Chapter 70: Not the Land God...
The group rushed toward the sound.
Ren Qing thought to himself as he ran. ’To silently assassinate the Cultivator in the cavern, you’d definitely need to use a Magic Technique.’
This suddenly made him think of the Land God. After all, burrowing into the earth would be very difficult to detect.
And Ren Qing had a persistent feeling that something was off about the Land God.
When the group arrived at the open space outside the building, they saw the area was crawling with pythons, carrying the bodies away.
Ren Qing’s Double Pupils shifted, and he immediately noticed that among the dense piles of rat corpses, one was still twitching slightly.
The living rat had already taken on a human form. All that remained was some gray fur on its spine, and its gaze was utterly vacant.
If Ren Qing hadn’t been so seasoned, he would have certainly been terrified.
The thousand-plus rat corpses all looked identical, their expressions in death seemingly cast from the same mold. It was a horrifying sight.
Jiang Feng glanced at Ren Qing in surprise. Ren Qing seemed to have reacted even faster than he had.
’What kind of Magic Technique grants such incredible vision?’
Jiang Feng couldn’t help but bend down to inspect it. He noticed that the mouse-man had no Spiritual Wisdom to speak of, and its Vitality was continuously draining away.
"Huang Ziwang, use your poison to stimulate its Mud Ball Palace. See if we can restore its Spiritual Wisdom."
Ren Qing took the opportunity to grab the mouse-man’s body. On the surface, it was to control it, but in reality, he was summoning the Information Flow.
[???]
[Age: Four hours]
[Lifespan: 163 breaths]
The mouse-man’s Lifespan was still ticking down; it was on the verge of dying from depletion.
"Hold it steady."
Huang Ziwang extended his index finger. His nail immediately turned dark green and pierced the center of the mouse-man’s brow, directly penetrating its thick skull.
The mouse-man began to struggle frantically.
If it weren’t for the significant improvement in Ren Qing’s physique after advancing to the Ghost Envoy Realm, he might not have been able to hold it down.
Huang Ziwang said in a low voice, "It has no Soul."
Jiang Feng explained, "Only when the Rat Mother’s main body dies will its offshoots grow a Soul."
Ren Qing muttered to himself inwardly, ’Whether this Soul has any connection to the main body is another matter entirely.’
Jiang Feng stared at the mouse-man, his tone chilling as he asked, "Who are you?"
A spark of awareness seemed to enter the mouse-man’s eyes. It was heard muttering to itself, "Who am I? Who am I? Who am I..."
A large amount of blood gushed from its mouth and nose. Its whole body trembled uncontrollably, and wrinkles formed on its skin at a visible rate.
’Its Lifespan is down to eighty-five breaths.’
Jiang Feng shouted, "Huang Ziwang!"
Huang Ziwang narrowed his eyes, the color of his index finger deepening. He injected more poison into the mouse-man’s head, causing its face to contort.
Seeing that the mouse-man’s Lifespan was about to run out without them getting a single clue, Ren Qing couldn’t help but ask, "Are you a Forbidden Guard?"
"Forbidden Guard, Forbidden Guard..."
A thoughtful look appeared in the mouse-man’s eyes, and its muttering grew louder, as if it were trying to recall some fragmented memory.
Jiang Feng and Huang Ziwang exchanged a look. Although it would be a huge pain if this involved a Forbidden Guard, the corresponding pay would also be much higher.
"Ren Qing, you continue."
Ren Qing hesitated for a moment.
’Since the Land God might be connected to this, there’s no need for me to deliberately hide it. Besides, I’ve already informed Song Zongwu beforehand.’
Ren Qing asked tentatively, "A Forbidden Guard... the Land God?"
The mouse-man’s eyes went wide, the whites filling with bloodshot veins.
"Land God... Land God..."
It mumbled the words as blood flowed uncontrollably from its orifices. Its head began to swell, cracking its skull.
"I’m not the Land God..."
The mouse-man’s voice became heavy, but to Ren Qing, it sounded somewhat deranged.
