ebookland Chapter 102 Investigating the Disappearance
Chapter 102 Investigating the Disappearance
Since hatching, Chiu Chiu hasn't been in the storage space. The storage bracelet Lin Zhifeng used to use for the eggs is now filled with Chiu Chiu's things—eggshell fragments of unknown use, Chiu Chiu's food, toys…
Chiu Chiu has now switched places with Lin Zhifeng—before, when it was still an egg, Lin Zhifeng took it everywhere; now that it's hatched, Lin Zhifeng doesn't necessarily have to take it with him anymore, right? But it's not having it, and has started a close-knit tracking mode, following him everywhere. It won't leave its dad alone while eating or sleeping, and even wants to follow him to the toilet, which Lin Zhifeng had to persuade it to stay with.
It wasn't that Lin Zhifeng was conservative or overly particular, but rather that the little phoenix's gender was currently unknown. What if it was a girl? That wouldn't be good.
Lin Zhifeng would occasionally go out or take on sect missions to earn sect points. Although the items redeemable with sect points were mediocre, every little bit counts, right? Not to mention the system would give lucky points as a reward.
Sometimes when he went out, it was to buy food for Qiuqiu—when the bamboo rice and frankincense in Qiuqiu's storage bracelet dwindled to a certain level, Lin Zhifeng, as the parent, would start to get anxious. Without anyone saying anything, he would mentally manipulate himself.
That day, Lin Jun and his group came to invite him to go on a mission together.
In the cultivation world, there was a small sect called the Ghost Realm Sect. This sect consisted entirely of ghost cultivators, who were generally well-behaved. At least on the surface, they hadn't done anything harmful.
Let me explain the concept of "ghost cultivators" to you: there are no real ghosts in the cultivation world; people are reincarnated after they die.
Therefore, the ghost cultivators of the Ghost Realm Sect are not ghosts, but rather people who failed their tribulation. In their final moments before death, their nascent souls escape from their already collapsed physical bodies. By chance, they find the body of a recently deceased person, occupy that person's former body, and "come alive" again.
These resurrected people look the same as before, but their inner core has been replaced. Therefore, in the cultivation world, such people are collectively called ghost cultivators, in order to distinguish them from real living cultivators.
These ghost cultivators who are resurrected using the bodies of the dead will not have a cultivation level exceeding their original realm. In other words, if a Nascent Soul cultivator takes over the body of a Deity Transformation cultivator and becomes a ghost cultivator, their cultivation level will still be at the Nascent Soul stage.
Then some people might ask, if that's the case, why don't we all just avoid reincarnation after death and become ghost cultivators? Wouldn't that be the same as cultivating? If the body we're reborn into isn't suitable for cultivation at all, wouldn't it be better to be a ghost cultivator and avoid so many detours?
Of course, there aren't that many good things!
First, you have to happen to encounter someone who has just died, which is extremely unlikely; second, the person's physical body must be compatible with your spiritual root attribute for you to be able to "resurrect" successfully; and third, if a ghost cultivator dies again, they cannot be reincarnated, and this time it will be a permanent disappearance.
Therefore, the number of ghost cultivators in the entire cultivation continent is not large.
Because of their awkward relationship with the physical bodies they occupied, these people usually hid in a desolate place on the cultivation continent, living a secluded life and rarely interacting with outsiders.
This mission is not just an internal mission of the Sword Sect, but a collaborative mission involving various sects across the cultivation continent.
Over the past decade, many disciples at the Nascent Soul stage from various sects who went out to cultivate alone have never returned.
The soul lamps lit in the sect were all extinguished; such things were common in sects. It should be known that cultivators in the cultivation world defy the heavens and originally took life and death lightly; it's just a matter of individual fortune.
However, disciples from these various sects were recently discovered appearing in the desolate land where the Ghost Realm Sect was located. But it wasn't these sect disciples who were resurrected; instead, their bodies were possessed by others.
Since the cultivation continent tacitly allows the existence of ghost cultivators, it is equivalent to accepting that these people who have failed to transcend tribulations can use the bodies of others who have died and are no longer useful.
However, this kind of thing happens far too often, to the point that it affects the development of certain sects. After all, those with cultivation levels above the Nascent Soul stage in these sects are trained as elite disciples. Without these elite disciples, there is no future for the sects.
