The moment he saw the stalk of grass, Lu Yin's mind trembled, and his entire body froze. A scene suddenly appeared in his mind. It depicted a pair of hands slowly burying ten thousand plants into the soil and then pouring water over them. Beside him, a pure white hand reached out and handed over a beautiful piece of silk cloth that was engraved with clouds.
Suddenly, Lu Yin sobered up. What was that?
An illusion?
No, a memory?
He carefully thought back, but the scene was very clear. However, he couldn't find the scene before or after it. It seemed like there was only one scene, and he couldn't see the person's face.
"What's wrong, Brother Long Qi?" Nong Lie asked.
Lu Yin pointed at the plant. "What's that?"
Nong Lie's expression changed. "It was also planted by someone."
"Who?" Lu Yin asked, staring at Nong Lie.
Nong Lie shook his head. "I can't say that. It's a taboo for my Nong family."
Lu Yin turned back to look at the plant. It was very ordinary, and it wouldn't have attracted any attention anywhere else. However, in this botanical garden, there was a plant not far from the Lotus Tree. It was very noteworthy.
"Why can that plant grow so close to the Lotus Tree?" Lu Yin asked curiously.
Nong Lie smiled bitterly. "Don't ask me, I don't know. In any case, when Bai Xianer planted the Lotus Tree, the surrounding plants all withered. Even a plant planted by a Progenitor withered. Only that plant was completely fine, and it's even growing healthily."
"Growing healthily?" Lu Yin blinked. That plant was only the size of a palm, so how could it be growing healthily?
"Before the Lotus Tree was planted, that plant was only the size of a finger, and it didn't even grow. But after the Lotus Tree was planted, it forcefully absorbed the soil's nutrients, and that plant grew. How should I put it … it's stealing the Lotus Tree's nutrients," Nong Lie explained.
Lu Yin found it funny that the most ordinary of grasses had managed to snatch away the nutrients from the overbearing Lotus Tree. This was truly interesting.
The scene from earlier might have been his own memories, so could that plant have been planted by him?
Lu Yin muttered to himself for a moment. "Brother Nong Lie, if someone planted a plant here, would they be able to plant a second one?"
Nong Lie smiled. "No one would plant a second one, as it's meaningless. But even if a second plant is planted, the plant that appears will be the same as the first."
Lu Yin's eyebrows twitched as he nodded, his eyes twinkling.
"Brother Long Qi, let's go. The place you can plant it isn't far from here," Nong Lie said.
Lu Yin nodded and followed Nong Lie.
After walking a short distance, Lu Yin suddenly asked, "Brother Nong Lie, where is Redwater?"
Nong Lie was surprised. "Brother Long Qi knows Chishui?"
Lu Yin smiled. "Of course. He's the reason I'm here."
Nong Lie was confused at first, but then he seemed to recall something. His face sank as he stared at Lu Yin. "You didn't come here because you were invited. You came here on a mission."
Lu Yin nodded. "I wanted to plant it first, but I was afraid that Redwater would escape once he heard that I was here. That's why I couldn't help it."
"Chishui is a spy?" Nong Lie was shocked.
Lu Yin nodded, "Chi Shui and Grandmaster Shi are both spies."
"Impossible. Master Shi has been with us for hundreds of years. Every day, he only focuses on teaching others to hoe the fields. He has never done anything else. He has never even left the seed garden. How could he be a spy?" Nong Lie cried out.
Lu Yin shrugged. "We'll know once we try. In any case, I, Long Seven, rarely misjudge people."
Nong Lie and Lu Yin looked at each other and immediately contacted someone.
After a while, he looked at Lu Yin. "Father wants to see you. He's at the farm. Master Shi is there too."
Lu Yin nodded, and the two of them did not continue into the botanical garden. Lu Yin also avoided the matter of planting the grass, as he was afraid that he had planted it before he had lost his memories. If he planted another one now, it would be troublesome.
It seemed that he had to find a way to find out the identity of the person who had planted the grass. Perhaps that person was himself.
Lu Yin didn't want to be so close to his true identity. He suppressed his anxiety and followed Nong Lie out of the garden.
"Brother, what did you plant?" the fatty asked curiously when he saw Lu Yin.
Lu Yin's expression was serious. "Let's get down to business first."
"Business?
What business? "the fatty was confused. He didn't know that they had come to the farm to catch a spy.
Shang Qing pressed a hand on the fatty's shoulder, stopping him from saying anything else.
Nong Lie had been very enthusiastic when they had arrived, but now that they had returned to the farm, he wasn't so enthusiastic anymore. He knew that his family had a spy, and Lu Yin had come to catch him as the master of the Humble School. It would be strange if he was in a good mood.
Outside the farm, a burly middle-aged man was looking at the field with his back to them. Nong Lie hurried forward when he saw the man, "Father."
The man turned around and looked at Lu Yin's group. Finally, his gaze settled on Lu Yin.
"Junior Long Qi greets senior," Lu Yin said respectfully. He didn't address himself as the master of the Humble School.
The man was the head of the Nong family, Nong Ya. He looked at Lu Yin with undisguised admiration, but his expression was solemn. "You've become very famous recently."
Lu Yin replied seriously, "I've only caught a few spies."
Nong Ya lowered his voice. "The three Guan brothers, you were the one who exposed Yun Mubai. Regardless of whether it was within the Humble School or to us, you've made a great contribution. You're not afraid of the pressure from the Four Cardinal Scales, your methods are bold, and your thoughts are sharp. I was the one who invited you."
