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"So thirsty..."

Wei Gongzhan opened his eyes in a daze, muttering groggily.

The plump little girl delicately used a leaf to collect dew and carefully fed it to the person beside her, having seen injured deer on the mountain sometimes fed by villagers in this manner.

After gulping down the water, Wei Gongzhan struggled to open his eyes and, seeing Little Mink’s anxious gaze, he offered a faint smile: "I’m alright..."

Little Mink pouted, not knowing what to say for a moment.

She knew that, given such serious injuries, he would need food to regain his strength.

Injured animals in the mountains also needed to eat to recover, but she dared not go out to find food for him because she was sure that as soon as she left, the scantily-clad woman would come in and pinch Wei Gongzhan to death.

"Little Mink..."

"Yes?"

"Has it gotten dark?"

"Yes..." Little Mink nodded silently.

A whole day had passed, huh...

Anxiety flashed in Wei Gongzhan’s eyes!

He glanced at his arm, which had been burning hot several times, knowing clearly that someone was trying to contact him using Mr. Heiyun’s technique!

Who could it be?

Friend or foe?

How should he respond to the other party?

The contact technique of Heiyun didn’t allow him to communicate remotely with the caster, so whenever he sensed the Dharma Seal heating up, he would go straight down the mountain to find Heiyun.

But now, in his current state, it was clearly impossible for him to descend the mountain. What should he do?

A serious incident had occurred within Daqing Mountain. The Thousand-Faced Fox had escaped, and that woman called Murong Yunji was an accomplice. The current Seventh Master Shen... was an impostor!

With so much critical information, he was unable to pass it on. He had been too reckless at the time and shouldn’t have charged in so hastily. If not for Little Mink arriving in time, he would’ve likely been turned into mush by that frivolous woman.

All he had thought about at the moment was to protect Daqing Mountain, even at the cost of his life, but he had forgotten that, as a weak being, what could he possibly use to fight against someone?

Now, what an opportunity wasted!

He had figured it out, everyone in Daqing Mountain must have heard the explosion at the barrier, but aside from himself, no one came, including the Mountain God!

What did that imply?

It implied that the entire Daqing Mountain was controlled, and of course, Wei Gongzhan believed the Mountain God wouldn’t rebel, but there was a creature capable of not rebelling yet still betraying its master.

The memory-altering Thousand-Faced Fox!

Just thinking about it made Wei Gongzhan feel despair—how could there be such a troublesome creature in the world?

No, wait...

But at that moment, a thought struck him...

If that creature could alter memories, why not simply change his as well?

The moment this occurred to him, Wei Gongzhan suddenly felt invigorated...

Right, Little Mink wouldn’t let those creatures kill him because she was close to him, and the adversary clearly could satisfy this as well. If they altered his memories, he would be harmless just like everyone else on Daqing Mountain, and there would be no need to kill him, right?

But why wouldn’t they do that?

Could it be possible...

That they couldn’t do it?

This was the most unrealistic idea, but the more Wei Gongzhan thought about it, the more likely it seemed!

Because only that could make sense!

With this in mind, Wei Gongzhan looked towards Little Mink with difficulty...

He didn’t believe he was chosen by fate. He had known from birth that he was just an ordinary person, which is why, even after arriving in Jiangnan, a place brimming with opportunities, he still preferred to be ordinary. So this uniqueness definitely didn’t stem from himself...

Little Mink...

...was the daughter of the Thousand-Faced Fox, born with the innate talent of the Golden Crow’s flames, as well as the ability to transform people directly.

This was a child favored by heaven and earth, the future protagonist!

It had to be her!!

Wei Gongzhan’s thoughts raced.

How had Little Mink done it? Was it intentional or unintentional?

If it was unintentional, he had to figure out the rules, but if it was intentional... how should he convince her to help him? To confront her mother?

Damn it... why did such a problem have to fall on him?

What should he do?

----------------------------

On the other side, by the river, Wei Gongcheng carefully hid in the Hell Plane, watching the riverbank.

It had been two hours since he activated the Dharma Seal to send out a message.

There was absolutely no movement from Daqing Mountain!

Wei Gongcheng was very patient. As a City God, he had a distinct advantage: in the realm of the Hell Plane, as long as he didn’t give his consent, it was difficult for anything else to enter.

This fact had been verified. When Lyuzhou isolated the Path of Yin and Yang, no matter how impressive the display, with evil ghosts filling the sky and the ancient entities hidden among them, none could enter.

Wei Gongcheng firmly believed that, aside from Chen Qing, no one could force their way in!

As such, he was utterly safe...

Even if someone found this place through the Dharma Seal on Wei Gongzhan, even if it were the legendary first Magician Zi Yue, Wei Gongcheng was not afraid.

