What's His Name? Go Ask Him

Old Yang's words made everyone, who had been restless and on edge from their constant lack of security, calm down again.

Cècè's Abyss of Despair—the name had been given to it by Yu Ziqing, and everyone had tacitly accepted it by now. They all knew just how strange that place was.

It was just that everyone considered Cècè one of their village's own people. Since he could now enter and leave without hindrance, their original judgment had only grown firmer.

But the place was far less friendly to outsiders.

When An Yue had entered the village to trade, the people from the Seventh Floor had infiltrated the village. They had all avoided Cècè's Abyss of Despair. They truly had no idea what was inside, but none of them had dared to try rashly.

Now that a powerful enemy had arrived and was actually reckless enough to charge into Cècè's Abyss of Despair, everyone was no longer so anxious.

There was another reason, too: everyone trusted Old Yang's knowledge and experience.

A so-called domain would inevitably have strengths and weaknesses. Cècè's Abyss of Despair had especially obvious strengths and weaknesses—and, correspondingly, that strength was especially formidable.

"Perhaps this year's Wasteland mutation drew the attention of these unorthodox sects.

Many years ago, the White Sun Evil Sacrifice suddenly appeared in various places, building illicit shrines and recruiting believers. After being crushed by the combined efforts of many forces, they vanished without a trace. Yet it has only been a few years, and they've come out to stir up trouble again.

The person who came from outside should be a Joy Lantern Priest of the White Sun Evil Sacrifice. His status within the White Sun Evil Sacrifice isn't low. These people are all rather sinister. Those who reach this level have all cultivated Spirit Refining as a secondary path, or are even Spirit Refining cultivators outright.

They're extremely bizarre. You Body Refiners should avoid confronting him head-on if at all possible. If something goes wrong, you could be bewitched and lose yourselves."

"What would a sinister fellow like that come here for?" Yu Ziqing asked, puzzled.

No matter how outrageous their development strategy was, surely this kind of monstrosity wouldn't run to an uninhabited place to develop their following, right?

The Wasteland now had practically no living people left. The only settlement of living people was Jinlan Mine, but there were only a few people here. What use could they possibly be?

"The White Sun Evil Sacrifice's slogan is 'When the Red Sun's Calamity Ends, the White Sun Shall Rise.' Do you understand now?"

Yu Ziqing suddenly understood. He got it in an instant.

A few months ago, the Great Sun had descended upon the Wasteland. That sudden disaster had caused countless deaths and injuries across the Wasteland. By now, it was difficult even to find a living rat.

With such a huge wave of attention practically begging to be ridden—and one that matched their slogan perfectly—if these unorthodox sects didn't come, that would be the truly strange thing.

When the time came, they could claim it was a sign sent down by Heaven, that their slogan had been a prophecy and had come true. It would be the moment for the White Sun Evil Sacrifice to rise to prominence and flourish.

Afterward, they could casually bury some artificially aged objects around the Wasteland, dig one up every so often to maintain the buzz, and make brainwashing easier.

Most importantly, after the Wasteland mutation, the number of impoverished commoners around the Wasteland, especially in the border regions adjoining the three nations, would probably continue to grow. That situation would give these unorthodox sects yet another opportunity to develop...

Seen this way, these unorthodox sects had probably arrived long ago. It was just that, for some unknown reason, they had entered the village's territory today.

"A Joy Lantern Priest capable of acting alone has at least cultivated a Yin God. Most of them are at the Out-of-Body stage, and they're certain to have White Robed Dao Soldiers protecting them.

"But inside Cècè's Abyss of Despair, I only saw the Joy Lantern Priest himself. His White Robed Dao Soldiers didn't enter at all and weren't drawn into the Abyss of Despair.

"Those White Robed Dao Soldiers must have had no self-awareness. At most, they would be Third Tier. Fourth Tier White Robed Dao Soldiers all have self-awareness.

"From this, that Joy Lantern Priest is at most a Fourth Tier Yin God. He shouldn't be one of those unorthodox sect members from decades ago. When they were defeated and vanished back then, some of the children they had bewitched and taken away were never found. They were considered to have all perished. Now it seems this person is very likely one of those children who grew up.

"We need to deal with the White Robed Dao Soldiers that may enter at any moment first. We can discuss everything else afterward."

Old Yang spoke incredibly quickly, rattling off analysis after analysis. Yu Ziqing listened seriously, his envy practically overflowing.

To possess such knowledge and learning was truly remarkable.

With just one glance, he had practically grasped the other party's identity, origins, cultivation method, specialties, secret arts, Dharma Treasures, and trump cards. He had practically stripped the other man down to his underwear.

Yu Ziqing mused that if he had such an ability, then whenever he encountered an enemy in the future, he would only need to step forward and challenge them.

Who goes there? State your name. Your grandfather is Yu Ziqing. I don't kill nameless ghosts.

As long as the opponent answered with, "I'm so-and-so,"

he estimated that he could immediately meet the minimum conditions of his cheat, draw his sword, and hack the other party to death.

Thinking about it this way, his cheat—both powerful and weak—wasn't truly useless in daily life because of the cheat itself. It was because he had read too few books and his knowledge was too narrow.

If Old Yang had such a cheat, then after leaving the village, he could probably slaughter every expert among the Wasteland's various factions in the form of a goat.

What a pity that Yu Ziqing himself still hadn't figured out what this cheat was all about. If he could lend it to Old Yang, he wouldn't hesitate at all.

As they were speaking, figures in white robes began staggering out of the mist at the village entrance.

Just as Old Yang had said, things without self-awareness—or whose consciousness was muddled and lacked a sense of self—would not be pulled into the Abyss of Despair. The last time they had entered, only Yu Ziqing had been dragged inside. Old Yang had remembered that detail.

