Anti-fraud manual for the cultivation world

Li Gu and Zheng Xiaodong quietly walked along the stream for a mile or two.

The valley was still long, and the two hadn't reached its end yet. But there wasn't enough time to explore further that night. Li Gu stood by the stream, gazing eastward, then turned back and whispered, "There's no need to explore any further. We've reached the limit of our exploration; any further and we won't make it back in time. Two nights from now, while Hua Qianfang is away, we need to escape. There's no time to explore any other routes."

Zheng Xiaodong nodded: "Junior Brother Li, do you believe what Brother Ouyang said? I have a feeling something's not right. What if they're lying to us? Hua Qianfang didn't leave two nights later..."

Li Gu blinked: "They told a lot of lies, but this one is true."

Zheng Xiaodong: "???"

I don't quite understand, but Zhang Yi told me to listen to Junior Brother Li, so I should give up my own thinking.

The two hurried back along the stream. They couldn't find the Ouyang brothers on the way back, and didn't know which direction they had gone to explore. But this just proved that they had no intention of going east at all, otherwise they should have gone east to explore with Li Gu and Zheng Xiaodong.

----

Two days later, at dawn, before the first light of day had even appeared in the east.

The Ouyang brothers arrived at the lonely house.

The two brothers had even darker dark circles under their eyes; it was hard to tell how long it had been since they had a proper night's sleep.

Upon entering, seeing Li Gu and Zheng Xiaodong "paralyzed in bed," the two brothers' lips curled into a strange smile.

The two walked to Zhou Shijie's bedside and sat down, appearing to be there to visit him, but their words were directed at Li Gu and Zheng Xiaodong: "Senior Brother Zheng, Junior Brother Li, it's tonight! We'll set off as soon as it gets dark."

Li Gu said in a low voice, "Okay! I'll wait for you."

Once the two realized that "Li Gu had been tricked," they decided not to linger any longer, nodded, and prepared to leave.

Just as he was about to open the door, it was pushed open from the outside in, and Zhang Yi walked in carrying a basin of water.

The Ouyang brothers quickly said, "Ah, Senior Sister Zhang, good morning! We've come to see Second Senior Brother."

Zhang Yi gave a faint "hmm" and ignored him.

The two brothers quickly passed by her and disappeared into the flower bushes outside.

Zhang Yi then sat down on the edge of Zheng Xiaodong's bed: "We're leaving tonight, right?"

"Yes!" Li Gu said in a low voice, "I'll inform Junior Sister in the evening. I'm afraid if I tell her in the morning, she'll mess up her performance during the day."

Zhang Yi nodded: "Those two guys had strange smiles and shifty eyes; they're not trustworthy. Are you sure what they said about Hua Qianfang leaving at noon today is true?"

Li Gu replied decisively: "I'm certain!"

Zhang Yi didn't ask anything further, and whispered, "I'll go to the kitchen and steal some dry rations."

----

After dinner, it's free time for the disciples of Hidden Flower Sect.

The sun was about to set behind the mountains.

The Ouyang brothers quietly slipped out of the room. The elder brother, Ouyang Ming, walked ahead and climbed up the east slope. He deliberately stepped on the soft mud, leaving a clear footprint.

Ouyang Liang, the younger brother, immediately understood: "Hehe, we'll use the footprints to lure Hua Qianfang eastward, hoping that Li Gu and Zheng Xiaodong, who are fleeing eastward, will outwit and outmaneuver Hua Qianfang for a while longer."

The two men made no attempt to conceal their footprints, leaving two trails of footprints that stretched up the eastern slope.

They crawled out of the tunnel as fast as they could and fled westward.

at the same time……

The house had just quieted down when the junior disciples who had been taking care of Zhou Shijie left.

Today, Li Gu ate his porridge very slowly, as if he was deliberately teasing Meng Ting, dragging her out for a long time until Zhou Shijie's bedside was empty and the sky outside was completely dark before he finally finished the last bite.

