Hermit in the Mountains

Zhang Tianhu opened a new document. "Through cross-referencing of the information, we concluded that Gu Changsheng's abnormalities likely occurred during his hospitalization last November."

"Because Gu Changsheng quit his job and returned his apartment immediately after being discharged from the hospital, with a clear purpose, he flew directly from Shanghai to Chang'an, heading straight to the foot of the Qinling Mountains without any stops, and contracted ten acres of mountain land in Xiahe Village;"

"It took several days to build a wooden house on the mountain, and we stayed there for three whole months. During that time, only Yang Dashan, a villager from Xiahe Village, would come up the mountain every ten days or so to deliver supplies."

"We speculate that Gu Changsheng has been trying to understand his own changes and collect cultivation techniques to practice during this time."

"Gu Changsheng only came out of the mountain once in the fourth month after he went in, and his purpose was to buy a water buffalo in Yingxian Town."

"When we visited Yingxian Town, we learned that Gu Changsheng bought a water buffalo for 100,000 yuan and made some strange demands."

"Xiao Zhang, what's so special about that water buffalo? What are Gu Changsheng's demands?" An old man suddenly became interested and asked casually.

Zhang Tianhu extracted the core information from the collected information: "We visited the villagers who sold the water buffalo at that time. The water buffalo was already thirty years old and its life was coming to an end, but the water buffalo seemed to have a last burst of energy and became very energetic again, and its hair turned a light blue color."

"Gu Changsheng made three demands: first, the old man who raised the cattle had to personally remove the nose ring, collar, and other tools from the water buffalo; second, the old man had to personally state that he would buy the water buffalo from Gu Changsheng for 100,000 yuan, after which the water buffalo would have no further connection with the old man; and third, the water buffalo had to walk to Gu Changsheng, who was ten meters away, on its own."

"Gu Changsheng will only be willing to spend 100,000 to buy the water buffalo if all three conditions are met simultaneously."

"As a result, all three conditions were met, and Gu Changsheng spent 100,000 to buy the water buffalo."

"We suspect that Gu Changsheng possesses some kind of ability to detect abnormalities in water buffaloes, or perhaps the legendary ability to control beasts."

"Another special point is that Gu Changsheng had less than 50,000 yuan in savings at the time, and he took out an online loan to buy the water buffalo on the same day, which proves that the water buffalo must have some kind of supernatural power."

"What conclusions did you reach in your discussion?" The Seventh Elder tapped the table and asked.

"We contacted the local clerk to subtly inquire about the situation in Xiahe Village. There was a cowshed behind the wooden house where Gu Changsheng was, which proved that the water buffalo was still on the mountain, but no one had seen the water buffalo again."

"If we were to say who is most likely to know about the changes in the water buffalo, it would only be Yang Dashan from Xiahe Village, who is most familiar with Gu Changsheng."

"Why didn't you question Yang Dashan?" The old man carrying the stars on his shoulder suddenly spoke, his tone domineering and questioning.

Zhang Tianhu didn't reply first. He pressed the remote control in his hand, switched to a character relationship diagram, and then began to explain.

"Third Elder, all elders, please look at this character relationship diagram."

A photo with Gu Changsheng at the head, followed by three other photos, labeled as Yang Mancang, the village chief and old clan head of Xiahe Village, Yang Dashan, a villager of Xiahe Village, and Zhang Yuanfu, the owner of Fushoutang.

There are no related figures under Yang Mancang and Yang Dashan, but there are four people connected under Zhang Yuanfu's portrait.

Shen Jingxu, the abbot of Qingxu Temple; Shi Yideng, the abbot of Shouxin Temple; Li Jianguo, the founder of Qin Medicine Group; and Fang Shouchang, the former second-in-command of X Province.

When the nine people in the conference room saw the names and identities of Li Jianguo and Fang Shouchang, their expressions changed.

The reason Zhang Tianhu previously mentioned Gu Changsheng's special status is largely reflected in this character relationship diagram.

He continued his report, "It's because of this relationship diagram that we've hesitated to make a decision, and that's why we haven't dared to send anyone to Xiahe Village to question the relevant people."

"A single hair can affect the whole situation. Li Jianguo's network of connections in Chang'an is too vast. Our actions of going there to gather information may have already been detected."

"Why don't you just question Li Jianguo and Fang Shouchang directly? What kind of behavior is this, cowering like this? You represent the Security Bureau, you represent the country." The Third Elder was furious and slammed his hand on the table.

"If that doesn't work, let us take action and invite them over for tea."

"Third brother, calm down." The old man, who always had a smile on his face, gestured for the angry Third Elder to listen to Zhang Tianhu first. "Little Zhang, you can continue."

