Chapter 342

Luo Zhengnan and Qiu Qiu Zhiheng reached an agreement, returned to the hall, and immediately issued an order: the entire Medicine King Hall was to go all out to capture the disaster cultivators.

Capturing disaster cultivators brings bad luck, so many people were unwilling to put in the effort.

Being unwilling didn't matter; Luo Zhengnan had his ways.

If a member of the hall discovered the whereabouts of a disaster cultivator, as long as the information was true, they would first be rewarded with fifty silver dollars. If the report was timely and they participated in the capture, they would be rewarded with elixirs that could accumulate Daoist affinity.

For disciples with cultivation bases, capturing one disaster cultivator alive would be rewarded with Snake-Pattern Elixirs; those who were the main captors would start at twenty, and those who assisted would start at ten!

Luo Zhengnan is not Xiao Xiao Zhenggong; he fulfills the rewards he promises on the spot!

With heavy rewards, there must be brave men. By the afternoon of the second day, the Jiang Xiang Gang had captured another disaster cultivator.

Disaster cultivators ultimately need to cultivate. No matter how deep they hide, they always have to find opportunities to disgust others. With experience, the Jiang Xiang Gang's actions became faster and faster, and they captured another one that night.

The Jiang Xiang Gang moved, and the Sanying Sect also moved. Zhang Zhang Liuze had just been promoted to Copper Seal and captured a disaster cultivator in Li Ditch, while two other Copper Seals joined forces to capture two more in Outer Ditch.

The Qingyun Society captured two.

The Baihua Sect captured one.

The Yuhua Gang didn't have enough power, and most of its disciples had no cultivation base. They found the whereabouts of two disaster cultivators, and Li Li Banfeng used the clues to capture these two.

Qiu Qiu Zhiheng used the clues provided by Shopkeeper Feng and Yu Nan to capture two more.

Besides Yu Heshan, fifteen disaster cultivators had come to Medicine King Gully. Now Yu Heshan was dead, one of the fifteen had died, thirteen had been captured, and only one remained at large.

Qiu Qiu Zhiheng worried that more disaster cultivators would mix into Medicine King Gully. On this point, the major gangs gave their promises: the station, the pier, and the border lines were all guarded by gang disciples. If they saw anyone suspicious who liked to look for bad luck, they would capture them first.

Qiu Qiu Zhiheng couldn't care about bad luck anymore and kept all the disaster cultivators in the pharmacy, interrogating them one by one.

Yu Heshan had originally come to Medicine King Gully because he had disgusted everyone around him and had nowhere to cultivate.

The situations of the other disaster cultivators coming to Medicine King Gully were all different.

Some were because they had offended a ruthless person and were afraid of retaliation, so they fled their homeland.

Some were because their cultivation base was growing too slowly and they wanted to change places to cultivate.

Some were just because their family was destitute and they wanted to change places to make a living.

But why did they all choose Medicine King Gully?

Qiu Qiu Zhiheng used a technique, and these people finally told the truth.

They had a dream, a dream from their Patriarch.

The Patriarch told them to come to Medicine King Gully, and they would have a way out.

Is it that easy to believe things in a dream?

And even if it really was a summons from the Patriarch, Daoist disciples don't necessarily have to follow orders; matters of cultivation ultimately depend on one's own heart.

At first, they ignored it, but the Patriarch gave a warning in the dream: those who didn't listen to the Patriarch's instructions would inevitably encounter disaster.

And then, within two days, these disaster cultivators really encountered disasters; some got sick, some were beaten, some almost lost their lives. They didn't dare to disobey the Patriarch anymore and all came to Medicine King Gully.

Li Li Banfeng was very surprised to hear this; it turns out disaster cultivators are also afraid of bad luck.

But why can the bad luck in the dream come true?

Qiu Qiu Zhiheng felt there was still a problem with this, so he went to visit Yao Lao together.

Yao Lao was covered in bruises, holding his three-pointed, double-edged blade, drinking in the courtyard.

Yesterday, his hand slipped, he couldn't grip the blade handle, and he slashed himself twice.

The day before yesterday, the wine cellar caught fire, and Yao Lao was burned.

The day before that was the worst; to guard against the Disaster Star, Yao Lao prepared a room full of traps and mechanisms.

As a result, the roof beam collapsed in the early morning, triggering all the traps and mechanisms, almost causing a serious injury.

It sounded like accidents, but Yao Lao knew clearly in his heart that this was the Disaster Star's sneak attack.

Having suffered losses, Yao Lao still didn't fall; he stood in the courtyard, still majestic: "I'm not afraid of him! If he dares to show his face once, I'll take his life!"

Qiu Qiu Zhiheng asked: "Is the Disaster Star the Patriarch of the disaster cultivators?"

"He's not worth a dog's fart as a Patriarch! When the disaster cultivator Patriarch was alive, he hadn't even entered the Daoist sect!"

