Strange beyond belief
"Go on in. Thirty days from now, when the Moon God Pill's poison flares up and I return, there will only be forty-nine Sub-Pills."
As Li Musheng spoke, a faint smile lingered in his eyes.
Lin Tian's heart tightened, but he gripped the Heavenly Sword and walked into the town.
Li Musheng was naturally on his list of people he had to kill.
But Lin Tian was no match for him now.
For now, he could only wait quietly.
He had only just stepped inside the light barrier.
Yet Lin Tian saw an eerie smile on Li Musheng's lips as he flew into the sky.
He looked around.
Standing inside the town, he could clearly see the barrier shimmering with a thin halo of light.
This was a runic formation spanning a hundred li.
Once someone entered, they could not leave.
Li Musheng had not explained it to him.
But Lin Tian could guess.
Anyone in town who stepped outside the barrier would probably be killed instantly.
His heart chilled, and intense killing intent blazed in his eyes.
"I only wanted to bury Xiaolian."
"Why are they all so cold-blooded?"
Lin Tian spoke softly, yet laughter escaped him, his entire body trembling faintly.
"I really do love this world."
The killing intent he had suppressed for so long finally erupted at this moment.
Hum!
The Heavenly Sword hummed softly, a bloodthirsty gleam flashing across its blade.
Boom, boom, boom!
Powerful Spiritual Qi spilled out of Lin Tian, ravaging the dilapidated shops around him like Sword Qi.
In an instant, wood splinters flew everywhere.
To Lin Tian's right, the wooden door of Zhu's Bun Shop burst apart.
A red-eyed girl in a tattered red padded jacket, her face filthy, was huddled inside, watching Lin Tian.
The red-eyed girl's gaze was bloodred and deeply uncanny.
"Big brother, are you hungry? Nannan has a bun. Would you like some?"
The little girl spoke timidly, taking a cracked, yellowed bun from behind her back.
Her tiny body trembled uncontrollably, making her look utterly pitiful.
Lin Tian reined in his killing intent and walked into the bun shop.
After entering the Body Opening Realm.
His perception was extremely keen, and he had clearly sensed no one here before.
Yet a little girl had suddenly appeared here.
At once, a foul smell filled the air, suffocating him.
"Big brother, here's a bun. Nannan saved it for a month."
The little girl stood up.
She held the bun out to Lin Tian, her little hand filthy.
"All right."
Lin Tian chuckled and reached out with one hand.
But his right hand twisted, sending the Heavenly Sword slashing straight out.
Swish!
Blood sprayed as Lin Tian cleanly severed the little girl's arm that held the bun.
"Gah!"
A shrill, piercing screech instantly rang out.
As agony struck her, the little girl roared and howled.
"Damn you, damn you, damn you!"
She kept howling, but her voice was no longer childish; instead, it carried a bone-chilling coldness.
Red spiritual power abruptly erupted from her body, turning into countless sharp arrows that hurtled toward Lin Tian.
Crack, crack, crack!
The bloodred arrows instantly pierced through the entire bun shop.
Cracks appeared all over the walls.
Holding his sword in one hand, Lin Tian slashed out flurries of sword flourishes, green light shielding him.
Only his cheek was pierced, leaving a bloody gash.
"Hiss!"
Lin Tian gave a low cry of pain.
The wound was shallow, yet it hurt more than having all ten fingers severed.
I can't beat her!
The strength erupting from this girl was at least above the Body Opening Seventh Layer.
His surprise attack just now had actually been dodged.
If the battle continued.
Lin Tian would die sooner or later.
Lin Tian reached that conclusion instantly and hesitated no longer.
He bent his legs slightly, unleashing a powerful springing force.
Bang!
Lin Tian shot away.
Like a boulder, he crashed into a shop opposite.
After smashing through the stairs inside that shop.
Lin Tian slashed through the wall and fled.
"Don't run if you've got the guts!"
A hysterical howl came from behind him.
Lin Tian could no longer afford to worry about much else and kept fleeing.
Finally, after he had run for nearly an hour.
The girl stopped chasing him.
