The group was a complex mix of law enforcement officers in police uniforms, volunteers in red vests, and many local villagers.
Nan Zhi even spotted several familiar faces in the crowd.
They were people from Mulian Village.
Thinking back to what Shi Hongjiang had said on the phone about the orange tree at the old house blooming and attracting countless eyes, Nan Zhi couldn't help but frown.
The pills she had given the Shi family were just ordinary Qi-Augmenting Pills. At most, they would wash away some toxins from a normal person's body; any excess spiritual energy that couldn't be digested would be naturally expelled.
It was just like what had happened with Shi Hongjiang.
But why would the authorities evacuate the villagers on the grounds of a toxic gas leak in the area?
She didn't believe the government would harm the interests of ordinary citizens just because of a strange tree.
Could it be...
Something had happened in the village?
And it likely involved casualties.
Otherwise, there wouldn't be this many people entering the mountains, not even when there were forest fires years ago.
That was the only reasonable explanation.
The spiritual energy in Mulian Village had changed significantly. She didn't want to bring trouble upon herself yet, so she certainly couldn't go poking around for information with her own face.
As for the identity of "Ma Guniang," that was also off-limits.
Although the possibility of someone linking "Nan Zhi" and "Ma Guniang" together was slim, Nan Zhi was unwilling to take the risk.
Instead...
Watching the team venture deeper, Nan Zhi's heart stirred. Thick white mist immediately billowed through the mountains like a phantom smoke, spreading along the ridges and adding a layer of mystery to the verdant Qingmeng Mountain.
Seeing this sudden mountain fog, the search and rescue team indeed halted their exploration.
Nan Zhi returned to the bear cave, pulled out a piece of cured white tiger skin, and began to meticulously paint upon it with a brush.
As her cultivation level rose, her Painted Skin Art had naturally improved quite a bit. Before long, the image of a woman appeared vividly upon the white tiger skin.
Once the ink was completely dry, Nan Zhi stood up and examined the pelt. With a turn, she draped the tiger skin over herself.
In the blink of an eye, the skin seemed to adhere to her body, fitting perfectly without a single gap. The white tiger fur looked as if it had grown there naturally, firmly attached to her skin.
Nan Zhi shook her head, and the ferocious tiger head, nearly half a meter wide, settled steadily upon her. Suddenly, the form of the woman standing in the cave began to change.
Her narrow eyes shortened, transforming into a pair of round eyes with pupils swept by a faint golden tint, carrying a wild, unrestrained nature.
Her human ears slowly receded, and from within the hair atop her head, a pair of endearingly round beast ears sprouted, twitching with her movements.
Her jaw became rounded, and on each cheek, a pair of majestic whiskers emerged. Faint tiger stripes appeared at her temples, and a pair of playful tiger fangs added a touch of the unique beauty found in felines.
Her limbs remained human, but her palms were replaced by massive tiger paws. Hidden within the thick meat pads were ten sharp claws capable of tearing a prey's throat at any moment.
Most notably, a snow-white tiger tail sprouted from her tailbone, swaying with her movements.
Snowy skin and white fur, black hair and beast ears.
Despite being otherwise unclothed, her vital areas were covered by the white beast skin, adding a few hints of wild beauty.
Suddenly seeing its owner undergo a complete transformation into a super-predator that held a bloodline suppression over it, Corn shrieked in disbelief:
“Zhi zhi zhi zhi zhi zhi zhi zhi zhi zhi!! Zhi zhi zhi zhi!”
It had never said such a long sentence in one breath, which showed the extent of its indignation.
“I'll just assume you're praising my improved painting skills and that this skin is flawless,” Nan Zhi said.
Nan Zhi touched her face with a thick paw pad, unable to help feeling a bit smug.
The two-meter-tall tiger-eared woman stood in the cave and summoned a water mirror, looking at herself in the mirror with great novelty.
The demon tiger was certainly dead.
But the skin it left behind had been given a new lease on life under Nan Zhi's skillful hands and the Painted Skin Art.
