Qi Ping and Sister Nan readily agreed to Zhou Fatty's request.
The mountain stream where Zhou Fatty lived was located at the outskirts of the Cloud Mist Mountain Range, not far from everyone, so going to take a look would incur no loss, and there was no danger involved.
More importantly, being fellow members of the Fusheng Association, if they were to stand by idly today for such a simple matter, who would come to help them in their own time of need?
Now, almost every person in Fusheng Association has, to some extent, received assistance from others in facing difficulties.
In the harsh lower echelon of the Immortal Cultivation Realm, lone wolves are rare; typically, one either forms a group on their own or joins some other faction or organization.
The lone wolves in the Immortal Cultivation Realm are generally those who possess both courage and strength, essentially true strongmen, because those who are not strong often perish...
Besides, although Zhou Fatty has been less involved in Fusheng Association matters in recent years, whenever something requires his help, he never refuses, including when Qi Ping needed help escaping a swarm, Zhou Fatty came immediately upon hearing.
"Of course, Fat Brother! Quickly take us to have a look, we wouldn't want further delay to cause any problems..." Qi Ping replied.
Sister Nan also nodded in agreement.
"Alright, then follow me quickly, I fear they'll starve to death if this continues; there are over sixty Ulinducks there..."
"They started not eating or drinking four days ago; everything was fine before that, but nothing happened that day...."
...
Zhou Fatty babbled all the way, expressing his distress while detailing the Ulinduck problem.
He had this kind of talkative nature, combined with a lack of scheming and his chubby appearance, which made him quite endearing.
Not long after, the two of them followed Zhou Fatty to a mountain stream next to a water source.
The mountain stream was filled with neatly tended flowers, plants, and trees.
In the middle of a vegetable field stood a rather exquisite country-style courtyard.
The courtyard was decorated with various beautiful or cute adornments, and judging by the style, it was likely arranged by Zhou Fatty's wife and children.
Inside the courtyard were two beautiful women dressed in pale yellow silk, accompanied by four children who were playing.
Seeing this, Qi Ping couldn't help but praise Zhou Fatty for being blessed with two beautiful twins, and not only did he wed them, but both wives also simultaneously gave birth to two pairs of mixed-gender twins.
"Daddy, you're back..."
Upon Zhou Fatty's return, the four children happily clung to him.
"Yes, did you miss Daddy?"
Zhou Fatty hid his inner distress, greeting each child with a smile while hugging them individually.
"Miss you! Daddy, can you play hide and seek with us?" the four children said in unison, evidently enjoying the games with Zhou Fatty.
"Not right now, Daddy has work to do; could you play by yourselves for a while? Daddy will join you later..."
"All right... We'll go play by ourselves..."
...
While Zhou Fatty greeted his children, his two wives immediately went indoors to brew tea.
In their eyes, Zhou Fatty had brought home Immortal Master, so they couldn't neglect him; perhaps Zhou Fatty had never discussed the struggles of low-level cultivators with his wives!
However, Qi Ping and Sister Nan shook their heads, insisting that solving the Ulinduck problem was more urgent.
But there was another crucial reason: cultivators generally don't interact with mortal family members of other cultivators.
Lack of topics to discuss is one issue, but more importantly, involving mortal family members in cultivators' matters offers them no benefits, considering they don't possess Spirit Roots.
Soon after, Qi Ping and Sister Nan were led by Zhou Fatty to his duck farm.
"Look at them, they just lie there without a move, can't be stirred even if chased; four days without eating or drinking, the only thing they do is occasionally make quacking sounds; now they're so weak, sigh..."
As Zhou Fatty said, Qi Ping looked and saw over sixty Ulinducks lying weakly on the ground without moving.
Ulinducks are a Tier One low-level Spirit Beast that has been traditionally bred in the Cloud Mist Mountain Range; under normal circumstances, their feathers would be bright and shiny, emanating rich Spiritual Qi.
But now their feathers were dry, not to mention lacking any Spiritual Qi.
"Under normal circumstances, such large-scale and identical symptoms are most likely due to a plague or poisoning..."
So Qi Ping and Sister Nan moved forward to examine thoroughly using their Divine Sense.
But with time passing, their expressions changed from calm to tightly furrowed brows, still finding nothing.
Because within the bodies of the Ulinducks, there were no signs of plague or poisoning.
Their bodily functions and organs were perfectly normal, just weak from not having eaten.
Seeing this, Zhou Fatty's eyes flashed with a hint of disappointment.
Many friends he had invited had looked, just like Qi Ping and Sister Nan, unable to find the root of the problem.
"How's it? Can you not find the reason either?"
Zhou Fatty, seeing them still clueless after a long wait, asked somewhat unwillingly.
If these ducks died, even selling them as sick ducks to breeders of carnivorous Spirit Beasts could be refused; breeders wouldn't dare feed them to their own Spirit Beasts without knowing the cause of death.
And cultivators certainly wouldn't eat them.
Such a loss would be significant for Zhou Fatty.
Sister Nan nodded to Zhou Fatty's query; she really couldn't find the problem, and her experience mostly revolved around planting, only knowing a little about breeding.
If so many experienced breeders couldn't solve it, how could she?
To this, Zhou Fatty could only sigh in resignation.
At this point, was it truly a situation beyond rescuing?
Zhou Fatty's heart was filled with despair at that moment.
But just as Zhou Fatty thought Qi Ping would find nothing like others, Qi Ping signaled Zhou Fatty softly.
This gesture instantly ignited hope in Zhou Fatty's heart; could there be a discovery?
Sister Nan also looked at Qi Ping with some surprise, finding that Qi Ping was full of surprises today.
"Fat Brother, has there been any news of Flowing Light Grass appearing here or nearby peaks?" Qi Ping suddenly asked after pondering for a long time.
"Flowing Light Grass? It really appeared, and I even know where they are! Are the Ulinducks' symptoms related to Flowing Light Grass?"
Zhou Fatty was surprised and excited.
Flowing Light Grass had never been mentioned by him to anyone; Qi Ping was aware of this, indicating he truly found the root of the problem!
This made Zhou Fatty very delighted.
Seems like reading more is indeed beneficial! Zhou Fatty mused, amazed that even the more experienced breeders couldn't identify the cause, yet Qi Ping pinpointed the breakthrough!