Reborn as a lotus, she initially refuses to hand it over to the state.

Outside the school gate, Su Wan had just put away her tablet.

Several black vehicles without any official markings suddenly drove up on the street in the distance.

The vehicle came to a complete stop.

The car door opened.

A group of awakened individuals dressed in long, gray-blue robes stepped off the vehicle.

They were not carrying standard Ninth Infantry weapons.

On their chests, however, they all wore a blue leaf badge.

Two green leaves overlapped each other.

Like a lotus flower that has not yet fully unfolded.

Soon, someone in the crowd recognized them.

"People from the Green Lotus Society?"

"Why are they here?"

"I heard that this organization is recruiting awakened individuals everywhere and forbids its members from hunting alien beasts."

"I heard that they don't believe in people, but in strange beasts from Black Dragon Mountain."

Discussions gradually arose.

Chen Mo got out of the car at the very front.

He looked up at the center of the campus.

The ginkgo tree stands quietly in the night, inviting you to learn.

The branches and leaves of the tree were all gathered up.

The bluish-gold veins on the tree trunk also appeared somewhat dim.

Chen Mo remained silent for a moment, then led the group behind him straight toward the school gate.

Several members of the Ninth Bureau immediately stopped them: "The school is still under control. Unauthorized personnel are not allowed to approach."

Chen Mo stopped in his tracks: "Irrelevant?"

He looked at the team member: "This tree just saved more than 1,400 students."

"Now that it's injured, how can we say it's unrelated to us?"

The team member's face darkened: "Chen Mo, this is not a place for your Qinglian Society to spread its doctrines."

Chen Mo laughed: "Don't worry, the Qinglian Society doesn't care about forcing anyone to believe anything in front of a group of people who have just escaped danger."

"We're just here to tell this tree that it's not alone today."

Just as the two sides were at an impasse.

Su Wan walked over.

She glanced at Chen Mo: "You can stay outside the cordon, but you must not get close to the tree trunk or interfere with the Ninth Bureau's wrap-up work."

Chen Mo nodded: "Okay."

He turned around, and dozens of Qinglian Society members behind him bowed slightly to Wenxue Yinxing.

There was no kneeling or shouting of slogans.

Standing quietly in the night wind, one of the young girls took out a spiritual fruit from her pocket.

She placed the spirit fruit on the ground outside the warning line.

"Grandpa Tree, thank you for protecting the children."

Her movements were very gentle.

As if afraid of disturbing the newly awakened spiritual plant.

Ask about learning on the ginkgo branches.

A golden leaf falls.

Chen Mo landed next to the spirit fruit and watched this scene unfold.

His expression softened, but just then...

At the back of the crowd, a man holding a child suddenly spoke up angrily.

"Are you all out of your minds? My son just got out of there, and you're here worshipping a tree that almost killed someone?"

"What 'symbiotic coexistence of all spirits,' what 'guardian spirit plants'? Just because it didn't kill anyone today doesn't mean it won't in the future!"

Chen Mo turned around.

She looked at the man.

The child in the man's arms was pale.

He had clearly just been frightened.

Chen Mo didn't argue with him, but calmly asked, "Which building is your son trapped in?"

The man paused, then said, "The stadium."

Chen Mo nodded and said, "There is a crack in the west wall of the gymnasium. When the roots first emerged, they blocked that wall."

"Without those roots, the wall would have crashed into the stadium."

The man opened his mouth, and Chen Mo continued, "I understand you're afraid of it. Your child is trapped inside, and wanting to cut it off isn't a crime."

"But if you're unwilling to even acknowledge what it has saved, then what you want to cut down isn't a dangerous tree."

"It is a life more willing to protect children than any human being."

The surroundings became quiet.

The man looked down at the child in his arms.

The child clutched his clothes and whispered, "Dad, Grandpa Tree didn't hit me, it just blocked the door."

The man's body stiffened, and Chen Mo remained silent.

He turned and walked back to the cordon, where the Qinglian Society members were still standing.

Suddenly, a deep Buddhist chant drifted from the depths of the night.

"Amitabha."

The crowd parted again to make way.

Xuan Ku walked slowly towards him.

He was followed by dozens of disciples from the Pure Lotus Temple.

Some people are wearing monk's robes.

Some people were wearing gray-white robes.

There were also several young awakened individuals, with lotus-patterned wooden plaques hanging around their necks and pale gold cinnabar dots between their brows.

The people of Jinglian Temple walk very lightly.

