Sanxiang City Mental Hospital

Ren Qing woke up feeling sore all over, especially the bones in his legs.

He figured the Divine Feet Scripture was stimulating his body to grow, but luckily, as long as it happened gradually, he didn't have to worry about being noticed by others.

After all, he was only seventeen; growing taller wasn't too late yet.

Taking advantage of the early morning, Ren Qing practiced his blade technique in the courtyard, and when his stamina ran out, he recovered by eating meat.

The effect certainly wasn't as good as Pig Eyes, but it was better than nothing.

Now that the supply of Pig Eyes was scarce, if the Bloodhound Gang still didn't get involved in the Stewed Offal business, the rate of extending his lifespan would take a serious hit.

The rooster crowed.

Bo Feng and the others woke up one after another, and soon the Yamen grew lively.

Ren Qing didn't act rashly; he specifically sought out Bo Feng to ask about the situation in Sibu Hall.

Sibu Hall was sealed off within the Yamen, holding many people inside, and constables were not allowed to approach without orders.

In Ren Qing's impression, Sibu Hall was a temporary holding place for constables.

It mainly held those awaiting trial for offenses, or people like the Fire Workers from Hexing Street who were temporarily confined.

Even Bo Feng had never been inside; his information came from patrolling constables, so its accuracy was questionable.

Ren Qing headed toward Sibu Hall, casually interacting with constables along the way, hoping to find a cultivator who had mastered techniques.

Unfortunately, he found nothing.

However, regarding the Hundred-Eyed, he had narrowed the target range to constables over forty years old; with some time, it shouldn't be hard to find them.

Ren Qing wasn't in a hurry, because as long as he could obtain Pig Eyes discreetly, he could minimize the threat of the Hundred-Eyed.

He soon arrived at Sibu Hall.

The building's exterior looked ordinary, but the Yamen's supervision over it was extremely strict; at the entrance alone, there were five constables patrolling.

Ren Qing circled Sibu Hall to investigate, and with his Double Pupils vision, he noticed that the doors and windows of each room were locked tight with sturdy iron chains.

He vaguely saw that some rooms seemed to have people living in them, but the light was dim, and he couldn't tell if they were constables being held.

Ren Qing knew that many places in the Yamen weren't as simple as they appeared on the surface, and might even store Eerie Objects.

Fortunately, Sibu Hall wasn't that tightly secured, at least indicating it wasn't too dangerous.

Without much hesitation, Ren Qing found a secluded corner of the wall, climbed into Sibu Hall, and erased his footprints.

Speaking of which, was this place really used to hold constables? Why was it so eerie and terrifying?

He clearly felt the temperature drop significantly after entering the building, likely because it was on the shady side of the sunlight.

Ren Qing stepped onto the wooden floor, and a few scavenging rats let out wary calls, warning their companions to be cautious.

He turned into a corridor leading deeper, with closed doors on both sides of the walls, and it was obvious people were living inside.

Hearing footsteps approaching, these people began slamming their bodies against the walls, accompanied by heart-wrenching screams.

Seeing such a commotion, Ren Qing couldn't help but have his hair stand on end, and his legs showed signs of wolf transformation, ready to flee at any moment.

But the patrolling constables showed no reaction at all, not even turning their heads.

Ren Qing forced himself to calm down; after witnessing Man-eating martial artists and living Human Skin, he had nearly been scared off by madmen.

He leaned close to the wall and listened carefully; all he heard were delirious mutterings.

"Don't kill me, human flesh doesn't taste good."

"I saw it, that monster is in the darkness, it's looking at me and laughing."

"Kill him, only by killing him!!"

Ren Qing suddenly had a guess; it was very likely that Sibu Hall held civilians who had gone mad from contact with Eerie Objects.

After all, the voices included both men and women, but there had never been female constables.

Ren Qing couldn't help but mutter, "Actually, calling it Sanxiang Mental Hospital would be most fitting."

After lifting the veil of terror, the fear vanished without a trace.

He searched around Sibu Hall and found a quieter area, which, unsurprisingly, was where constables were temporarily confined.

Most of the rooms were empty, and the furniture inside seemed capable of housing seven or eight people.

Ren Qing searched for nearly half an hour before finally finding the batch of Fire Workers from Hexing Street in a deeper corner.

They were locked in a room with a candle burning and a faint scent of sandalwood drifting out, showing that their treatment wasn't too bad.

Ren Qing made no effort to hide his approach as he came to the door, and a man's voice sounded from inside: "Brother, any idea when we can get out? Not knowing the deadline is really agonizing."

"Yeah, actually, the plague outside has nothing to do with us..."

"Shut up, can you just not talk nonsense?"

Ren Qing breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed to be the three of them, after all. Could his worries have been overthinking?

Lowering his voice, he spoke through the door: "The Yamen is strict right now, so getting out anytime soon isn't realistic, but if you need anything, you can tell me."

The more mature-sounding Fire Worker said, "You must be new to Sibu Hall, right? This is the first time I've heard your voice."

According to Ren Qing's memory, among the Fire Workers who returned to Sanxiang City at the time, there was indeed a man around forty years of age.

Ren Qing continued, "It really is my first time here. I hope I haven't offended anyone."

"Of course not, but it gets terribly cold here at night. Would you trouble yourself, brother, to fetch us some more quilts? Many thanks."

Ren Qing chatted with them for about ten minutes, trying several times to pry information out of them, but the older Fire Worker was extremely tight-lipped.

However, when the topic turned to the plague outside the city, their tone couldn't help but be filled with fear, even becoming hesitant and stammering.

Having no other option, Ren Qing decided to leave Sibu Hall, at least having confirmed that no strange phenomena had occurred.

It had taken a long time with all the twists and turns to enter, but leaving took only a few minutes.

Ren Qing was about to climb over the wall when his pupils suddenly contracted, and he instinctively froze in place.

The memories in his mind began to blur again, including the image of the Fire Workers from Hexing Street he had seen at the Tea House. The older Fire Worker among them had actually vanished from his memory.

Ren Qing pinched his temples, leaned his back against the wall, and used his finger to record on the surface.

But whenever he closed his eyes, he would forget in the blink of an eye. In the end, by linking together unrelated memories, he barely managed to remember.

Ren Qing suspected that the number of Fire Workers on Hexing Street was more than three.

What could possibly affect memory, even forcibly erasing living people one by one from the Yamen's Sibu Hall?

There shouldn't be any Eerie Objects on them, otherwise the Forbidden Guard would have surely noticed.

Could it be some kind of Forbidden Zone?

It was well known that Eerie Objects above the Half-Corpse Realm possessed intelligence. If a large number of cultivators died within a Forbidden Zone, what kind of existence would those Eerie Objects form?

The Double Pupils in Ren Qing's eyes rotated, and his Right Hand couldn't help but grip the handle of the Great Miao Saber. Even his legs were covered by werewolf transformation.

It took him over ten breaths to calm down, but the sense of urgency in his heart hung over him like a dark cloud.

Logically speaking, if the sky fell, the tall ones would hold it up. But when the nest overturns, how can any egg remain intact?