DIV Chapter 61: Ordinary Friends

"An ominous divination?"

Li Chang'an's heart jumped with alarm.

He hadn't encountered an ominous divination for a long time.

Even when Foundation Establishment ancestors came to attack, the divination had shown auspicious signs!

"Why would an ominous divination suddenly appear?"

Li Chang'an's gaze sharpened as he carefully read through the divination content.

[You visit the first-tier mid-grade spirit plant cultivator Chu Mu to obtain materials needed for body cultivation. During the transaction, you are poisoned by him, resulting in damaged meridians]

"Poisoned?"

Li Chang'an frowned.

Chu Mu was a spirit plant cultivator, so cultivating poison was normal but the two of them had no grievances or enmity.

Why would Chu Mu want to harm him?

"That Chu Mu has a decent reputation in the market, he's gentle in nature and rarely makes enemies with others."

Li Chang'an pondered, information about Chu Mu surfacing in his mind.

On the surface, Chu Mu was similar to him, both honest and dutiful cultivators.

This person had been in the market for many years and had never caused major trouble.

"He couldn't possibly attack me without reason. There must be a cause behind it. Could he be a Black Wind Mountain robber cultivator insider?"

Li Chang'an instinctively thought of Black Wind Mountain.

After all, Black Wind Mountain's robber cultivators had just come to launch a sneak attack not long ago.

Although it had failed, they were very likely to come again.

"Regardless, this transaction cannot proceed."

Li Chang'an pondered for a moment.

Subsequently, he instructed Big Yellow to watch Chu Mu.

If he really was a Black Wind Mountain insider, Chu Mu would definitely meet with the robber cultivators.

However, over the next several days, Chu Mu didn't meet with Black Wind Mountain's robber cultivators. Instead, he went to the Hall of All Affairs at the market center several times.

"Could it be that he's working for Zheng Lingfeng?" Li Chang'an secretly speculated.

Since Big Yellow couldn't get close, he couldn't learn the specific purpose.

After a few more days, the divination once again showed an ominous sign.

[Today's Divination: Ominous]

[Chu Mu takes the initiative to come to your door for a transaction, secretly poisoning you during the process, resulting in damaged meridians]

"He can't wait anymore?"

Li Chang'an frowned and pondered for a long time.

...

The next day, at dusk, Chu Mu indeed took the initiative to visit.

"Is Fellow Daoist Li at home?"

He wore a dark green robe with a gentle smile on his face. Just one look at him made people feel warmth and affection.

The courtyard gate slowly opened.

Li Chang'an controlled a low-grade puppet, standing behind the door, and asked with a surprised tone, "Fellow Daoist Chu, what brings you to see me?"

"Fellow Daoist Li..."

Seeing Li Chang'an wearing a mask and not showing his true face, Chu Mu was also somewhat surprised.

But he didn't think much of it, assuming it was Li Chang'an's peculiar habit.

"Fellow Daoist Li, I heard from Fellow Daoist Luo earlier that you plan to trade with me for 'Hundred Bitter Grass' and 'Thunder Heart Wood'?"

"That's correct."

Li Chang'an nodded, with a trace of apology in his tone.

"However, I've already obtained these two materials and forgot to inform Fellow Daoist Chu. I'm truly sorry."

"No matter, I was just asking."

Chu Mu wore a broad smile, appearing very magnanimous.

He handed over a jade slip.

"Fellow Daoist Li, this jade slip records all the spirit plants I cultivate. If you need any, you can come find me at any time."

"Good, thank you, Fellow Daoist Chu."

Li Chang'an reached out and took the jade slip.

Chu Mu's eyes moved slightly. Seeing Li Chang'an's hand touch the jade slip at that moment, a trace of undetectable joy flashed in his eyes.

Subsequently, he smiled and cupped his hands in farewell.

"Fellow Daoist Li, it's getting late, so I won't disturb you further."

"Alright, take care, Fellow Daoist Chu."

Li Chang'an watched him leave.

