Chapter 785: Caught in the Trap

After explaining the meaning of the Earth Ranking, Lu Yang, fearing Tang Qiaoqiao and Cui Que'er might arrive at any moment, dragged Old Meng along to accumulate merit. It was a race against time, striving to squeeze out any possible free time.

Lu Yang didn't dare leave this bunch of lecherous monks and insect cultivators to their own devices; he wasn't certain if this cycle was the final one.

If his luck was poor and he hit the last cycle, failing to account for even a single person could lead to a massive disaster in Kaihuang City.

Lu Yang had suffered from similar oversights before.

Once, he had been trapped in a cycle where he had the same conversation with Tao Yaoye fifteen extra times. Later, finding the dialogue truly tedious, he had just gone through the motions.

As it turned out, that happened to be the final cycle, which led Tao Yaoye to think she had done something to displease Senior Brother Lu. She was on the verge of tears, and Lu Yang had to go back and explain in soft whispers for a long time before the misunderstanding was resolved.

"The chaos of Kaihuang City..."

"Beauty, just submit to me..."

"My time is running out..."

"From now on, your sensitivity..."

"Master, since these people are all here, just perform soul-searching on them."

Lu Yang, with Meng Jingzhou in tow, completed the tasks in one go, finally catching up to the progress he had made before the cycle reset.

"Why do you seem so rushed?" Meng Jingzhou couldn't keep up with Lu Yang's rhythm throughout, as if Lu Yang already knew exactly what was going to happen.

"Don't ask, it's mentally exhausting." Lu Yang sighed, silently praying that there wouldn't be a sixth cycle.

Arriving at a time he hadn't experienced before, Lu Yang finally relaxed. He went to a sugar painting stall and bought two sugar paintings: one in his own image, and one in Meng Jingzhou's.

He handed the sugar painting of Meng Jingzhou to him: "Here, my treat."

Meng Jingzhou accepted the painting with complex emotions, looking it over left and right, but he didn't dare take a bite.

There was nothing wrong with the sugar painting; the only problem was that it looked too much like him.

Lu Yang didn't dare take a bite either, but he felt that since he had finally encountered a sugar painting of himself, it would be a pity not to buy it.

In the spiritual space, whether it was because they had finally reached an unknown time or because she saw Lu Yang buy a sugar painting of himself, the Immortal Fairy suddenly sat up from her lotus platform, her interest piqued.

"Little Yang, come, come, let this Immortal use your body."

Lu Yang had no room to resist; he was immediately possessed by the ancient female demon.

The ancient female demon borrowed Lu Yang's body, licked the sugar painting, and let out a long, modulated hum.

"Truly sweet."

Afterward, she returned the body to Lu Yang.

Seeing this, Lu Yang suspiciously licked the sugar painting as well. It tasted the same as any ordinary sugar painting; why did the Fairy rate it as "truly sweet"?

After the first lick, he had no more psychological burden, and Lu Yang continued to eat the sugar painting.

Seeing that Lu Yang dared to eat it, Meng Jingzhou felt he had no reason to be timid, so he started eating as well.

The two walked along the bustling streets eating their sugar paintings, the voices of pedestrians constantly flowing into their ears.

"Lü Cheng, let's divorce. You're already forty and still haven't achieved anything. If I had known, I never should have married you."

"Son, you're already six. Stop spending my money. It's time to be independent; let's sever our father-son relationship."

"You old thing, how much silver have you cost me since you got sick? From today on, I won't care if you live or die. Get out of this house."

Lu Yang stopped in his tracks. He had been hearing many similar conversations one after another: couples divorcing, fathers abandoning sons, children casting off mothers—the frequency was terrifying.

"Wait, why does this feel wrong?"

The two discovered that, they didn't know when it started, but the street that had been filled with laughter and chatter suddenly had no laughter left, only chaotic footsteps and cold, indifferent conversations.

The two of them had been talking and laughing the whole time, which was why they only just noticed the abnormality in the external environment!

On the entire street, only the two of them were laughing; they were the only ones who were out of place!

"What is going on!"

"It's the Forget-Love Pill!"

Lu Yang suddenly realized. This was clearly the effect of the Forget-Love Pill. Losing all emotion, people were driven only by self-interest. To a father, a young son was a burden; to children, an elderly mother was a burden—all could be discarded!

Everyone on this street had taken the Forget-Love Pill!

No, that wasn't right; it wasn't just this street.

It was hard to have privacy under spiritual sense, but Lu Yang couldn't care about privacy now. His spiritual sense spread out, covering dozens of streets and houses. Whether mortal or cultivator, everyone was expressionless, walking like walking corpses!

"Looking at this, I'm afraid the entire Kaihuang City has fallen into this state!" Cold sweat broke out on Lu Yang, and he felt that things were looking dire.

"Is it the people from the Heartless Sect? How did they manage to make everyone fall for it!" Meng Jingzhou's expression was solemn. Under the eyes of everyone, neither of them had noticed this point.

Lu Yang seemed to remember something. He looked down at the ground. There was a puddle of stagnant water, with some of it seeping into the cracks of the bluestone street. The ground and the soil were damp, and the clues connected into a single line.

"It's the canal water!"

"Do you remember how Master Duanchen described the Forget-Love Pill to us after he performed soul-searching on the Three-Eyed Ghost Monk?"

Reminded by Lu Yang, Meng Jingzhou also realized: "The Forget-Love Pill dissolves in water! It's the water's fault!"

"Right, someone must have dumped a large amount of Forget-Love Pills into the canal water. Today is the Buddha-Bathing Festival, the day of the World-Honored One's birth. To celebrate, people splash water!"

"The canal water is splashed all over Kaihuang City, and as the water evaporates, the components of the Forget-Love Pill drift into the air. One would be affected just by breathing, and no one would notice!"

"Perhaps spirit beasts are even more sensitive to the components of the Forget-Love Pill. Do you remember the insect cultivator we encountered when we were doing good deeds? The Insect King devoured its master and nearly caused an insect plague. Perhaps it was precisely because the Insect King was affected by the Forget-Love Pill and lost its emotional constraints!"

"Our cultivation bases are too high; even if we took a Forget-Love Pill, it would only last for a few breaths. The Forget-Love Pill drifting in the air has been diluted countless times, so its effect is greatly reduced. We would be immune to it upon absorption."

"But other cultivators can't do that!"

"Find Master Duanchen. He is also at the Spirit Transformation stage; although he's not as strong as us, he shouldn't be affected!"

The two made a prompt decision. Ignoring the city's prohibition against flying, they soared into the air and flew toward Kaihuang Temple.

The two landed at the entrance of Kaihuang Temple. The temple was still bustling with incense, and due to the influence of the Forget-Love Pill, the number of pilgrims coming to burn incense and worship Buddha was even higher.

The pilgrims were dull-eyed, walking into Kaihuang Temple like marionettes, tossing copper coins, gold, silver, and spirit stones into the merit box with extremely standardized movements.

If there had been those who were just going through the motions before, now, in a heartless state, they didn't even have the emotion to go through the motions.

The two pushed open the abbot's room and shouted hurriedly: "Master, things are dire! The whole city has been poisoned by the Forget-Love Pill!" ===== CHAPTER 786 =====