In particular, some second- and third-rate sects lost more elite disciples than first-rate sects.
You could argue that disciples of top-tier sects have higher cultivation levels and stronger adaptability. However, the number of disciples in top-tier sects is also ten or even a hundred times that of second- or third-tier sects. Given such a large base, the fact that the sect still has fewer disciples speaks volumes.
The current situation is that the major sects of the cultivation continent suspect that the disappearance of their elite disciples is closely related to the Ghost Realm Sect. Therefore, the sects have issued a joint investigation mission.
Needless to say, once the truth is uncovered, a generous reward will be given, and one's reputation will certainly soar.
Lin Jun and his friends have become quite successful now, no longer the spoiled brats they used to be. They've even shown some signs of reforming themselves and are now very ambitious. They're doing this mission to earn a good reputation for themselves, their teachers, and the Sword Sect.
Lin Zhifeng had just encountered a bottleneck in his cultivation and didn't know when he would be able to break through to the Nascent Soul stage. He was thinking of going out to gain experience and seek opportunities. So as soon as he received Lin Jun's invitation, he accepted without hesitation.
Of course, after seeing Lin Jun off, Lin Zhifeng immediately went to Ding Mo's place, intending to invite Ding Mo to go together.
Ding Mo had promised Lin Zhifeng years ago that he could go on training trips with them whenever he had free time. But all these years had passed, and Lin Zhifeng hadn't contacted him. He thought Lin Zhifeng had just said that to make him feel guilty, and hadn't really intended to invite him.
Ding Mo was quite pleased that Lin Zhifeng had actually come to him for help.
Actually, Ding Mo was overthinking it; he regarded Lin Zhifeng as a true gentleman, just like himself.
However, while Lin Zhifeng is a good person, he is by no means a saint. Since he said he wanted to hire you as a bodyguard, he would definitely make the request.
After hearing Lin Zhifeng explain the whole story, Ding Mo readily agreed.
For no other reason than that any person with a sense of justice would feel obligated to intervene in such a situation.
After telling Ding Mo the departure date he had agreed upon with Lin Jun and the others, Lin Zhifeng said goodbye and went home to prepare his travel gear.
His original plan was to not bring any pets this time—not even Chiu Chiu or the two hamsters.
The reason he didn't bring the two mice was simple: he was going on an adventure, to conduct research in a dangerous place. He wasn't going treasure hunting, so bringing the two little ones along would be useless.
As for his beloved Chirp, it was for the same reason. How could he bear to let such a cute little chick go on an adventure with him?
Both the treasure-hunting rat and the auxiliary rat were rational rats. After learning about Lin Zhifeng's destination and business, they expressed their understanding and promised to stay in the sect and stay obediently with Qingfeng without causing trouble.
Chirp chirped incessantly, much to Lin Zhifeng's dismay.
Without needing a translation assistant, Lin Zhifeng and Qiuqiu had spent so much time together, how could he not know what Qiuqiu was saying?
It means "If I don't agree to let it stay at home, it will come with me!"
Lin Zhifeng explained patiently and gently, "Chirp chirp, I don't know how many dangers I will encounter on this journey. My cultivation is still shallow, and I'm afraid I won't be able to protect you if we encounter any danger. Moreover, you are a divine bird, a phoenix, and the object of countless people's covetousness. My power is insufficient, and I'm afraid someone will take you away."
Chirp chirped again after hearing that.
Although Lin Zhifeng could roughly guess that it meant disagreement, he still wanted to know exactly what it said. So he had no choice but to turn to the assistant mouse for help in translating.
The assistant mouse is now a level 10 "chirp" language expert. It smiled and said to Lin Zhifeng, "Chirp said that it is precisely because of the danger that it wants to go with you. It also said that it wants to go with you to protect you."
Lin Zhifeng rubbed his forehead in exasperation and said, "You little chubby bird, you're so tiny, and you still want to protect me?"
Chirp chirped in dissatisfaction, feeling slighted.
Hearing the assistant mouse laugh, Lin Zhifeng didn't ask her to translate anymore. He knew without a doubt that this chubby little bird was once again dissing his old man in a rebellious manner.