Bearing the blue sky

Chapter 300: Spirit Plants vs. Zombies!

The reply brought back by Silver Eagle II was more than Zhu Ge had expected.

Besides the letter from Chen Feng in Hebei Prefecture, there were more than a dozen letters from readers from different places.

There are those from Qin, those from Shu, and those from Chu.

"Li Han, could you take a count? How many fixed distribution points do we have now?" Zhu Ge put down the letter and looked at Li Han behind the counter.

Li Han flipped through the ledger: "Currently, Luoyang City is the head office, there is a branch in Xianyang City in Qin territory, a branch in Shu territory, and a branch in Chu territory—a total of five fixed distribution points."

"Five," Zhu Ge nodded. "That's still too few."

"Sir, this is just the beginning," Li Han said. "As the newspaper continues to be published, more people will join in."

"I know," Zhu Ge said with emotion. "The rest of the journey is in your hands."

"good!"

Li Han had long known this day would come, so he was quite calm about it.

Zhu Ge then set off for the next city.

Passing through a village, Zhu Ge stopped the carriage.

Then he used the hurricane rhinoceros beetle to train his body.

Water refining combined with air refining!

Hua Liusha was weaving spirit garments inside the carriage.

However, Hua Liusha suddenly raised her head.

"The aura of a corpse monster?"

Hua Liusha frowned.

Zhu Ge and Hua Liusha were of one mind, and upon hearing this, they also looked towards a certain grove of trees in the mountains.

Everything seemed normal there.

However, Hua Liusha sensed an extremely dense wisp of yin energy there.

And it doesn't feel like a ghost, it's more like a monster!

In other words, only when a corpse becomes a monster can it possess both yin energy and be considered strange.

The corpse monster is also known as the zombie in folklore.

At the same time, there is a hint of human presence.

"strangeness."

Zhu Ge was also curious.

Could they be corpse drivers?

Anyway, traveling involves not only going about your journey, but also experiencing things.

Zhu Ge immediately had the snow wolf pull them in that direction.

The snow wolf pulled the carriage through a sparse grove of trees, along a path almost completely overgrown with weeds, towards the direction Hua Liusha had sensed.

The further you go in, the more humid the air becomes, with a faint, pungent odor mixed in with the scent of grass and trees, appearing and disappearing intermittently.

"Such heavy Yin energy." Hua Liusha's voice came from Zhu Ge's mind: "It didn't accumulate in just one or two days; it's been going on for at least several years."

"Is there the aura of a living person?" Zhu Ge asked.

"Yes, very faint, but definitely there!" Hua Liusha's yin energy manifested directly, pointing forward: "Deeper."

The carriage traveled for another quarter of an hour, and the trees ahead gradually thinned out, revealing a wide valley.

The valley is not large, surrounded by mountains on all sides, with a flat piece of land in the middle.

The edge of the land was enclosed by a fence made of thick wooden stakes and vines, with some strange objects hanging on the fence.

There were copper bells, talismans, and some animal bones that had been polished to a shine.

Inside the fence are neat rows of paddy fields, in which various plants are grown.

Some have small yellow flowers, some bear red fruit, some have leaves as broad as fans, and some have vines that meander like snakes.

The plants grew lush and verdant, forming a stark contrast with the surrounding barren mountains and forests.

Spiritual plants!

They are all spiritual plants!

"Where is this place?" Liu Jianjian jumped down from the carriage and looked around curiously.

"Someone lives here," Zhu Ge said, pointing to a small wooden house at the end of the field.

The wooden house was small, with a thick thatched roof, rammed earth walls, and white paper pasted on the windows.

Strings of dried chili peppers and dried corn hung under the eaves, and a bamboo chair sat in front of the door, with an old man with white hair and beard sitting on it.

The old man was slightly hunched over, holding a rough earthenware bowl in his hand, from which steam rose.

He squinted, seemingly looking in some direction in the distant mountains and forests.

"Old man," Zhu Ge stepped forward, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "We're just passing by and would like to ask for a bowl of water."

The old man turned his head, glanced at him, then at the carriage, the snow wolf, and Zhu Sisi perched on Liu Jianjian's shoulder behind him, and said, "The water is in the well, draw it yourself."

He pointed to a stone well not far away.

Instead of rushing to fetch water, Zhu Ge asked, "Grandpa, what are you growing in this field?"

