The Painter Cultivator, Anomalous Information

Leisurely, Li Qing gradually adapted to life in Jade City.

Early in the morning, he left the All-Under-Heaven Escort Agency.

He arrived at a wonton stall.

The stall owner was an old man, looking to be about sixty years old.

His wontons were incredibly delicious, tasting very refreshing.

Li Qing liked them a lot, so he had been coming every morning recently.

Slurp.

After finishing a large bowl of wontons in three or four bites, Li Qing rubbed his belly, his face full of comfort.

The stall was located near the city gate, so there were many people coming and going.

Suddenly, a clamor erupted from outside.

Li Qing couldn't help but turn his head to look in that direction.

It seemed that some ragged refugees were causing a ruckus at the city gate.

But they were quickly blocked by the gate guards, driven back by pure, violent intimidation and shoving.

Watching this scene, Li Qing frowned slightly.

These refugees came from two counties outside Huanglong Prefecture, more than a hundred miles away from Qingshi County.

For some unknown reason, a drought had occurred there, forcing the people of those two counties to leave in search of survival.

A large portion of them had come to Jade City.

The old man at the side shook his head slightly, "What a sin. I hear people are dying in the Refugee Camp every day."

"The Mass Grave has to bury at least a dozen corpses daily."

"I heard they haven't served porridge for two days now."

The old man's sighing voice reached Li Qing's ears, and Li Qing shook his head helplessly.

"This sort of thing is for the officials to handle; we can't manage that much."

"Here is the money for today's meal," he said, tossing down five copper coins before turning and leaving.

Strolling leisurely through the streets, having completed his tasks from the previous days, he had officially become a member of the Demon Extermination Hall.

Every day, he would check to see if there were any suitable tasks, though he wouldn't take any that carried even a hint of danger.

He made a special trip to the Yellow Flower Pavilion to buy a bottle of fine Pear Blossom Brew, then sauntered over to the Demon Extermination Hall.

Wandering about.

He soon arrived at Elder Huang's Archives Hall and knocked on the door.

Knock, knock, knock.

Elder Huang's voice sounded from within, "Come in, the door isn't locked."

Creak.

Pushing the door open and entering, Li Qing looked at Elder Huang and smiled.

"Good morning, Elder Huang."

Elder Huang looked at Li Qing, his gaze falling on the wine bottle in his hand, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Heh heh, you're a thoughtful young man."

"Hahaha, I just happened to pass by and bought some."

As he spoke, he had already placed the Pear Blossom Brew on Elder Huang's desk.

Elder Huang took out his own set of wine utensils, a pair of celadon jade wine cups and a flagon.

He carefully opened the Pear Blossom Brew and poured the fine wine into the flagon.

A delicate fragrance wafted toward them; he took a deep, intoxicated breath, his face full of bliss.

"This Pear Blossom Brew is the bane of my existence; I truly can't go a single day without it."

"Many thanks! With an old man's silver, I can't taste this more than a few times a month."

Li Qing smiled, "It's nothing. I've deposited 200 taels at the Yellow Flower Pavilion; Elder Huang can just go and pick it up every day from now on."

"I've already told the Yellow Flower Pavilion that if it's not enough, they should come find me."

Hearing this, Elder Huang's eyes lit up, and he laughed heartily, "That is truly embarrassing."

Li Qing smiled, "It's a small matter. In the future, if there are any simple tasks, just let me know, Elder Huang."

"Good, as long as it's a safe task, I will definitely notify you first."

"Hahaha, good."

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The two chatted for a while longer when a voice suddenly came from outside the door.

"Why are you here? I've been looking for you for ages."

Li Qing turned to look at Wen Taiquan, who was walking toward him with an anxious expression.

Without a word, Wen Taiquan grabbed him and began pulling him outside.

Li Qing gave a slight wave to Elder Huang. "Elder Huang, I'll be going now."

"Mm, go on," Elder Huang replied with a faint wave of his hand, carefully savoring the fine wine in his grasp. His eyes were slightly narrowed, looking utterly intoxicated.

After leaving Elder Huang's Archives Hall, Li Qing looked at Wen Taiquan with some confusion. "Why the rush? Is something the matter?"

"The higher-ups sent a sketch artist over. You need to go and draw the appearance of the person you saw."

Li Qing suddenly realized. "Have they reached a conclusion upstairs? How is my merit looking?"

Wen Taiquan nodded at him. "Rest assured, adding in your original mission, you'll receive at least 15 merit points this time."

"And you won't have to go on any more missions for the rest of the year."

Li Qing nodded, and soon they arrived at a room within the Demon Extermination Hall.

A middle-aged man was waiting for him there. The man wore a green robe, held a charcoal pencil in his hand, and had an easel set up in front of him.

Wen Taiquan looked at the artist and said, "Mr. Hua, this is Captain Qin, the one who discovered the incident."

The middle-aged man had an ordinary face; at first glance, there was nothing special about him.

However, his essence and energy were well-contained, revealing him to be a cultivator as well.

Wen Taiquan continued, "This is a fellow Daoist of the painter's guild, Mr. Hua."

"He specializes in sketching wanted criminals."

Mr. Hua looked at Li Qing, a smile appearing on his face as he spoke.

"Captain Qin, please describe the young man's appearance in detail."

Li Qing nodded slightly and provided a detailed description of the person he had seen.

Mr. Hua used his charcoal pencil to sketch bit by bit, constantly asking if there were any discrepancies in the features.

Through this meticulous communication, a vivid image appeared before everyone's eyes.

Looking at the figure on the canvas, Li Qing was somewhat shocked.

The face drawn by the other party was remarkably similar to modern sketching techniques.

It was incredibly realistic, almost as if it had been traced from life.

There was even a peculiar spirit to it, capturing the person's malevolence to the fullest extent.

Li Qing couldn't help but exclaim, "It really is drawn too accurately."

In the blink of an eye, it was afternoon.

Recently, whenever Li Qing had free time, he liked to sit in Elder Huang's room.

From time to time, he would mooch a book or two to read; most of these were old case files.

Li Qing wanted to understand the dangerous events that had occurred in the past through these records.

In doing so, he hoped to gain a deeper understanding of this world.

Because of the Pear Blossom Brew he brought, Elder Huang tacitly allowed his behavior.

Sometimes, the elder would even offer commentary on certain cases.

Li Qing gradually learned about the various dangers hidden in this world.

For instance, last year, at least 130 Anomaly events of varying sizes had occurred in Jade City.

The death toll had exceeded at least 500 people.

However, these fatal cases were quietly erased, and the memories of any ordinary people who knew the truth were wiped by the cultivators of the Demon Extermination Hall.

When Li Qing read this, he asked with some curiosity.

"Why does our Demon Extermination Hall have to wipe the memories of these ordinary people?"

"Is there some secret behind it?"

Elder Huang seemed to be organizing a case file at the time.

Hearing his question, he spoke directly, "Go look at Shelf C, file number thirty-eight."

"After you've read it, you'll know why we have to do this."

Li Qing nodded and hurried over.