The Outer Sect on Mengyuan Mountain, after all, was built on a hillside, and without a river for a water source, the accumulated water in Buhuan Estate naturally flowed downwards.
After about ten more breaths, the water receded to knee-height. The fallen spiritual plants were now visible.
Qian Duoduo sat on a stone, his hand resting on the Golden Rooster Sword stuck in the stone, vigorously chewing a Spirit Increasing Pill.
After only a short rest, he wobbled off the stone and rushed towards the chicken coops. Perhaps the Spirit Chickens in those coops could still be saved.
The water continued to recede, and the violet clover slowly emerged; some of the eight thousand-plus spiritual plants were still there, while others had vanished.
There was no rush for the spiritual plants; the urgent matter was the Spirit Chicks.
Arriving at the chicken coop closest to him, Qian Duoduo felt a sharp pang in his heart. Because they had closed the coop doors, the Spirit Chickens couldn't escape and were all suffocated inside. Now, except for the Spirit Chickens alive on the topmost layer, the Spirit Chickens on the lower three layers were all lying horizontally, motionless, with water dripping from their feathers and a faint layer of Death Qi emanating from their bodies.
Qian Duoduo channeled all his Spiritual Qi, pouring it into the hilt of the Golden Rooster Sword, directly to the tip.
A long crow of a rooster immediately burst from the sword tip, rushing towards the Spirit Chickens that had drowned.
Under the impact of the sound waves, some of the dead Spirit Chickens in the coop began to twitch their legs, and some slightly flapped their wings.
Soul awakening—this move worked!
Qian Duoduo shoved a handful of Spirit Increasing Pills into his mouth and rushed towards the second, then the third building…
The Golden Rooster Sword rang out repeatedly, and more and more Spirit Chickens in the coops came back to life. The male Spirit Chickens that had revived also crowed incessantly.
Huang Guiren followed behind Qian Duoduo, opening the doors of each chicken coop, allowing the revived Spirit Chickens to come out, move around properly, and fully recover their vitality.
The rain had significantly lessened, and the accumulated water on the ground was mostly gone.
Running to the last chicken coop, Qian Duoduo poured in his last bit of Spiritual Qi, and the Golden Rooster Sword emitted a long crow. He then fell backward, lying flat on the ground, closing his eyes, letting the fine rain gently sprinkle on his face and drift into his mouth.
He was so tired. Qian Duoduo felt that at this moment, besides a trace of Spiritual Awareness, nothing else belonged to him.
After a good while, Huang Guiren finally noticed Qian Duoduo lying on the ground. He rushed over in fright, picking him up, thinking he was about to die.
"It's nothing. Just let me lie flat for a bit." Qian Duoduo patted his hand, telling him to put him down. To be honest, Qian Duoduo had no older or younger brothers and wasn't used to such brotherly intimacy with others.
Moreover, as the Spirit Increasing Pills slowly dissolved, the Spiritual Qi in Qian Duoduo's Spiritual Veins gradually recovered, and the sensation in his limbs returned.
"I'm not that fragile, and I won't be that fragile," Qian Duoduo told Huang Guiren, and also himself.
The rain finally stopped, and a bright moon hung in the sky.
Under the moonlit Mengyuan Mountain, insects chirped and frogs croaked, making it exceptionally quiet. Even the Spiritual Qi was particularly abundant; a casual breath could increase one's cultivation.
Only Buhuan Estate was a mess, as if it were an unreal nightmare.
Qian Duoduo and Huang Guiren, worried that the released Spirit Chickens might get lost or be eaten by Spirit Beasts, immediately propped up the estate's fences one by one.
Roughly estimating, about half of the fifty thousand Spirit Chickens had died. The second batch of eggs, which were about to hatch, had all been washed away.
Because the violet clover grew in patches, root connected to root, only a small amount was washed away.
Some of the spiritual plants in the spiritual plant garden that were washed away hadn't gone far and were still in Buhuan Estate; some were washed out of Buhuan Estate and found much further downstream, while others couldn't be found no matter what.
Day broke. When Wang Meiruo bounced over to find Qian Duoduo and the others, she saw such a peculiar scene.
Huang Guiren sat on the stone path, surrounded by piles of dead Spirit Chickens. His hair was muddy, and tears welled in his eyes as he used a wooden sword to cut off chicken feet and beaks. These were materials that, once dried, could be sold. The meat of the dead Spirit Chickens was not accepted by the sect, so they could only eat it themselves.
