After transmigrating into the body of the protagonist's childhood friend, he was targeted by a

Lin Zhixu stood up and walked up the mountain along the stream.

The magistrate told his men to hurry up and follow.

The higher you go, the more obvious the changes in the surrounding vegetation become.

The trees at the foot of the mountain were relatively normal, but when you get to the middle of the mountain, even the wild grass droops and the leaves turn yellow and curl up, just like the rice paddies at the foot of the mountain.

Lin Zhixu paused, stopped at a spot, and pushed aside a clump of withered bushes to reveal a patch of bare rock.

The stone surface was covered with a very faint blue pattern, like some kind of moss, but it did not feel moist to the touch. Instead, it was dry and rough, and my fingertips felt slightly numb when I pressed it.

"What is this?"

The magistrate leaned closer to examine it for a moment, then hesitated and said, "Isn't this just ordinary moss? It rained a couple of days ago, so it's normal for moss to grow on the mountain. Immortal Master, is there something wrong?"

Lin Zhixu didn't explain further, only saying, "It shouldn't be ordinary moss. I'll take some samples back and have someone take a look. I'll let you know the results later."

"That's enough for today, you can go back now."

Although the magistrate was puzzled, seeing the immortal master's solemn expression, he dared not ask any further questions and led his constables away.

After everyone had gone some distance, Lin Zhixu asked himself, "What is this?"

The system quickly displayed: [Rotting Spirit Moss, a low-level parasitic spiritual plant. It silently absorbs the surrounding spiritual energy until the host's life force is exhausted before it detaches. Mortal crops simply cannot withstand it; being parasitized by it is a certain death.]

He frowned: [Rotten Spirit Moss? This thing shouldn't be found in mortal villages.]

System: [That's right, Corrosive Moss usually only grows on cliffs and precipices rich in spiritual energy; its appearance in mortal territory is indeed abnormal.]

Lin Zhixu continued walking up the dark red moss trail.

The moss grew denser and denser, spreading from a few scattered patches into a large expanse, like some kind of silent road sign, leading him through the pile of rocks halfway up the mountain, and finally stopping in front of a hidden crevice in the rock.

The crack in the rock is no more than half a person's width, and if you don't look for it specifically, you can easily mistake it for an ordinary fissure in the mountain.

The stream water seeped out from beneath this crevice, and the moss on the rocks on both sides of the crevice was no longer green, but had turned a dark red.

It was already as thick as a dark red velvet blanket.

Lin Zhixu did not rush in, but instead turned sideways and sent a wisp of his divine sense into the crevice.

The inside of the crevice was much deeper than it appeared from the outside. As my divine sense extended inward, I encountered a thin, long crack on the rock wall at the end.

The crack edges are smooth and regular, unlike naturally formed cracks, but rather appear to have been deliberately carved out.

A faint, almost imperceptible fluctuation of spiritual energy emanated from the depths of the crack.

"There's something inside." Lin Zhixu withdrew his divine sense, his voice calm. "The spiritual energy is very weak, but it's definitely a fluctuation of spiritual power. It doesn't feel naturally formed. Can you find out what's inside?"

The system paused for a moment, presumably searching, and quickly replied: "[No results found.]"

Lin Zhixu frowned: [Even you can't find it?]

System: [...You think too highly of me? System queries can only find known records and information. For unknown information like this, which has no literature in the system's database, there's nothing the system can do.]

Lin Zhixu seemed to be deep in thought.

System: [Your task is simply to investigate the cause of the crop failure; there's no need to take risks. Just report back after you return.]

Lin Zhixu thought so too.

He scraped off a few pieces of dark red moss and put them into the sample bag he carried with him.

Now that we've found the source of the crop's withering, the remaining investigation can be left to those within the sect who are more skilled in this area.

He didn't probe into the crevice again, and turned to go down the mountain.

After returning to the sect, he went directly to Dan Peak.

The people of Danfeng are far more professional than him when it comes to the study of spiritual plants.

He found Jiang Che, handed him the bag containing the moss samples, and briefly explained the situation in Qingxi Village.

Jiang Che saw the sample handed to him, wiped his hands, took it, brought it to his nose and smelled it, and then used his spiritual power to probe it for a moment.

"The cyan one is normal, but this dark red one is not right. This should be a mutated variety of Corrupted Spirit Moss."

Lin Zhixu: "Can you figure out what caused it to mutate?"

Jiang Che rubbed a little bit between his fingertips and said, "It has a very faint smell of blood. It must have been nourished by some kind of blood, which is why it underwent this mutation."

He added, "However, the Corrosive Moss itself is not very harmful. Even if it mutates, it only absorbs spiritual energy faster, which is not a threat to cultivators."

He suddenly realized something, put down the sample, and looked at Lin Zhixu: "Is this thing related to the mission you took on? Is the crop yield reduction caused by it?"

"It's pretty much true." Lin Zhixu nodded. "There's a lot of this kind of moss growing on the mountains of Qingxi Village. The rotten spirit moss lives in the soil by absorbing spiritual energy. The spiritual energy in the mortal world is already thin. Once it drains it, the nutrients in the soil are gone, and the crops naturally can't grow."

Jiang Che understood: "Then this village is really unlucky. Normally, spiritual plants can't survive in the mortal world, but this thing is an exception. It grows wildly with just a little spiritual energy until there is no life left in the vicinity."

"It's not a problem for cultivators, but it's a disaster for mortals."

Lin Zhixu nodded: "Then I will tell the county magistrate the investigation results, and the task will be completed."

Jiang Che stopped him: "If they want your help to handle things over there, come find me, and I'll go with you."

"Is it easy to handle? Will it be very troublesome?" Lin Zhixu asked.

Jiang Che waved his hand: "To put it bluntly, they are just some harmful weeds. It's the same principle as weeding in the mortal world. Just sprinkle some special medicine and they will be gone. It won't take much effort."

"I'm just curious how these things can grow in the mortal realm, and even cause mutations. Could it be that some cultivator left them there?"

After hesitating for a moment, Lin Zhixu told Jiang Che about the crevice in the mountain.

Jiang Che's eyes lit up: "You mean, those mutated, decaying moss grows outwards along the cracks in the rocks? And there are fluctuations of spiritual energy deep within those cracks?"

Lin Zhixu nodded: "I only used my divine sense to explore from the outside, so I'm not sure what's inside, but I did sense fluctuations in spiritual energy."

Jiang Che frowned and thought for a moment, then said, "Come on, I'll go with you to take a look."

Lin Zhixu: "Okay."

……

Lin Zhixu first went to the county government office and told the county magistrate the results of the investigation.

The magistrate was utterly shocked upon hearing this.

After all that, it turned out that the culprit was just some inconspicuous moss on the mountain. No wonder they hadn't found a single clue after investigating for half a month.

"That decaying moss grows in the soil, draining the earth's spiritual energy, so crops naturally can't grow," Lin Zhixu explained succinctly, then asked, "Do you need help clearing it out? If you want us to do it, the payment will be separate."

The magistrate gritted his teeth and cautiously asked, "May I ask, Immortal Master, how much...would this cost?"

Lin Zhixu turned his head and glanced at Jiang Che.

Jiang Che calculated the costs and readily agreed, "It's not difficult, just give me ten low-grade spirit stones."