Cultivating in a Bizarre World

The arrival of over a hundred new people who needed to be settled made the temporary camp incredibly bloated. Food immediately became a critical issue.

Li Yaoyang went to Camel Peak Mountain to inspect the Disaster Mitigation Forbidden Area, leaving the chaotic situation behind.

After the group was inspected by a few Forbidden Guards, Song Zongwu handed them directly over to Ren Qing.

’Back at the Firework Hall, I was the one who got to be the hands-off manager,’ Ren Qing thought. ’Now I’m the one stuck with all the dirty work.’

Sigh...

He had no choice but to put mining on hold and focus all his energy on managing these affairs.

The new Government Constables were relatively easy to deal with, as there were only about twenty of them.

Ren Qing took the opportunity to meet them face-to-face, using his Information Flow to examine each person carefully. He found nothing out of the ordinary.

The hunters, however, were a bit more trouble.

A few of them had been injured in animal attacks, so a separate wooden cabin was set aside to house them.

Ren Qing had Wang Sheng lead the hunters to the cabin while he rushed to get the Government Constables to prepare food. With several campfires cooking at once, the camp filled with a chaotic mix of smoke and smells.

Then, without a moment’s rest, he went to sort out the prisoners.

Ren Qing mulled it over for a long time.

’The only place that can hold them is the cavern,’ he concluded. After more than ten days of hard digging, the inside had become quite spacious.

’Keeping them locked inside, cut off from the outside, will make them easier to manage.’

Of course, he first had to use his Information Flow to check on the prisoners’ conditions.

Ren Qing checked the information of over a hundred people in a row until his head began to throb, yet he found nothing. It seemed Song Rong had already given up.

He did, however, discover a few physically disabled prisoners who had once cultivated Magic Techniques. All their left arms were limp, as if the bones had been completely removed.

According to the Information Flow, the Magic Technique they had cultivated was similar to the Divine Sutra, but none of them had even mastered the basics.

This Magic Technique was called the "Snake Shedding Technique."

[Snake Shedding Technique]

[Created by the Musha Taoist. Cultivating this technique requires soaking in a specific medicinal solution from a young age, making one’s entire body as supple as if it were boneless. Only then can it be mastered.]

This reminded Ren Qing of the "Snake Scale Gang" from the East District of Sanxiang City. ’Perhaps there’s a connection between the two,’ he mused.

He had the constables seal the cavern’s entrance and specifically assigned men to guard the prisoners. He would figure out the mining arrangements tomorrow.

Even after finishing all these tasks, Ren Qing still felt uneasy.

He grabbed some rations and headed for the hunters’ cabin. As he approached, he caught the scent of medicine.

Ren Qing couldn’t help but take a deep breath, his right hand touching the Blood Heart tucked inside his robes.

’The Government Constables and the prisoners are clean. The problem must be with the hunters.’ He still remembered the dozen or so people who had vanished from Pingding Mountain Village.

’If something unexpected happens, I just hope it doesn’t affect the Disaster Mitigation Forbidden Area.’

Outside the cabin, Zhou Wuqian was silently smoking his pipe. When he saw Ren Qing approach, he recognized him as one of the camp’s stewards and hurried over to greet him.

"Lord Official, this old one is Zhou Wuqian. I used to work at the Government Office, spent a few years as the County Magistrate’s groom."

Ren Qing nodded and asked, "Elder Zhou, how are the injured hunters?"

Zhou Wuqian glanced at the other hunters, then straightened his back and replied, "Lord Official, as you know, the beasts have been especially ferocious lately."

He pointed inside the cabin and continued, "A few of the younger lads were bitten by beasts on the way here. Now they can only rest and recover..."

Ren Qing’s brow furrowed slightly.

Zhou Wuqian added with an awkward smile, "Lord Official, we wouldn’t dare ask for the Government Office’s reward money while they’re recovering. We’ll find our own medicinal herbs."

