The caravan's wagons entered the inn, and the owner deftly instructed a waiter to feed the horses.
The elderly couple took Cui'er to find a household where they could stay the night.
Bluestone Town was a small town on the border of the Heaven Dou Empire. Though it did not cover much ground, its economy was reasonably prosperous thanks to its position on the Shrek-Heaven Dou trade route.
Qi Xuan wandered around town. Small as the sparrow was, it had all five vital organs.
Many businesses found in big cities had their counterparts in Bluestone Town. After all, the residents here made their living in the service industry.
He even discovered that Bluestone Town had its own Soul Fighting Arena.
"Sir, please allow me to trouble you for a few minutes."
As Qi Xuan wandered aimlessly, someone suddenly stepped into his path.
He looked up to see a middle-aged man in his thirties or forties, with a gentle face and a well-tailored suit.
Seeing Qi Xuan stop, the man's smile grew even warmer. "I wonder, have you ever heard of the Angel Society?"
Angels?
Qi Xuan frowned. That was a top-tier martial soul.
Ten thousand years ago, it had been revered by Spirit Hall and possessed a direct inheritance from the God of Angels-an undisputed tier-zero martial soul.
Although the ambient energy of the Douluo Continent had continued to grow stronger over time, the angel martial soul still stood at the very pinnacle of the martial soul pyramid.
Even in Douluo Dalu III: The Legend of the Dragon King and Douluo IV, it remained a powerful tier-one martial soul.
But ever since Spirit Hall vanished into history, few factions had continued to worship angels.
Seeing the interest on Qi Xuan's face, the man became even more eager. "The Douluo Continent was created by the gods and remains under their control, and angels are the gods' representatives..."
Qi Xuan nearly lost his composure.
You really couldn't fault the claim that the Douluo Continent was controlled by God-King Tang in this era, but calling angels his representatives was a bit of a sick joke, wasn't it?
"...At ten tonight, we will hold a mass at the Church and bask together in the radiance of divine grace."
"What nonsense are you spouting, Zheng Hua? Keep talking rubbish, and I'll lock you up!" An angry patrolman approached from nearby and chased away the man who had struck up a conversation with Qi Xuan.
The man seemed accustomed to this. He merely smiled at Qi Xuan and said, "The gods are always watching us. We will meet again."
The patrolman sighed and turned to the bewildered Qi Xuan. "You must be a visitor. I'm very sorry. That fellow used to be a teacher here, but ever since his wife and daughter died four years ago, he's been out of his mind. Don't pay any attention to what he says, and don't go out at night, either. Things have been a little unsettled lately."
"Unsettled?" Qi Xuan prompted, casually taking a cigarette from his Soul Tool and offering it to him.
The patrolman's eyes lit up. This was a good cigarette. He accepted it, lit it, and took a deep drag before exhaling a long stream of white smoke.
A trace of exhaustion showed on his face.
"That's right. People have been disappearing from Bluestone Town for three years now, both locals and visitors. There have been especially many these past few months. We've already filed a report with the higher-ups, but we still haven't heard back."
Apparently, the Douluo Continent had no confidentiality regulations to speak of, if matters like this could be freely disclosed to an uninvolved outsider.
Qi Xuan grew curious. "Do the missing people have anything in common?"
The patrolman waved a hand. "Men, women, young, old-we've had them all. If I had to say, perhaps there've been more little girls?"
Qi Xuan watched the patrolman resume his rounds. As a small frontier town, Bluestone Town's police station had only five officers in total, and apart from the chief, none had reached level twenty.
After all, anyone who could cultivate past level twenty would hardly want to be a cop.
To be fair, disappearances were hardly uncommon in this era. But judging by what the patrolman had just said, the disappearances in Bluestone Town were steady and followed a pattern. That piqued Qi Xuan's interest.
Both that suspicious Angel Society and the missing-person cases sounded very much like the work of Evil Soul Masters.
"Boy." An aged voice sounded in his mind. "Something isn't right here."
"What do you mean, Elder Yi?"
"I can sense the stench of vast quantities of blood and flesh, along with the lingering echoes of souls crying out before they vanished." Elder Yi's voice was grave. "It's profoundly filthy and evil necromancy. In your terms, that would make the culprit an Evil Soul Master."
Qi Xuan's first reaction was to take out the token Mu En had given him. When dealing with scum like this, why bother pretending to be an upright gentleman? Just call in reinforcements and gang up on them.
"But I haven't sensed Blood Soul Old Ghost's presence yet." Elder Yi continued probing carefully.
As a grandmaster necromancer, Elder Yi had seized a fragment of Blood Soul Old Ghost's soul during their brief clash.
Blood Soul Old Ghost's split souls were much like Voldemort's Horcruxes: he tore apart his own soul and hid the pieces in different places.
Even if his original body was destroyed, the remaining soul fragments could grow anew.
As for whether the newly grown individual would still be the original Blood Soul Old Ghost, a Ship of Theseus question like that meant little to a madman.
The fragment Elder Yi had seized came from the original body, which had already been annihilated, body and soul, by the lightning of the heavenly tribulation.
By analyzing the soul fluctuations within that fragment, Elder Yi could pinpoint Blood Soul Old Ghost's location whenever Qi Xuan drew close to one of his split souls.
It made sense, really. Bluestone Town was only a small place. Even if there were Evil Soul Masters here, they should only be small fry, not anyone with profound strength.
After all, people passed through Bluestone Town every day. With so many people came so many prying eyes.
Evil Soul Masters were hunted and reviled by everyone on the continent, so they would surely choose secluded places to hide.
After wandering this way and that, Qi Xuan found himself, almost as if guided by an unseen hand, choosing an inn in the northwest of town.
There was only one reason: the Church mentioned by the man from the Angel Society was nearby, only two streets away from this inn.
Qi Xuan stood by the window. Under the moonlight, he could faintly make out the Church's silhouette.
Its walls were dull gray, and its glass reflected a deep blackness, like a gaping maw that swallowed everything.
Night settled, and Bluestone Town sank into deathly silence.
The shops that had bustled during the day were now all closed, and every household had shut its doors and windows tight. Only the lanterns outside the inn remained lit, casting a ghostly, pallid glow.
Thump.
A faint sound came from outside the window.
Qi Xuan leaned toward the window and saw a door being pushed open in the neighboring block. A black-robed figure emerged and walked unhurriedly toward the Church.
Acting so mysterious-you must have something to hide!
Qi Xuan opened the window outright, letting the wind brush against his face.
With a flip, he leaped straight from the third floor and slid down along the wall to the ground.
He intended to have a look inside that house. Since someone had just left it, the interior might actually be safe now.
Blood.
The door stood ajar, and a thick smell of blood rode the wind into Qi Xuan's nose.
Frowning, Qi Xuan pushed the door open.
He saw two corpses.
Two corpses he recognized.
They were the elderly couple.
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