Ren Qing let out a long breath, closed the *Grass Hall Travelogue*, and leaned against the wall to rest his eyes.
He suddenly realized that the year of Lifespan consumed by the Human Skin Book wasn't actually that high a price to pay.
'After all, for the Mysterious Object in the Prison to form a forbidden zone, it must have been far beyond the Martial Artist Realm and had already developed Spiritual Wisdom when it was alive.'
'Even among Mysterious Objects created from the Human Skin Book, there's a world of difference in their fundamental nature as their Realms increase.'
'He might just be the only person in the world who could use a Mysterious Object above the Martial Artist Realm to master a Magic Technique.'
'Fortunately, Song Zongwu hadn't noticed.'
'Unfortunately, the higher the Realm of the Mysterious Object, the more absurd the amount of Lifespan Ren Qing needed to consume to master a Magic Technique from it.'
Ren Qing was about to leave the Martial Arts Tower when he suddenly heard a suppressed cough.
"COUGH, COUGH, COUGH..."
The Veteran Constable walked out of the back room. He looked to be in his seventies or eighties and had to rely on a cane to walk.
"The Martial Arts Tower will be closing soon. You can come back tomorrow."
"Thank you for the reminder, old sir."
Ren Qing nodded and returned the *Grass Hall Travelogue* to the shelf.
He didn't plan on coming back. The remaining Martial Arts Manuals were useless to him anyway.
'Once I successfully advance to the Half-Corpse Realm and my eyes Mutate into Double Pupils, I'll probably be able to see through even the most exquisite techniques with ease.'
After noticing the *Grass Hall Travelogue*, the Veteran Constable suddenly spoke up. "I'd like to ask, is he doing okay?"
Ren Qing didn't answer. The Veteran Constable just continued, as if talking to himself, "COUGH, COUGH, COUGH... Is Song Zongwu doing okay?"
Ren Qing didn't know how to describe the situation, so he just gave a perfunctory reply. "He's doing great. Um... he's in robust health."
The Veteran Constable smiled and said, "I see. That puts my mind at ease."
After Ren Qing left, the Veteran Constable's kind expression twisted grotesquely. He weakly pushed the main door shut.
His coughing grew more and more violent.
Ren Qing took a long look back at the Martial Arts Tower. 'That Veteran Constable must have some connection to Song Zongwu. They even look a bit similar.'
'Could they be brothers?'
Ren Qing had no intention of digging deeper. He'd rather spend more time figuring out the Human Skin Book.
He snapped out of his focused state and only then remembered he hadn't eaten all day. His stomach was rumbling, and he couldn't help but quicken his pace.
When he returned to the Firework Hall, he saw green smoke rising from the furnace, which was crackling loudly. A body was clearly being cremated inside.
However, before leaving, Ren Qing had learned from Xiaowu that the body belonged to a fisherman who had drowned on the outskirts of the city.
Because the body had been submerged in water for several days, it wasn't burning well. The process would take at least twice as long as usual.
Ren Qing walked into the courtyard and noticed some steamed buns and side dishes on the stone table.
The food was provided by the Government Office. It was strange—there wasn't much fertile land outside the city, yet the granaries inside were already full.
He ate as he walked toward the furnace.
Ren Qing quickly spotted Xiaowu and the others. There was a familiar figure with them, though he remained silent.
"Bo Feng?"
Ren Qing couldn't help but be surprised.
Bo Feng had changed a lot. He exuded an air of despair. Not only had his once-black hair turned completely silver-white, but his face was also covered in deep, crisscrossing wrinkles.
Bo Feng looked up at Ren Qing and said with a bitter smile, "Brother Ren, I'll be on duty at Tan Street from now on. I hope you don't mind."
Ren Qing couldn't help asking, "Did the Government Constables under you blame you? But what did the deaths and injuries in the Prison have to do with you?"
Li Mian spoke up to explain, "Bo Feng requested the transfer himself. We just found out."
Xiaowu nodded, clearly curious about why Bo Feng had come here.
Bo Feng sighed. "There were only seven Government Constables on the street detail. Four of them died in the prison. I knew all their families, young and old..."
At this, he clutched his head in pain.
Bo Feng no longer wanted to be the Fireworkers' Steward, so he had requested a transfer to Tan Street. Of course, Ren Qing was part of the reason; the latter's performance in the Prison had been witnessed by all.
Ren Qing clapped Bo Feng on the shoulder and agreed without hesitation.
The main reason was that Tan Street was too short-staffed. If things got busy, it might interfere with his own cultivation. Secondly, with Bo Feng in charge, Ren Qing could relax and delegate responsibility.
Bo Feng's mood gradually stabilized, his expression one of relief.
The men chatted casually over their steamed buns and side dishes, growing closer.
When Bo Feng mentioned that the street he used to oversee was in the eastern part of the West District, Ren Qing couldn't help but ask about the decapitated corpses in the East District.
"You mean the headless cases, right? They're mainly concentrated in the South District now. I have no idea what the killer's motive is..."
Li Mian frowned and asked, "With so many dead, it must be related to some faction."
Bo Feng shook his head. "I don't think so. I've examined a few of the bodies. The incisions on the necks are identical, which suggests it's the work of a single person."
Xiaowu curled up, asking with a hint of fear, "The city districts must have been sealed off after the deaths. They still haven't found the killer?"
Bo Feng couldn't help but glance around before whispering, "The cuts on the necks are too clean. It doesn't look like they were made by a sharp weapon at all. It's more like the heads grew legs and ran off on their own."
Xiaowu's teeth started chattering. "D-don't... don't scare me."
Ren Qing offered some comfort. "The Government Office has surely taken measures. Besides, no one's perfect. If the killer keeps this up, they're bound to slip up."
"That's true. I feel like there have been fewer beheadings recently."
"Brother Bo, keep a close eye on the West District. If any headless corpses turn up, let me know."
"No problem. I know a lot of constables at the Government Office."
Bo Feng readily agreed. The advantages of having a veteran Government Constable were clear; at least in terms of connections, Ren Qing was no match for him.
"I'm going to bed. We can talk about anything else tomorrow morning."
Ren Qing got up and walked toward the side room, nonchalantly swallowing a pig's eye on his way.
Bo Feng happened to see this, and his expression turned to one of disbelief. "Constable Ren, what did you just eat? Why did it look like raw meat?"
Li Heng, unfazed, said, "It was actually a rather fresh pig's eye. Once you drain the blood, there's no fishy smell at all. It even has a slightly sweet aftertaste."
The others looked at him strangely. Li Heng's face flushed red as he said, "I just saw the constable eating them every day and got curious, that's all."
Xiaowu said disdainfully, "Brother Qing has bad eyesight. The doctor told him to eat them based on the principle of 'like cures like'."
Li Heng wanted to explain further, but even his own brother, Li Mian, was giving him a strange look. He was on the verge of tears but had none to shed.
As for why Ren Qing deliberately let on that he had poor eyesight, it was because he would inevitably need to conceal his Double Pupils after advancing to the Half-Corpse Realm.
He didn't have a good solution for this, but he didn't want to join the Forbidden Guard too soon either—at least not until he was strong enough to protect himself.
Compared to the occasional dangers faced by a Fireworker, the risks a Forbidden Guard had to take were far too great.
Ren Qing even suspected there were quite a few forbidden zones outside the city.
Those Fireworkers from Hexing Street who had been transferred out of Sanxiang City... The official reason was a plague in some village, but it was likely related to a forbidden zone. They were probably as good as dead.