Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1378 Common Sense Disorder

To Lu Ning's surprise, this fat chef actually knew more than one person.

"It's not a common name, but it's not a rare one either."

Gu is not a small surname in Wei, and Tong is a good image. People with a little culture are likely to give their children such a name. The fat chef knew five people named Gu Tong, but they didn't communicate well. Even if Lu Ning gave a rough description of their appearance, he couldn't remember who was who.

"They were just chance encounters on the battlefield. The situation hadn't stabilized at that time, and the army was constantly reorganizing. It was very chaotic. I don't know what happened to them later. But from what you said, it's good that they survived, even if they were disabled."

Lu Ning did not tell anyone about Gu Tong's suspected betrayal. She just finished her food while chatting.

Two days later, she got her badge.

There was nothing special about the badge. It was an iron plate engraved with her last name and a number. Lu Ning hung it on her belt and looked at the general who handed her the badge.

This general was already quite old, with many wrinkles on his face, and his body was obviously a little weak, not as tall and straight as many generals in their prime. However, such a general could still continue to serve in the army, which definitely did not mean that he had reached his current position by force.

"There is a task I'm going to give you now." Tong Rui just glanced at Lu Ning, then took a book from the shelf beside him, opened it to the middle page, and turned it over to show Lu Ning.

There is a list of names on that page.

"The war in the northern frontier was caused by a demon star named Huang Kui. Although we know this name, we have no way to verify its past. We only know that it came from among us. Huang Kui itself is not a common name, and the Grand Master has done a lot of research before. He has secretly visited most places in the territory of Wei, south of the Yangtze River and north of the Yangtze River, and found no records of this name. Therefore, we believe that Huang Kui grew up in the northern frontier, which is why he returned here to help in the battle of the northern frontier."

Lu Ning scanned the list of families with the surname Huang.

"Now that the war in the northern part of the Great Wall is urgent and the people are displaced, it is not easy to find the family where Huang Kui lived. These are the ones we have not found yet or have no time to find. There is some information about their original addresses at the back. Your task is to verify the comings and goings of all the people on the list and see if you can find a clue or two. This task is not urgent and is suitable for you to exercise as you have just arrived. It is also related to the evil star and may be dangerous. If you don't want to, I have two more common enemy-killing tasks for you."

"No need, just this one." Lu Ning took the book, "Why does it start from the middle? What's in the front?"

"You can also take a look at some of the intelligence about the important demon kings under Huang Kui. If you have been in Saibei for a long time, this is not a secret." Tong Rui said, "Since you have accepted this mission, you should pack up and set off tomorrow. Ask Lu Heng for supplies."

Lu Heng - that's the name of the fat cook.

"understood."

Lu Ning always acted quickly, and when Akong really came to find her, she was gone.

There were only a dozen or so names on the list, and when Lu Ning entered the city, she was seen to have demon eyes. Perhaps for this reason, she was given this task.

However, this is indeed a very troublesome matter, because the original residences of more than a dozen names have been destroyed in the war, and the age of the demon stars is there. Even if Huang Kui is the youngest demon star, he must be more than a hundred years old. The person who raised it has long passed away, and it is even more difficult to find descendants now.

Of course, for ordinary people.

Lu Ning has a very simple method, which is to pull related people into the dream together, and then with the help of the residual images of everyone's memory, piece together a past dream, and then see the behavior of the deceased person in the dream.

It didn't take too many people, just finding the survivors in the neighborhood would be enough. This was actually a relatively simple matter in the entire Lingzhou, because almost all the living people gathered near the three main cities, not too far away. She followed the dreams formed by these people, and finding the target was just a matter of asking around.

In this way, she checked several settlements outside the city one by one, and also ruled out several Huang families. The rest were more difficult to check, because the people who were still alive and related to them were basically dead, and there was no trace of them.

Lu Ning couldn't expect to dig out any information about the deceased here. After all, she didn't have the power over life and death in this world. The ability to explore with the help of dreams was a reward from the distribution center. Otherwise, she probably wouldn't be able to find out anything with her demon eyes alone.