"A spiritual creature? You don't know? Aren't you a cultivator?" The old man asked in surprise. "Something that can be eaten, something that can be used, something that can be used to protect against corpses."

"Indeed, I know it's a spirit, but—is it used to block corpses?" Zhu Ge seized on this word.

The old man was silent for a moment, then put down the rough pottery bowl in his hand and stood up.

Although his movements were somewhat slow, his posture, once straightened, made him appear quite robust: "You felt those things, didn't you?"

"I sensed something," Zhu Ge nodded. "The yin energy is very strong."

"It is indeed yin energy." The old man nodded. "But I prefer to call it corpse energy."

"Outside this valley, there is a mass grave. The world has been in chaos for a long time, and many people have died. Their bodies were hastily buried, and as time went by, their resentment lingered, giving rise to some corpse monsters."

"Whenever it's rainy, those corpse monsters will crawl out and walk this way."

"You planted these plants to block them out?" Zhu Ge suddenly realized.

His six valleys are also planted with thorns, which can keep out some of the most basic wild animals.

"I suppose so." The old man walked to the edge of the field and squatted down.

He parted a large leaf to reveal a vine covered in sharp thorns: "This is a thorny vine. If a corpse monster touches it, its flesh will be pierced, and the sap inside will cause it to rot."

He walked to another field and pointed to a plant with small blue flowers: "This is blue nitrate grass. When burned, it emits a foul odor that makes corpse monsters dizzy."

The old man became more and more enthusiastic as he spoke, and began to introduce his crops one by one: "These are firethorn berries. Pick them, dry them, grind them into powder, and sprinkle them on the ground. When the corpse monsters step on them, it will feel like they are on fire."

"This is corpse grass, planted by the fence. Its roots can absorb the corpse energy from the ground—"

The old man introduced each item one by one.

Zhu Ge listened with slight surprise to the uses of each plant.

These spiritual plants all have a variety of effects!

But most of them are used for corpses!

"You live here all by yourself, and you've planted so many things—" Zhu Ge looked at him in surprise and asked, "How long have you been guarding this place?"

"I can't remember." The old man straightened up. "After my wife died, I moved here. It's been almost ten years."

"Ten years?" Zhu Ge nodded slightly. "That's a long time."

"Ten years, not long at all." The old man nodded, then shook his head. "At first there were only one or two corpse monsters, but later there were more and more. I originally wanted to leave, but if I left, no one would take care of these fields."

"These crops are grown to keep those things away, not to sell. I can't leave."

Zhu Ge smiled and said, "Can I go in and take a look?"

'

The old man glanced at him and said, "You've got some nerve."

"I've seen quite a few things," Zhu Ge said curiously. "But I've never seen a corpse monster before."

"Then come in." The old man pushed open the fence gate. "But be careful not to step on the seedlings."

Zhu Ge followed the old man into the path between the fields.

The plants beside his knees were in bloom, some bearing fruit, and some rustling in the wind.

He smelled a faint scent of herbs, mixed with the fresh fragrance of earth and dew.

The plants in the valley swayed gently in the evening breeze.

The crops, some flowering, some fruitful, some thorny, looked like a colorful painting in the twilight.

The old man proudly introduced them again: "I've given them all names. The thorny vine is called 'Corpse-Repelling Vine,' the blue nitrate grass is called 'Corpse-Avoiding Grass,' and the firethorn berry is called 'Corpse-Burning Fruit'—these are all rustic names, nothing fancy."

"A name doesn't have to be impressive." Zhu Ge nodded. "As long as it's useful, that's fine."

The old man glanced at him and said, "You're an honest man."

"Old man, does this valley have a name?" Zhu Ge looked around, feeling that something was off.

The old man nodded: "Let's call it Corpse Garden."

"Corpse Garden—" Zhu Ge repeated the name: "Good name, you can tell what it does just by hearing it."

The old man chuckled but didn't say anything.

After walking for about half an hour, a low mound appeared ahead.

The mound was overgrown with weeds, and in some places, white bone fragments were exposed. A strong stench of decay permeated the air.

He stopped, gripped the Purgatory Star Staff tightly, and glanced at the mounds of earth.

"When did I enter my own world?"

Zhu Ge glanced around, somewhat wary.

He had unknowingly entered his own realm?

Fortunately, his Redmi smart home system also has a sensor, so he can enter at any time.

Moreover, none of the powerful beings and fusion realm cultivators in the sky reacted, so they are probably not in danger.

