Frog Immortal Lord Makes an Appearance

For the next two days, the unbroken rain showed no sign of stopping.

Even Ren Qing could not remain outdoors indefinitely. On one hand, maintaining the cloud cover to shield against the rain would inevitably divide his attention; on the other, the worried looks Yun Niang kept casting his way truly affected his Dao heart. He simply moved into the side room to handle matters.

The preparations for Staff Dissolution went as smoothly as a fair wind. In the end, the twelve stalks of emerald bamboo became one.

Its trunk was incomparably thick, yet it remained firmly rooted in the medicinal field. Its inner structure was also just as expected, layer upon layer, enough to contain his Primordial Spirit.

"Time to enter seclusion. When something is out of the ordinary, there must be a demon at work."

Ren Qing gazed at the endless curtain of rain outside the window, then turned to Ren Shanshi and the other, his divine consciousness flashing between his brows.

"For the next few days, stay in the shop and do not go out. This Daoist will also be resting in the side room. Remember, no matter what happens, do not enter the back courtyard."

Because he had directly used his divine consciousness, the two of them were dazed for an instant.

Ren Qing communicated with the Dao Children again. After confirming that everything had been arranged, he slowly walked beneath the emerald bamboo and sat down cross-legged.

"Staff Dissolution can be stopped at any time. I only need to return my Primordial Spirit directly to my fleshly body."

"Fish Immortal, if there is danger, cut down the emerald bamboo."

Fish Immortal leaped out of the well, wagging its tail eagerly.

Ren Qing closed his eyes and confirmed that even if his Primordial Spirit left his body, the Imperial Court Scroll would continue to shroud the back courtyard, though its effect of isolating it from the outside world would be slightly weakened.

"Raise the Yang Spirit, unite spirit and qi, refine the spirit and join with the Dao, cast off the shell and ascend as an immortal."

His forehead touched the bamboo trunk, and he seemed to fall asleep with his back against it.

His Primordial Spirit silently slipped into the bamboo.

To Ren Qing, the experience of his Primordial Spirit leaving his body was like falling from a great height. His consciousness soon sank deep into darkness, utterly unable to sense the outside world.

Yet at the very instant his Primordial Spirit left his body, a vague, indistinct sound of the Great Dao rang out in the back courtyard.

It was like the tolling of bells, like the chant of wind, and like countless people reciting scriptures under their breath.

The sound lasted less than half a breath, but Ren Shanshi, not far away, suddenly began bleeding from all seven orifices. He hurriedly clutched his head and collapsed to the ground, his face pale as death.

Only after quite some time did Ren Shanshi slowly open his eyes.

He looked somewhat bewildered. The difficult points in his martial practice that he had pondered over without success now faintly seemed to offer clues, and his qi and blood had become smoother as well.

Ren Shanshi had always had a feeling that his talent for martial arts had been acquired after birth.

His comprehension was clearly poor, yet he was outstanding in every other aspect of martial practice. Now that part of his weakness had been remedied, perhaps he could cultivate even more external techniques alongside it.

"Shan... Shanshi."

"Yun Niang!"

Ren Shanshi turned toward the corridor, only to see that Yun Niang had somehow collapsed to the ground.

He rushed over in panic, but Yun Niang had already pushed herself to her feet.

"N-No need to worry."

Yun Niang was both startled and delighted. The chaotic sounds in her ears had suddenly become clear, and she could even selectively block them out, no longer suffering headaches and dizziness every day.

The two quickly returned to normal and instinctively followed Ren Qing's instructions, no longer setting foot in the back courtyard.

Naturally, neither noticed a field mouse crawling out of a mud hole in the corner of the courtyard.

Dou Sangu, on the other hand, experienced no change. He only felt his head buzzing. His injuries had not improved, and for the time being, he was still unable to leave this tiny patch of ground.

"Hm?"

He looked around and noticed Ren Qing lying unconscious in the corner of the courtyard.

Ren Qing's body temperature was gradually rising, and his breathing was extremely weak. He had clearly caught a severe cold.

"He is a mortal, after all. Birth, aging, sickness, and death are perfectly normal."

