CHAPTER 486: CHAPTER 342: NOT A SINGLE INCH OF LAND LOST

Luo Zhengnan and Qiu Zhiheng came to an agreement, returned to the Hall Entrance, and immediately issued an order: the entire Medicine King Hall was to focus all its efforts on capturing Grieving Cultivators.

Capturing Grieving Cultivators was considered bad luck, so many were reluctant to put in the effort.

But reluctance didn’t matter; Luo Zhengnan had a plan.

If a White Lamb within the Hall Entrance discovered the whereabouts of a Grieving Cultivator and the information proved accurate, they would first be rewarded with fifty Ocean Dollars. If they reported in time and participated in the capture, they would be further rewarded with Elixirs that could accumulate Taoist Fate.

Gang Disciples with cultivation levels who captured a Grieving Cultivator alive would be rewarded with Snake-Patterned Pills: twenty for the primary captor and ten for collaborators, at a minimum!

Luo Zhengnan was no Xiao Zhenggong; he delivered promised rewards on the spot!

Under heavy reward, there are always brave men. The next afternoon, the Jiang Xiang Gang captured another Grieving Cultivator.

Grieving Cultivators ultimately needed to cultivate. No matter how well they hid, they always had to find opportunities to disgust others. With experience, the Jiang Xiang Gang’s actions became increasingly swift, and they captured another one that same evening.

Once the Jiang Xiang Gang mobilized, the Three Heroes Gang followed suit. Zhang Liuzi, who had just been promoted to Copper Seal, captured a Grieving Cultivator in Li Gou. Meanwhile, two other Copper Seals joined forces and captured two Grieving Cultivators in Waigou.

The Qingyun Society caught two.

The Hundred Flowers Gate caught one.

The Fish Flower Gang wasn’t powerful enough, and most of its Disciples lacked cultivation. However, they found the whereabouts of two Grieving Cultivators. Li Banfeng, using these clues, captured these two and brought them back.

Qiu Zhiheng, using information provided by Shopkeeper Feng and Yu Nan, also captured and brought back two.

Originally, besides Yu Heshun, fifteen Grieving Cultivators had come to Medicine King Valley. Now, Yu Heshun was dead, and one of those fifteen had also died. Thirteen had been caught, leaving only one still at large.

Qiu Zhiheng worried that more Grieving Cultivators might be trying to infiltrate Medicine King Valley. In response, the major Gangs gave their assurance: Gang Disciples would stand guard at stations, docks, and the Border Line. If they saw anyone suspicious who seemed to court bad luck, they would capture them first and ask questions later.

Qiu Zhiheng couldn’t be bothered about bad luck either. He kept all the captured Grieving Cultivators at the Medicine Shop to interrogate them one by one.

Yu Heshun had originally come to Medicine King Valley because he had disgusted everyone around him to the point where he had nowhere left to cultivate.

The circumstances for other Grieving Cultivators coming to Medicine King Valley, however, varied.

Some had offended powerful figures and fled their homelands, fearing retaliation.

Some, because their cultivation was progressing too slowly, wanted to find a new place to practice.

Others, simply due to impoverished family circumstances, sought a new place to make a living.

But why had all these people chosen Medicine King Valley?

After Qiu Zhiheng used a Technique, they finally told the truth.

They had a dream—a dream from the Ancestral Master.

The Ancestral Master told them that coming to Medicine King Valley would offer them a way out.

Are things from dreams so easily believed?

Moreover, even if it were truly a summons from the Ancestral Master, Disciples of the Taoist Sect weren’t obligated to obey. Matters of cultivation ultimately depended on one’s own intentions.

At first, they paid it no mind, but the Ancestral Master issued a warning in their dreams: those who disobeyed his commands would inevitably face disaster.

Sure enough, within two days, these Grieving Cultivators all encountered misfortunes. Some fell ill, some were beaten, and some nearly lost their lives. They no longer dared to defy the Ancestral Master, so they all came to Medicine King Valley.

Li Banfeng was quite surprised to hear this. So even Grieving Cultivators feared bad luck.

But why would the bad luck from dreams come true?

Qiu Zhiheng still felt there was something wrong with this matter, so he and Li Banfeng went together to visit Elder Yao.

Elder Yao was covered in wounds, holding a Three-pointed Double-edged Sword and drinking in the courtyard.

Yesterday, his hand had slipped. He failed to grip the hilt properly and ended up cutting himself twice.

The day before yesterday, a fire in the wine cellar had burned him.

Three days ago was the worst. To guard against the Deathgate Star, Elder Yao had filled his house with mechanisms and traps.

As a result, when a roof beam collapsed early in the morning, all the traps in the room were triggered, nearly causing him severe injuries.

These all sounded like accidents, but Elder Yao knew in his heart that they were sneak attacks by the Deathgate Star.

Despite suffering losses, Elder Yao’s spirit was unbroken. He stood in the courtyard, still imposing, declaring, "This old man isn’t afraid of him! If he dares show his face even once, this old man will take his life!"

Qiu Zhiheng asked, "Is the Deathgate Star the Ancestral Master of the Grieving Cultivators?"

"Ancestral Master, my foot! That cur hadn’t even Entered the Path when the true Ancestral Master of the Grieving Cultivators was alive!"

"Does the Deathgate Star have the cultivation level of a Dream Cultivator?"

"No! For that old dog to have cultivated one Taoist path to Above the Clouds is already a stroke of immense fortune. How could he possibly have the ability for Dual Cultivation?"

If he’s neither an Ancestral Master nor a Dream Cultivator, then where did those nightmares plaguing the Grieving Cultivator Disciples come from? These were nightmares that could genuinely bring bad luck.

Qiu Zhiheng couldn’t understand it, but Elder Yao suddenly thought of another connection.

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

Li Banfeng remembered something: the Insect Leader that caused the insect calamity at Hai Chi Ridge also possessed the power of the Inner State.

Elder Yao couldn’t be certain about this. If the power of the Inner State was truly involved, defending Medicine King Valley would become very difficult.

A Deathgate Star transformed by the Inner State... I’m afraid he wouldn’t be on the same level as Elder Yao.

「Back at Qiu’s Pharmacy,」 Qiu Zhiheng continued to interrogate the Grieving Cultivators. "Since you’ve all arrived at Medicine King Valley, why did you hide and not dare to show yourselves?"

They looked at one another until finally, an old man named Ge Tugen spoke up. "I’ve been in the Taoist Sect for a long time. After Yu Heshun died, I felt something was wrong.

"Later, near Yuxiang Village, I saw some bloodstains that couldn’t be washed away even by heavy rain. I reckoned it was most likely the Deathgate Formation—

"a Formation forged from the lives of our fellow sect members. I told them to flee for their lives."

"But you didn’t flee," Qiu Zhiheng stated.

Ge Tugen replied, "Sir, we wanted to flee, but Guide Tokens are hard to come by. The Guide Token we used to come here was given to us by the Ancestral Master in a dream. We are strangers in Medicine King Valley; how could we possibly find a Guide Token to return?"

He can even deliver items in dreams.

If the Deathgate Star truly possesses the cultivation of a Dream Cultivator, what level has he reached!