Meanwhile, Qian Duoduo, with his rear end sticking out, muttered to himself as he searched for the washed-away spiritual plants in the grass downstream of Buhuan Estate.
In Buhuan Estate, the violet clover looked as if it had been combed, its branches, leaves, and flowers all stretching southward. The crooked fences, toppled chicken coops, and exposed ground told her that a flood had visited last night.
"It's nothing, it's all over," Qian Duoduo said, patting Wang Meiruo, who was staring blankly with her hand over her mouth. "As long as the people are here, the land is here, the chickens are here, and the roots are here, it won't take long for everything to return. Could you help me call the Senior Brothers from my Gold Vault? We'll have a full chicken feast."
Wang Dahei was the first to arrive. After learning about the flood at Buhuan Estate, he said nothing, went to the Mengyuan River, and found the huge stone that Qian Duoduo had almost cut in half.
On the riverbank, he discovered a deep gully. The river water, blocked by the huge stone, had precisely flowed through here to rush out of Buhuan Estate.
"Is there a problem?" Qian Duoduo squatted down and measured the gully. It was a full half-foot deep.
"A big problem."
Wang Dahei explained in detail, and only then did Qian Duoduo realize that both banks of the Mengyuan River were equipped with Formations. This ensured that no matter how heavy the rain, the river water could not possibly rush onto the bank. This gully had precisely destroyed the riverbank Formation.
And that suddenly appearing huge stone, if it had been washed down from upstream, should have been carried downstream by the river water; it couldn't have gotten perfectly stuck here.
The reason it could be stuck here was that someone had also set up a Formation beneath the huge stone.
The breaking and setting up of this Formation were, of course, deliberate acts by someone, aimed at Buhuan Estate. They used this storm to create a flood and destroy the estate that Qian Duoduo had painstakingly managed.
"Who did it?" Qian Duoduo asked, exchanging glances with Wang Dahei.
The first person Qian Duoduo thought of was Gongsun Zheng, but he only had Qi Condensation Level 3 cultivation, not even as strong as Qian Duoduo was now. Even if he wanted to cause destruction, he didn't have the ability.
"Jin Buque." Qian Duoduo and Wang Dahei simultaneously spoke the answer in their hearts, then nodded together.
The last time Gongsun Zheng came to cause trouble, there was no need to guess; they knew that behind Gongsun Zheng was actually Jin Buque.
"This time, there's no need to say it, it's still him! He's like a venomous snake hiding in the dark, biting you from time to time."
The Senior Brothers arrived at Buhuan Estate one after another. Seeing the miserable state of the estate, they all understood that this was a feast where one cried not from sorrow but from joy. Everyone racked their brains and prepared over thirty Spirit Chicken dishes.
It was as if they were still dining in the Gold Vault's kitchen; everyone sat on the ground, forming a circle.
"Do you remember when Junior Brother first arrived at the Gold Vault? Our four dishes and one soup dinner lasted for several years. Second Brother and Third Brother always hoped for the day we'd have seven plates and eight bowls. Right?"
Wang Dahei, being the Senior Brother, spoke first.
"Because there was no hope for the future, the eight of us didn't dare to improve our cultivation, fearing that we wouldn't have food to eat after leaving the Gold Vault. But then, Junior Brother came, and everything changed…"
Wang Meiruo sat next to Qian Duoduo, listening with great interest to the stories of these low-level Cultivators. To her, every detail of these grassroots stories was so novel, carrying a thrill that she didn't quite understand.
"Even though we are separated now, I feel we are still brothers. Don't you agree?"
The Senior Brothers all nodded. Wang Dahei looked around and then spoke again: "Junior Brother and the others built an estate here, and Palace Lord Tang personally inscribed words to support it. We brothers should support it even more with our actions."
Hearing this, Qian Duoduo quickly stood up, "Senior Brother, all Senior Brothers, although Buhuan Estate suffered a small disaster, it doesn't need donations. In one or two months, the estate will flourish again."
Wang Dahei stood up, clapped his large hand, making Qian Duoduo sit down, "Listen to me finish. Junior Brother's business is our business. I think the scale of this estate is not enough. I want to ask him to expand it by double and raise some Spirit Beasts. The money for this expansion will be jointly contributed by us, and the profits will also be jointly shared. How about it?"