Chapter 823 Infiltration
They sneaked into the forest to pick herbs and sell them for money. When the tree spirit vine found out, it was enraged again. Its vines danced wildly in the forest and attacked the intruders.
The young men were so scared that they ran away. One of them accidentally tripped over the vines and fell to the ground, about to be entangled by the vines. At the critical moment, Qi Tongwei arrived and used his body to protect the young man, shouting the name of the tree spirit vine. The tree spirit vine seemed to recognize Qi Tongwei and stopped attacking.
Qi Tongwei brought the injured young man back to the village and severely criticized and educated the villagers who were greedy for profit. He told everyone that this mountain forest is their home and the home of the tree spirit vine. Only by protecting it together can there be long-term peace. If this balance is destroyed for the sake of temporary interests, everyone will be harmed in the end.
After this incident, the villagers deeply realized the seriousness of the problem. They said that they would work with Qi Tongwei to protect the forest and no longer do anything that would harm the forest and the tree spirit vine.
However, the matter did not end there. The pharmaceutical company received news that their research had hit a bottleneck and they needed more wild medicinal samples to move forward. The company's top management paid more and more attention to the medicinal materials in this mountain forest, and even hinted that the researchers should obtain the medicinal materials at all costs.
Among the researchers was a young girl named Lin Yue, who had always admired Qi Tongwei and the villagers for protecting the forest. After learning about the company's idea, she secretly found Qi Tongwei and told him the news.
"Brother Qi, people in the company may take some extreme measures, so you must be careful." Lin Yue said anxiously.
Qi Tongwei looked at her gratefully: "Thank you, Lin Yue. We won't let them destroy the forest. But I also understand the importance of research. We have to think of a better way."
Just as they were discussing countermeasures, a mysterious figure appeared at the edge of the forest. The man was covered in a black cloak, and his face could not be seen. He looked at the forest, a strange smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and then disappeared into the night.
The next day, a strange thing happened in the forest. The tree spirit vine that had been living in peace with the villagers suddenly became extremely violent. Its vines began to spread towards the village, uprooting trees and tearing the ground into gullies wherever it went.
Qi Tongwei and the villagers looked at the scene in horror. They didn't understand why the tree spirit vine suddenly attacked. Qi Tongwei decided to go to the forest again to find out the reason. When he arrived at the forest, he found a strange magic circle appeared at the root of the tree spirit vine. The magic circle emitted a strange light, which seemed to affect the mind of the tree spirit vine.
Qi Tongwei realized that this must be the work of the mysterious man. He tried to destroy the magic circle, but as soon as he approached, he was bounced back by a powerful force. Just when he was at a loss, Lin Yue arrived. Lin Yue had some research on the magic circle, and she told Qi Tongwei that this magic circle was an ancient curse magic circle, and in order to break it, he needed to find a specific item.
With the help of Lin Yue, Qi Tongwei and the villagers began to look for items to break the magic circle. They crossed mountains and rivers, experienced hardships, and finally found the items they needed. When they placed the items on the magic circle, the light of the magic circle gradually disappeared, and the tree spirit vine slowly returned to calm.
After this crisis, Qi Tongwei realized that it was difficult to completely protect the forests by their own strength. He decided to have an in-depth negotiation with the pharmaceutical company, hoping to reach an agreement acceptable to both parties.
At the negotiation table, Qi Tongwei told the company's senior management about the importance of the forest and the relationship between the tree spirit vine and the village. He proposed that the company could cooperate with the village to jointly develop and protect the resources in the forest without destroying the forest ecology. The company's senior management was moved by Qi Tongwei's sincerity and determination and finally agreed to his proposal.
Since then, the village has established a cooperative relationship with the pharmaceutical company. They have designated a special research area in the forest to conduct scientific research and cultivation of medicinal materials. Under the joint protection of everyone, the tree spirit vine continues to protect this forest.
In the early stage of the research, everything went according to plan. The researchers brought advanced equipment and technology, and conducted component analysis and pharmacological research on the collected herbs, trying to dig out more medicinal value of these herbs. Qi Tongwei also often came to the research area to follow the progress of the research. He was both expectant and a little nervous. He hoped that these studies would bring new development opportunities to the village, but he was also worried that something unexpected would happen during the research process and break the hard-earned peace with the tree spirit vine.
However, under the calm surface, undercurrents were quietly surging. Some people in the company were dissatisfied with the slow progress of research. They believed that it would be difficult to achieve the expected economic benefits in the short term at the current research speed. Among them was a project manager named Zhao Qiang, who was ambitious and wanted to stand out in the company, so he had a crooked idea.
Late one night, Zhao Qiang secretly gathered a few of his confidants and sneaked into the forest with tools. They avoided the research area and went straight to the depths of the forest, where the most precious medicinal herbs grew and where the tree spirit vines focused on guarding. Their actions awakened the tree spirit vines, and the vines began to dance wildly, making low roars, as if warning these uninvited guests.
Zhao Qiang and his men did not retreat. Relying on their full preparation, they tried to forcibly pick the herbs. The tree spirit vine was completely enraged, and its vines surged towards them like a surging tide, instantly surrounding them. Zhao Qiang shouted for help, and his voice echoed in the silent forest.
At this time, Qi Tongwei was resting in the village. He heard the noise coming from the forest and was startled. He quickly called the villagers to go to the forest to check. When they arrived, they saw Zhao Qiang and others were tightly entangled by the tree spirit vine and were in danger.
"Hurry up and save them!" Qi Tongwei shouted loudly, and the villagers rushed forward and tried to cut the vines with tools. Qi Tongwei shouted the tree spirit vine's name loudly, trying to calm it down, while approaching Zhao Qiang and glaring at him: "Why did you break the rules?"
Zhao Qiang's face was filled with horror, and he stammered, "I... I just want to speed up the research and collect more medicinal herbs."
Qi Tongwei gritted his teeth and said, "You are destroying our home!" With the efforts of Qi Tongwei and the villagers, the tree spirit vine finally let go of Zhao Qiang and others. Zhao Qiang and others collapsed on the ground, still in fear.
Qi Tongwei brought Zhao Qiang and others back to the village, severely reprimanded them, and asked them to report the matter truthfully to the company's senior management.