Facing Zhou the Fatty’s request, Qi Ping and Sister Nan agreed without much hesitation.
The mountain stream where Zhou lived was located on the outskirts of the Misty Cloud Mountain Range, not far from the rest of them. Checking it out wouldn’t cost them anything, nor was there any real danger involved.
More importantly, as fellow mbers of the Fushang Society, if they turned a blind eye to such a simple matter today, who would help them if they encountered trouble in the future? Nearly everyone in the Fushang Society had, at so point, received help from others when facing difficulties.
In the harsh lower strata of the cultivation world, lone wolves were rare. Most either ford their own groups or joined existing factions.
True lone wolves in the cultivation world were usually those with both courage and strength—genuine powerhouses, because those who weren’t strong typically didn’t survive long.
Besides, although Zhou had been less involved in the Fushang Society in recent years, whenever soone needed him, he had never refused. When Qi Ping was fleeing from the wasps, Zhou had co without hesitation as soon as he heard.
“Of course, Brother Fatty! Take us there quickly—we shouldn’t waste ti in case sothing worse happens,” Qi Ping replied.
Sister Nan also nodded in agreent.
“Good, good! Follow , then. I’m really worried they might starve to death. There are over sixty Blackspirit Ducks…”
“They stopped eating four days ago. Before that, they were perfectly fine, and nothing unusual happened that day either…”
Zhou chattered incessantly along the way, venting his distress while recounting every detail about the ducks’ condition. His rambling nature, combined with his guileless personality and chubby appearance, made him oddly endearing.
Before long, the two followed Zhou to a picturesque mountain stream nestled between hills and water.
The stream was lined with neatly trimd plants and trees.
In the middle of a vegetable patch stood a quaint, rustic-style courtyard.
The courtyard was adorned with all sorts of pretty and cute decorations, likely put up by Zhou’s wives and children.
Inside, two beautiful won dressed in pale yellow silk were watching over four children playing.
Qi Ping couldn’t help but marvel at Zhou’s good fortune—not only had he married a pair of stunning twins, but both wives had also given birth to two sets of twins, each with a boy and a girl.
“Daddy, you’re back!”
The mont the children saw Zhou, they rushed over excitedly.
“Yes, yes! Did you miss ?”
Suppressing his worries, Zhou grinned and hugged each child in turn.
“We did! Daddy, play hide-and-seek with us!” the four chid in unison, clearly adoring their playti with him.
“Not right now, okay? Daddy has sothing important to do. Play by yourselves for a bit, and I’ll join you later.”
“Okay! We’ll go play then!”
While Zhou greeted his children, his two wives hurried inside to prepare tea.
To them, the guests Zhou had brought back were immortal cultivators—figures not to be slighted. Perhaps Zhou had never told them about the struggles of low-level cultivators.
However, Qi Ping and Sister Nan politely declined, insisting that solving the Blackspirit Ducks’ problem took priority.
But there was another important reason—cultivators generally avoided interacting with the mortal family mbers of other cultivators.
Not only was there little common ground, but more crucially, involving mortals without spiritual roots in cultivators’ affairs brought them no benefit—only unnecessary karma.
Soon, under Zhou’s lead, Qi Ping and Sister Nan arrived at his duck farm.
“Look, they’re just lying there motionless. They won’t even move when prodded. Four days without eating or drinking—the only thing they do is occasionally quack a few tis. Now they’re so weak…”
As Zhou said, Qi Ping saw over sixty Blackspirit Ducks sprawled limply on the ground, barely responsive.
Blackspirit Ducks were a low-tier spirit beast traditionally raised in the Misty Cloud Mountain Range. Normally, their feathers were glossy and vibrant, radiating dense spiritual energy.
But now, their plumage was dry and dull, devoid of any spiritual aura.
“Under normal circumstances, such a large-scale, uniform symptom would likely indicate either a plague or poisoning…”
Qi Ping and Sister Nan stepped forward to examine the ducks carefully with their spiritual senses.
Yet, even after a long while, their expressions shifted from calm to deeply furrowed—they still found nothing.
There were no signs of plague or poisoning in the ducks’ bodies.
Their organs and bodily functions were completely normal—just weakened from lack of food.
Seeing this, Zhou’s eyes dimd with disappointnt.
Many of the friends he had called over had inspected the ducks the sa way, all ending up just as clueless as Qi Ping and Sister Nan.
“So? You can’t figure it out either?”
After waiting a long ti with no progress, Zhou asked reluctantly, though he already suspected the answer.
If these ducks died, even selling them as sick livestock to breeders of carnivorous spirit beasts would be impossible—no one would dare feed their animals ducks that died of unknown causes.
And cultivators certainly wouldn’t eat them either.
The loss would be devastating for Zhou.
Sister Nan nodded at his question—she truly couldn’t identify the issue. Her expertise lay in plant cultivation, with only passing knowledge of animal husbandry.
If even experienced breeders couldn’t solve this, how could she?
Zhou could only sigh in resignation.
Was there really no way to save them?
Despair weighed heavily on him.
But just as Zhou assud Qi Ping would also co up empty-handed, Qi Ping raised a finger to his lips in a silencing gesture.
That tiny motion reignited Zhou’s hope—had he found sothing?
Sister Nan also glanced at Qi Ping in surprise. It seed he had been full of unexpected revelations today.
“Brother Fatty, has there been any news of glowgrass appearing around here or on the nearby peaks?” Qi Ping suddenly asked after a long silence.
“Glowgrass? Yes, actually—I even know where it is! Does it have sothing to do with the ducks’ condition?”
Zhou was both shocked and overjoyed.
He had never told anyone about the glowgrass. If Qi Ping knew, he must have truly pinpointed the cause!
Zhou couldn’t help but marvel inwardly—so being well-read really did have its advantages! None of the experienced breeders had figured it out, yet Qi Ping had found the key!
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