"Ugh..."
Master Fuli took advantage of Momo's unconsciousness and pinched her fox ears. Momo made a few whimpering sounds, clearly displeased with someone touching her head.
However.
Master Fuli didn't play with her crunchy ears for long. The Security Bureau's logistics support personnel quickly arrived and carried Momo, trapped in the withered wooden armor, away.
"Can you handle Momo's situation? After all, she took off in the dormitory..."
Watching Momo board the helicopter and be sent to the hospital for professional treatment, Ansheng asked.
"While rushing here, we already notified the university to access the surveillance. Everything can be handled smoothly, without causing any chaos..."
"However, Master Fuli's thing..." Wang Qiqi looked at the still sprouting wood remaining in the soil.
Momo's body is somewhat special, but inherently there's no issue.
Yet after being parasitized by the Treasure Tree's branches, she could traverse a fifty-kilometer distance, leading Master Fuli and the Security Bureau to dismantle a nest of a shady practitioner hermit.
Clearly.
The Treasure Tree Master's branches aren't as harmless to humans and animals as they appear; they contain mental interference or some instinctual craving for Spiritual Particles.
And the reason their effect doesn't impact the Treasure Tree Ants is not because the ants are special, but simply because they haven't been parasitized or rooted by them.
When the Treasure Tree Ants consume the branches, they use mouth-cavity excreted corrosive liquid to erode the branch cross-section, then suck them in bit by bit, quite enjoyably.
Momo swallowed the Treasure Tree's branches but doesn't possess a strong digestive ability, resulting in parasitism.
"The branches might serve as new clues; that old tree seems close to becoming sentient."
Listening to Wang Qiqi's question, Ansheng turned to her and said, "If there's still no direction in Mawang Village, it could be the breakthrough."
"Before that, let's check out the metal box hidden in the basement by the shady practitioner?"
Ansheng doesn't exactly know whether Momo was influenced by the Tree Master's will or by instinct, causing her bizarre behavior.
But one thing is certain; the Treasure Tree currently might crave Spiritual Particles.
Since it craves Spiritual Particles, naturally, once it obtains them, it needs recovery afterward.
As long as there's recovery behavior, the Security Bureau can lock onto the Treasure Tree's whereabouts via satellite.
"Master Fuli seems particularly keen on the Treasure Tree? If we catch it afterwards, Master Fuli..." Wang Qiqi inquired, heading towards the villa, somewhat tentatively:
"Can't you just burn it down with a fire? After all, it's a regional-level big deal."
"Why would I burn it?" Ansheng responded with slight surprise, "Whatever you folks want to do with it is your freedom. My reason for seeking it is singular: I merely want to hit it twice."
"In Chang'an City, there shouldn't be anyone more dashing than me!"
Master Fuli casually fabricated an excuse; the real reason for seeking the Treasure Tree was quite simple.
It's because the Treasure Tree is sufficiently strong, possessing the ability to impact regional spirits. The settlement criteria for Wish Power in the wish list examine subsequent impacts.
First comes good cause, and only then can good results blossom, ultimately allowing Ansheng to obtain Wish Power from the wish list settlement.
Master Fuli's true intent in seeking the Tree Master is to use his fox power to tell it that it should always strive, and whenever possible, help the elderly and children cross the streets.
Instead of wandering on idle thoughts daily, or else within three days, I'll pour herbicide on its roots.
"Hmm?!"
Entering the villa and opening the sealed glass door leading to the basement, Ansheng and Wang Qiqi detected a bloody scent slowly wafting out.
Wang Qiqi's face changed dramatically, and with a swift move, she crossed over from the stairs platform to the railing edge, gazing down at the entire rental basement environment.
The basement was devoid of brightness, and even the railing she stood on was a makeshift template with steel bars as temporary protection.
Yet, the night vision capability of Golden Leopard was remarkable; merely relying on the faint light from skylights, Wang Qiqi could see the entire internal structure of the basement.
After seeing clearly, she breathed a sigh of relief.
The basement indeed had a bloody scent, and fresh red liquid had flowed everywhere, but it wasn't from humans.
Rather, it was from two common rural black pigs. Judging by their appearances, Wang Qiqi had reason to believe they were meticulously raised by farmers, used as annual pigs during the New Year or for villagers' ancestral ceremonies.
They were quite beautiful, their fur glistened brightly, and they even sported fashionable dyed hair on their heads.
Beside the two black pigs lay a square bronze box entirely stained with pig blood.
On the bronze box, there were engravings of circular or ∞ shapes, which seemed strange and somewhat meaningless.
"No... "
"It doesn't seem like a bronze box, more like a ceramic box..." Wang Qiqi carefully examined the box engravings and surface material, eventually reaching a conclusion: the box's surface engravings resemble those from the Dadiwan Ruins era.
During that period, bronze ware didn't exist yet; it was the era dominated by stone and pottery.
The ceramic box exuded a metallic luster, likely because it had been soaking in blood for a long time.
"Those two black pigs are Spirit Beasts..." Ansheng stood upright, leaning on the railing, tapped Wang Qiqi's leg, pointing at their heads' trendy hairstyles, and said, "I've seen Spirit Beasts among boars, the biggest feature being the tuft of colored hair on their heads."
Ansheng referred to the boar from Skinny Dog Creek.
The boar princess whose ambition was crushed by the dream-shattering blow.
Certainly.
Ansheng determined they were Spirit Beasts, not by the colored hair on top, but by Spiritual Particles dispersing from the two black pigs.
"Could it be two Spirit Beasts... died here?" Wang Qiqi showed a hint of disbelief: "That bunch of shady practitioners actually blood sacrificed two non-castrated Spirit Beasts as seed boars?"
"Damn!"
"After returning, I'll have them castrated!"
Spirit Beasts not artificially cultivated are considered "Celestial Pride" within the Security Bureau, undoubtedly possessing exceptional innate talents.
Animals capable of spontaneous Spiritualization are inherently top-notch within their groups.
They are premium for research or breeding. Now witnessing two local spiritually aware black pigs dead, Wang Qiqi was infuriated, grinding her teeth, even imagining how delectable artificially bred third through fifth generation pigs would be.
The future could even see promotion in Xia Country's market.
Wang Qiqi wore a sinister expression; Ansheng didn't fully understand her thoughts but continually observed the peculiar metal box.
The shady practitioner... wasn't it supposed to be a blood sacrifice for the blood god?
Is this box supposedly the blood god?
"Click..."
The small box nestled in the basement seemed to have sensed Master Fuli's malice, becoming extremely uneasy.
Under Master Fuli and Wang Qiqi's gaze.
The ceramic box gradually started to move, releasing some dragging sounds that suggested "skritchy scratching."
The ceramic box slowly crawled toward the dark corner, attempting to nestle deeply into it, minimizing its presence.
"???"
Ansheng and Wang Qiqi stared blankly at the box shifting toward the corner. However, due to what seemed like excessive force, the box collided with the corner, toppling over.
"It's so stupid... should we smash it? Anything that feeds on blood doesn't seem like a good thing..."
"Master Fuli, don't say that, the Ba Mountain Mosquitoes would be heartbroken..."