Chapter 44

"Swish!"

After dark.

Luo Qingchen immediately topped off his health and began cultivating in his room.

At this hour, the backyard was the safest place to be.

Zhou Qingyang was leading his men on patrol through the building, and no one else dared to approach the backyard casually.

The medicinal energy surged within his body; it was the perfect moment to temper his bones and sinews!

Three days later.

He seized another opportunity to take a medicinal bath.

Once the medicinal power was fully refined this time, his cultivation progress had reached 700/1000!

Pig blood was indeed useful, but its conversion effect was clearly inferior to human blood.

In the previous three days, the progress after refining the medicinal power had been a pathetic thirty points.

But this time, it had increased by a full seventy points.

Still, he was already very satisfied with this.

After all, that pig blood had only cost one tael of silver; it was worth far more than what he paid.

At this moment, 40% of the blood remained in the second blood bar within his body.

Meanwhile, after deducting the money spent on meat, he still had a massive sum of three hundred and twenty taels on him.

If there were no accidents, this silver and blood would be more than enough for him to break through to the Blood Changing Realm.

Even if he only used human blood, with each medicinal bath costing fifty taels, this silver was enough for six more baths.

Adding the 40% of blood in his second blood bar, he could take a total of seven medicinal baths!

However...

Seeing that the seven-day deadline had arrived, Tian Feng would likely come to collect blood soon.

The other party might come again in the next seven days.

Therefore, by that calculation, the number of times he could take a medicinal bath would certainly decrease.

He had to race against time; only by cultivating and breaking through as quickly as possible could he completely escape his current fate.

In the afternoon, he took a nap.

He went to the kitchen for dinner at dusk, and just as he was about to return to his room to continue cultivating, Zhang Jiu sought him out. "Brother Luo, is your body feeling better? Captain Zhou has taken his men elsewhere; a murder occurred there this morning, so it will just be the two of us on night patrol."

Luo Qingchen asked, "This morning? Was it that Heart-Plucking Monster again?"

Zhang Jiu sighed. "Who knows. After Captain Zhou received the news, he left in a hurry with his men."

Luo Qingchen did not ask further and nodded. "I'm fine, I can handle the patrol."

"That's good."

Zhang Jiu looked troubled; he left after giving his instructions.

Luo Qingchen returned to his room and seized the time to practice a few sets of fist techniques. When the night curtain fell outside, he headed to the front courtyard.

Zhang Jiu was standing at the main entrance talking to Sun Ping.

In front of them, two of the building's girls were draped in thin gauze, posing and beckoning energetically to pedestrians on the street.

Unfortunately, no one seemed to pay them any mind.

When Zhang Jiu saw him, he waved him over. "Brother Luo, go patrol the building first; I'll head in shortly."

Luo Qingchen nodded and entered the building alone.

The building was cold and desolate, with only the maidservants moving about on tiptoe.

Most of the girls' room doors were left open.

Some sat in their rooms in a daze, some were applying makeup, and others stood at their doorways chatting with their neighbors.

Ever since the string of tragedies in the building, Sun Ping had decreed that if there were no guests in the rooms at night, every girl had to keep her door open.

The girls were willing to comply; it at least made them feel safer.

Luo Qingchen first patrolled the ground floor.

When the girls saw him, some greeted him while others ignored him, most maintaining a cold attitude.

They couldn't be bothered to waste energy on someone who couldn't bring them any benefits.

There were only two guests on the ground floor.

After finishing his patrol, Luo Qingchen went up to the second floor.

The first room on the second floor had its door open.

Zhao Yun, draped in a thin cyan gauze, was sitting before her vanity, staring blankly into the bronze mirror.

Luo Qingchen glanced inside and walked past the door.

In the final room, Qingmei sat at the table in a daze, looking utterly dejected.

Luo Qingchen glanced at her and was about to walk past when Qingmei suddenly spoke up, "Guard Luo, may I have a word with you?"

Luo Qingchen stopped, but did not respond.

Qingmei rose and came to the doorway, looking at him with a complex gaze. After a moment of silence, she offered a bitter smile, "I may have misjudged you."

Luo Qingchen looked at her, confused.

Qingmei slowly raised her head, her face filled with self-mockery, "When I was with Chen Ju, he promised me that once he broke through to the Blood Changing Realm, he would take me up. That night he went to find you, and he never returned. Some time ago, I was with Yang Guang, and he also promised me that once he broke through, he would take me up. I gave him all my silver, but... after he left, he didn't come back either."

At this, she looked at him deeply, "They both went to find you that night, you know? You must know. You were clearly drained of blood, barely able to walk, yet every time, they died while you remained perfectly fine."

Luo Qingchen said, "Are you suspecting that I killed them, Miss Qingmei?"

Qingmei shook her head bitterly, "Everyone knows you were injured and couldn't possibly have the ability to kill. But I just feel... I feel your luck is simply too good."

Luo Qingchen's expression remained calm, "What exactly are you trying to say, Miss Qingmei?"

Qingmei stared at him with burning eyes, "I said, I feel your luck is too good, so I believe you will go further than any other guard in this building. If there is any cultivator in this place who can make it to the top, I believe it is you."

Luo Qingchen said nothing more and prepared to leave.

Qingmei suddenly grabbed him, pleading, "Guard Luo, I want to go up so badly. I don't want to stay in this sunless place anymore. If you can help me, all the silver I earn in the future will be yours. I am willing to do anything for you... serve you, including... secretly helping you harvest blood from the guests."

Luo Qingchen pried her fingers off and said slowly, "I cannot even help myself, so how could I help you?"

With that, he walked away quickly.

Qingmei stood in the doorway, watching his back as he walked coldly away. She slowly lowered her head, gave a desolate smile, and murmured, "Then... who can help me?"

"Brother Luo, let's go out for a patrol."

As soon as Luo Qingchen reached the ground floor, Zhang Jiu called out to him.

The two of them exited the building together.

As they passed the main entrance, two girls standing outside were shivering in the wailing night wind.

There were few pedestrians on the street.

When the two men stepped into the darkness nearby, Zhang Jiu whispered, "Business in the building has plummeted recently; I suppose word of the deaths has spread. Besides, people are dying elsewhere in town, and everyone is talking about that Heart-Plucking Monster, so no one dares to come out and play at night anymore."

Luo Qingchen asked, "Are there no clues at all?"

Zhang Jiu replied, "It has been confirmed to be a Demonic Beast capable of possession, and they are still searching. According to Captain Zhou's guess, the Heart-Plucking Monster should be coming out to hunt again in the next few days. They have stepped up patrols, and the monster hasn't dared to appear. But according to the habits of such beasts, it needs to feed frequently, or it will reveal its true form."

As the two were walking and talking, a slight sound suddenly came from the courtyard wall nearby.

"Who's there!"

Zhang Jiu immediately drew the blade at his waist and turned toward the wall on his left.

Luo Qingchen also tensed his entire body and took a few steps back.

On the wall, a cat with pitch-black fur stood there, its pair of glowing blue eyes flickering with a cold, eerie light in the darkness.

"It's Sister Sun's cat. You scared me."

Zhang Jiu let out a sigh of relief and sheathed his blade.

Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly saw the cat widen its eyes, staring into the darkness behind them, before arching its back and bristling all over!

"Meow—"

It let out a shrill, piercing scream, then "whooshed" off the wall and fled in a panic.

At the same time.

Luo Qingchen and Zhang Jiu suddenly felt a bone-chilling coldness behind them!

It was as if something had quietly crept up close!