What puzzled Lin Tian was.
Although she had been chasing him the whole time, she had not shown a trace of killing intent.
It seemed as though she was merely playing.
Perhaps she had only stopped chasing because she had grown bored.
Lin Tian's eyes were icy. The town was extremely dangerous.
Earlier, even that beggar had erupted with strength no weaker than the Body Opening Fifth Layer.
Those pursuing him had even possessed Mystic Pill Realm cultivation.
He had noticed it when he first arrived.
Most people in town had black spots on their faces.
Those were probably symptoms of the pill poison flaring up without Sub-Pills to suppress it.
Yet apart from being a little dirty, the little girl's face showed no pill poison.
Lin Tian had no grudge against the little girl, yet she had taken him for a fool.
He was in a small alley.
On either side stood the dilapidated walls of the neighboring commoners' courtyards.
Some walls were crumbling, built from piled rubble.
Some courtyard walls were covered in dense masses of strange black vines.
In the long, narrow shadows, Lin Tian constantly felt as though someone was watching him.
Standing quietly, he could sense several presences around him no weaker than his own.
After a brief pause, he walked toward a nearby courtyard wall.
Bending down, Lin Tian peered inside through a gap between the bricks.
He saw an eyeball staring at him.
Hum!
A sword's hum rang out.
Lin Tian's gaze turned ruthless as he met that eye.
The Heavenly Sword in his hand thrust straight out.
It pierced the wall and plunged viciously into the flesh on the other side.
"Ugh!"
A low scream rang out, and Lin Tian leaped straight into the small courtyard.
Lying on the ground was a woman wearing a floral dress.
The woman was beautiful, but black poison spots had spread over her neck.
His sword had struck her abdomen, and blood kept spilling out.
What chilled Lin Tian was that there was already black mixed into the woman's blood.
This was a sign that the pill poison had lain dormant for a long time.
If she did not take a Sub-Pill soon.
This woman would undoubtedly die.
"Don't kill me!"
The woman stared at Lin Tian in terror, retreating continuously,
Leaving a long trail of blood beneath her.
Lin Tian's gaze was indifferent as he looked at the woman's wound.
Only a few breaths had passed, yet it had already stopped bleeding.
Clearly, she was a martial artist too.
As for her cultivation, what emanated from this woman was the weakest in the surrounding area.
"I won't kill you."
Lin Tian spoke calmly.
He had only just arrived here.
There was still much he did not understand.
When Lin Tian finished speaking, the woman immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
"Do you have any food?"
Lin Tian asked.
The woman froze briefly, then stood up, clutching her wound.
"Yes. Young master, please sit and rest. I'll have the meal ready shortly."
Lin Tian nodded and continued:
"What ingredients?"
The woman stood up, her pretty face trembling faintly. Holding one hand over the place Lin Tian had stabbed, she said:
"Please rest assured, young master. It's made with beast meat from the forest beside the town."
Lin Tian nodded and continued asking:
"Is there somewhere I can bathe?"
His clothes were now covered in crusted blood and felt extremely uncomfortable.
His face was also covered in dried blood.
His entire body reeked strongly of blood.
"Young master, there's a small river just over the wall in the backyard."
The woman, who was about to head to the kitchen, hurriedly answered.
Lin Tian nodded, then vaulted straight over the wall.
Splash, splash.
The clear sound of flowing water reached his ears.
Lin Tian looked toward the horizon. The runic formation extended all the way into the forest behind the courtyard.
After walking a dozen or so meters.
Sure enough, there was a small stream.
The stream was crystalline and clear, like an azure ribbon.
Lin Tian narrowed his eyes, spotting severed limbs on the opposite bank.
He even recognized one of the corpses.
It was the beggar who had obtained the Sub-Pill at the very beginning.
He must have died only recently. His body was torn open in countless places, exposing stark white bones.
Blood covered the ground.
Lin Tian could not pass judgment on this man's choice either.
After all, it was all for the sake of staying alive.
He had even more poison spots on his body than that woman did.
Either way, death was not far off.
He might as well take a gamble.