Lu Yin replied, "Thank you for your kindness, senior."
Nong Ya said with a complicated expression, "I believe that Chishui is a spy, but is Master Shi really a spy?"
Lu Yin answered seriously, "That's right."
"Father, that's impossible," Nong Lie said, but Nong Ya raised a hand to stop him. He looked at an old man diligently hoeing the fields. "He's Master Shi. He's been with the Nong family for hundreds of years and hasn't slacked off. He was even the one who taught Lie 'er and Sanniang not to interrogate him. If you have a way to expose him as a spy, then do it."
Nong Lie looked at Lu Yin with a complicated expression.
Lu Yin looked at the old man in the distance. To be honest, when he saw the old man's appearance, he thought that Old Man Guai was trying to trick him. No matter how he looked at the old man, he seemed like a good person who had been hoeing the fields his entire life. Lu Yin didn't believe that such a person was a spy, so it was no wonder that Nong Lie had reacted so strongly.
Nong Ya was very protective of this person, so he couldn't take him away, just like Liu Ke. However, Lu Yin had no plans of doing so.
"What's Master Shi's cultivation?" Lu Yin asked.
"About the same as Lie 'er," Nong Ya replied.
Lu Yin nodded. That made things easier.
The scorching sun shrouded the fields as the old man worked diligently. It was a harmonious scene.
Suddenly, the weather changed, and a giant scarlet eye covered the entire seed garden. In an instant, the entire garden collapsed, and the fields and wheat fields were reduced to ashes.
Master Shi looked up and stared at the scarlet eye in shock. What was this?
"Disciples of the Nong family, listen up! You must take the Nong's God's Scripture away! The ancestor has already sacrificed himself, and the Nong's God's God's Scripture cannot be lost!" Nong Ya rushed towards the scarlet eye, but he was instantly swallowed up. The ground around him split apart as zombies tore through the void and attacked the seed garden.
Grandmaster Shi hurriedly looked for a place to hide, but Nong Lie suddenly appeared behind him. Half of his body had been destroyed, and he grabbed Grandmaster Shi's clothes and handed him a cosmic ring. "Take this to the Liu family. Run, run!" As soon as he spoke, a pair of scarlet eyes suddenly appeared and tore Nong Lie to shreds before grabbing at Grandmaster Shi.
Master Shi's eyes narrowed, and he shouted, "I'm on the same side! I'm a spy hidden in the Nong family!"
Suddenly, the scene changed, and the blood-spattered sky became clear again. The cracked ground was still the same, and a frog-like creature was croaking at his feet. A gentle breeze blew past, and Master Shi's back was drenched in sweat. He suddenly turned around and saw Nong Ya and the others staring at him with bone-chilling gazes.
Master Shi immediately recalled everything that had just happened. Was that an illusion?
He had been set up.
Lu Yin smiled. "Senior, this junior will take this person away." He then waved his hand, and Shangqing walked towards Master Shi.
Nong Lie was disappointed, as he had not expected Master Shi to really be a spy.
Master Shi hurriedly said, "Master, someone used an illusion to set me up. I only said that to protect myself. I only said that to protect the Nong's God's Scripture."
Nong Ya and the others were stunned. What Nong's God's Scripture?
Lu Yin pursed his lips. He had made up the Nong's God's Scripture, and there was no Nong's God's Scripture. He had only said it to attract Master Shi.
"Father, what Nong's God's Scripture?" Nong Lie was confused.
Nong Ya looked at Lu Yin strangely.
Lu Yin coughed. "Take him away."
"Wait," Nong Ya spoke up. Shangqing paused and looked over.
Lu Yin raised a brow and looked at Nong Ya. "What do you mean?"
Nong Ya met Lu Yin's gaze. "Dragon Sect Leader, how about we talk?"
Lu Yin had been waiting for this exact sentence. "I dare not disobey Senior's orders."
"Master, I'm innocent! I've been with the Farmer's Clan for hundreds of years!" Master Shi shouted, but no one paid him any attention. "Xiao Lie, Xiao Lie, I'm innocent! I'm Master Shi! Help me, Xiao Lie!"
Nong Lie frowned and looked at Master Shi. He wanted to say something, but no words came out.
Nong Ya brought Lu Yin to a ditch on the other side of the farm. He looked at the clear water and said, "Everyone hopes that the Farmer's Clan is like this ditch, where you can see the bottom with a single glance. If that were the case, we wouldn't have survived to this day."
Lu Yin replied, "Senior, if you have something to say, you can say it directly."
Nong Ya nodded. "Alright, I'll be direct. Master Shi, you can't take Chishui away, and you can't even announce that you've captured a spy from the Farmer's Clan."
Lu Yin frowned. "Senior, you're making things difficult for me. This mission is not from the Humble School of Huaiyuan, but from the Fourteenth Gate."
Nong Ya replied, "I don't care where it comes from. To you, capturing one more spy or one less spy makes no difference. Or perhaps, you wish to use this matter to suppress the Farmer's Clan?"
Lu Yin smiled. "Senior, you think too highly of me. I don't have a reason to suppress the Farmer's Clan, and even if I did, why would capturing a few spies be enough to suppress the Farmer's Clan?"
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I've been updating continuously for five days now, and I'm tired. Suifeng has done his best, so I'll take a break and continue updating after a while.