Anti-fraud manual for the cultivation world

Li Gu and Zheng Xiaodong looked at each other in bewilderment.

How could the defensive formations cover a depth of two zhang underground?

After a brief silence, Li Gu said in a low voice, "Starting tomorrow, continue digging deeper. If two zhang isn't enough, I'll dig five zhang deep. I refuse to believe that this defensive formation can penetrate to the very core of the earth."

Zheng Xiaodong couldn't help but ask, "Is it really not possible to graduate normally?"

"No way!" Li Gu said decisively, "Although I don't know the details, I'm certain that the senior brothers who have completed their apprenticeships will not be able to leave the mountain."

"Okay, I believe you. Let's continue digging down tomorrow."

The two crawled out of the tunnel, moved the branches and leaves back to the tunnel entrance, and covered it up...

Just as they finished doing all this, a figure emerged from the bushes not far away and said in a calm tone, "As expected, I've caught you."

Li Gu and Zheng Xiaodong were shocked.

Almost simultaneously, the two picked up tree branches from the ground and assumed the starting stance for the [Hidden Flower Sword Technique].

But the figure showed no intention of making a move, and laughed, "Don't worry, it's me."

"Huh? It's... Junior Sister Zhang?" Zheng Xiaodong recognized the voice and slightly lowered the branch in his hand.

As the figure drew closer, it was indeed Zhang Yi.

A faint joy filled her face as she looked at Zheng Xiaodong with a complex and unfathomable gaze. Three seconds later, she suddenly lunged forward and threw herself into Zheng Xiaodong's arms, hugging him tightly and refusing to let go.

Li Gu slowly lowered the branch in his hand and sighed softly, "Why did you start suspecting us?"

Zhang Yi said in a low voice, "Junior Sister is too naive. She couldn't see that your sleeping posture and position were slightly different every morning, while I could. I had long suspected that you weren't paralyzed. But your affairs were none of my business, and although I had my suspicions, I didn't intend to take any action. Until this morning, Senior Brother Zheng's body was also moved. At first, I suspected that you had tortured him, but when I took off Senior Brother Zheng's pants..."

At this point, Zhang Yi paused slightly, seemingly a little shy, but she continued, "His body was more energetic than usual, so I knew his meridians had recovered."

Upon hearing this, Li Gu covered his face.

Well, it's surprising that I was exposed in a place like this.

He looked at Zheng Xiaodong with a helpless expression: "Senior Brother Zheng, are you really that bad at controlling your lower body?"

Zheng Xiaodong also looked embarrassed: "Hey, Junior Brother Li, you can't control yourself either, it's just that Junior Sister is too innocent. When she wipes you, she often closes her eyes and doesn't dare to look. Otherwise, do you think you can hide it? As long as she dares to look, and you only need to make the slightest change, you will definitely be exposed."

Li Gu shrugged, unsure of what to say.

Because Zheng Xiaodong is right, a man's...things are very difficult to control with the brain.

Its form will change as soon as the thought is slightly altered.

Zhang Yi continued, "Brother Zheng's meridians have recovered, and he should have told me immediately. Since he didn't say anything, there must be a reason why he can't say it. Most likely, he's preparing something he can't tell you. So I waited until dark to come to the house to check, and sure enough, you weren't there. Tracking is a basic skill for constables, so it wouldn't be difficult for me to follow your tracks up the mountain."

Li Gu covered his face: "We stepped on stones with every step, so where would we have left footprints?"

Zhang Yi: "Big rocks are more stable, but small rocks will sink. You can't have big rocks to step on every step you take. There will always be small rocks to step on, but it will take more time to find them."

Li Gu: "..."

Well, he thought he had it all figured out, but in the eyes of the constable, there were flaws everywhere.

Li Gu sighed softly, "If you were Hua Qianfang, I would have died long ago."

Zheng Xiaodong whispered, "Junior Sister, Junior Brother Li said that Master has a problem, and that none of the junior brothers who have graduated have been able to leave the mountain, so he is digging a tunnel to escape."

Zhang Yi whispered, "Junior Brother Li is right! There's something wrong with Hua Qianfang. I started suspecting it years ago and have been trying to persuade you to temporarily stop cultivating and keep your cultivation level below the sixth level of Qi Refining, but I was worried that you wouldn't be able to act well and would expose yourself. Just as I was hesitating, you became paralyzed."

Zheng Xiaodong looked astonished: "Huh? Why can you all see that Master has a problem, but I can't?"

Zhang Yi smiled and said, "You always think the best of people, that's your strength, and I like that about you."

Zheng Xiaodong: "..."

Li Gu: "..."

Zhang Yi: "Let's hurry down the mountain. It will be dawn in an hour. I will join you starting tomorrow. Although I share a room with another junior sister and can't come to help you dig the tunnel every night, I can provide you with tools and some cover."

She took Zheng Xiaodong's arm and rested her head on his shoulder.

God knows how Zheng Xiaodong survived the years she was paralyzed.

The next morning, Zhang Yi, as usual, brought a basin of water to serve Zheng Xiaodong his meal and help him cleanse himself.

Her expression was calm and revealed no flaws, as if nothing had happened last night. Even when she was taking off Zheng Xiaodong's pants, she showed no hesitation or shyness.

In the evening, she took a shovel from the flowerbed and cleared a patch of land behind the lonely house, saying she would use it all to plant cosmos flowers. After finishing the work, she casually left the shovel there.

That evening, Li Gu and Zheng Xiaodong got a shovel, which made their work much faster.

The two men dug the tunnel down another two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) in just two hours.

The two then caught another mole and had it scout ahead.

This time, the mole quickly dug diagonally in and burrowed into the soil directly beneath the defensive formation.

"It's done!"

Li Gu and Zheng Xiaodong were overjoyed.

The next task was to dig straight ahead. Since they didn't know the thickness of the defensive formation, the two of them could only dig the tunnel as far forward as possible, the longer the better.

----

Time ticked away...

Several days passed in the blink of an eye.

That night, the tunnel had been dug to a length of ten zhang (approximately 33 meters), long past the defensive formation. Li Gu and Zheng Xiaodong both felt that this distance should be sufficient.

Even the thickest defensive formation wouldn't be this thick, would it?

The two began to dig cautiously upwards, occasionally releasing moles to scout ahead. After a night of careful probing, confirming that they had passed through the defensive formation, they breathed a sigh of relief and began digging upwards at an angle to create an exit.

It took another two nights...

That night, Zheng Xiaodong was in charge of digging, and Li Gu was in charge of transporting the soil.

Zheng Xiaodong shoveled upwards with force, and suddenly felt the shovel easily pierce through the soil above his head. A piece of ground collapsed, hitting Zheng Xiaodong all over, even getting sand in his mouth. But he wasn't angry at all; instead, he was overjoyed and turned to Li Gu, saying, "It's working!"

Both were happy, but at the same time they became wary.

Climbing out of this hole means you've officially left Flower Valley. What's outside is completely unknown...