"Does the Disaster Star have the cultivation base of a dream cultivator?"

"No! For this old dog to cultivate a Daoist sect to the clouds is already a stroke of luck; how could he have the ability to cultivate both?"

Not the Patriarch, and not a dream cultivator, so where did the nightmares of those disaster cultivator disciples come from? These were nightmares that could truly bring bad luck.

Qiu Qiu Zhiheng couldn't figure it out, but Yao Lao thought of another connection.

"Could it have something to do with the Inner Prefecture?"

Li Li Banfeng remembered something: the Insect King that caused the insect disaster in Haichi Ridge also had the power of the Inner Prefecture.

Yao Lao didn't dare to conclude this; if the power of the Inner Prefecture was really involved, it would be difficult to hold Medicine King Gully.

A Disaster Star transformed by the Inner Prefecture is likely not on the same level as Yao Lao.

Returning to the Qiu Family Pharmacy, Qiu Qiu Zhiheng continued to interrogate the disaster cultivators: "Since you arrived in Medicine King Gully, why did you hide and not dare to show your faces?"

Everyone looked at each other, and finally, an old man named Ge Ge Tugen spoke: "I've been in the Daoist sect for a long time. After Yu Heshan died, I felt something was wrong.

Later, I saw some bloodstains near Yuxiang Village, and even after a heavy rain, the bloodstains couldn't be washed away. I figured this was likely a Disaster Gate Array.

This array was filled with the lives of fellow disciples, so I told them to run for their lives."

"But you didn't run."

Ge Ge Tugen said: "Master, we wanted to run, but travel permits are hard to find. The travel permits we came with were given to us by the Patriarch in a dream. We are strangers in Medicine King Gully; how could we find travel permits to go back?"

Things can even be handed over in a dream.

If the Disaster Star really has the cultivation base of a dream cultivator, what level has he reached!

The interrogation was almost done, and Qiu Qiu Zhiheng was waiting for news of the last disaster cultivator being captured.

The next day, the news came: the last disaster cultivator wasn't captured. Someone found clues in Mazhu Village in Outer Ditch, and Jiang Xiang Gang disciples went to capture him, only to find the corpse of this disaster cultivator.

Mazhu Village, Li Li Banfeng had been there; it was You Tao's home, on the border between Medicine King Gully and Green Water City.

Qiu Qiu Zhiheng asked: "When did this happen?"

Luo Zhengnan replied: "I just saw the corpse this morning."

"Mazhu Village is not close to Li Ditch." Qiu Qiu Zhiheng was a bit suspicious; judging by the time, Luo Zhengnan shouldn't have received the news so quickly.

Luo Zhengnan said: "I have my own methods; you don't need to ask about that."

"Did he die from smuggling?"

Luo Zhengnan shook his head: "He had a travel permit on him. Although I don't know the origin of the travel permit, he shouldn't have needed to smuggle."

Li Li Banfeng heard clearly in the back hall.

Arriving at the border, having a travel permit, not needing to smuggle, yet still dying suddenly.

The first two disaster cultivators died at the train station.

Besides the Disaster Star sending someone to kill them personally, there is another possibility.

The Disaster Gate Array has mutated; these disaster cultivators simply cannot leave Li Ditch, and if they dare to walk out, they will die suddenly.

Is there really such a mutated array?

If there really is such an array, it means they have no way to send the disaster cultivators out; they will die in Medicine King Gully no matter what.

Luo Zhengnan and Qiu Qiu Zhiheng also fell into silence. After thinking for a long time, Luo Zhengnan wanted to gamble once: "There is a freight train to Huangtu Bridge tomorrow. I'll find a way to send a disaster cultivator onto the train.

If he dies at the station, it proves they can't get out, and we'll think of another way.

If we can successfully send him to Huangtu Bridge, it proves our method is correct, and I'll find a way to get a freight train to send them all back!"

The method is correct, but the price is also high.

Qiu Qiu Zhiheng used to deal with the Garrison Commissioner often and knew the character of this group of people.

"Hall Master Luo, if we take someone there tomorrow and he dies at the station, can the Garrison Commissioner spare you? At this juncture, he might completely turn against you."

Luo Zhengnan sighed; he also had this concern.

And the price isn't just this one.

The two were drinking tea when they suddenly heard the roof tiles rattling after a gust of wind.

The two stood at the door and saw white beans the size of thumbs falling densely from the sky.

Hail?

In the climate of Medicine King Gully, hail hadn't been encountered for many years.

Qiu Qiu Zhiheng chose high-quality tiles, so they barely held up, but the ordinary tiles of other houses were smashed into large pieces in less than three to five minutes.

Whoosh~

A scent of wine drifted in the wind, and as the fragrance permeated, the temperature rose sharply.