"Yes, Second Elder." Zhang Tianhu pressed a button on the remote control in his hand to switch to the next page of the document.

A pill the size of a glass bead appeared on the projection screen.

"This pill was made by Gu Changsheng and is called Peiyuan Pill. It has the effects of regulating bodily functions, replenishing bodily deficiencies, clearing impurities from the body, and nourishing yin and yang."

"We obtained one through special channels, and after testing, we found that the energy contained in the pill highly overlapped with the unknown energy that appears in the wild. We named this unknown energy 'spiritual energy'."

"We suspect that the elixir is useful for cultivation."

Zhang Tianhu switched back to the character relationship diagram. "The eight of them have already formed top-down and left-right relationships."

"Gu Changsheng was the leader, providing the pills; Yang Mancang was probably in charge of the villagers; and Yang Dashan was probably the messenger."

"Zhang Yuanfu was the spokesperson, in charge of the sales of the pills, and he joined forces with Li Jianguo, Fang Shouchang and others."

"During our investigation, we discovered that Li Jianguo was secretly collecting ancient books and information about cultivation, and Fang Shouchang was also inquiring about information."

"They have formed a community of shared interests based on the elixir, and this relationship is the strongest."

"Catch them all in one fell swoop. Invite all eight of them for tea. They've even formed cliques. Send my men out to see who dares to cause trouble." The old man with the stars on his shoulders was intolerant of any wrongdoing, and his temper flared up immediately.

The old man lost his temper the moment he saw the second brother's gaze.

Seeing the Second Elder raise his hand in a gesture, Zhang Tianhu tapped the last document, which displayed an analysis table of Gu Changsheng's portrait.

"We created a profile analysis of Gu Changsheng. He is aloof but does not have antisocial personality disorder. He has not done anything outrageous; he simply lives obediently in the mountains."

"Gu Changsheng's methods and strength are unknown."

"Elders, my report is complete."

"How to deal with the cultivators who have appeared, as well as Gu Changsheng and others, is a decision that needs to be made by the elders."

After Zhang Tianhu finished speaking, he stood quietly to the side.

"Young Zhang, you must have met several cultivators. Are you confident you can defeat them?" one of the kind-looking old men asked Zhang Tianhu.

"Reporting to Seventh Elder, if it were any of the cultivators I've met before, I'm confident I could defeat them."

"Although they can cultivate, their bodies are very weak, and the energy contained within them cannot be released. They cannot form an effective attack force at all; it is more for strengthening their bodies."

"It takes more than a day or two to develop the internal alchemy techniques practiced by Taoists into an offensive method."

"But if they learn the legendary spells, I might not be able to beat them. However, my strength will also increase, and then it's uncertain who will be stronger."

"At this stage, we should pay more attention to those who practice traditional martial arts. If they absorb spiritual energy to generate internal energy, it will pose a great threat to ordinary people."

"For example, I have practiced my family's Youlong Baguazhang for more than 30 years, and I have also honed my skills in the military for many years. I can easily take on ten people with my bare hands."

"After I developed my internal energy last month, I can now easily take on twenty people at once. With a full-force palm strike, I can break the ribs of an ordinary person."

Gu Changsheng guessed correctly; there were also people within the official ranks who had embarked on the path of cultivation. If a cultivator were to appear, it would be impossible to hide it for long.

The Second Elder's gaze swept over everyone in the room, and he asked, "Everyone, please share any good ideas you may have."

Some radicals have suggested bringing all practitioners under the official management system;

Some conservatives suggested recruiting practitioners into the government, allowing them to serve as advisors, provide cultivation experience, and guide others in cultivation.

No one suggested a complete cleanup, since there are too many people capable of cultivation, and it's uncertain whether these cultivators possess hidden methods or if there are still undiscovered cultivators.

Since spiritual energy has already appeared in the wild, even if they deal with one batch, a second batch will appear, making it impossible to completely prevent cultivators from appearing.

If they forcibly eliminate the first batch of cultivators, it may cause panic, and the second and third batches of cultivators will only hide further away.

Rather than letting cultivators hide in the shadows, it's better to openly accept the fact that cultivators exist.

Bring in those you can recruit, and properly register and manage those you can't recruit, maintaining a positive attitude.

However, if a practitioner endangers people's safety, then I'm sorry, we can only offer them peanuts.

Seeing that everyone had finished chatting, the old man sitting at the head of the table gently tapped the table.

"Knock knock knock..."

The people in the conference room stopped talking and their eyes fell on the eldest man, waiting for him to speak.