"No, no, maybe Iâm overthinking."
White Flower hesitated in his heart.
The opening of Three Flowers is a necessary process throughout human history. How could opening the Three Flowers turn someone into a pseudo-human?
Wouldnât that mean that the entire innate human race, those with innate spiritual roots, would all become pseudo-humans the moment they open the Three Flowers?
"Qing must be overly excited, thatâs why he seems unusual!"
After so many years of studying, achieving Three Flowers and entering the cultivation path is the most crucial milestone in life.
This process is perilous; countless people have lost their lives when opening the Three Flowers.
Qing succeeded at the most important juncture of his life, so itâs only natural to be happy.
"Teacher, whatâs wrong?" a student asked.
"Itâs nothing, nothing."
White Flower spoke in a surprised and uncertain tone, but quickly regained his composure and pretended to be calm, saying:
"After breakfast, weâll help with building the street in the city. Since Qing succeeded in opening the Three Flowers, weâll come back to celebrate tonight."
"Okay."
Everyone responded and went to eat.
After eating, a group of people went out to help build the street.
"Teacher, arenât you going to help?" Qingâs expression was still a bit stiff, but seemed more human-like.
"Itâs okay, the teacher is a bit busy. You go ahead," White Flower said.
Quickly, after sending off each cultivator, White Flower took a deep breath.
He felt he might be overthinking.
Pseudo-humans are just terrifying creatures from folklore used to scare children. How could they exist in reality?
Even if they did exist, how could a minor figure like him encounter one?
He felt the need to calm down.
However, after a moment of calm, he suddenly fell silent:
"I instinctively reject and avoid this possibility in my heart, unwilling to believe that the child I raised has died..."
"That unknown creature mimics his face, movements, customs, and affectionately calls me teacher, so I refuse to accept this fact."
"I am avoiding."
He wasnât so perceptive initially.
While teaching his students, he once said a sentence: "The Ancestral Human Biography gives us many warnings. When the Human Ancestor first encountered pseudo-humans, he was also avoiding..."
"Clinging to a false hope, believing that the pseudo-human arriving in the tribe was just his illusion."
"The Human Ancestor instinctively rejected and refused to believe his friend, who called him brother, had already died!"
"Yet a few days later, his brother also became a pseudo-human. Only then did he realize the harm such hesitation could cause."
"So the story of the Human Ancestor tells us: when friends turn into villains, and villains hide among the crowd, do not avoid it, face the cruel truth and bravely expose them!"
Countless simple truths he taught the children, when happening to himself, were met with ignorance.
The Ancestral Human Biography is a folk story with educational and cautionary significance.
This tale even subtly signifies to people to learn from the Human Ancestorâs lessons when first encountering pseudo-humans.
Confront the anomaly!
Otherwise, the newly rebuilt Fish Wine City would completely fall and turn into a world of pseudo-humans.
Those somewhat neurotic yet incredibly kind Bone Demon bandits would also be infected and become pseudo-humans.
Those Bone Demons saved us; we cannot let them face danger.
"So, who can I ask, who can I tell..."
He became dazed,
"If I speak out, who would believe me? Only I, the most familiar person, instinctively feel the strangeness, others would just think itâs Qing, and that Iâm lying."
He must find evidence.
But where is the evidence?
He couldnât prove that Qing wasnât Qing at all.
Thus, he wandered onto the street in a daze, suddenly encountering Night Mad Cultivator thinking about a pseudo-human strategy.
Night Mad Cultivator had been troubled recently; he reorganized countless details but found no evidence of encountering pseudo-humans.
Until he accidentally bumped into White Flower.
"Teacher White Flower, do you have any doubts? Need any help?" Night Mad Cultivator asked.
White Flower was startled: "Am I that obvious?"
Night Mad Cultivator scratched his head, thinking: "Meeting an NPC with such an obvious question mark above their head certainly triggers a quest."
White Flower took a deep breath, expressing his speculation and doubts.
He couldnât guarantee whether the other party would believe him.
After all, he just finished telling the terrifying story of the pseudo-humans a few days ago, and today heâs saying there are pseudo-humans?
Normal people would think heâs paranoid.
Yet players are creatures who seek challenges; no matter how strange NPCs behave, they will peel back the layers and help analyze.
Night Mad Cultivatorâs eyes lit up: "You mean Qing... might be a pseudo-human?"
