Death of Black Lady

Dou Sangu did not dare hesitate for even a moment and headed straight for the Fuyang Escort Agency in the west of the city.

He knew that after Li Yao had torn down the wanted notice, she had hidden inside the escort agency.

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In truth, it was hardly a secret. Li Yao had only just begun cultivating, and any demon with hopes of making the golden list would not care for such a tiny morsel of blood and flesh.

Black Lady would not be in a rush to eat her, either. Unless something unexpected happened, she would raise her for a while first.

"Here."

The moment Dou Sangu arrived at the escort agency, his body flickered and transformed into an ash-gold field mouse, slipping through a crack in the courtyard wall.

The courtyard was under tight guard, armored guards patrolling back and forth.

The Fuyang Chamber of Commerce had already transferred a large number of escorts from Three Rivers Prefecture. Every one of them was a martial artist with solid external training, sabers at their waists, around thirty or forty years old.

"Heh."

Hidden in the shadows, Dou Sangu curled his lips in a mocking smile.

In the eyes of Demon Cultivators like them, the Fuyang Chamber of Commerce's display was simply laughable.

Forget Black Lady—even if Dou Sangu put in a little effort, he could swallow the entire escort agency clean, bones and all.

"First, I need to find Black Lady. We had a bit of a friendship years ago. I should be able to talk to her."

A faint, eerie glow rose in Dou Sangu's eyes as his divine sense quietly spread out, carefully probing the movements within the courtyard. His gaze settled on the shadows beneath the guards' feet.

Mixed within those shadows was a thread of exceedingly faint black qi, appearing and disappearing.

Every Demon Cultivator possessed an innate divine ability. Black Lady's ability was called Bear Poison.

Bear Poison was extremely covert. It needed only an instant to bore into a person's Niwan Palace and obliterate their soul in a flash. These mortals were nothing more than fish on a chopping block.

"From the looks of it, Black Lady probably hasn't realized her offspring is dead yet..."

Just as Dou Sangu was thinking to himself, his pupils suddenly constricted, and the expression on his face froze.

He saw clearly that the black qi beneath the guards' feet was dissipating in unison.

That was right—it was dissipating!!

Dou Sangu's heart sank. Either Black Lady had actively withdrawn her divine ability, or something had happened to Black Lady herself, leaving her unable to sustain it.

The fur all over his body stood on end, a chill shooting up his spine straight to the crown of his head.

Dou Sangu did not dare delay. Following the remnants of black qi, he darted wildly through the escort agency and quickly locked onto Black Lady's location: a lady's chamber in the rear courtyard.

Quite a few people had gathered outside the side room, including the woman who had traveled with Ren Shanshi yesterday.

They spoke in low voices, their tones full of concern. They mentioned that Li Yao had been asleep for a long time and wondered whether she was cultivating. No one dared disturb her rashly.

Dou Sangu did not let his thoughts go to the worst possibility. He vaguely remembered that Black Lady liked to eat unconscious mortals. Supposedly, their flesh was tender and loose, without the slightest sour taste.

He slipped into the chamber and noticed Li Yao lying on the bed.

Li Yao's once fair skin was now covered in black bear fur. Clearly, the Bear Poison had already seeped into her marrow.

Yet like the guards, the black qi around her was also dissipating at a visible rate.

Drip.

Dou Sangu suddenly realized something. He lowered his head toward the floor, and his stomach immediately churned.

Shredded organs lay scattered throughout the room. Blood had soaked through the floorboards, giving off a thick, fishy stench.

As for Black Lady...

Dou Sangu abruptly raised his head. Black Lady was hidden atop the rafters.

"Black Lady, we were fellow students once, at least. Let's talk this out..."

Dou Sangu forced down the terror in his heart, but before he could finish speaking, the sight before him shocked him speechless. Black Lady had ripped open her own belly.

Her organs had long since been hollowed out, leaving behind only a bloody shell of a body.

Utmost despair was frozen on her face, yet the corners of her mouth were bizarrely lifted in an almost deranged smile—one that even carried a hint of yearning.