She has arrived near Lingjiang City.

"There have been no more reminders in the past few days."

From the moment she received the badge, she received a reminder of the distribution center, but this time the reminder was strange.

[Preconditions have been completed. Please wait until all surviving tourists are in place before releasing the final task of this scene. ]

Phased task release is a common type in distribution center scenarios, but Lu Ning has never seen this type that requires waiting for all tourists to be in place - because usually the distribution center will arrange it so that all tourists can meet the conditions at the same time, or the next task will be released when the last person completes it.

There must be something wrong when things are abnormal. The advance notice from the distribution center seemed to tell Lu Ning that there was a problem with the next task. You have gained some advantages, so you should quickly prepare in advance.

Where did this feeling of uneasiness come from? And how could it be eliminated? Lu Ning looked at Lingjiang City in the distance, pondered for a moment, and then continued to urge his mount on his way.

There are many military farmlands outside Lingjiang City. After all, the three main cities are not suitable for developing large tracts of farmland, and the supply of military rations in the northern border cannot rely entirely on allocation from the capital.

Of course, ordinary people were not allowed to approach here, but what surprised Lu Ning was that when she tried to approach one of the farmlands, there was no obstruction as expected.

It seems that the people who stayed here were not so alert? But how is this possible? Beside Lingjiang River is——

Lu Ning suddenly noticed something strange. It was not that no one was approaching, but that there was no one here.

During the day, there was no one in the military farmland. Everything seemed to be in silence. In the entire countryside, there was only the shadowy scarecrow in the field, which looked like a person. There was no other moving things.

The winter wheat in the field was growing well and neatly, and it looked pleasant. Lu Ning opened her demon eyes and looked around, but she could not see any aura hidden in the field.

"It's really weird."

At this moment, the scarecrow closest to her suddenly twitched, took a step, and walked towards her. Lu Ning was slightly startled, but when the scarecrow approached and took off its hat, she recognized its appearance.

"You are Xingyin..."

"It's me." Qiu Suying's voice came out from the puppet's mouth, with a hint of distortion. "I won't come near here. After all, my identity is quite sensitive... But it's a good thing that you come here."

"Just right? Do you know the situation in this village?"

"In fact, this place has been abandoned." Qiu Suying's voice was unhurried. His puppet had arrived a day earlier and had already explored the situation of the village.

"Give up? What's the reason?" Lu Ning immediately noticed the problem.

"The problem in the northern border is not just the dispute between humans and demons, nor is it a war between countries, but the gradual collapse of the original environment." Qiu Suying's scarecrow pulled out a wheat from the ground and showed it in front of Lu Ning.

“Look at the roots.”

Lu Ning observed it carefully and discovered that the roots of the wheat were covered with barbs. Although the ears of wheat could not see them, the roots had already begun to grow thick and green, no longer in their normal state.

——No, it should be, it is becoming normal.

"I'm tracing back to a more distant history, a period of history that is even older than the time when the Human King and the Demon King decided the winner. To be more specific, it should be the transformation of this world by the True Immortals." Qiu Suying said, "In fact, there are traces to follow. The True Immortals did not forcibly reverse the form of all things and change them according to what we see as normal, but adjusted some of them to form a delicate balance, thus achieving their current appearance. The advantage of this method is that as long as we make fine adjustments at any time according to the development of the world, we can maintain the current state and allow living beings to develop."

"But the disadvantage is that once the True Immortal is gone, the balance cannot be adjusted, and then the original balance will begin to be destroyed little by little."

"Exactly. It seems that you have seen a lot of relevant situations along the way. In fact, the Great Wei is now in chaos. At present, the orders issued by the capital are difficult to be executed by the local authorities. Some capable prefects and governors have already handled some special situations on their own. You know what this means."

Split.

"The division of the Wei Dynasty is no big deal." Lu Ning said with some regret, "The current problem is even the survival of the human race and the demon race."

