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

"die?"

"What a fine word, 'death'!"

Ma Xianhong suddenly raised his head, his once gentle and refined face now contorted and terrifying due to extreme blood stasis.

His gold-rimmed glasses were nowhere to be seen; his eyes were bloodshot as he stared intently at Zhang Taichu, his chest heaving violently, like a live volcano about to erupt.

"Do you think you can do whatever you want here just because you have high cultivation levels?"

"This is Biyou Village!"

"This is my Biyou Village!"

Snapped!

Ma Xianhong slammed his hands on the floor, his ten fingers digging deeply into the wooden board until his knuckles turned white.

Rumble—!

A sickening, grinding sound suddenly rang out.

Around the already ruined living room, countless scarlet electronic eyes suddenly lit up in the shadows of the collapsed walls.

Click!Click!

A dozen or so lithe, pale-faced puppets crawled out of the ruins in an extremely bizarre and twisted manner, using both hands and feet.

Without the slightest hesitation, they moved in perfect unison, instantly rushing towards all the broken gaps in the doors and windows.

boom! boom! boom!

With a heavy thud, these steel golems intertwined and piled up, transforming themselves into steel walls within seconds, completely sealing off the first-floor lobby so that not even a fly could escape.

The moonlight that had been filtering in was now completely blocked.

The room was plunged into darkness, with only a few emergency lights flickering on and off, casting a long, distorted shadow of Ma Xianhong, like a demon driven to madness.

"Oh my god..."

Zhang Chulan was startled, nearly dropping his suitcase. Leaning against Wang Ye, he warily surveyed his surroundings.

"Has Old Ma gone mad?"

"Is this some kind of suicide mission?"

Wang Zhenqiu and Hei Guan, along with the others, instantly entered battle mode, forming a circle back-to-back with solemn expressions.

Although they looked down on Ma Xianhong's stubbornness, in this enclosed space, going to war with a weapon refiner who was proficient in mechanical arts was definitely not a wise choice.

"Ma Xianhong!"

The black tube gave a deep shout, and the black tube on his right arm began to charge, emitting a low hum:

"What are you trying to do? Openly defying the company, can you bear the consequences?"

"Can you handle it?"

Ma Xianhong stood up unsteadily, a bitter smile on his lips, his voice hoarse:

"I established Biyou Village to take in those homeless supernatural beings; I never intended for the company to tolerate me!"

He suddenly stretched out his hand, pointing at Chen Duo, who was being protected behind Zhang Taichu, his voice rising abruptly with an almost obsessive fanaticism:

"I don't care who you are, or how strong you are!"

"But you simply don't understand!"

"You think I'm harming her? You think I'm using her?"

Ma Xianhong strode towards Zhang Taichu, completely ignoring the temporary workers around him who were eyeing him covetously.

He stopped five meters away from Zhang Taichu, his eyes filled with fear, but even more so with anger at the trampling of his ideals.

"Master, I admit you are very strong."

"Outrageously strong."

"You can knock out my vital organs with a single willow twig, and you can dispel the primordial poison with a single word."

"but!"

Ma Xianhong took a deep breath and roared, spittle flying everywhere:

"That was using your terrifying Qi to frighten those poisonous insects, causing them to temporarily retreat!"

"But will this solve the fundamental problem?"

"As long as she remains a Gu-infused Holy Child, as long as the poison within her remains, this world will not tolerate her!"

Ma Xianhong turned around abruptly, pointed at the temporary workers around him with their various expressions, and questioned them sharply:

"Ask those company dogs!"

"If this girl leaves here and goes out into the crowd, how will the company treat her?"

"That was endless imprisonment! Seclusion! Even execution!"

"Besides me, besides my cultivation furnace, besides my perfect transformation, where in this vast world can she find a place to hide?!"

Ma Xianhong's voice echoed in the closed hall, making people's eardrums ache.

The entire room fell silent.

Wang Zhenqiu fell silent, stopping his hand from fiddling with the mask.

He pushed up his sunglasses, lowered his head, and didn't refute.

Even Lao Meng, who had been trying to save Chen Duo, closed his eyes in anguish and knelt on the ground, trembling.

Because Ma Xianhong was telling the truth.

As a Gu-body Saint Child, Chen Duo's very existence is a huge threat to ordinary people.

The company's approach has always been ruthless and efficient.

Either lock them up until they die, or... destroy them.

"Did you see that?"

Seeing everyone's silence, Ma Xianhong revealed a desolate yet triumphant smile:

"I'm the only one who wants to save her! I'm the only one who treats her like a human being!"

"Give her back to me!"

"Put her in the furnace! That's her only way out!"

As Ma Xianhong roared, he pressed forward once more.

"well……"

A soft sigh suddenly rang out.

Zhang Taichu raised his hand and picked at his ear with some impatience.

then.

He kicked away a piece of broken wooden plank blocking his way.

