The bright moon hung high in midair, moonlight spilling over the desolate streets of Weian Town.
A cool breeze swept by, lifting several pieces of spirit money.
Through meditation, Ren Qing could compress rest and sleep to within two hours. The nights were thus all used to cultivate body martial arts and Nether Yuan.
He lay in the courtyard, his eyes fixed on the moon.
The cultivation of the Night Roaming Sword Method was also simple. One only needed to look toward the moon, and the sleeplessness disease type within the body would silently and gradually grow.
Although for Ren Qing the cultivation speed of body martial arts was far too slow, and his focus should logically be placed on the Netherworld Heavenly Insect Method, the Night Roaming disease type was able to heal his blind eyes.
The observational power of the dream-seed Double Pupils was indeed far superior to naked eyes, but its visible range was limited.
Just as Ren Qing was immersed in cultivation, he suddenly sensed a bizarre monster flash past the surroundings of Qingfeng Pavilion, its speed far exceeding the ordinary.
The monster was covered in deformed organs, with countless hands and feet, making Ren Qing think of delirium cultivators who had completely fallen into madness.
It also emitted an aura similar to Longevity Immortal statues, though comparatively faint.
It was very likely the source of the large number of casualties appearing in the town.
Ren Qing opened his eyes, the ghost shadow beneath his feet writhing like a living thing.
The ghost shadow covered his entire body, as if draping him in a layer of black gauze. Without realizing it, his figure had already merged into the darkness.
Ren Qing's bones collided softly, the aura originating from body martial arts restrained to the extreme.
He lightly tapped the ground, leapt up onto the eaves, and chased in the monster's direction.
At this time, Ren Qing noticed several body martial cultivators encircling the monster from afar, including Xu Sanzhang, yet their purpose was not to kill it.
It seemed they were deliberately forcing the monster toward a certain area of the town.
Because of his weight, Ren Qing could only try his best not to lose track of them.
The monster panicked and made noise, causing candlelight to appear in some houses, and residents began whispering among themselves.
The fear on its face lessened somewhat, greed for flesh and blood arising in its eyes.
The monster charged toward a house without hesitation, hoarse roars escaping its mouth, then slammed heavily into the courtyard wall.
Cracks spread across the wall's surface, drawing bursts of dog barking from within.
At that moment, a human figure descended, blocking the monster's path.
The figure was a woman who looked about sixteen or seventeen years old. Her skin was pallid, and her exposed arms showed a sickly swelling.
The woman swung her right hand, droplets of water vapor gathering in her palm.
The monster immediately changed direction, more than a dozen hands and feet moving together as it rushed in front of the woman, its gaping maw biting toward her head.
The woman remained calm, executing the Azure Ripple Palm Art with extreme finesse, effortlessly entangling the monster and rendering it unable to move.
Three or four more body martial cultivators arrived in the narrow alley.
Among them, a burly man swung a fist several times the size of an ordinary person's, subduing the monster, then asked with concern, "Junior Sister Nanfeng, are you alright?"
Nanfeng raised her arm. Her skin had become semi-translucent, and her flesh had begun to liquefy.
She said with an ugly expression, "The diseased beast almost caused my body martial art to lose control!"
As soon as Nanfeng finished speaking, she suddenly turned her head, her eyes staring venomously at a certain spot. A window in a house had opened a crack.
The man inside looked toward the alley in terror and hurriedly shut the window tight.
The burly man revealed a ferocious smile, forcefully tore off a chunk of flesh from the diseased beast, then released his restraint.
The diseased beast struggled in pain, then climbed onto the eaves and fled into the distance.
Two of the body martial cultivators split off to follow it. Judging by their demeanor, they showed no urgency at all, even appearing leisurely.
Just as Ren Qing reached the alley entrance, he flicked the ghost shadow with his index finger toward one of the body martial cultivators.
He focused his attention on the people in the alley, wanting to see what plans the forces of Weian Town truly had, and why they were deliberately creating chaos.
The burly man carried the chunk of diseased beast flesh into a house. Soon after, children's cries and a man's desperate screams rang out from within.
Xu Sanzhang remained by Nanfeng's side, his face turning extremely grim.
Nanfeng's mouth curved into a smile as she licked her arms with a narrow tongue, while at the same time suffering intense pain due to her disease type losing control.
Xu Sanzhang clenched his fists, sword-wind brewing within the pores of his skin.
"Nanfeng, was that really necessary?"
Nanfeng's expression returned to normal, and she said coldly, "I didn't tell senior brother to kill them. Actually, there was no need..."
Xu Sanzhang could no longer hold back, using his arm as a sword and slashing toward Nanfeng's neck.
Nanfeng's eyes widened. At such close range, she could not react in time, revealing just how fast Qingfeng Pavilion's agility-focused body martial arts were.
However, Xu Sanzhang's arm stopped just short of Nanfeng.
The burly man had a shoulder slung with two corpses, and in his palm he held a small boy who was barely alive, clearly using him as leverage against Xu Sanzhang.
"I let them eat the diseased beast's flesh before they died. It wasn't a waste."
The corpses no longer resembled human forms, having grown many bizarre mutations.
"Qi Yun!!!"
Xu Sanzhang spat out the two words through clenched teeth, his trembling arm slashing toward Nanfeng's head.
But in the end, he chose to give up. Qi Yun tossed the child to Xu Sanzhang, then smiled and shook his head. "Just routine duty."
"Why deliberately increase casualties? Is Blackstone Pavilion really so duplicitous?"
Nanfeng wiped the filth from her clothes and said in a subtle tone, "Sanzhang, how many people opposed the immortals ten years ago, and how many are left now?"