"But..."

Dou Sangu felt that something was off. Ren Qing's parents were in the main hall just beyond a single wall, yet they paid him no heed at all and had even stopped going in and out of the back courtyard.

Although impoverished families sometimes abandoned wives and children to lessen their burden, the shop run by this family of three was doing reasonably well. They clearly were not so poor that they could not lift the lid off the pot—how could they be so cold and indifferent?

The perception from his innate divine ability should not have been wrong either. Could this back courtyard be hiding something else?

Dou Sangu roused his spirits and fixed his gaze on Ren Qing.

Time slowly passed.

At first, he remained fairly focused. But as Ren Qing's complexion turned ashen, and he died after barely holding on until the next morning, Dou Sangu's doubts gradually faded away.

Dou Sangu watched helplessly as the corpse rotted beyond recognition in the damp, rainy weather.

"Once my injuries no longer hinder my travel, I should find another place to hide. Or perhaps I should simply leave Water Mouth City. Staying here forever is no solution."

Dou Sangu drifted off to sleep again.

Vaguely, the pattering rain at his ears abruptly ceased, replaced by a rustling sound—the noise of a swarm of rats moving something heavy.

Dou Sangu snapped his eyes open. It was already deep night, and the back courtyard was pitch-dark.

Then he witnessed an unbelievable sight: more than a dozen Black Rat Dao Children were dragging the sleeping Ren Shanshi and Yun Niang, then directly throwing them into the bottom of the well!

The scene was absurd and bizarre; doubts he had already dismissed began to sprout anew.

Dou Sangu jolted awake, every hair on his body standing on end.

Before he could make sense of the situation, he looked up to see countless fine bird feathers and down drifting across the entire street, shutting the rain out beyond them.

"Not good!!!"

Dou Sangu sucked in a sharp breath. How could he spare another thought for the rats? He clawed toward the corner of the wall with all his strength.

He knew that aura all too well. The goose demon under Ling Jian had come knocking!

"Trying to run?"

A contemptuous voice rang out above his head.

Dou Sangu flicked his gaze sideways and saw a half-man, half-bird figure standing atop the courtyard wall.

Yan Jing's handsome face was twisted beyond recognition, savagery filling his brows. Grayish-brown feathers covered his legs, his talons gleaming coldly as he looked down from on high.

"Rat thief, you're quite interesting. You'd rather dissolve your own cultivation and give up the provincial examination than meet Young Master Ling. Why?"

Dou Sangu's heart sank into the abyss, his limbs trembling faintly with fear.

"Brother Yan, you jest." He forced down his terror and said, "With your strength, even without Young Master Ling's support, earning a place on the golden list would be as certain as a nail driven into a plank. Why must you...?"

"Shut up!" Yan Jing cut him off sharply, his half-man, half-bird body leaning forward slightly.

"You think I got where I am today because my talent is outstanding?"

He sneered, his talons scraping across the wall with a piercing screech. "Do you know how much bloody flesh I consumed in the army to pile up this cultivation? There were countless rebellious rabble who resisted to the bitter end."

Dou Sangu could no longer bring himself to offer flattering words. He hunched up and edged backward.

Yan Jing grinned, exposing sharp teeth. "I'm rather curious—how did you evade the Young Master's divine eye ability a few days ago?"

"Don't tell me you relied on some so-called Self-Dissolution Pill. The Young Master's innate divine ability can distinguish the aura of a soul. Ordinary methods simply cannot deceive it."

Dou Sangu froze upon hearing this, stunned where he stood.

If it wasn't the Self-Dissolution Pill, then what exactly had kept him alive until now?

He instinctively glanced toward the corner, only to see dozens of Black Rat Dao Children gathering around the corpse, their incessant squeaks carrying over.

Dou Sangu was of the rat kind himself and could understand what the Black Rat Dao Children meant.

They were calling for "Eldest Senior Brother."

Eldest Senior Brother?

An absurd thought suddenly surfaced in Dou Sangu's heart, yet he did not dare dwell on it.

Croak.

Immediately afterward, a muffled frog's cry sounded from deep underground.