The wooden plank whistled through the air, grazing Ma Xianhong's cheek before slamming into the wall behind him, embedding itself deep into the wood.

"It's so noisy."

Zhang Taichu curled his lip, looking disgusted.

"After all that talk, it's all just what you think, what you believe, and what your plans are."

"Have you asked this girl what she thinks?"

"There's a limit to self-pity, Lao Ma."

After saying that, Zhang Taichu completely ignored Ma Xianhong, whose face was ashen.

He turned around and then slowly squatted down.

For the first time, his gaze met Chen Duo's.

Chen Duo remained standing there, dazed.

Although Zhang Taichu had messed up her long, dark green hair, her eyes looked exceptionally clear.

"Feed".

Zhang Taichu reached out, but this time he didn't touch her head; instead, he gently flicked Chen Duo's forehead.

Snapped.

Chen Duo winced in pain, instinctively shrinking her neck and raising her hand to cover her forehead, her eyes showing a fresh, dreamlike quality.

"You heard what the guy with glasses said just now, didn't you?"

Zhang Taichu pointed to Ma Xianhong behind him.

"He said he would put you in that broken furnace and refine you for forty-nine days to turn you into a so-called normal person."

"Of course, it might hurt a bit, and it could even kill you."

As he spoke, Zhang Taichu pointed to the broken gate that had been sealed off by the puppet.

Through the gaps in the puppets' steel bodies, one could vaguely see the dark night sky outside, and the faint starlight.

"As for me," Zhang Taichu shrugged.

"I'm lazy, I don't have any grand theories, and I don't know how to build a furnace."

"I can only take you out."

"Go and see what's going on outside, all that mess."

"For example, delicious food that you can eat without killing people, beautiful clothes that you can wear without worrying about being poisoned, and... metal boxes that are everywhere, buildings that can light up."

Zhang Taichu looked into Chen Duo's eyes, a faint smile playing on his lips.

"The person wearing glasses said, 'The outside world can't accept you.'"

I don't think so.

"This wonderful world is vast."

"If you want to go, I will take you."

"Now."

Zhang Taichu stretched out a hand, palm up, in front of Chen Duo: "Choose."

"Is it to stay in this stuffy container and be a guinea pig?"

"You should still follow me."

Quiet.

A deathly silence.

Everyone held their breath.

Ma Xianhong stared intently at Chen Duo, his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets, his mind screaming: Choose me! Choose the Body-Cultivating Furnace! That's your only hope!

Old Meng knelt on the ground, his face streaked with tears, and raised his head, his eyes filled with pleading and fear.

Zhang Chulan and Wang Ye exchanged a glance, both seeing the tension in each other's eyes.

This truly gives Chen Duo the power of choice.

Chen Duo lowered her head and looked at the large hand that was outstretched in front of her.

That hand was large, with long, slender fingers and distinct knuckles.

This is the same hand that was rubbing her head roughly just now, making her hair all messy.

But... it's really warm.

That warmth seeped into her heart from her scalp, giving her heart, which had been cold for years and could only beat without feeling, a tingling sensation for the first time.

She turned to look at Ma Xianhong again.

Ma Xianhong's eyes were urgent and intense, just like when Uncle Liao used to look at her. It was for her own good.

she knows.

but……

Those things were so heavy that she couldn't breathe.

And what this man in front of me said... was delicious.

Beautiful clothes.

Metal box.

A building that lights up.

Suddenly, some blurry images appeared in Chen Duo's mind.

That was a sight she occasionally glimpsed through the car window while on a mission.

At that time, she could only look, not touch, not stop, and not even think too much.

Because she is a Gu-body Saint Child.

Because she is a weapon.

But now...

"I think……"

Chen Duo finally spoke.

Her voice was soft, dry, and tinged with hesitation.

Ma Xianhong's heart jumped into his throat.

Zhang Taichu maintained the outstretched hand gesture, his expression unchanged, his patience infuriating.

Chen Duo took a deep breath.

She raised her head, her eyes no longer looking at anyone, but at the starry sky through the crack in the door.

"I...I want to go...shopping."

Ma Xianhong was completely petrified.

He stared wide-eyed at Chen Duo, as if he had heard something unbelievable.

His own self-cultivation furnace, his own perfect transformation, and his own great theory that is enough to change the world.

They actually lost to... shopping?

"Hahaha!"

A hearty laugh broke the eerie silence.

Zhang Taichu stood up, his smile no longer concealed.

He looked at Chen Duo, and for the first time, a genuine sense of appreciation appeared in his eyes.

"it is good."

"Very tasteful."

"Much better than that bookworm who only knows how to build furnaces."

Zhang Taichu did not withdraw his hand, but instead took a step forward and grabbed Chen Duo's slightly cold little hand.

"Walk."

"This humble Taoist priest will now take you on a tour of this entire street!"