They appeared.

The restless psionic energy around them inexplicably calmed down.

Many students who had just left the school felt a sense of peace as they looked at Xuan Ku and the others.

Xuan Ku stopped in front of the warning line.

He looked toward the learning ginkgo tree.

After a moment, Xuanku clasped his hands together and said, "Trees have a mind to guard, but people have delusions. Tonight's chaos may not necessarily be entirely due to the trees."

Su Wan frowned: "Master Xuanku, what did you see?"

Xuanku turned his prayer beads: "This humble monk only sees that there is a fire in the heart of someone here. That fire does not come from the ginkgo tree, but from someone who wants it dead."

Su Wan's expression hardened, and Chen Mo also looked at Xuan Ku.

Their eyes met, and neither of them spoke.

After half an hour.

The crowd around the school gradually dispersed.

The Ninth Bureau was still clearing the scene, but the members of the Qinglian Society had not left; they were scattered around the school.

Some people sat on the steps by the street, some handed water to frightened children, and some stood at the entrance of the dimly lit alley, quietly observing the crowds coming and going.

Behind the school, next to an abandoned drainage ditch.

Chen Mo squatted down, and a wisp of pale blue spiritual light emerged from his palm, which then seeped into the ground through a crack.

Before long, a black iron nail covered in wet mud was pulled out of the soil by vines.

The nail was only the length of a palm, yet it was shrouded in a faint gray-black aura.

Chen Mo's face was gloomy. Xuan Ku stood behind him, and the golden patterns on the Buddhist beads slowly lit up: "Spirit-Enhancing Black Nails."

Chen Mo looked up: "You recognize him?"

Xuan Ku nodded: "This item was made from the remnants of the Abyss, the essence of spiritual plants, and the resentment of the human race."

"After being nailed into the heart of the spirit plant, it will not directly pollute it. It will only amplify the deepest obsession of the spirit plant. If the protection is too deep, it will become imprisonment; if the anger is too deep, it will become murderous intent."

Chen Mo looked towards the center of the campus: "So, the Ginkgo tree didn't just naturally go out of control."

Xuan Ku said, "Someone wants it to turn into a man-eating demon tree in front of everyone."

"At that time, no matter what it has done, the human race will no longer give it a way to live."

Chen Mo gripped the black nail tightly, its tip piercing his palm, drawing a trickle of blood, but he seemed oblivious: "Who did this?"

Xuan Ku looked up towards the old town of Linjiang City: "There's a pull on the black nail; the source isn't here, but in the city."

Chen Mo remained silent for a moment.

He did not take out his communicator to notify Su Wan.

Xuan Ku did not stop them, because they both understood that this black nail was not related to whether the ginkgo tree was out of control.

Instead, it is someone in the city who is hunting, enslaving, and instigating sentient beasts and plants.

The Ninth Bureau will investigate this matter, and the Qinglian Society and the Jinglian Academy must also be investigated. Chen Mo's voice was somewhat low: "The Ginkgo Tree was injured today. If we hand over the Black Nail to the Ninth Bureau, by the time they finish their investigation, the person behind it may have already run away."

Xuan Ku said softly, "Benefactor Chen, the Pure Lotus Academy does not do good for the human race, and the Azure Lotus Society does not avenge the alien beasts."

"But if someone tries to force the guardians to become demons with evil intentions, then the very foundation of the coexistence of all spirits will be destroyed."

"He deserves to die."

Chen Mo's lips twitched: "Baldy, you're starting to sound more and more like a cult leader."

Xuanku clasped his hands together and said, "This humble monk never said that Jinglian Temple is a charity hall."

midnight.

The old town area of ​​Linjiang City.

Inside an abandoned psionic equipment repair shop.

Several men in black surrounded an iron table.

There were more than a dozen black nails for summoning spirits on the table.

At the very center is a main nail that is half a foot long.

The surface of the main nail is wrapped with dense black threads.

One of the men in black whispered, "The first black nail failed; the Ginkgo Tree hasn't completely gone out of control."

The man sitting in the shadows spoke coldly: "That's because the tree's heart hasn't hurt enough. Insert the main nail, and tonight, let it destroy three streets around the school."

"I want the whole of Linjiang City to know this first thing tomorrow morning."

"Whether it's strange beasts or spiritual plants, as long as they possess power, they will eventually turn against humanity."

One of the men in black hesitated and said, "But that tree is now protected by the Ninth Bureau."

