Rebirth Cult's Wu Yan (Please Bookmark)

Rebirth Cult's Wu Yan (Please Bookmark~)

"Layman Chen, we meet again."

The tall, thin man stood before the bed and smiled faintly.

"You..."

Chen Yan narrowed his eyes. The wariness on his face did not diminish, and his right hand remained clasped around his knife hilt.

The tall, thin man acted as though he had not seen it, his smile unchanged.

"It seems Layman Chen still remembers this poor Daoist. This poor Daoist is Wu Yan. Greetings, Layman Chen."

As he spoke, Wu Yan formed the Lotus Seal with his hands and bowed, then said with a smile, "What has Layman Chen decided? With your talent, Layman Chen, if you join our Rebirth Cult, you will surely receive Old Mother's favor and ascend to paradise soon."

"I'm not interested."

Chen Yan replied expressionlessly. He then glanced at Wu Yan and the burly man in the bamboo hat behind him, narrowing his eyes. "More importantly, why are you here?"

No sooner had Chen Yan finished speaking than a heavy object crashed to the floor behind him.

When he turned around, he saw that the old woman had somehow appeared at the doorway. A washbasin lay at her feet. Sensing that the atmosphere in the room was wrong, the elderly woman hurriedly limped inside, shielded Chen Yan behind her, and tightly gripped his arm as she muttered without pause, "Don't fight... don't fight..."

Chen Yan's expression softened. "Grandma, what happened?"

At Chen Yan's question, the old woman's face twisted bitterly. She hesitated before saying, "The child is sick. No matter what I do, I can't wake her..."

Chen Yan nodded, then gently patted the back of the old woman's hand. "Don't worry, Grandma. Leave everything to me."

With that, Chen Yan stepped forward and looked at Wu Yan and the other man by the bed. "What? Is Daoist Wu planning to stop me?"

Wu Yan merely shrugged indifferently and stepped aside.

Chen Yan went to the bedside, first touching the little girl's forehead. Then he picked up the pale-faced child from the bed and strode quickly outside.

The old woman hurried after him, leaving only Wu Yan and the other man in the room.

Watching Chen Yan's departing back, Wu Yan half narrowed his eyes and suddenly asked without any context, "Well?"

"He is in the Blood Qi Realm, seemingly not yet at the Second Blood Qi Realm. And he appears to be skilled with a blade."

The burly man in the bamboo hat, standing half a step behind him, replied in a muffled voice. Then he asked in puzzlement, "Though he looks young, he is merely a Blood-Changing Martial Artist. Why is he worth the Incense Master's attention?"

"A Blood-Changing Martial Artist is naturally not worth noticing. But a man whose features say he should have died young is living just fine, and he completed blood-changing in just a few days. Now that is rather interesting..."

The burly man in the bamboo hat nodded as though he understood, then suddenly said, "Could he be a covert guard from the Heavenly Supervision Department? From the look of that boy's knife, it seems to belong to the Flying Fish Guard..."

Wu Yan gave a slight, noncommittal nod. "Observe him for two more days..."

Meanwhile, Chen Yan brought the little girl to the clinic. According to the physician's diagnosis, she had fallen ill from long-term malnutrition combined with a wind-cold infection. Fortunately, she had been brought in early, or her life might have been in danger.

He left behind two hundred copper coins for the consultation, waited until the little girl's condition improved, gave the old woman a few more instructions, and then headed for the yamen.

By the time Chen Yan reached the yamen, it was already noon.

Before he even entered, he saw more than a dozen constables surging out of the yamen like fish and dragons, hurrying toward the city gate.

Chen Yan's sharp eyes spotted the constable at their head, and he quickly called out, "Uncle Zhao!"

Zhao Gang saw Chen Yan as well, but he seemed to be occupied with urgent business. He only nodded hastily before leading the group away at a brisk pace.

Chen Yan frowned, a bad feeling rising within him.

The moment he stepped into the yamen, he saw the Slovenly Daoist, Liu Fujing, approaching him head-on.

Liu Fujing saw Chen Yan as well and could not help saying disdainfully, "You brat actually slept until this hour before showing up."

Chen Yan could not be bothered to explain. He pointed at Zhao Gang and the others leaving in the distance. "What happened?"

Old Daoist Liu's expression turned solemn. "Someone reported several family extermination murders in Tianmen Village."

"Family extermination murders?"

Chen Yan knitted his brows tightly. "Could it be the Skin-Peeling Puppets again?"

Old Daoist Liu shook his head. "We do not know yet. We will know once we take a look."

Chen Yan nodded. After hesitating for a moment, he finally asked, "Old Daoist Liu, have you heard of the Rebirth Cult?"

"The Rebirth Cult?"

Old Daoist Liu narrowed his eyes, his face growing grave. "Where did you hear of it, brat?"

Chen Yan shook his head. "I did not hear of it. The Rebirth Cult is in Shanxi Town."

"Have the Rebirth Cult's claws already spread to the outskirts of Yiling Commandery..." Old Daoist Liu's expression was grave.

"I suspect... the Skin-Peeling Puppets are the Rebirth Cult's work."

Chen Yan voiced his speculation, then asked in confusion, "Since the Heavenly Supervision Department knows the Rebirth Cult exists, why have they made no move? With a cult like this, there is no way the Heavenly Supervision Department cannot see its danger, is there?"

Old Daoist Liu shook his head. "It is not that simple. The waters behind the Rebirth Cult run far deeper than you think."

Seeing Old Daoist Liu act so guarded, Chen Yan did not press further. In any case, he had already informed him of the Rebirth Cult's presence in Shanxi Town. What came next was not something a mere Qi and Blood Martial Artist like him could handle.

Old Daoist Liu seemingly did not wish to discuss the Rebirth Cult any further and changed the subject. "All right, did you bring the human skins?"

"I did."

Chen Yan nodded. As he spoke, he removed the pack from his back, took out three human skins, and handed them to Old Daoist Liu.

"Three? So many?"

Liu Fujing was startled.

Chen Yan did not hide anything. He told him about how two more human-skin puppets had attacked him last night, especially mentioning that bizarre Woman's Face.

"A bizarre human face? A vengeful soul?"

Old Daoist Liu frowned. Then he took out a talisman, formed a hand seal, and muttered an incantation.

"Vast righteous qi, Supreme Clarity shatters evil, by decree!"

A cryptic ripple spread out, and the talisman ignited without fire. It burned without turning to ash. Old Daoist Liu held the burning talisman between his fingers and drew two circles around Chen Yan.

Chen Yan watched the scene before him with great interest. He knew that Old Daoist Liu was performing Daoist arts. This was his first time seeing a cultivator use Daoist arts, and though he did not know what effect it had, one thing caught Chen Yan's attention: the talisman was clearly burning, and yet from such close range, he could not feel the slightest heat. It was rather miraculous.

When the talisman had burned away, Old Daoist Liu's brows instead furrowed.

"Strange. There is no resentment aura. Could it not be a vengeful soul?"

"Well? Did you find anything?" Chen Yan asked at just the right moment.

Old Daoist Liu rolled his eyes irritably. "Find anything? This old Daoist found that you brat has offended the Grand Duke of Jupiter these days. You had best hide in the yamen for a few days."

"That was precisely my thought."

Chen Yan nodded. The mastermind behind this already knew where he lived. To be safe, he ought to find another place to stay. Merit was good, but he needed to live long enough to spend it.

"Meow."

Behind him, Facai gave a cry of agreement.

Only then did Old Daoist Liu notice Facai behind Chen Yan. His eyes widened round, and he blurted out, "Hiss! What an enormous fat cat!"