Dou Sangu gathered his courage and approached.

"Ughh!!"

In a final flicker of life, Black Lady gasped deeply. Hoarse rattles came from her throat, her voice filled with inexplicable fervor. "I... I saw Him. I saw Him! He taught me the principles of the Great Dao beside my ear!!"

"That is a true immortal!!!"

Bang.

Black Lady suddenly exploded, splattering Dou Sangu from head to toe.

Dou Sangu stood frozen in place, ice-cold from head to foot, his mind utterly blank.

The half-human, half-bear offspring must have carried Black Lady's Bear Poison. Could it be... could it be that Black Lady had glimpsed that being through the Bear Poison? But why call it an immortal?

What kind of terrifying existence could make Black Lady die in such a strange and unfathomable manner?

Dou Sangu no longer dared remain another moment and fled the escort agency in panic.

What terrified him even more now was that he had lingered outside the alley for days while facing an existence beyond his power to contend with. How could the other party possibly have failed to notice him?

This was no longer a matter of whether or not there was a great medicine—it was a matter of how to stay alive.

Not long after Dou Sangu left, Li Yao regained consciousness. Then, when everyone saw the terrifying corpse of the bear-man in her chamber, they were all profoundly shocked.

The guards became even more vigilant, and the escort agency was surrounded three layers deep inside and three layers outside.

"Alas."

Yun Niang walked out of the Fuyang Escort Agency with a face full of worry, her brows twisted into a knot.

She had not managed to speak with Li Yao. She only felt that the sounds around the escort agency had grown increasingly numerous, as though countless wild beasts were watching from the shadows, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

Only after she returned to the Blessed Life Coffin Shop did the palpitations that had clung to her like a shadow suddenly vanish.

"Yun Niang? What's wrong? Why do you look so pale?"

Ren Shanshi had been practicing his fists in the courtyard. Seeing Yun Niang's unsteady steps, he hurried over to support her.

"Did something happen at the escort agency?"

Yun Niang let out a long breath, her voice trembling faintly. "No... no, Miss has already woken up. I'm just... a little tired."

Her gaze instinctively swept over the courtyard, only to see Ren Qing squatting beside the well.

Ren Qing held an earthen jar. Because Yun Niang's eyesight was so poor, she could only make out that he was continuously stuffing yellow mud into it, head lowered as he busied himself with something unknown.

At the same time, he was muttering under his breath.

"Yes, mix it evenly. Be careful not to spill it."

Listening to Ren Qing's indistinct words, he seemed to be speaking to something.

Yun Niang narrowed her blurred eyes and vaguely saw several gray shadows beside Ren Qing. Were they... rats?

She sighed softly, a wave of sorrow welling up in her heart.

When she was little, she had no playmates, and her eye disease had kept her from going outside. She had spent all day with the civet cat at home. Alas, Ah Qing's life was truly bitter.

"Though talisman artifacts are opportunistic contrivances of the Age of Dharma's Decline, they really are exceedingly cost-effective."

Ren Qing drew a talisman inside the earthen jar. It was a relatively common Blood Blade Talisman from his previous life, capable of turning one's own blood into blades to strike enemies. He had also refined it by combining it with the Immortal Ascension Sect talismans he had explored.

He then added the bear-man's bloody water to thirty percent yellow mud and heated it with rosy light.

A moment later.

Ren Qing lifted the lid from the earthen jar, revealing blood-red pellets the size of fingernails.

With a light activation, the pellets turned into faint flashes of bloody light and shot past in an instant, directly piercing through the courtyard wall and leaving a half-meter mark in the ground of the alley.

"The power's not bad. More importantly, even Dao children can use it. It'll depend on whether it can be used to nurture a sword."

"Hm?"

Ren Qing frowned and glanced at Yun Niang. The maternal affection spilling from her eyes was impossible to conceal.

He felt goosebumps rise all over his body, while his Dao heart visibly progressed.

"The Great Dao holds promise indeed."