The puppet nodded and gently placed the wheat on the ground. However, as soon as the roots touched the ground, they suddenly stabbed downwards and dug through the soil. Then Lu Ning heard a scream. A mouse suddenly popped its head out of the soil and tried to get out and run away. However, its speed was no match for the speed of the roots strangling it. The barbs pierced its neck in an instant. In less than three seconds, all its blood was sucked out and its body shriveled up.

"Plants have become hunters? But they don't react to your puppets. It seems they are just following their nature." Lu Ning said with interest.

"That's why this place was abandoned. First of all, there aren't many people who can grow these crops, and secondly, it's a question whether these crops can still be eaten." Qiu Suying said, "But just from what we can see here, the things in the past were much more dangerous than we thought."

"Have the human and demon races also changed?"

"I'm afraid it's precisely these two tribes that haven't changed at all." Qiu Suying said.

Lu Ning looked around and suddenly felt a little horrified. Although she had thought that the surrounding environment was not natural, it would be a bit horrifying if none of it was natural.

"The True Immortal went through so much trouble just to protect the human and demon races in such a harsh environment? To make these two races the leaders of the world?"

"Perhaps only these two tribes have intelligence, and the others are merely dangerous." Qiu Suying expressed his guess. "At this point, it is impossible to guess what the True Immortals were thinking, but the rules they set will not collapse all at once, so we just need to find a way to readjust the balance. As for this method, perhaps we can become a True Immortal ourselves, or perhaps we don't even need to become a True Immortal to do it."

"Do you know what innate true qi is?" Lu Ning suddenly thought of something.

"I know, but the more important thing should be the Qigong method of practicing the innate true qi." The puppet looked at Lu Ning and said, "You should have innate true qi?"

"Naturally. What about you?"

"I have it. It was given to me by the distribution center, and distribution centers never give out useless things." Qiu Suying said.

Lu Ning nodded slightly. This sudden burst of innate true qi was contrary to the martial arts she was practicing, which was a hint in itself.

"Do we have to collect all seven kinds of innate true qi?"

"Of course not." Qiu Suying thought for a moment and replied, "It should be that we need to familiarize ourselves with the innate true qi and deduce the method of self-balancing. This may be a bit difficult. It took me so long to realize the use of my strand... No, there should be a simpler way."

"Wait a minute, since the abnormality in this place has been noticed and all the people have been evacuated in advance, does it mean that Grand Tutor Qin has also discovered this matter? Can we ask someone in the army? We should not underestimate the wisdom of the people in this scene." Lu Ning said.

"...My identity makes it inconvenient." Qiu Suying replied, "If you think this will work, then go ahead. But don't come to this area for the time being, I'm afraid it has been listed as a forbidden area. If Master Qin really wants to do research, this place may also be a sample area."

"Not all wheat has undergone this change." Lu Ning was quite sure of this. After all, it was still normal when she left Gou Chen. "This collapse is slow and regional."

"It's also unpredictable." Qiu Suying warned, "I know that after Xingyin, you will definitely encounter some opportunities, but the ability of a tourist does not mean that you can really fight against some mysterious forces in the scene. Wheat will not chase you, but it may not be the case if it is a tree."

"I'll pay more attention." Lu Ning nodded. "What about you? What's your next plan?"

"Keep it a secret. I'm not used to telling people too much about myself. Please forgive me. Also, I won't take the initiative to look for you. You can do what you want. If our goals are the same, we will meet again sooner or later."

"Okay." Lu Ning withdrew from the meat-eating farmland, waved to the puppet, turned around and rode his horse towards Lingjiang City.

In a distant place, Qiu Suying breathed a sigh of relief.

"Master, is it done?" asked someone nearby.

Qiu Suying nodded.

His lectures were not over yet. After dismissing one group, he would gather another group. However, after entering the northern frontier, his disciples were no longer from wealthy families. Most of them were talented people selected from among the refugees.

He looked at a house in front of him with a wry smile on his face.

Meat-eating wheat is just one kind, stones that give off high temperatures, water that penetrates the skin, bugs that turn the body inside out, and green wind.

The thing in front of me that should have been a house has now turned into a big mouth made of mud and stones. The family that originally lived in it have been neatly made into stone statues and placed at the door of the big mouth.

"Evil door..."