An Exhibition Hall of Negative Examples

Although most of the people in the shop didn't look very human, they didn't show any malice. Even when Feng Xue wanted to back away, no one stopped her. Only the seemingly normal man who had said "none of us have mutated" spoke up to advise her:

"It's getting dark, it's not safe to go out now. Let's stay here for now. It's too dangerous for newlyweds to sleep outdoors."

"I think it's more dangerous to live here, isn't it?" Hearing this, Feng Xue didn't voice her complaint, but another packet of salt appeared in her hand.

Actually, that's not entirely true, because after he stepped into the inn, the sense of danger and tension that had arisen since entering Yanzhou subsided. The "non-mutated martial arts practitioners" present did not give him any sense of crisis. Even with his Mirror of Clarity, he only felt a sense of peace and friendliness.

Even the swordsman who looked like a dried corpse could easily suppress his movement to draw his sword with a casual wave of his hand.

"Don't believe those swindlers. Salt can't prevent pollution; it'll only make you more flavorful," the accountant casually remarked, noticing the extra bag of salt in Feng Xue's hand. Another seemingly normal man nodded in agreement.

"Instead of believing these roadside legends, you should focus on honing your True Qi if you don't want to end up like these predecessors."

"Uh..." Hearing this, Feng Xue felt much relieved. At least these two guys weren't suffering from "cognitive pollution" and mistaking these strange-looking guys for normal people.

Thinking of this, relying on her resurrection ability, Feng Xue still went into the tavern, sat down at the table of the two seemingly normal men, and instead of ordering food, took out an Energy Bar from her pouch and started munching on it while saying:

"I'm new to Yanzhou. Could you two seniors please explain what's going on here?"

Feng Xue did not hide her doubts about those "predecessors who did not mutate." The man in the White Robe nodded and said:

"Actually, there's not much to say. After all, the Grandmaster realm is said to be without flaws in true qi, but there are always unexpected events in actual combat. For example, there are methods specifically designed to break through Body Protection Gang Qi. If the Demonic Cult Demonic Person bypass the Body Protection Gang Qi, the body will be tainted by demonic energy."

There was no sadness or anger in the man's words; it was as if he were talking about something unrelated to himself. He stared directly at Feng Xue, and only when he seemed somewhat uncomfortable did he continue:

"Never underestimate any Demonic Cult Demonic Person; they are not human at all. If you are even slightly careless, you could face utter destruction."

Feng Xue listened, unsure how to react, when suddenly the burly man gnawing on a lamb leg spoke up:

"You scholar, all you do is spout these grand principles. Can't you see this young man clearly cares about these things?"

The burly man waved his tendrils, which were wrapped around a lamb leg, and said to Feng Xue:

"The Demonic Cult Demonic Person's techniques are extremely evil. Once you're even slightly tainted, you can never get rid of them. But they've been fighting for over two hundred years, so they still have some tricks up their sleeves. The simplest way is to use your Body Protection True Qi to shield your brain and then force the demonic energy to one place. Even if you end up looking like this, at least you can still be a human being."

"Ah, this..." Feng Xue listened to the big man's words, then turned to look at the others, especially the three guys who didn't even have facial features, and was a little skeptical of this statement.

The young man in white could tell what Feng Xue was thinking from her expression, so he accepted the big man's suggestion and explained, "The Ma Family Three Brothers have been afflicted with 'Face-Eating Gu.' That thing sticks to a person's face, blends in with their features, and then inserts its tentacles into their brain. However, 'Gu Cultivator' are among the easiest to deal with in the Demonic Cult Demonic Person. As long as the Gu worms are killed and removed, there won't be too many aftereffects."

"Gu Cultivator? The kind of Gu used for Evil Gu Demonic Poison?"

Feng Xue couldn't help but think of that booklet, and the young man in the blue robe, who hadn't said much, nodded in agreement.

"Yes, that's right. However, this is just a classification we made based on the effects of the Demonic Cult Demonic Person's abilities. Evil Cultivator are the highest-ranking group among the Demonic Cult Demonic Person. They look no different from ordinary people, except for a blackish-purple patch in their eyes. These guys seem no different from ordinary martial artists when they fight, but their demonic energy is extremely strange. Mr. Lan only glanced at that Evil Cultivator with his aura-gazing technique, and his eyes changed to that appearance. Mrs. Lan's face was only grazed by that Evil Cultivator's hidden weapon..."

The man in white sighed softly, and Feng Xue knew that he was probably referring to the eight-eyed man and the woman with the gill slits.

However, the man in white did not pause for long before continuing:

"The Gu Cultivator techniques of the Five Poisons Sect, but the latter is far more insidious. These Demonic Cult Demonic Person implant the Gu Mother into their brains, which often leaves a scar on the back of their heads. They use their bodies to feed and hatch various Gu worms. The Gu eggs are tiny and difficult to detect, but they develop extremely quickly. Many fellow practitioners in the martial arts world have only a few Gu eggs left on their bodies, and as a result, they wake up one morning to find themselves transformed into demons. Even if they discover it in time, they will end up neither human nor ghost."

Hearing this, Feng Xue couldn't help but glance again at the three people showing off their hot pot, their faces completely disfigured (in reality), and the white-clad man's voice rang in her ears once more:

"Compared to these two, Monster Cultivator are more adept at head-on combat. Their demonic energy is extremely special, capable of not only distorting flesh but also corrupting inanimate objects. Most of them have strangely colored patches on their bodies, which are the result of their years of twisting their own flesh and blood. During battle, those patches will grow a large amount of flesh and blood, turning into wings, limbs, eyes, and the like."

"Fighting them requires not only being wary of attacks coming from all sorts of unbelievable angles, but also paying attention to the weapons in your hands. The accountant was originally a master of the Judge's Brush's Pen, but because he killed too many Monster Cultivators, his weapon became tainted by demonic energy, and the demonic weapon devoured its master. Brother Qin's left hand is also a result of the distortion caused by fighting with Monster Cultivator."

At this point, the man in white glanced at the swordsman drinking by the door, and seeing that he made no move, continued:

"As for Poison Cultivator, their characteristics include a sweet, fishy smell, and some may have slight ear twitches when they speak. If you encounter such people, just treat them as experts in poison cultivation. However, their poisons are more vicious and bizarre. Senior Li was poisoned by Blood Poison and could only use the Bone Erosion Form Dissipation method to force all the poisoned flesh and blood out of his body, which is why he became what he is now. This was only because his skill was profound. If it were an ordinary fellow cultivator, they would probably only be attacked by the poisonous blood and eventually become a poisonous corpse."

"This thing is really martial arts?" Feng Xue stared in disbelief as he surveyed the entire scene again. Then, he suddenly realized something—

If what these people say is true, then this inn probably didn't just happen to have a few customers gathered there, but rather it was specially arranged to serve as a reminder to newcomers what the consequences would be if they didn't treat the Demonic Cult Demonic Person with caution.

As for those who were frightened away by this eerie scene...

At least their vigilance has been heightened, hasn't it?

This chapter actually has three branches. The Main Body is martial arts, but besides the current K-style art, there are also game-style and cyberpunk-style art.

The game's art style depicts Demonic Cult Demonic Person as the Fourth Natural Disaster, with patches under their eyes representing system panels they cannot see.

The art style is cyberpunk; the Demonic Cult Demonic Person is a cybernetic psychopath; the scar on the back of his head is an implanted chip; the tattoos and scars are traces of implanted prosthetics...

However, since Dice God has introduced a counter-type system, I'll just use my previous Lovecraftian Wuxia outline.