Plotting the Divine Feet Scripture

Ren Qing left South of the City.

The unrest along the road was obvious; it seemed the Yamen, after several days of investigation, had begun to move against those practicing the Eye-less Method.

Since they had deployed the Forbidden Guards, there would be no room left for mercy.

The Hundred-Eyed must have anticipated this. He had likely already gathered enough human eyes and would choose to lie low for a short time.

Ren Qing did not rush back to the Fire Refining Hall. Instead, he went straight to Butcher Zhang's meat stall.

Though Butcher Zhang had already closed up shop, the back room he lived in was still brightly lit, and snoring could be heard from inside.

Ren Qing activated the state of the Double-Pupil User, and everything around him came into view.

He knew the Hundred-Eyed used some method to place eyes on insects or animals, using them to kill from a distance.

But what puzzled Ren Qing was that such a method clearly exceeded the Hundred-Eyed's ability.

Both were branches of the Eye-less Method, yet the Double-Pupil User consumed an extra half-year of lifespan. Why was the difference in power so vast?

Scanning the area, he found a snail in a corner. Its body was retracted into its shell, making it impossible to see if it had human eyes.

Ren Qing crushed the snail without hesitation. Immediately, a suppressed scream from Butcher Zhang rang out from the back room.

He rushed into the room to find Butcher Zhang kneeling on the ground, digging at his throat with his hand, as if trying to vomit something up.

Ren Qing used a pair of chopsticks from the table to pry open Butcher Zhang's teeth, preventing him from biting his tongue.

When Butcher Zhang could no longer hold back, a sour, foul black liquid poured from his mouth. The smell was extremely pungent and corrosive.

The black liquid was mixed with tiny eyeballs, but they quickly disappeared.

Butcher Zhang collapsed weakly to the floor. Ren Qing checked him with the Information Flow and found that although his lifespan had been reduced by five years, the Anomalous Sickness was already cured.

After settling Butcher Zhang, Ren Qing finally returned to the Fire Refining Hall.

As soon as he entered the courtyard, before he could rest, he saw Bo Feng and the other three preparing their tools. It looked like they were about to deal with a corpse.

Xiao Wu sighed in relief. "Qing Ge'er, good thing you're back. Ever since a little while ago, Fire Refiners have been getting sent out one after another. Now it's our turn."

Li Mian couldn't help but worry. "Could something big have happened in Sanxiang City?"

Bo Feng said with a grim face, "Don't overthink it. It might just be a gang fight."

"Let's go over first," Ren Qing said.

He felt it was likely related to the Forbidden Guards' purge of Eye-less Method practitioners.

No one knew how many had died from the Headless Case these past days. The Yamen was bound to act with thunderous force.

The five of them followed a Constable to a civilian house on Tan Street. As soon as they entered, they saw blood and flesh everywhere, along with dozens of flies.

Even Xiao Wu was no longer surprised. They began to skillfully collect the flesh and blood, placing it in designated wooden boxes.

But as the flesh was gradually cleared away, they sensed something was off.

They had only pieced together one corpse, yet the number of human eyes they found was far too many, and the skin tissue also contained several human eyes.

Xiao Wu and the Li brothers couldn't help but step out of the house to ease their frayed nerves.

Bo Feng's face pale, he looked at Ren Qing, only to see that his expression was calm, without the slightest ripple.

Remembering Ren Qing's performance in the prison, he couldn't help but feel admiration.

In truth, Ren Qing had already anticipated the corpse's abnormality.

He appeared busy collecting the remains, but in his mind, he was organizing information about the Hundred-Eyed. He felt it was shrouded in fog, yet somehow right in front of him.

According to what the Mutation Tree had revealed, the Hundred-Eyed's ability should be to create illusions.

So why could the Hundred-Eyed he encountered influence others from hundreds of meters away and control animals and insects with eyeballs?

A thought struck Ren Qing. What if he possessed multiple techniques at once, and their combination produced an inexplicably powerful effect?

The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

Moreover, the chaos caused by the Hundred-Eyed had nearly engulfed all of Sanxiang City. To avoid leaving any trace, he would have to hide in an absolutely safe place.

Ren Qing's eyes gleamed.

That only left the Yamen.

He felt as if he had been struck by sudden enlightenment. The scattered, chaotic clues converged in his mind and were organized into useful information.

The change brought by the Information Flow was not just the obvious golden finger on the surface; even Ren Qing's analytical ability had been enhanced several times over.

Besides the Eye-less Method, the Hundred-Eyed also mastered at least one other technique, all gained by consuming Eerie Objects.

This man had no path forward and could only survive by clinging to life. Obtaining a Ghost Envoy Realm Eerie Object for the Eye-less Method was nearly impossible, so he had to keep extending his lifespan.

Ren Qing suspected that the lifespan-extending effect of the Eye-less Method had weakened over the years, which was why the Hundred-Eyed had grown so frantic.

To hide in the Yamen for so long, the Hundred-Eyed's initial methods of extending his life must have been more restrained. He only resorted to eating human eyes when forced.

For Ren Qing, the Hundred-Eyed was no small opportunity. He might even be able to reach the Ghost Envoy Realm in a short time through him.

Ren Qing pondered how to deal with the Hundred-Eyed, and gradually a plan formed.

The Hundred-Eyed's identity could be uncovered slowly. The most important thing was to be fully prepared.

Ren Qing's strength was still far too green against a Hundred-Eyed; the Eye-less Method at Half-Corpse Realm leaned toward support, and the Human Skin Book had barely entered the threshold.

He had to leverage the advantage of being a Double-Pupil User.

Ren Qing's first thought was the Divine Feet Scripture.

If his legs, after being alienated, possessed explosive power, then he only needed the Double-Pupil to lock onto an enemy's weakness, and he would be unstoppable.

Moreover, the Divine Feet Scripture was held by forces tied to beggars; they surely had a deep understanding of the direction of alienation.

At least Ren Qing wouldn't have to feel his way across the stones; he could directly consume lifespan to push the Divine Feet Scripture to the Half-Corpse Realm.

He had roughly settled on a plan, and before he knew it, all the flesh in the room had been packed into the wooden box.

The five continued to the next corpse collection point; the dead were simply too many, with two or three dozen scattered just in the West of the City alone.

Ren Qing noticed that about eighty percent of the corpses were cultivators of the Eye-less Method, while the rest had merely contracted the Anomalous Sickness from the Hundred-Eyed's influence, their heads swollen and eyes bulging.

If Butcher Zhang hadn't been saved by Ren Qing in time, even if he'd narrowly escaped death, he would surely have been dealt with by the Forbidden Guards.

From this, it was clear that the Forbidden Guards' attitude was to kill a thousand by mistake rather than let one slip; the hunt for the Hundred-Eyed would claim who knew how many more lives.

Ren Qing returned to the Fire Refining Hall and sat on the stone stool, somewhat melancholy.

The furnace not far away blazed fiercely.

If it weren't for the Information Flow, he might well have been one of those corpses—barely managing to cultivate the Eye-less Method, only to be killed off by the Forbidden Guards without a clear reason.

It was almost laughable to think about; in this world, was it enough to just be unlucky to stumble upon the methods of cultivation?

Ren Qing chose to lower his profile; for now, he set aside thoughts of the Hundred-Eyed and quietly inquired about the beggars in the West of the City.

He found that even compared to the Yamen, the gangs wielding techniques were still a considerable force.

In fact, not a few Forbidden Guards came from these gangs.