"In at most half a month, the immortal will arrive. Even the clan elders are running back and forth..."
Xu Sanzhang opened his mouth weakly, unable to speak.
Nanfeng narrowed her eyes and consoled him, "In places the diseased beast passes through, even if senior brother doesn't act, many people will die of illness tomorrow."
"Junior Sister Nanfeng, suppress your disease type as soon as possible. I'll take my leave first."
"Alright, senior brother."
Qi Yun ignored Xu Sanzhang completely, his steps producing crisp sounds.
As he brushed past Xu Sanzhang, Qi Yun muttered to himself, "You don't really think the diseased beast is something left behind from Weian Town, do you?"
Xu Sanzhang let out a long breath, as if most of his spirit had drained away.
He gave a self-mocking smile. His disgust toward the senior brother and sister pair vanished entirely, they were merely pitiful people driven mad.
Everything, everything, was in preparation for the immortal's arrival.
Like a grand celebration.
Xu Sanzhang did not go after the diseased beast. Instead, he turned toward Qingfeng Pavilion, intending to first settle the child. The diseased beast would naturally be dealt with by others.
Nanfeng, however, remained where she was, impatiently closing her eyes to cultivate body martial arts.
Ren Qing looked at Xu Sanzhang's retreating figure.
Whether Qi Yun or Nanfeng, the information flow already showed that both had acquired "delirium" and were not far from complete madness.
As for the diseased beast, it indeed was a delirium cultivator.
Similar to the monster Ren Qing became when killing the Peach Blossom Immortal, except the disease type inside the diseased beast had not lost control to the same degree as his.
What he did not expect was that the diseased beast would actually accelerate the growth of disease types. Nanfeng's edema disease type had nearly broken free of body martial suppression.
"Damn it..."
Nanfeng gritted her teeth and opened her eyes. Not only had her arms not improved, but gelatinous pus was seeping from her skin.
She felt incomparably irritated.
Just then, the faint sound of a child crying came from afar. Nanfeng immediately prepared to head toward the sound.
As she reached the corner of the alley, she suddenly noticed a tall figure in the distance and inexplicably felt a wave of dread.
Nanfeng smiled seductively and said, "May I ask which pavilion this senior brother is from? Could it be that you saw this junior sister alone and, "
Before she could finish speaking, Ren Qing instantly appeared before her. His over-two-meter-tall burly body brought an incomparable sense of oppression.
Nanfeng's eyes filled with disbelief.
Her thoughts stirred slightly. A few days ago, Qingfeng Pavilion had recruited an extraordinary disciple, and the matter had caused quite a stir.
Even the Blackstone Pavilion's head master Xu Shiwang had been somewhat indignant over it.
"You are... Wang..."
Nanfeng forcibly executed the Azure Ripple Palm Art, the stench from the pus spreading out.
Yet Ren Qing moved even faster. His right arm suddenly lifted, muscles swelling several times over in an instant, the air forming a reverse surge.
Nanfeng's pupils contracted.
No matter what views Weian Town's body martial cultivators held toward immortals, their internal conflicts were extremely restrained, primarily born of fear deep in their hearts.
She still could not believe someone would dare to act so brazenly.
And how could someone who had just begun cultivating body martial arts leave her completely powerless, relying solely on pure physical strength...
Bang!!
The fist collided with her head. Even the hard skull did not last more than a few breaths.
A mixture of red and white splattered outward.
Nanfeng's headless corpse collapsed. Body martial arts immediately lost their restraint over the disease type, and her flesh gradually began to change.
Before the disease type could fully come alive, countless pairs of infant hands emerged from the ground, forcibly stripping away the droplet-like disease type.
The small hands dragged the disease type into the ground, and the alley returned to calm.
It seemed that as the carrier of all things, the Longevity Forbidden Zone would not easily let go even of unfinished aberrations like disease types.
Ren Qing vanished with a few flickers.
He arrived at the location of the diseased beast, which was unexpectedly the yamen of Weian Town. Inside, it was brightly lit, figures moving about.
In the open ground at the center of the yamen stood several hundred prisoners with blank expressions.
Not far away, the diseased beast was bound.
Constables wore thick armor, heads covered by Weian Town soldier masks, using long sabers to carve flesh from the diseased beast and throw it to the prisoners.
The prisoners scrambled like wild beasts. After swallowing it, they immediately let out shrill screams.
Their disease types gradually lost control, turning them into deformed monsters crawling on the ground, before being taken by constables and locked in the prison cells.
A gaunt old man's gaze swept across the prisoners. The body martial cultivators before him were extremely respectful, clearly indicating he was one of the clan elders.
Ren Qing instantly realized something.
The Peach Blossom Immortal's food in the medical hall had been delirium cultivators, proving that Weian Town truly treated itself as a lackey of the immortals.
These prisoners alone were certainly not enough. They also needed to include townsfolk whose disease types had lost control. No wonder they deliberately released the diseased beast.
Ren Qing frowned deeply, then the ghost shadow beneath his feet instantly split apart.
The ghost shadow moved along dark corners, attaching itself to prisoners inside the cells.
He did not choose to linger. He immediately returned to Qingfeng Pavilion, only to encounter Xu Sanzhang outside the wing rooms as he was bandaging the child's wounds.
Xu Sanzhang asked doubtfully, "Shanlu, why are you still not asleep?"
"Uh... I forgot you can't speak. Go sleep quickly."
He thought Ren Qing had gotten up at night to relieve himself. Even though he smelled a strange stench of decay, he did not think too deeply about it.