Meanwhile, not far away, under the moonlight, several tombstones stood crookedly, some already fallen to the ground, covered with moss.

There were several newly turned pits on the ground, and the soil around the pits was still damp.

Something is moving underground.

The soil around the edge of the pit bulged slightly, and then a grayish-white hand emerged from the soil, its five fingers spread out, its nails long and black.

Then came the second, the third, and the fourth —

One after another, the corpse monsters crawled out of the ground, their bodies covered in tattered clothes, their skin withered and black, and their eye sockets gleaming with a ghostly green light.

They gathered around the table and sang songs of blessing, their throats emitting low, guttural roars.

It seemed to sense the presence of the blessing song.

"Keep your distance from this world, orchids." The old man was wary, his body hunched over, his eyes darting around. "Our arrival has already alerted the corpse monsters; let's leave quickly!"

Looking into the distance, Zhu Ge felt that this place was very large, and he didn't know what orchids were growing there.

However, since the old man had said so, he followed him and retreated.

This old man possesses the cultivation of the second realm, and his progress is quite fast.

Seeing Zhu Ge step back, he immediately raised his right hand.

"Whoosh—"

He scattered a handful of pollen into the air, which was then blown onto the newly emerged zombies.

Pollen landed on the zombie, and the zombie, which had been moving in the same manner as Chang Lan, immediately stopped and then collapsed with a "thump".

"These corpse monsters may be weak, but their numbers are vast," the old man explained. "If we don't clean them up properly, there's no point in wasting our energy fighting them."

Hearing the words of the song, he made some gestures.

Self-bounded, that's normal.

Like the Redmi Immortal who obtained the Congzi Realm, there are also some special effects waiting for him to realize.

"Pfft"

"Pfft"

Not far away, more zombies seemed to be resurrecting.

Zhu Ge quickened her pace, and after a moment she realized that she had crossed the boundary.

Looking around, there was no difference in the environment at all.

"Let's go, more zombies are following us."

The old man glanced back and quickly led Zhu Ge back to his seat.

Liu Jianjian was chatting with her Zidan, feeling utterly bored.

Seeing Zhu Ge return, they immediately looked over, but seeing that Zhu Ge was still talking about something, they decided not to continue talking to the hair.

"By the way, I am Mr. Tianji. May I ask who you are?" Zhu Ge bowed.

Jie Ran and Bie Lan all called him Master Tianji, and he accepted that.

"I am Zicao Farmer," he said, bowing respectfully.

farmer!

Upon hearing this, Zhu Gehaoyou retorted, "Is Your Excellency Zicao a farmer's orchid?"

The Purple Grass Farmer smiled and nodded: "That's right—but hold on, Tianji, come with me and see how I get rid of the corpse monster from these crops."

As he spoke, the Purple Grass Farmer invited Zhu Ge to climb the fence and gaze out towards the direction of the wild grass.

The purple grass farmer stood by the fence, his gaze passing over the fields shrouded in twilight, looking towards the distant boundary of the wild grass.

There, a dark mass of figures was slowly moving.

It's not walking, it's moving.

As if drawn by some invisible force, they were moving closer and closer to this side.

The Purple Grass Farmer's voice was calm, as if he had long been accustomed to all of this: "Don't be fooled by the fact that these corpse monsters are slow now; many of them will suddenly become much faster once you get close."

Zhu Ge stood beside him, following his gaze.

The figures were indistinct in the twilight, numbering approximately a hundred.

They move slowly and steadily, each step landing on the same spot, like a well-trained army.

The purple grass farmer turned and walked to a wooden frame inside the fence, taking down several cloth bags from it.

The bag contained clumps of powder in different colors: some were grayish-white, some were dark red, and some were dark green.

"Master Tianji, just watch." The Purple Herb Farmer said, opening his cloth bag, grabbing a handful of grayish-white powder, and forcefully scattering it outside the fence.

The powder scattered in the air, like pollen blown by the wind, silently settling on the soil between the fields.

Immediately afterwards, those plants that had been growing quietly began to move.

First, the vines along the fence seemed to awaken, slowly extending beyond the fence. Each vine was covered with fine, dense tendrils, gleaming with a cold, eerie light in the twilight.

Then came the blue nitrate grass, those plants with small blue flowers swaying as if a breeze was blowing, but in reality, there was no air movement around them at all.

Clusters of small blue flowers fell from the branches and floated in the air, like tiny lanterns.

