The scene that met her eyes was one of desolation, akin to autumn's decay.
She glanced left and right; it was the same.
Though separated by dense fog only a meter away, she knew all the plant energy in this grove had been absorbed by her.
She felt the ground beneath. The tree roots still held life, so she temporarily ignored them.
She rose and began to cultivate 'Flowers Scattered by the Celestial Maiden.'
This skill existed in her dreams and in her second life.
It was essentially a scaled-down version of her ability shield, so she learned it quickly.
Actually, what she wanted to cultivate was a domain—a domain that killed without a trace. In her second life, she had contemplated it; in her dreams, she had mastered it.
However, reaching level six was impossible under the rules of this world.
Even if she hid and cultivated within this formation, it was still impossible.
By her estimation, the energy required to break through the level six barrier wouldn't even be enough if she revived this entire forest ten times over.
Besides, when she was breaking through the barrier, she wouldn't have any spare ability to send out.
Nor could she open the formation to draw energy from outside.
Cultivating with the formation open would be pure suicide.
What's more, after leaving this time, she would never return.
For now, she seized the opportunity to try and figure out the domain.
Back then, her ability shield could withstand ordinary firearms.
Even when seamlessly blended into the air without any trace or color, it couldn't guard against the senses of high-level ability users and high-level ability zombies.
At that time, she had been contemplating upgrading her ability shield, and in her dreams, she had over-upgraded it, strengthening it into a domain.
Now, she wanted to see if the practice method from her dreams was correct.
She pondered, tried to cast it, but it just wasn't right.
Her ability level was insufficient, and she truly didn't know if her direction was correct.
Then, she would change direction!
Combine the domain's method with the ability shield.
Use the ability shield's gradual expansion method, and modify the domain's subtle contraction from all sides.
She pondered and practiced, again and again.
Finally, she fixed the uniqueness of the domain—locking it and integrating it into her ability shield.
The ability shield quietly released and expanded, enveloping a tall tree.
Then, it quietly locked in place.
Quietly, it contracted.
In the blink of an eye, the large tree silently pulverized and vanished.
If Tian Jing hadn't sensed it, if there hadn't been a pile of dust within the ability shield, one might have momentarily felt that the large tree had suddenly disappeared from this world.
Tian Jing sighed. The fact that it took a blink of an eye indicated that 'locking' applied to the ability shield was nothing like the true locking in a domain.
If it came down to a situation where killing was necessary, she would have to stay far from people and cameras.
Of course, she hoped that day would never come.
She felt the warmth in her body, looked up, and saw the sunlight directly piercing through, the mist having dissipated.
She glanced at the maze under the sun, calm and peaceful.
She bent down, wrapped her ability shield around her hand, and patted the ground.
Immediately, all the footprints on the ground, and all traces of her presence, were swept away by roots that suddenly sprouted from the earth.
Including the places on the maze walls where she had patted or stepped.
Compressing her ability level, she opened the formation, and upon exiting, threw the golden lock and key into the formation.
She had never been here.
She floated over the treetops, not deactivating her ability shield.
In the area where Chen Yaoming had held a gun to her, she swept over it again with vines.
Then she continued down the mountain.
She jumped from the treetops onto the roof of her own house from behind the village, then quietly landed in the courtyard from the roof, entering the main hall.
Seeing her husband waiting by the square table in the main hall, she curved her lips and said softly, "I'm back."
Li Zhengguo pulled his wife into the west room. "You were out for more than a day. Yesterday, after eldest sister-in-law told me, I sent Ranran to the courtyard."
"I even told Grandpa that I was going to the back mountain to find you, then I quietly came back and waited for you at home."
"What's the situation on your end?"
Tian Jing described every detail of her experience to her husband.
After discussing it, the couple decided to quietly leave home again and go to Qingsongyan.
On the way, as prompted by her husband, Tian Jing occasionally stepped out some footprints.
Li Zhengguo then stepped out footprints elsewhere.
It wasn't until they reached the dense forest that the couple went up to Qingsongyan via the treetops.