"Where are you all from, and what kind of beast was it that attacked you?"

"We’re from Taohong Village, Lord Official. We ran into a pack of hungry wolves on our way out."

’Wolves?’

’Why wolves again?’

"Let me take a look at their injuries."

Ren Qing clapped Zhou Wuqian on the shoulder, and the two of them entered the cabin, one after the other.

Over a dozen hunters were staying in the cabin, making it feel extremely cramped.

They stared at Ren Qing with looks of apprehension and suspicion, voluntarily shifting to make room for him. The atmosphere grew silent.

Ren Qing noticed some freshly dried medicinal herbs by the window. They were common in the mountains and were effective for treating external wounds.

In a corner of the room, three hunters lay flat on their backs, moaning in pain.

Two of the hunters had wounds on their chests and abdomens. The third was more severely injured; his arms and legs were all bandaged, likely from being surrounded by the beasts.

Crudely prepared herbs were applied as a poultice to their wounds and changed every half-day.

The injuries weren’t fatal, unless they led to tetanus or rabies.

"Here, have something to eat. From now on, the camp will be relying on all of you for its meat supply."

Ren Qing took out the rations and handed some to each hunter, primarily using the opportunity to check their information.

Still, he found nothing unusual. In fact, it was all a little *too* normal.

He asked himself, if he were in Song Rong’s shoes, he would never pass up such a perfect opportunity to infiltrate the camp.

"Thank you, Lord Official..."

Zhou Wuqian accepted the rations with a look of delight. It seemed that aside from the intimidating Forbidden Guards, the Government Constables were actually quite approachable.

Ren Qing bent down to touch one of the injured men, feigning to check the pulse in his neck.

They were all just ordinary hunters. They didn’t show any signs of being possessed by a Magic Technique, and their minds were clear when they spoke.

If Song Rong was using his eyes to control people, the victim would inevitably be babbling nonsense, just like that fishmonger, Wang Bingquan.

Once Ren Qing was certain he hadn’t missed anything, he stood up and headed out of the cabin.

’Could it be that Song Rong was intimidated by the number of Forbidden Guards and gave up on entering the Disaster Mitigation Forbidden Area?’

Ren Qing vaguely sensed that something was wrong, but all he could do for now was be extra cautious. He couldn’t afford to delay the progress of sealing off the forbidden area over a mere suspicion.

Fortunately, with Mu Yi having become a tree-man, she could keep watch over the camp.

The next few days passed peacefully. With the Government Constables no longer engaged in manual labor, the living conditions in the camp improved much more quickly.

The prisoners were gradually put to work excavating the mountainside, though they were only assigned to non-critical branch tunnels.

They weren’t allowed to leave the cavern on a daily basis. The Government Constables brought them food and water and carried out the waste.

To prevent the prisoners from stirring up trouble, Ren Qing broke up the groups and reassigned everyone daily. They were even watched by Government Constables when they relieved themselves.

The camp gradually fell into a routine.

However, what Ren Qing found deeply strange was that the large beasts in the vicinity had all vanished. The hunters were now only able to catch wild rabbits and field mice.

Zhou Wuqian, however, believed it was due to the frequency of their hunts.

In his spare time, Ren Qing went out to search for clues with his Double Pupils. A little farther from the camp, he could indeed find signs of beasts.

He reported the matter to Song Zongwu. Afterward, a large number of Gu Insects were deployed within a ten-li radius of the camp, allowing Li Yaoyang to detect any disturbance, no matter how small.

To be honest, even Ren Qing himself couldn’t find any holes in their security.

He continued his daily patrols but was finally able to resume mining, hoping to find an opportunity for his Human Skin Book to achieve a breakthrough.

He could also try using his Great Miao Blade to carve into the stone walls.

After a long period of practice, Ren Qing could feel his Saber Technique transforming.

If he could use the stone walls to advance his skill even further, he would have truly mastered the basics.