The man in the shadows laughed: "The Ninth Bureau protects people. As soon as the tree roots get into the residential area, the first thing they'll kill is that tree."

"And we, we just need to stand back and watch."

Just then, a piece of broken glass above the repair shop moved slightly.

A small, palm-sized blue-feathered sparrow landed on the windowsill.

It tilted its head.

Everything inside the factory was laid out before them.

Several kilometers away.

The Green Leaf Badge in Chen Mo's hand warmed slightly.

He closed his eyes, and the scene that the Azure Feather Spirit Sparrow had seen appeared in his mind.

Chen Mo opened his eyes: "Found it."

Xuan Ku sat cross-legged to one side: "How many people are there?"

"A dozen or so, the highest being no more than the fourth rank."

Xuan Ku nodded: "That's enough."

Chen Mo looked at him: "What's enough?"

Xuan Ku stood up: "Enough for the Pure Lotus Temple to save people."

Chen Mo's expression was strange: "Didn't you say that the Pure Lotus Courtyard doesn't save people unconditionally?"

Xuanku twirled his prayer beads: "Naturally, those who wish to turn back will be saved; those who do not wish to turn back will be sent to see the Buddha."

Outside the repair shop.

The night wind blew through the dilapidated walls.

More than a dozen members of the Qinglian Society had already scattered around.

They did not wear uniforms, and each of them had a green leaf mark on their palm.

The disciples of Jinglian Temple stood on the other side.

The prayer beads jingled softly, and a pale golden light spread out like a thin mist.

Chen Mo stood on high ground, looking down at the repair shop below, and took out a communicator from his pocket.

on the screen.

It was Su Wan's number.

Chen Mo stared at the number for several seconds.

In the end, the call was not made.

He simply edited an anonymous message.

[There's a large quantity of black nails used for exorcising spirits at the old repair shop behind the First Middle School. Don't rush in.]

After sending the message, Chen Mo put away the communicator: "Let's do it."

boom!

The ground suddenly cracked open.

Countless pale green vines sprouted from the ground around the repair shop.

The vines did not kill directly.

Instead, they first rolled up the walls and exits around the factory.

The entire repair shop was sealed off instantly.

Inside the factory, the man in black's expression changed drastically: "Who?"

boom!

The factory gate was kicked open, and Chen Mo walked in slowly. His face was somewhat pale, but the blue spiritual light in his palm was unusually bright.

"The Green Lotus Society".

The man in the shadows slowly rose, staring at the blue leaf badge on Chen Mo's chest.

"So you're just lackeys of you strange beasts."

Chen Mo laughed: "You're wrong, we don't act as dogs for alien beasts."

"We just feel that some people are not as good as a tree that protects its children."

The man in black sneered, "A bunch of lunatics. Humans are humans, and beasts are beasts. Wait until the beast tide floods the city, then you'll realize how ridiculous you are."

Chen Mo shook his head: "Humans are humans, and beasts are beasts, but people like you who use children as bait and spiritual plants as weapons are not even as good as animals."

As soon as he finished speaking, more than a dozen men in black attacked simultaneously, their gray-black spiritual light rushing towards Chen Mo.

Members of the Qinglian Society also rushed into the factory from all sides.

Suddenly, vines rose up from beneath Chen Mo's feet.

The vines wrapped around the central nail and tossed it into the air.

The leader of the men in black's expression changed drastically: "Stop him!"

Just now.

A pale golden light descended from above the factory.

Xuan Ku sat cross-legged in mid-air.

A blurry Buddha image appeared behind him: "Contemplate the Great Sun, let the Pure Lotus illuminate your heart."

hum!

The Buddha's light fell upon the men in black.

The dark gray spiritual light within them instantly became restless.

A man in black clutched his head and let out a piercing scream.

Before his eyes appeared a spirit deer whose belly he had cut open and whose core he had taken.

Then I saw the young animals that had died on the experimental table.

"Get away from me! Don't come any closer!"

Xuanku's voice was calm: "This humble monk will only show you the despair you once showed others."

Some knelt and wept, some struggled frantically, and some, with red eyes, charged towards the main nail.

Chen Mo snorted coldly, and the vines swept across, causing the man to crash into the wall, spitting out blood.

In the center of the factory.

The leader finally managed to grab a gray-black runestone.

He looked at Chen Mo, a sinister smile spreading across his face: "You think taking the master nail is the end of it?"

"The main nail was already inserted into the heart of the ginkgo tree. Now, Linjiang No. 1 Middle School should be in complete chaos."