【Tiger Skin Painted Garment (blue quality): The demon tiger ate humans, but after death, its skin serves as a covering for another. A tiger skin garment depicted with the Painted Skin Art; wearing it can change one's physical form and appearance.】
【(Combat Power +50, Constitution +60, Human Reputation -20, Demon Reputation +20)】
This wasn't just some Painted Skin Art.
This was clearly a divine technique for creating secret identities!
It was too useful!
In principle, as long as she had the right raw materials, Nan Zhi could put on a new identity regardless of race or gender!
Of course, ordinary animal skins wouldn't work. This white tiger had devoured living humans and raised tiger-changs, filling itself with potent essence and blood, which in the end only benefited her.
Nan Zhi had tried painting on the tiger skin before, but because her cultivation was insufficient, those attempts had all ended in failure.
Now that her Foundation Establishment was complete, she had a new secret identity.
It seemed that after winning future battles, she should make sure to skin her enemies first.
Nan Zhi felt as if a door to a new world had opened.
She looked at herself in the water mirror again and again, unable to stop herself from marvelling.
The white tiger woman's face was modeled after Xu Zi, bearing a fifty percent resemblance.
But unlike the Ma Guniang skin, this character had very obvious beast traits. At a glance, her animalistic nature outweighed her humanity.
Her appearance was beyond reproach, not to mention the constitution bonus.
Nan Zhi leaped lightly, her whole body springing into the air as if her feet were on springs. She jumped straight onto the rock wall several yards high, her claws extending naturally to grip the stone. She was as agile as a real tiger.
In her excitement, she unconsciously wagged her tail. The thick white tail swung, accidentally smashing into the rock wall and leaving a bowl-sized dent.
Nan Zhi: “...”
After Foundation Establishment, her constitution had doubled, and with the stack of bonuses she had, her physical strength was comparable to diamond.
Should she consider practicing her strength control after she went back?
Otherwise, an office that small wouldn't even be enough for her to tear apart.
...
...
The evacuation of Mulian Village was not going smoothly.
The progress of Zhuang Sinan and his team had also slowed down.
News of the miraculous orange tree at the Shi family's old house had already spread online. People from all over Great Xia wanted to see this magical tree with their own eyes.
But the yellow miasma was coming on strong. Although it only appeared at night, considering the safety of the villagers and the general public, the person in charge still braved the pressure to organize an emergency evacuation of all Mulian Village residents.
Since it wasn't a forced evacuation and they could only use persuasion, some stubborn people in the village believed this was a government trick to seize the treasure.
Some even agreed to evacuate on the surface but secretly sneaked back into the village, which caused the number of missing persons to fluctuate over the past three days.
Fortunately, the detection equipment arrived in time.
A bitter smile appeared on Zhuang Sinan's face.
This was already the fourth day of the search and rescue.
Night fell once again, and Mulian Village was deathly silent. Only researchers in protective suits and gas masks were walking around.
By the shore of Mulian Lake, combat tents were still lit.
At some point, large patches of yellow mist quietly rose from the surface of the lake. This mist seemed to emerge from the bottom of the lake, carrying a strong fishy smell. The air became visibly murky, seemingly filled with some unknown substance.
The moon hanging high in the sky turned yellow within the miasma—a putrid, sickly yellow that made one feel uneasy.
Drones circled in the night sky, and the detectors showed that the area with the highest concentration of miasma was concentrated at Mulian Lake.
This meant the lake water was likely the source of the miasma.
No one in the combat tent spoke.
As time passed, the yellow mist grew thicker and thicker, gradually spreading until it enveloped the entire lake.
“As expected, our guess was correct. The source of the miasma is indeed Mulian Lake.”
Finally, Zhuang Sinan spoke. He looked at a middle-aged woman with a simple face and an aura as ordinary as a common auntie, saying solemnly:
“Auntie Ma, I'll have to trouble you next.”
“That's easy enough. Isn't it just seeing work? Although my immortals didn't come along this time, two of the Qingfeng spirits from my shrine did follow me.”
The woman laughed and pulled out a bag of dry tobacco from somewhere. She put the pipe to her lips, took a deep drag, and exhaled two trails of white smoke.
“Phew...”
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