277: Green Lotus in the Pond

"That's right!!!" The crowd's eyes lit up upon hearing this.

Hiding in the water was indeed the best way to evade scent tracking. If it were flowing water, it would be even better. But the lotus pond was filled with countless lotus flowers and hidden currents. If that Qiezei were hiding among them, it would be truly difficult for the search dogs to find him...

Tong Xuejian slapped his forehead and said fiercely, "No wonder we couldn't find him after searching for so long. It turns out that Qiezei was actually hiding in the lotus pond!"

Long Yuan smiled and said, "We can only say there is a high probability that he is hiding inside. However, there is another problem. How did so many missing clansmen disappear? Even if they were attacked by the Qiezei, there should have at least been sounds of fighting or shouting, right?"

Tong Xuejian pondered upon hearing this, "That is true! I also feel that today's events are somewhat unusual. A petty thief could not have attacked so many people. Moreover, many of the missing clansmen are experts. They couldn't have just vanished without a trace, without a sound, a shout, a bloodstain, or even a corpse!"

Long Yuan said, "Don't worry. Perhaps they just ventured deep into a certain area and were unable to make contact. For now, let's concentrate our manpower to surround the lotus pond, and then we will go in to search."

Tong Fenglai said immediately, "Do as Elder Long says, immediately!"

"Yes!" Tong Xuejian quickly took out his mobile phone to mass-send the message...

After receiving the order, the Tong Family clansmen of Falling Flower Valley gathered around the lotus pond one after another. Before long, they had blocked all the entrances to the pond. When Tong Fenglai and the others arrived at the bank, they were stunned for a moment looking at the lotus leaves and flowers that covered almost the entire pond. The lotus pond was five square miles in area; how were they supposed to search this?

The Soul Power of both Tong Fenglai and Qi Huaiyi was quite good, but at most, it could only cover a range of about a dozen meters. Moreover, it was only relatively clear within a ten-meter range; beyond that, they could not sense or investigate thoroughly. Therefore, they did not count on being able to search for the Qiezei using Soul Power.

However, the leader of the group had implicitly become Long Yuan. After Long Yuan arrived at the edge of the lotus pond, he walked directly along the path circling the pond. Seeing Long Yuan's actions, the others couldn't help but follow. Not long after, they arrived at a shallow beach and stood still. The expression on Long Yuan's face was somewhat intoxicated, and a high-energy gas seemed to be circling and active around his body...

"Long Yuan?" Qi Huaiyi called out softly.

Long Yuan snapped out of it and said, "The Qiezei entered the lotus pond from here!"

"Oh?!!!" Qi Huaiyi exclaimed in surprise, and everyone looked at each other, not knowing how Long Yuan had reached this conclusion.

"Elder Long, are you sure?!" Tong Fenglai asked in disbelief.

"Hmm, I am sure! You have a small boat, right? Follow me in and you will know..." Long Yuan said.

"We do!!!" Tong Xuejian replied quickly.

There was a small boat nearby. He quickly brought the boat over. Everyone boarded the boat, and Tong Xuejian and Tong Xueqin rowed the oars skillfully, one in the front and one in the back, as the boat drifted deeper into the lotus pond...

Because the lotus leaves were very dense, they had to constantly push them aside while navigating. Fortunately, Tong Xuejian was quite experienced, and the design of this boat was specifically intended for operations in the pond, so it went quite smoothly.

Everyone looked at the dense lotus leaves, stems, and flowers around them and had long since lost their sense of direction. Fortunately, with Long Yuan guiding the way, the boat was able to keep moving forward. After a while, it finally stopped at a stretch of water.

"Eh?!!!" Everyone looked at the scene before them and suddenly cried out in surprise.

They saw that the water surface not far ahead had suddenly opened up, revealing a green lotus stem in the middle. There was a small lotus flower on the stem, which was still in the state of a budding flower. However, the feeling this lotus gave people was extremely extraordinary. All the lotus stems in the pond kept their distance from it. What was even more shocking was that on every lotus leaf near it, there was actually a person lying down—no fewer than twenty people in total!

"My God, Uncle Leopard? Uncle Tiger? Uncle Peng?! And Little Jing?!!!" Tong Xuejian shouted, his expression agitated. So, all those missing people were here...

"Is the Qiezei there?" Qi Huaiyi asked.

"Hmm, three of them are not from our Family; they must be that damned Qiezei! There are actually three of them!!! Won't these people be in trouble?!" Tong Xuejian shouted.

Such a bizarre event was something most of them had encountered for the first time. Even the old fox Tong Fenglai was encountering such a situation for the first time, and for a moment, he was too shocked to speak...

Long Yuan smiled and said, "It's fine, they are all alive! However, they should be in a state of coma."

"Then shall we go over and rescue them now?" Tong Xuejian asked excitedly.

"Wait! Don't you feel anything unusual?" Long Yuan said.

"Unusual?"

"Yes, use that Exotic Energy in your body to sense it..." Long Yuan reminded.

"Eh? How did you know?" Tong Xuejian was startled.

Tong Fenglai finally reacted at this moment and said, "Elder Long has Exotic Energy just like you. Try sensing it as he said."

"So that's how it is. Okay... Eh?!" Tong Xuejian's face suddenly showed a look of surprise after a brief attempt.

"How is it?" Tong Fenglai asked urgently.

"Old Ancestor, I feel that the Exotic Energy here is particularly active, moving much faster than usual!" Tong Xuejian said.

"Elder Long, what is going on here?" Tong Fenglai turned to ask Long Yuan.

Long Yuan nodded and said, "The problem lies with this green lotus! According to my estimation, this green lotus has mutated and has already transformed into a Spiritual Power Seed. It is precisely because of it that Falling Flower Valley can attract so much Spiritual Qi to gather. Of course, the possibility of a Spiritual Vein forming underground in Falling Flower Valley cannot be ruled out. However, if a Spiritual Vein were formed, it would cause a larger-scale spiritual flower phenomenon. Currently, this green lotus is the only one I have discovered, so the situation in Falling Flower Valley should be caused by it!"

"What?! You mean this green lotus is also a Spiritual Power Seed?!" Tong Fenglai asked in disbelief.

"That's right! In the Lingqi Era, not only will the Human Race and exotic beasts transform, but plants will of course also transform. Moreover, plant transformation might be much earlier than the Human Race and exotic beasts because they are the most natural lives, and it is easiest for them to mutate and transform under the nourishment of Spiritual Qi. Of course, those that can transform must be excellent varieties among plants, such as this green lotus. Its grade is definitely not low. It is precisely because of its existence that the Spiritual Qi of Falling Flower Valley gathers. Perhaps the Spiritual Root in Xuejian's body was also caused by it!" Long Yuan explained.

"My God..." Everyone exclaimed, looking at the green lotus again, their expressions no longer calm.

"Treasure! This is definitely a great treasure!!!" Tong Fenglai muttered to himself excitedly, his whole body trembling slightly. With this green lotus, I'm afraid the Tong Family will continue to have Spiritual Power Seeds born in the future. This is the Tong Family's greatest trump card to turn their fate around!