White Flower nodded, "I think so... but, but it might also be me overstretched and influenced by the environment, but that feeling of terror, that strange puppet sensation, is truly frightening."
Night Mad Cultivator suddenly thought of something:
"You got inspiration from the Ancestral Human Biography.... So this story! The solution, the evidence of the pseudo-human, might also be in the Ancestral Human Biography!"
The White Flower said, "The evidence of the pseudo-human, itâs clearly mentioned in the story, those who betrayed justice and kindness... and were tempted will turn into pseudo-humans."
Night Mad Cultivator pondered deeply.
He reread the Ancestral Human Biography and discovered a special piece of information.
In the story, the Human Ancestor met some comrades while fleeing.
Why werenât they infected?
Was it just because they were righteous?
No!
Those with courage, righteousness, and ambition will not become pseudo-humans.
He didnât quite believe such a thing. The Ancestral Human Biography was just a modified fairy tale.
Night Mad Cultivator thought of the White Flowerâs description. Last night, he clutched his own throat, during that bizarre dream, those mutterings.
Night Mad Cultivator suddenly had this speculation.
"Could that courage mean last night... the courage to resist the temptation, desperately clutching your throat to prevent the invasion!"
Night Mad Cultivator couldnât help saying, "Those who are tempted will become pseudo-humans.... So, you might be like the Human Ancestor, not infected, that thing didnât enter your brain, it was stuck in your throat."
He thought for a bit, then went back to the academy with the White Flower to test his spiritual root using the stone tablet.
Upper Grade Gold Spirit Root!
The White Flowerâs pupils widened intensely, "How can it be?!"
The White Flower knew better than anyone, his spiritual root was clearly a Middle Grade Water Spirit Root of the White Flower Fish.
He was originally a Low Tier Cultivator of the Five-Body Realm, just an entry-level, having been exploited by the appearances in the city for years, without any resources to cultivate.
Now his spiritual root had been replaced.
"Could it be..."
The White Flower couldnât help but try to open the Three Flowers.
Next, the White Flower and Night Mad Cultivator saw a scene they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
A transparent Three Flowers appeared, not rising from the White Flowerâs head, but a soul flower growing from the side of the neck, swaying slowly.
"Ironclad evidence!"
The two glanced at each other, revealing horror.
...
...
"Pseudo-humans have invaded our Fish Wine City?"
When Ning Zheng heard the news, he had an expression like a black man with question marks on his face: ?
Insane.
I come here, listen to the Ancestral Human Biography, and really trigger some mystical switch, with pseudo-humans cackling: Here we come!
Ning Zheng pressed his temples, "And itâs a low-level pseudo-human that even a little White Flower can detect?"
Ning Zheng didnât think a pseudo-human detected by the White Flower was very advanced.
If he could detect it, other low-level cultivators could too.
And how could such a low-level pseudo-human appear in the heart of the ocean?
If it was a high-level disguised pseudo-human, Ning Zheng would believe it more.
"They couldnât have found our Xi Rongâs location and sent pseudo-humans to Fish Wine City."
"If they had discovered the true form, they would have surrounded it with a host of top overlords long ago."
"So, this pseudo-human must have appeared randomly and in great numbers, forming a pseudo-human calamity sweeping across the entire Nine-State Four Seas."
"But this thing couldnât have been triggered just by me watching an Ancestral Human Biography in Fish Wine City. There must be something."
Ning Zheng kept deliberating.
So, what triggered it?
Ning Zheng recalled the biggest event in these days. It seemed there was one.
The Xirong Divine Craftsman has returned.
Are the pseudo-humans targeting us?
Are they provoking us?
Did we kill their original pseudo-humanâHuman God, and now they seek revenge on us?
Ning Zheng could only reason based on limited information.
"Outrageous."
Ning Zheng sighed heavily in his heart, checked his Qi Fortune Value.
His consistently over thirty thousand Qi Fortune Value showed no change.
No danger.
Ning Zheng then left the villa and went to Fish Wine City overhead to see what the pseudo-human situation was.
When Ning Zheng saw the White Flower and his crooked-neck Three Flowers, he fell completely silent.
On the contrary, Jiucai Rong and others beside him were extremely excited:
"Wow! There really are pseudo-humans! The pseudo-humans are invading!"
The little blacksmiths nearby also looked excited.
Can we play the Real and Fake Monkey King now? Many felt theyâre best at playing "Spot the Difference" games.