The Herbalist's Forbidden Zone

Ren Qing found the surrounding scene drastically changing, unexpectedly arriving in a dilapidated courtyard.

All around grew all sorts of bizarre vegetation, and even he himself had become a sapling.

The sapling Ren Qing had transformed into was covered in leaves at the tips of its branches, each leaf bearing the pattern of Double Pupils, occasionally blinking.

He realized it might be due to the Double Pupils, accidentally falling into the Disaster Aversion Forbidden Zone.

Ren Qing had heard Song Zongwu mention forbidden zones above Ghost Envoy Realm. Because the Eerie Objects contained within each differ, their manifestations are bizarre and varied.

But how could it be so inexplicable?

He didn't rush to extricate himself, instead brazenly looking around.

This courtyard was actually more like an Herb Garden, its end surrounded by walls that towered into the clouds.

Unfortunately, even stretching his branches with all his might, his vision remained limited, only able to see the general situation within the Herb Garden.

Ren Qing discovered a total of thirteen types of herbs nearby, unsure what they signified.

Just as he was about to observe closely, the forbidden zone suddenly changed, the sky shrouded in shadow.

Heavy footsteps approached from afar, the entire Herb Garden trembling from them, cracks spreading across the ground.

A Herbalist was striding over.

In Ren Qing's eyes, the Herbalist's height seemed like a thousand zhang, its appearance seemingly composed of rotting, foul sludge, its facial features all hollow voids.

Muddy water dripped with each of its steps.

The herbs absorbed the muddy water to grow, and then fruits imprinted with twisted Human Faces grew from the branch tips.

The Herbalist bent down to pluck the ripe fruits, placing them into the basket on its back, then skillfully harvested the remaining fruits.

Without the fruits, the herbs quickly withered, in moments reverting back to seeds.

Ren Qing was extremely shocked in his heart. He noticed the seeds themselves had roots, connected to a rotting, fleshy corpse.

That corpse was likely the Eerie Object itself, forming a bizarre cycle within the forbidden zone.

As for why the forbidden zone manifested as an Herb Garden, it might be related to the Fire Worker's possessed technique.

It was even possible the core Eerie Object wasn't the Disaster Aversion Method...

The Herbalist noticed an extra herb in the garden and strode towards Ren Qing, but before it could get close, the herb had already vanished.

Ren Qing's consciousness returned to his body.

He couldn't help but gasp for air, hot tears streaming from his eyes.

Song Zongwu asked with a worried expression, "How did your soul suddenly leave your body? Even if it was only for a breath, it was frightening enough."

"I don't know either..."

Ren Qing came to his senses and shook his head. It felt like a great dream, only vaguely remembering he seemed to have transformed into a sapling.

Mu Yi spoke up, "Any forbidden zone above Ghost Envoy Realm is hard to fathom. I once heard a senior Forbidden Guard discuss it."

"He entered a Yin Messenger Realm forbidden zone and found everything around him was flesh and blood, with passages leading in all directions, and hurricanes sweeping through from time to time."

"Unexpectedly, the forbidden zone had formed a giant corpse neither alive nor dead. He was actually inside the corpse's complex meridians."

Song Zongwu helped Ren Qing up. "Let's leave first. With two techniques sealing it, we don't have to worry about anyone breaking into the forbidden zone for now."

Ren Qing quickly regained his strength and followed the two back down the mountain along the same path.

The vegetation gradually converged under Mu Yi's technique, once again closing the mountain path.

Ren Qing took the opportunity to ask why sealing the forbidden zone required excavating the mountain body.

Song Zongwu didn't answer directly, only saying he would understand after seeing the map.

By the time they reached the camp, it was already deep night without them noticing.

Distant howls could still be heard from the mountain forest, but the beasts' perception of danger kept them far from the camp.

Mu Yi nodded to Song Zongwu and the two, then walked towards the military tent.

She didn't enter the tent to rest, instead growing numerous roots from her feet that burrowed into the soil, her skin transforming into vegetation.

Guo Qing, keeping watch, opened his mouth wide, but remembering Wang Sheng's earlier words of caution, he quickly forced calm and turned his head away.

"I see nothing, I see nothing..."

Ren Qing's mouth twitched. Forbidden Guards would still conceal their techniques within the Yamen, but once leaving Sanxiang City, they were utterly unrestrained.

But thinking about it, it made sense.

Outside the city was relatively dangerous after all. If one intentionally hid their strength, when a real emergency came, they might not react in time.

"Ren Qing, come with me."

Song Zongwu led Ren Qing towards the Karst Cave. Both had night vision, so there was no need for torches.

They passed through the spacious tunnel, and as they went deeper, the space grew narrow.

After several forks, Ren Qing arrived at a stone chamber used as a transit point, where some tools like pickaxes were placed.

What surprised him most was the map route etched onto the stone wall.

Judging by the projected workload on the map, the Forbidden Guards would have to excavate at least twenty to thirty percent of the mountain, forming a complex network of tunnels.

Ren Qing suddenly realized something and couldn't help asking Song Zongwu, "Senior Song, you plan to destroy the entire mountain?!!"

Song Zongwu smiled faintly. "Only the mountain near the Forbidden Zone. We'll collapse the rock to bury the Forbidden Zone underground, and this is just the first step."

Ren Qing understood immediately. Dealing with the Forbidden Zone directly was too difficult, and if Forbidden Guards died inside, the situation would spiral completely out of control.

Better to settle for the next best option and make the problem smaller.

"Because of Song Rong, some Forbidden Guards will be pulled back to guard the camp, so progress will slow down."

Ren Qing said with difficulty, "Tomorrow we yamen runners will join the Karst Cave excavation, but..."

Song Zongwu clearly heard the hesitation in his words. "What's wrong?"

"I suspect the other groups of yamen runners were ambushed by beast packs and have already suffered heavy casualties. We might not have enough hands."

"I've already sent Forbidden Guards into the forest to support the yamen runners. I don't know if they'll make it in time."

Song Zongwu let out a long sigh. "Once things stabilize here, new yamen runners will arrive soon, and they'll be led by Forbidden Guards."

Ren Qing knew that to the Forbidden Guards, the lives of yamen runners weren't a concern.

Even Song Rong's existence wasn't that important—after all, even if he entered the Disaster Aversion Forbidden Zone, it wouldn't matter much.

Two techniques had been set up as temporary measures outside the Disaster Aversion Forbidden Zone, and one Forbidden Guard had been dispatched. They couldn't spare any more manpower.

The top priority now was to seal off the Disaster Aversion Forbidden Zone as quickly as possible.

Ren Qing agreed and then returned to his military tent to rest.

He swallowed some Pig Eyes and wolf blood, using the moonlight seeping in from outside to cultivate.

Though the efficiency was far slower than direct absorption, he could still feel the Werewolf transformation gradually spreading to his waist.

After replenishing his energy through cultivation, Ren Qing took out paper and brush and began sketching, planning to design a one-wheeled cart for hauling dirt, based on what he remembered from his past life.

The cart's structure was fairly simple—the wheel was the trickiest part, but with some effort, it shouldn't be too hard.

This way, transporting rock and soil would be much more convenient.

Ren Qing couldn't help sighing. Who would have thought that as a Fire Worker, he'd end up doing a miner's job—and even become a foreman himself.

Dear officials, just three more fans to break a hundred.