"These White Robed Dao Soldiers are all puppets of the Joy Lantern Priest. Their ranks aren't high right now; they should all be Body Refiners, and you can deal with them.

"Be careful. These fellows are no different from living corpses. Even if their hearts are shattered or their heads are severed, they still might not die.

"Also, take note: without the Joy Lantern Priest's control, once these White Robed Dao Soldiers die, the white robes on their bodies will automatically seek new puppets. Don't let one get put on you. It'll be very troublesome."

Yu Ziqing had no intention of joining the fight. Among the dozens of Body Refiners in the village, his Body Refining progress was basically at the bottom. The accumulation they had built up was something he couldn't compare with at all.

Still, as he watched the thirty-odd white-robed figures walk in from the opposite side, Yu Ziqing couldn't help muttering to himself.

So many Body Refiners, perhaps Third Tier, had mysteriously vanished outside without causing the slightest stir. That basically meant the number of low-tier Body Refiners had to be enormous. Moreover, their status had to be extremely low—lower even than he had imagined.

The first to charge was Er Han. With a thunderous roar, Blood Essence surged through his entire body. He seemed to grow a size larger, every muscle knotted like twisted roots, his body as solid as a boulder, radiating immense pressure.

A head-on collision sent four or five white-robed figures flying on the spot and scattered the opposing formation.

From the side, a lean man with a pair of bone-scraping knives held backward crouched low and caught one of the white-robed figures that had been sent flying. His bone-scraping knives turned into a string of afterimages, stabbing through the gaps in the opponent's white robe and striking every vital point and joint.

In a single exchange, one white-robed figure fell to the ground, all four limbs twisted into grotesque shapes as blood poured out from beneath the white robe.

The lean man glanced at the bone-scraping knives in his hands. The two fine weapons he had traded for from An Yue had actually both been blunted...

The lean man didn't care. He raised the bone-scraping knives and rasped them against his own arms a few times with a clack-clack, sparks flying everywhere. Then he turned and continued circling around, preparing to pick off whoever was left vulnerable.

Yu Ziqing watched from a distance, growing more and more shocked.

This butcher was even cleaner and more decisive when killing people than that reckless brute Er Han.

Looking at the others, some had specially traded for mining picks. One strike pinned a white-robed figure to the ground. Others fought bare-handed, every punch landing solidly in flesh, a rapid succession of booming strikes beating their targets to death...

Even the two aunties wielded metal clubs. The white-robed figures couldn't get close at all; one hit sent them flying.

Yu Ziqing completely abandoned the idea of joining the fight. He was only a Second Tier Body Refiner, after all.

Having these villagers begin Body Refining had been an incredibly wise decision.

In a place where Qi Refining was impossible, a group of broad-shouldered, thick-limbed Body Refiners whose arms were hard enough to serve as whetstones made this place a forbidden zone for ordinary Qi Refining cultivators.

He had thought that the white-robed figures were probably Third Tier Body Refiners, and that there were more than thirty of them, so the battle should last a while. Who could have expected that, without anyone controlling them and possessing no consciousness beyond instinct, the white-robed figures wouldn't even last the time it took to burn a single incense stick in the hands of these villagers, whose overall ranks were even lower...

In the end, only more than thirty white robes that seemed almost alive remained. Some had been pinned to the ground, while others had been kneaded into lumps by the strong men and clenched in their hands.

"Ziqing, if we can endure until the Wasteland settles down, then whenever you go out in the future, you absolutely mustn't say that you taught these people Body Refining. You'd better remind them of that, too..." Old Yang sidled up to Yu Ziqing and quietly offered a warning.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm afraid you'll be beaten to death when you go outside."

"What are you talking about? What does it have to do with me? I'm only Second Tier. They're much stronger than me. I learned everything from them."

"..."

After the chaotic battle ended, Yu Ziqing pointed at the white robes.

"Don't destroy these yet. Let me ask you something. If I go see that Joy Lantern Priest, will it be dangerous?"

"Yes. I counted just now—there are thirty-four white robes here. That Joy Lantern Priest has at least two more in his hands. At your level as a Body Refiner, all he needs to do is throw a white robe over you, and he can control you in a single exchange."

"What about Er Han?"

"He'd be more difficult. Even if one got put on him, Er Han could at least run back."

Yu Ziqing nodded.

"Er Han, go do something. Take a look over at Cècè's place and ask what that person on the other side is called. Ask once, then come straight back. If he doesn't answer, tell him that we don't want to make enemies with him and that everyone should keep to their own side of the water. Have him state which mountain he belongs to, then return his white robe and let him leave."

"Oh."

Er Han obediently stuck his head into the Abyss of Despair. At a glance, he saw a person in the distance carrying a white lantern.

"Who are you? What's your name? My brother says he doesn't want to make enemies with outsiders. State which mountain you belong to, and he'll return your white robe and let you leave."

The Joy Lantern Priest had already been sickened to the point of mental instability by Cècè's Abyss of Despair. His face was as cold as frost, murderous intent blazing in his eyes. Without even thinking, he waved a hand, and a white robe flew from his sleeve as a streak of light and sank into Er Han's body.

Er Han remembered Yu Ziqing's instructions. With one step backward, he retreated out.

The Joy Lantern Priest floated through the air like a ghost and gave chase, but the instant he entered the mist, he returned to his original position.

On the other side, the moment Er Han came out, the villagers waiting nearby rushed forward and pinned the half-worn white robe to the ground.

Seeing that Er Han was unharmed, Yu Ziqing relaxed considerably.

"He didn't say anything at all? He was pretty angry? Did he attack right away?"

"Yeah."

"Go ask one more time. Tell him that we don't want to have contact with outsiders. Ask one last time. If he still doesn't identify himself, then he can stay there for the rest of his life."