The hail melted rapidly before it could fall, turning into a torrential rain amidst the wine mist.

The heavy rain lasted for three full hours. If it had been three hours of hail, it would be hard to say what Medicine King Gully would have become.

This was just the beginning; at twelve o'clock that night, the hail came again.

Yao Lao carried his wine pot, held his three-pointed, double-edged blade, stood in the courtyard and shouted: "If you have any tricks, come at me! What kind of skill is it to bully the common people!"

Spitting out a mist of wine, the hail turned into rain again.

Yao Lao and the Disaster Gate Array fought hard for a day and a night.

This is the third array Xiang Xiang Hongying mentioned.

If Luo Zhengnan were allowed to try and fail again, Li Li Banfeng didn't even dare to think about what kind of disaster it would bring.

But what should be done next?

Keep an eye on this group of disaster cultivators and make sure they don't die?

Not to mention that this matter itself is too unlucky, even if he didn't care about the bad luck, he couldn't keep an eye on them. What if the Disaster Star came over one day and killed the disaster cultivators?

Even if all these people in front of him attacked together, they couldn't stop a third-layer cultivator on the clouds.

Yao Lao could have taken the opportunity to sneak attack and kill the Disaster Star, but while the idea was good, the difficulty of operating it was too great.

There's only the thief who steals for a thousand days, how can there be a thief who guards for a thousand days? Should he let the local deity and the crowd in Medicine King Gully stare at this group of disaster cultivators every day?

The only feasible method seems to be destroying the Disaster Gate Array.

Li Li Banfeng and Qiu Qiu Zhiheng took the old disaster cultivator Ge Ge Tugen to Yuxiang Village and found the bloodstains he had mentioned earlier.

It was a dark red bloodstain the size of a palm; it was rare that the old man had such sharp eyes to discover it.

Li Li Banfeng asked: "If I dig up this bloodstain, can I break the Disaster Gate Array?"

The old man shook his head: "Digging one piece definitely won't work; I can't say clearly how many need to be dug."

Qiu Qiu Zhiheng frowned.

The old man wasn't lying, and Yao Lao said the same thing.

The key is, where are the other bloodstains?

Li Li Banfeng took out an iron shovel and shoveled the bloodstain on the ground.

Qiu Qiu Zhiheng stepped forward to stop him: "Brother, don't move, watch out for bad luck, let me do it."

Li Li Banfeng waved his hand; he had already shoveled it down.

After dealing with the disaster cultivators for so many days, he had long since stopped caring about bad luck.

The bloodstain was very deep; he shoveled more than five feet deep and dug out half a sack of soil before he shoveled the bloodstain clean.

Returning to the pharmacy, Li Li Banfeng brought a portion of the soil back to the Leaving Suishenju. Xiang Xiang Hongying smelled that the scent was wrong and shouted: "Did you bring back a disaster cultivator? Why is there such a smell of bad luck?"

Li Li Banfeng said happily: "Your nose is so sharp, why don't you come with me to Medicine King Gully? I'll lead you, you sniff out all the bloodstains, and we'll break the Disaster Gate Array."

Xiang Xiang Hongying said angrily: "I won't do such an unlucky thing, and besides, doing this won't work."

"Why won't it work?"

"I don't know how big the Medicine King Gully you mentioned is, but it must be at least a hundred miles in radius, right?

In a territory of a hundred miles, a small bucket of blood has been scattered; you have to dig out at least a large half of it to break the Disaster Gate Array."

Li Li Banfeng really thought this was a way: "What shape is the Disaster Gate Array? How many blood-scattering points are there? I'll find them one by one!"

Xiang Xiang Hongying sneered: "You really don't give up. When I was in the army, I vaguely remembered that the Disaster Gate Array had more than sixty changes, each with a different shape, and the blood-scattering points ranged from one hundred to three hundred. Do you really think you can find them?"

A series of numbers left Li Li Banfeng speechless for a long time.

The phonograph scolded Xiang Xiang Hongying: "Stop talking!"

Xiang Xiang Hongying said angrily: "Why can't I talk? I'm telling him not to waste his effort!"

"Wench, still talking endlessly, go take twenty military sticks yourself!"

"Even if I get beaten, I have to say it! The Disaster Gate Array can't be broken at all! Such a large array was set up in his own home; that drunkard deserves to be finished. Why are you still bothering with him?"

Before the words fell, the house suddenly made a low hum.

Hum~

Xiang Xiang Hongying put on her full suit of armor and stood beside the phonograph.

The phonograph and Xiang Xiang Hongying only heard a series of low hums, as if it were the noise of mechanical collision and friction.

Only Li Li Banfeng heard the voice of the Leaving Suishenju: "I can help you, but I need at least two more iron rails."

"How can you help me?"

"Walk through every inch of Medicine King Gully, not missing a single spot!"

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(End of chapter)