The branches of the firethorn bush began to tremble, and one by one, the red fruits fell from the branches. After landing on the ground, they did not roll far, but instead lined up neatly in a row, as if waiting for something.

The roots of the corpse grass arch out of the soil, like grayish-white snakes, wandering between the fields and leaving shallow furrows.

"These plants—" Zhu Ge looked at the changes and found it quite interesting: "Are they all plants you cultivated?"

"Most of them are," the purple grass farmer laughed. "Some of them grow on their own. I just guided them. Like these vines, there were only a few originally, but I built a trellis for them, and they climbed all over the fence by themselves."

As he spoke, he sprinkled another handful of dark red powder.

The powder fell on the firethorn berries, and the red berries seemed to be ignited, their surfaces glowing with a faint reddish light.

"Here it comes," said the purple gromwell farmer.

The song of blessing raises one's posture.

The dark figures had reached the edge of the field.

Their forms were clearer than when viewed from a distance, their bodies draped in tattered clothing, their skin withered and blackened, and their eye sockets gleaming with an eerie green light.

Corpse monster.

There were about seventy or eighty of them, some walking in front and some following behind, like a marching army without drumbeats.

The first row of corpse monsters stepped into the field.

The vine moved.

The vines sprang up from the ground like snakes, wrapping around the ankles of the first few corpse monsters. They pierced the withered flesh, producing a soft "plop" sound.

The entangled corpses tried to struggle, but the vines tightened more and more, and the sap from the thorns seeped into their bodies, causing them to slowly rot and decay.

"The sap of the Corpse-Repelling Vine can corrode the bones and muscles of the Corpse Monsters," the Purple Grass Farmer explained. "Once they are entangled for a few minutes, they will be unable to move."

The second row of corpse monsters bypassed the vines and continued forward.

The petals of the blue nitrate grass floated into the air, like blue lamps, suspended atop the corpse monsters' porcelain-like bodies.

The petals emitted a faint, pungent scent, similar to burning tung oil. Once enveloped by the scent, the corpse monsters noticeably slowed their pace.

"The scent of the corpse-repelling grass will stun the corpse monsters," the Purple Grass Farmer said with a hint of pride. "It slows them down, making them easier for other things to hit."

The firethorn berries then flew out.

The red-glowing fruits, like projectiles, struck the corpse monsters precisely in the chests, skulls, and shoulders.

Upon impact, the fruit exploded, splashing out a viscous liquid. This liquid began to burn upon contact with the corpse monster's flesh, emitting a sizzling sound.

After being hit by the firethorn fruit, the first row of corpse monsters fell to the ground, rolling around and trying to extinguish the flames on their bodies.

"The fire from the burning corpse fruit bush is a yin fire, specifically designed to burn yin energy," the purple herb farmer chuckled. "They can't extinguish the bush."

The third and fourth rows of zombies continued to advance.

They trampled over the burning bodies of their kind, the bones cracking softly in the flames.

The roots of the corpse grass sprouted from the soil, wrapped around the ankles of several corpse monsters, and dragged them into the ground.

The soil closed up, and the ground returned to its flat state, as if nothing had ever been dragged in.

In less than half a day, all seventy or eighty monsters lay dead in the fields.

Some clumps were entwined with vines, some were suffocated by the scent of petals, some were set ablaze by firethorn berries, and some were dragged underground by corpse grass.

The fields were in a mess, but the gnarled fences were intact.

The Purple Grass Farmer stood by the fence, watching the burning, fallen, and dragged-away corpse monsters with a calm expression, as if he had been watching a play whose ending he already knew.

"it's over."

The Purple Grass Farmer smiled and said, "Next, we need to sow the seeds of new bushes and clear away the corpses from these Corpse Monster bushes."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Ge nodded and praised, "These plants are really quite nice."

Those corpse monsters were no different from ants to the Purple Grass Farmer.

Although they can be easily killed, it's still quite annoying to kill so many ants every day.

The Purple Grass Farmer, not wanting these corpse monsters to go out and harm the people, guarded the place alone with a single orchid.

Festivals can be a way to cultivate oneself, accumulate virtue, and are also very interesting, so why not do them?

but----

Zhu Ge looked into the distance.

That boundary should be about to merge into this world.

But this corpse monster reminded Zhu Ge of something.

"Lonely souls and wandering ghosts roam the world —"

"It seems there is no underworld or the cycle of reincarnation in this world?"

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