taichu didn't even lift his eyelids.

He somehow brought out a grand chair and sat imposingly at the bathroom door, holding the purple clay teapot he had taken from Ma Xianhong's table.

He leisurely took a sip from the spout of the teapot, then smacked his lips contentedly.

"Good tea."

"It's just a little undercooked."

Zhang Taichu shook his head, put down the teapot, and then slowly raised his eyelids.

Those deep eyes swept over the people in the courtyard with a detached gaze.

"You want people?"

A faint, ambiguous smile appeared on Zhang Taichu's lips.

He held up one finger and pointed to the closed bathroom door behind him, then pointed to the gate to the yard.

"The door is over there."

Zhang Taichu's voice was soft, yet it reached everyone's ears clearly:

"While I'm in a good mood right now."

"roll."