Sitting under the pine trees at Qingsongyan, Tian Jing's heart was still unsettled.
Li Zhengguo comforted his wife. "Chen Leilei and Chen Shaowen were both forcibly brought to this world by Chen Yaoshi."
"Chen Yaoshi must die. Chen Guangfu, who knows Chen Yaoshi has been reborn, must also be dealt with."
"Could someone like Xiao Wei raise these two not-so-normal children? Definitely not. Then she'll surely come to Grandpa again."
"Even if she doesn't stay, she'll leave the two children with Grandpa. What do we do then?"
"Raise two ticking time bombs? No matter how abnormal those two children are, they'll describe you as being with them and their father all along."
"It's most correct for them and their father to be together in the private vault."
Tian Jing sighed. "I understand, but I need time to process. Even if I'm being sentimental, I've only killed zombies for six years in the apocalypse."
"Those who had ill intentions towards me, I left them a sliver of a chance to live. Not to mention these two young children who are related by blood."
"Oh, and don't touch Chen Guangfu for now. I'm still waiting for him to come. If we act against him before he arrives, it's tantamount to revealing ourselves. Let him make some trouble first."
"As for the Fuhan Gang, when are you going to report them?"
"Cough, cough, cough."
Li Zhengguo coughed a few times, sat up straight in front of his wife, and met her gaze.
"Tiantian, there's something I've been hiding from you."
"You have a fourth son?"
Li Zhengguo reached out and tapped his wife's forehead. "That joke isn't funny at all."
"Five years ago, on the day of the courtyard's warm room banquet, Magistrate Ji spoke with me privately. Do you remember?"
Tian Jing nodded. "I remember. You didn't tell me, and I thought it was a small matter. Looking back now, it was a big deal."
"Yes."
Li Zhengguo sat up straighter. "Magistrate Ji asked me to take over the position of village head for Kushanli Village. I refused at the time."
"The main reason was Chen Yaoshi, the reborn. Until he was dealt with, I couldn't rest easy."
"If I had taken the position of village head, things wouldn't have been so slow-paced."
"Now that Chen Yaoshi is dealt with, given Chen Yaoshi's suspicious and stubborn nature, Chen Guangfu probably only knows about his Zhuang Zhou's dream butterfly scenario and not the specific situation of the future era."
"Therefore, I want to take advantage of this opportunity to encircle the Fuhan Gang and the county's election list, which includes Magistrate Ji's nomination, to push Magistrate Ji into the position of deputy county magistrate."
"We can then act with our hands untied, and Magistrate Ji will also have outstanding political achievements."
Tian Jing raised her hand. "Wait, I have a question."
Li Zhengguo nodded. "Ask."
"Before, you didn't know Magistrate Ji when he was still a secretary. Now, you seem to be on his side. You should know that fortune and misfortune are shared."
"Heh heh," Li Zhengguo gave a dry laugh. "This question relates to the period when I was pretending to be lame."
Tian Jing reached out and pinched her husband's arm. "Don't beat around the bush. Now, we can talk about that period openly."
"Magistrate Ji was a subordinate of my target back then. If I were to pursue a political path, I had to rely on him."
"What is his rank now?"
"Army Commander."
"Age."
"A little over fifty."
"Then he can't protect you for much longer?"
"Magistrate Ji is just one of his many subordinates. Magistrate Ji's only goal is to look after me."
"Hmm?"
Tian Jing was displeased. "No wonder Magistrate Ji went along with everything we did. I thought it was my personal charm, but it turns out to be your backing."
Li Zhengguo scooped up his wife. "Your charm is immense. Let's go for a hot spring."
Tian Jing remained still. "You jump by yourself."
"Then I will jump."
Before Tian Jing could speak, Li Zhengguo leaped.
Startled, Tian Jing quickly circulated her ability.
"Aren't you afraid I'll accidentally reveal something in my haste?"
"Heh heh, at most, I'll get struck by lightning, which is quite comfortable."
"Why don't you go get struck by lightning?"
"I'd love to."