Meng Ting couldn't help but laugh and rub Li Gu's face: "Senior Brother Li, what's wrong with you today? What do you want? Tell me... You don't say anything, you just like to mess with me."

She was just talking to herself jokingly and didn't expect to hear a reply.

Unexpectedly, Li Gu spoke up: "Alright, then I'll say it."

Upon hearing this, Meng Ting was so startled that she almost jumped up and cried out in alarm.

Fortunately, Li Gu was prepared. He sat up abruptly in bed, put one arm around her waist to restrain her body, preventing her from running out of the room in fright. His other hand quickly covered her mouth, and he whispered, "Don't scream! Don't be afraid! Calm down and listen to me..."

Meng Ting went limp.

On one hand, she was frightened, and on the other hand, Li Gu pulled her into his arms and forcefully covered her mouth. This series of actions made her exclaim in her heart, "Ah, is Senior Brother Li going to force me into eighteen different ways? This is too sudden!" How could she not go weak?

After a brief moment of shyness, Meng Ting suddenly remembered that Zhang Yi was still in the room.

She quickly mustered all her strength and pushed hard. Even with her mouth covered, she could still make a sound, though it was a little muffled: "No! Senior Sister Zhang is still here."

Zhang Yi laughed and said, "If I weren't here, would you stop resisting?"

Meng Ting's face instantly turned completely red, and she went limp as if she had been crippled, unable to move at all.

Li Gu's face was too close to hers, so she didn't dare look into his eyes and instead glanced to the side...

On the bed next to her, Senior Brother Zheng sat up abruptly, while Zhang Yi carried a bag from the flower bushes outside, containing food she had secretly prepared.

Meng Ting's eyes widened in disbelief; she was overwhelmed by what she saw and couldn't keep up with her mental strain.

"I don't have time to explain now, I'll tell you slowly on the way." Li Gu gently released his hand: "I only have one question: we're about to escape Flower Valley, and the journey will be fraught with danger. Are you willing to risk your life to come with me?"

Without hesitation, Meng Ting replied, "Yes!"

"Okay, let's go."

Meng Ting: "Shouldn't you call him Senior Brother Fang?"

Li Gu had thought it over carefully these past few days. This escape was fraught with peril, and bringing another person along might just mean another person dying. Junior Brother Fang didn't like practicing cultivation techniques and his progress was incredibly slow; he wouldn't have to worry about graduating for at least ten years. Bringing him along might actually cause him to die prematurely. As for Meng Ting, although her cultivation was also low, if she stayed in the valley, she might run into someone like Wu Wangshu again, so it was better to bring her along.

Without explaining, Li Gu picked up Meng Ting and ran outside.

"Huh? Why are you carrying me? I can walk by myself." Meng Ting was a little anxious. She was worried that if she went out of the room, her fellow students would see her, which would be so embarrassing.

Li Gu whispered, "Shh! Quiet. If someone sees us, we'll all die. It's not a matter of being ashamed."

Meng Ting quickly covered her mouth with both hands.

On the other side, Zheng Xiaodong slung the bag of food over his shoulder and gave Zhang Yi a deep look: "Let's follow."

Zhang Yi nodded: "There's one last thing I need to do before I leave."

Zheng Xiaodong: "?"

Zhang Yi darted to Zhou Shijie's bedside and, to the latter's horror, chopped Zhou Shijie in the neck with a swift chop. The sound of breaking bones echoed, and Zhou Shijie died on the bed without even a sound of protest or pleading.

Zheng Xiaodong was shocked and puzzled: "Wouldn't you be happy to let him be paralyzed for life?"

Zhang Yi said in a deep voice, "He has heard a lot about us. If Hua Qianfang heals his injuries, we can get the information out of him that we are going to Jiangzhou."

Zheng Xiaodong suddenly realized: "I see, but killing him would be too lenient on him."