The Head Grew Legs and Ran

The sun had just risen.

Thick smoke billowed from the furnace. Ever since the corpse reanimation incident, Xiao Wu and his two companions would rather take shifts through the night than let the fire go out.

Besides, they were just a few drowned fishermen's bodies—handled in seven or eight hours with no trouble.

Bo Feng had risen early on purpose, taking the time to teach Xiao Wu's trio about fire refining experience, including what temporary measures to take when encountering all kinds of strange situations.

Several days passed in such calm.

Ren Qing spent most of that time cultivating indoors, only occasionally stepping out for a walk.

Even though he was prepared to advance by consuming his lifespan, that didn't mean cultivation was useless—at the very least, it tempered his mind.

Ren Qing summarized his cultivation steps: first, visualize the Eye-less Method for two hours.

Then, beat his own flesh and skin with a club until bruises formed, letting the Human Skin Book gradually restore him.

He didn't know the specific cultivation method of the Human Skin Book, but after a few days of self-abuse, the toughness of his skin had indeed increased somewhat.

Ren Qing had also found a way to conceal the abnormality of his eyes.

The method was to adjust how much he closed his eyes—squinting to block part of the white.

Changes in speech and behavior easily caught the attention of acquaintances, but subtle shifts in appearance were hard to notice.

After trying it for a few days, Ren Qing found it feasible—at least Xiao Wu hadn't noticed a thing.

With no lingering worries, Ren Qing decided to begin his advancement to Double-Pupil User.

But first, he needed to prepare some fresh pig eyes to restore his stamina, in case of accidents.

Ren Qing arrived at Butcher Zhang's meat stall.

He noticed that Butcher Zhang's face looked terrible, and his body had visibly shrunk.

"What's wrong, Brother Zhang?"

Butcher Zhang rubbed his slightly red and swollen eyes, shaking his head. "I don't know why, but these past few days, if I keep my eyes open too long, they start to sting."

"A Qing, I've been to several clinics, but nothing helps."

Ren Qing's heart jolted. He noticed that Butcher Zhang was blinking at an extremely fast rate, and his eyeballs were bulging slightly.

"Brother Zhang, let me take a look?"

"Sure, why not."

Butcher Zhang found a stool and sat down. Ren Qing quickly leaned in to examine him.

He pressed his fingers against Butcher Zhang's eyelids, and beads of cold sweat immediately broke out on the man's forehead. The burly fellow couldn't help but groan in pain.

"It hurts..."

Ren Qing frowned in confusion. The Information Flow showed nothing unusual either...

No!!!

Butcher Zhang had clearly had fifteen years of lifespan left, but now he was short by a full three years.

There was no way this was a sudden Chronic Illness—even if he went blind, it wouldn't affect his lifespan that much, let alone reduce it by so much.

Butcher Zhang asked worriedly, "What's wrong, A Qing? Is it serious?"

"It's nothing. Probably got blood from cutting meat on your hands, and it infected your eyes. Just rest well, and you'll be fine."

Ren Qing said this out loud, but inside, he vaguely suspected it was related to the Hundred-Eyed.

The Hundred-Eyed had vanished for a few days, likely returning to the West District to deal with Butcher Zhang, who had interacted with him, to avoid leaving any loose ends.

"That's a relief. I've been so worried I couldn't even enjoy my drinks."

Butcher Zhang sighed in relief. He was at the point of grasping at straws, or else he wouldn't have trusted Ren Qing, who had no medical skill at all.

Ren Qing realized the Hundred-Eyed might be watching the meat stall from the shadows, so he didn't press Butcher Zhang further, afraid of provoking a killing intent.

To avoid drawing attention, he simply bought a few pig heads, planning to dig out the eyes once he returned to the Fire Refining Hall, and let Xiao Wu and the others have the pig head meat with their drinks.

After leaving the meat stall, Ren Qing walked through the streets carrying a sack of pig heads.

The more he thought about it, the more something felt off. One of Bo Feng's sentences kept echoing in his mind, sending chills down his spine.

"The cut on the neck was too clean—it didn't look like it was made by a blade at all. More like the head grew legs and ran off on its own."

Ren Qing's steps faltered. Had he fallen into a misconception?

The reason the corpses were headless wasn't that the Hundred-Eyed was being cautious—it was that he could make the dead person's head detach on its own...

Since they both cultivated the Eye-less Method, Ren Qing knew he had to eliminate the Hundred-Eyed, or else he would eventually come for him.

Steadying his mind, Ren Qing returned to the Fire Refining Hall.

He dug out the pig eyes and handed the rest of the pig head meat to Bo Feng to deal with. Then he made a special trip to Clerk Zhao's place to gather information.

Although Clerk Zhao seemed cold on the surface, he was actually easy to talk to.

Moreover, Clerk Zhao had met Ren Qing once before and remembered that he had spoken up in the prison to save dozens of people, which left a favorable impression.

Ren Qing spent some time looking up the case files on the Headless Case, but they only contained preliminary investigation notes.

According to the patrolmen's interviews, the victims had all developed sudden eye ailments in the days before their deaths, which then worsened into severe headaches.

Clerk Zhao noticed Ren Qing's intense focus and couldn't help asking, "Ren Qing, why are you so concerned about the Headless Case?"

"Sir Zhao, haven't you noticed that aside from the West District, Headless Cases are breaking out frequently in every other district?"

Ren Qing glanced over the files a few more times before returning them to Clerk Zhao: "I heard about this case from Bo Feng yesterday. I have a feeling it'll reach the West District eventually, so I'm preparing in advance."

Clerk Zhao forced a light tone: "Relax, the Forbidden Guard have already stepped in on the Headless Case. That killer won't escape."

"Just in case. Just in case."

Ren Qing didn't want to place all his hopes on the Forbidden Guard. Knowing how these cultivators operated, they'd likely use Butcher Zhang to lure out the Hundred-Eyed.

After a few more casual words with Clerk Zhao, he returned to the Fire Refining Hall.

Ren Qing decided to break through to the Half-Corpse Realm as soon as possible. Only by achieving the Double-Pupil could he pick out the Hundred-Eyed from the sea of people in Sanxiang City.

Before going into seclusion, he handed all his affairs over to Bo Feng.

Bo Feng was speechless. He'd come to Tan Street specifically to avoid being a manager, yet somehow he felt busier than ever.

Ren Qing sat cross-legged in the windowless side chamber, its light blocked out.

First, he reorganized all the problems he'd encountered in his cultivation, making sure nothing was overlooked.

Only when night had deepened did Ren Qing begin the final Eye-less Method visualization of the Martial Human Realm.

He wanted to see what exactly the presence in the darkness was.

The goal was to leave no cracks in his state of mind; otherwise, his subsequent cultivation might lead to qi deviation. After all, these techniques came with their own inherent strangeness and risk.

The familiar darkness enveloped him, strange sounds coming from all directions.

Footsteps gradually drew closer, but Ren Qing stared fearlessly, a smile even on his face.

As the darkness parted, a twisted humanoid shadow emerged from within.

As the shadow approached Ren Qing, the two took on identical appearances, even their expressions matching perfectly.

Ren Qing murmured to himself, "To stare down fear without being afraid—so this is what it means to be a Double-Pupil User."

He had already found the method to advance to Double-Pupil User. Given time, even relying solely on his own cultivation, he could still reach the Half-Corpse Realm.

"But who says I have time to spare."

Ren Qing canceled the visualization without hesitation.

The Information Flow converged. The transformation began.

Tomorrow, the breakthrough. After that, the Headless Case.