As long as they emerged into the open, even if he couldn’t deal with them himself, he could immediately contact the Shen Family at the other Provincial Government Offices.

But after waiting all afternoon, there was still no movement!

Various speculations swiftly ran through Wei Gongcheng’s mind.

The first possibility was that the other party was very patient, betting that he wouldn’t dare to confirm the situation, wouldn’t rashly inform his superiors, and wouldn’t easily seek help from neighboring provinces.

Thus, they were content to wait it out in hopes of outlast his patience. ..

Wei Gongcheng thought this possibility was very small because the risk was too great. What if he happened to be hot-headed? What if he alarmed everyone?

The second possibility... he was being paranoid. Maybe what Seventh Master Shen said was true, and he was just overthinking it. Maybe nothing had happened at Daqing Mountain...

But this was almost impossible because if that were the case, Heiyun would not have disappeared for no reason, and Wei Gongzhan wouldn’t have been unresponsive.

He remembered that Wei Gongzhan always had great respect for Heiyun, fearing to hurt Daqing Mountain.

He was very obliging on normal days, delivering wine or grain whenever asked, always at the ready.

The third possibility... Wei Gongzhan was dead, hence the lack of response!

Yet, in his view, even this was unlikely...

If the worst-case scenario had occurred, then the Thousand-Faced Fox was likely freed from its bounds.

They could have simply used the Thousand-Faced Fox’s talent to control Daqing Mountain; there was no need to create senseless slaughter, and moreover, if numerous believers died, the master would notice immediately, so there was no need to do so!

By controlling Wei Gongzhan’s memories, they could have him calmly tending to the fields in Daqing Mountain.

But there was a problem, if that were the case, the moment he activated the Dharma Seal, Wei Gongzhan should have been the first to come down the mountain.

But he hadn’t come. Either he was dead or under control.

The chance of a mishap was slim, unless the enemy specifically intended to kill and the lad had the misfortune to cross paths with them.

Could he really be that unlucky?

Wei Gongcheng began to worry a bit, feeling a fondness for this pragmatic cousin, one of the few in the Wei Family he actually liked.

But if he wasn’t that unlucky, what else could it be?

Considering this possibility, Wei Gongcheng looked toward Daqing Mountain once more...

If he wasn’t that unlucky, not slaughtered by the Thousand-Faced Fox in passing, then it meant he was under control. But why would they need to control him?

If they discovered he had rashly descended the mountain, shouldn’t they have followed him covertly to test the waters?

After all, if his memory was under control, he wouldn’t be able to reveal any information even if they let him go down the mountain, posing no threat.

Moreover, it would allow them to probe whether Lyuzhou had detected their movements.

Why not take advantage of that?

To forcibly detain him...

Could it be... Wei Gongzhan’s memories weren’t altered?

As this thought surfaced, Wei Gongcheng’s mind began racing, pacing back and forth excitedly...

Because he knew... this wasn’t entirely impossible...

The technique of the Thousand-Faced Fox was breakable!

This... the master had once told him...

He remembered clearly that it was just last year. The little fox of Daqing Mountain had turned one-year-old, awakening many talents. Not only could it unleash the flames of the Golden Crow, but it could also turn villagers into various things... causing chaos throughout Daqing Mountain!

It was not just the villagers in the mountains who were troubled, the Thousand-Faced Fox itself was bothered because if the child got slightly upset, it could transform her into all sorts of bizarre things too. It had to be said, a child possessing such a terrifying talent was truly a disaster.

Out of curiosity, he had asked Chen Qing, "Master, doesn’t the Thousand-Faced Fox have the ability to control memories? Why doesn’t she just use that technique to make the youngster obedient, or put her talents to use for herself?"

"That’s... likely impossible..." Chen Qing shook his head. "If I’m not wrong, that little one has antibodies!"

"Antibodies? What’s that?"

"Immunity against her mother’s talents. It’s a natural instinct. The Thousand-Faced Fox’s ability is far too terrifying. If she were to unconsciously use it on the infant during the stresses of childbirth, it could hurt the still-developing embryo."

"To avoid such a situation and ensure her own successful birth, she might develop immunity to the Thousand-Faced Fox’s talents from a genetic standpoint."

"Huh... that’s a thing?"

"This is an angle we can exploit," Chen Qing said with a smile. "If this child can actively control this immunity, then she... will become our best card against the Thousand-Faced Fox in the future."

Recalling this, Wei Gongcheng’s gaze toward Daqing Mountain suddenly brightened!

A possibility that seemed somewhat absurd but was also incredibly logical surfaced in his mind...

Wei Gongzhan had a great relationship with the little fox. Was it possible that he had acquired an immunity to memory control, much like the little fox?

And was it because of this that he was being held back, kept from coming down the mountain?