"It turns out I am..."
Before it could finish, the mouse-man’s Lifespan was completely depleted. It exploded into a shower of gore, not even leaving a complete skeleton behind.
With the mouse-man’s death, the other corpses began to decay at a visible rate, leaving nothing but a floor full of bone ash moments later.
Jiang Feng asked hesitantly, "Is this really related to a Forbidden Guard?"
Huang Ziwang was also doubtful. "The Land God has no reason to devour a Mysterious Object, right? The risks involved are just too great."
He didn’t know the Land God very well, having only encountered him in the Disaster Mitigation Forbidden Area. Their relationship wasn’t even as close as his with Ren Qing.
It was hard to imagine how two completely unrelated things could be connected.
Jiang Feng didn’t know the Land God, but having a potential suspect was better than having nothing at all.
Ren Qing told the two of them everything exactly as it had happened, but he left out the part about Body and Soul Separation, only saying he had accidentally overheard something during the night.
The two suspected that the Land God was being controlled by some Magic Technique.
"I saw the Land God in the Secret Pavilion a few days ago. His condition was indeed strange; he was even having memory problems."
Jiang Feng chimed in, "With the Land God’s Cultivation in Magic Techniques, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to sneak into these caverns and ambush a Half-Corpse Realm Cultivator."
Huang Ziwang said with a pained expression, "The most important thing is to figure out where the Land God is and what his objective is."
"I’ll report this to the Forbidden Soldier Hall. We’re not good at tracking people, so the Mud Association mission might be handed over to other Forbidden Guards."
Ren Qing rubbed his nose. ’The Forbidden Soldier Hall really has a clear division of labor,’ he thought. ’By comparison, being a Government Constable is high-risk and low-reward.’
"Just in case, Yan Jun, you should set up a Magic Technique."
"Elder Jiang, the Magic Technique will only last for about three hours."
Yan Jun felt a pang of regret. The pythons formed from his hair could normally be retracted, but now he would have to waste several hundred strands.
After the pythons had spread throughout the cavern, Jiang Feng spoke, "It’s fine now. Let’s leave first."
The group followed the tunnel Ren Qing had used to return to the outside. The other branching paths had already been sealed off.
Bathed in the bright sunlight, Ren Qing felt as if he had entered another world. It was hard to imagine the members of the Mud Association having to stay in the narrow, dark depths of the earth all the time.
"I’ll be returning to the Forbidden Soldier Hall first."
Jiang Feng took out the Bone Key and drew a Gate, then stepped through it.
Yan Jun also took his leave and departed.
Ren Qing looked at Huang Ziwang in confusion. "Old Huang, is the mission over just like that?"
"For now, yes. As for whether we follow up later, we’ll just have to wait for the Nether Crow’s notification."
Huang Ziwang took out a flask and had a sip of wine. He didn’t seem the least bit worried about the potential chaos to come; on the contrary, he was beaming with joy over the pay.
Ren Qing couldn’t help but ask, "What exactly is the payment for the mission?"
Huang Ziwang gave him a strange look and said, "It seems Elder Song didn’t explain it clearly to you. But then again, that’s just how he is."
"Inside the Forbidden Soldier Hall, there’s a special type of Blood Crystal Ore. It’s very hard but doesn’t have much practical use, so the Forbidden Guards use it as currency."
He took out a red gem the size of a pigeon’s egg and waved it around.
Ren Qing felt that the Blood Crystal was like a frozen drop of blood. He could even smell a foul, fishy odor from it. It was probably formed from the congealed blood of the Ksitigarbha King.
"The Ghost Market is in a few days. If you’re interested, you can come check it out with me."
A thought struck Ren Qing. ’It would be great if I could use this opportunity to obtain materials for forging my Lifebound Spiritual Artifact.’
’But what exactly do they sell at the Ghost Market?’
’I’ve never heard any rumors of heavenly materials or earthly treasures in this world.’
Ren Qing asked Huang Ziwang, but the latter just shook his head with a mysterious smile, not answering his question directly.