After this, he closed the courtyard gate and stared at the jade slip in his hand for a moment.

"Could it be that he poisoned me through this jade slip?"

Li Chang'an carefully recalled the conversation he had just had with Chu Mu but throughout the entire process, nothing seemed unusual.

Without the divination's warning, he very likely would have fallen into the trap!

"It's truly impossible to guard against!"

Colorless and odorless poison was the most troublesome.

Li Chang'an frowned slightly and put both the puppet and the jade slip into a separate storage pouch.

He had Big Yellow continue watching Chu Mu, looking for an opportunity to strike.

Soon, that opportunity came.

The second day, in the early morning, Chu Mu left Qinghe Market with fishing gear, heading to Bright Moon Lake to fish and relax.

"That Li Chang'an probably hasn't noticed he's been poisoned yet. By the time he realizes it, everything will be too late."

He smiled at the corners of his mouth, feeling things had gone very smoothly.

But... just at this moment, the ground beneath his feet suddenly collapsed, as if opening a great mouth that instantly swallowed him.

Chu Mu, with only fifth layer Qi Refining cultivation, simply couldn't resist.

"What's happening?"

His face showed terrified shock.

In the blink of an eye, he was brought to the deepest underground.

Li Chang'an's puppet body was already waiting for him in this underground space.

"Fellow Daoist Li?"

Chu Mu's face was pale, still shaken.

He recognized Li Chang'an's attire and was extremely shocked in his heart.

"How could Li Chang'an be so strong? Isn't he only at the fourth layer of Qi Refining? How could he capture me in one encounter?"

At the same time, an uneasy thought arose in his heart.

Could it be that the poisoning had been discovered?

Li Chang'an looked at him, his tone indifferent as he asked directly, "Fellow Daoist Chu, we have no grievances or enmity. Why did you poison me?"

"What?"

Chu Mu reacted quickly, putting on a puzzled expression.

He still wanted to argue but Li Chang'an didn't have that patience.

He directly stepped forward and stomped down hard, crushing Chu Mu's shin.

There was a crack.

"Ah——"

Chu Mu immediately screamed, his entire face becoming twisted.

He never would have thought that Li Chang'an would be so ruthless from the start, completely unlike the "honest and dutiful" and "gentle with others" reputation he had!

For a moment, enormous fear enveloped Chu Mu's heart but what made him even more fearful was yet to come.

"Fellow Daoist Chu, I can slowly break all the bones in your body, then give you healing pills to recover, then break them again, then heal them again, repeating this until you're willing to tell the truth."

Li Chang'an looked at him coldly, his words as cruel as those of a demonic cultivator.

"Of course, you can also choose to speak now and avoid this suffering."

Having said this, he was about to continue his actions.

Chu Mu was sweating profusely from pain and hurriedly called out, "It was Zheng Lingfeng, he made me do it!"

"As expected, it's him."

Li Chang'an wasn't surprised.

He asked, "Why does Zheng Lingfeng want to attack me?"

Seeing him stop his actions, Chu Mu immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

He didn't dare conceal anything and told him while enduring the pain.

"He discovered that the contract the young miss gave you was very special, and also found out that the young miss privately exchanged for a wood-element technique, suspecting she exchanged it for you, so..."

Chu Mu glanced at Li Chang'an and swallowed.

"So he speculated that you and the young miss have an unspeakable relationship, and told me to poison and control you, using you to constrain the young miss."

"Oh?"

Li Chang'an frowned deeply. This was beyond his expectations.

He had thought that Zheng Lingfeng's attack on him was purely due to personal grudges between them but this matter actually involved Zheng Qingqing!

What unspeakable relationship did he and Zheng Qingqing have? They were purely ordinary friends.

However, Zheng Lingfeng didn't think so.

...

At this moment, in the center-west of the market, at the Hall of All Affairs, Zheng Lingfeng was confidently calculating the time.

"At most three days, and Li Chang'an will be poisoned. At that time, he'll have no choice but to come begging for the antidote, letting me manipulate him at will."

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