Ren Qing stood rooted to the spot, constantly weighing the gains and losses in his heart.
Being able to discover it had partly been a stroke of luck. More importantly, the Information Flow allowed him to examine memories down to the finest detail, and his thinking ability had improved as well.
There were probably only two Fire Workers left on Hexing Street. Perhaps once they had all been erased, nothing unusual would happen.
But what if it did?
If it caused large-scale casualties in the Yamen, Sanxiang City might no longer be able to maintain its surface-level peace.
Given how dangerous this world was, Ren Qing could hardly remain untouched. He might lose his chance to quietly lie low and develop.
Ren Qing wiped the writing from the wall.
He knew he had to inform the Forbidden Guards about Sibu Hall in an appropriate way, without letting it affect himself.
Go notify Clerk Zhao?
No. Clerk Zhao did not have enough standing to ensure the source of the information would not be exposed.
Contact the Forbidden Guards directly?
Setting aside whether he could find them, even if he told them about this eerie situation where memories had been altered, they would not believe him.
It seemed Song Zongwu was the only one he could rely on.
From the description of the Asura Method, one could infer that practitioners had to possess decent character. Besides, in the dungeon, Song Zongwu had concealed the fact that Ren Qing had mastered an Art.
Most importantly, Song Zongwu did not possess an Art capable of probing one's true nature. Otherwise, his Eye-less Method would have been discovered long ago.
This showed that before cultivators reached the Ghost Envoy Realm, the aberrations their Arts caused to their bodies were not especially obvious.
But then came the problem. Finding one person in enormous Sanxiang City was like fishing a needle out of the sea.
Ren Qing suddenly had a thought, and the memories concerning the Asura Method flooded into his mind.
The Asura Method had been created by the Nameless Ascetic Monk. It required one to be born with both arms disabled, then endure the five great Buddhist precepts without falling, growing a pair of arms upon completion.
The Nameless Ascetic Monk.
The five great Buddhist precepts.
Could it be that Song Zongwu had either come from a monastic background or been raised by monks?
And monks had fixed daily habits, such as reciting their morning scriptures.
Ren Qing glanced at the morning sun that had just risen. It was not too late yet. Perhaps he really could use this to find Song Zongwu.
From what he knew, although Sanxiang City had no large Taoist temples or Buddhist monasteries, it had more than a dozen small shrines.
No, the Yamen itself had a similar place. It was called the Immortal Buddha Shrine.
The Immortal Buddha Shrine was used to deliver the dead from suffering. There were indeed statues within it, of Great Unity Saves from Suffering Heavenly Venerate and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.
Moreover, no one normally went there, so they would not easily be disturbed.
Ren Qing hurriedly vaulted over the wall and jogged toward the Immortal Buddha Shrine.
Treat a dead horse as though it were alive. If he could not find Song Zongwu, then he could put fleeing with a bucket on the agenda...
In order to get there quickly, Ren Qing had no choice but to speed up, leaving the passing constables staring in startled alarm.
What happened? Why was he running so fast?!!
Before long, a dilapidated building entered his sight. On the open ground stood a bronze cauldron for planting incense and candles.
Yet there was not a single person nearby.
In truth, the Immortal Buddha Shrine's role within the Yamen was somewhat awkward.
According to Sanxiang City's rules, any corpse that had died miserably was uniformly burned by the Yamen. Thus, the Immortal Buddha Shrine was more like a place to comfort the dead's relatives.
The Yamen could tell the public, "Although the corpse has already been burned to ashes, we delivered it from suffering while we were at it."
The moment Ren Qing arrived at the Immortal Buddha Shrine, regret welled up within him.
Spiderwebs hung everywhere beneath the eaves, and the floor tiles were all shattered. Who would come to such a place for morning scriptures?
But since he was here, he had to take a look. Besides, Ren Qing had no other choice.
Entering the main hall, he found two statues standing to either side of the wall. They were indeed Great Unity Saves from Suffering Heavenly Venerate and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, but both were covered in dust, their gold leaf tattered and peeling.
Ren Qing searched the main hall several times, only to find more than a dozen memorial tablets arranged neatly.
The tablets belonged to corpses that had died miserably in recent days. A new batch was probably put up every half month or so, while the old ones were handed over to their families.
He then went around to the side hall.
Though it was called a side hall, it looked more like a woodshed from the outside.
The dim interior carried the smell of mold and rotting wood. It seemed to have been abandoned for a long time, containing nothing but a statue.
Ren Qing sighed. It seemed he could only use returning home as an excuse to leave Sanxiang City for the time being, then return after more than half a month.
Just as he turned and stepped through the doorway, he suddenly felt a gaze fall upon him.
Ren Qing stiffly looked toward the statue. Its two-meter-tall body had Six Eyes and Four Arms. He had not come to the wrong place...
The six blood-red eyes opened, and a vast aura bore down on him as though it had substance.
Dust swirled through the air.
Ren Qing did not dare resist in the slightest and went with the flow, collapsing onto the ground.
Song Zongwu withdrew his aura and asked in a deep voice, "Who disturbs me?"
Ren Qing could not help releasing a breath of relief. It had only been so long, yet Song Zongwu had already forgotten him completely. That meant Song Zongwu truly had not cared.
But why was he pretending to be a statue in a Buddhist shrine? Could he be comprehending his state of mind to cultivate an Art?
He hurriedly explained, "Senior Song, I am Ren Qing. We met in the Dungeon Forbidden Zone."
"I remember now. You were possessed by an Eerie Object and luckily survived."
Song Zongwu looked Ren Qing up and down. Ren Qing narrowed his eyes even further, afraid of being discovered as having mastered the Half-Corpse Realm Eye-less Method.
After a long while, Song Zongwu leaped down from the Lotus Throne. "Not bad. The Human Skin Book follows the Skin Refiner path. Though entering through reliance on an Eerie Object gives you limited potential, at least you have held fast to your true heart."
A fine layer of cold sweat broke out across Ren Qing's back.
He had already prepared himself for the possibility of his Art being discovered. At worst, he would join the Forbidden Guards and forcibly leave the novice phase.
Fortunately, the aberrations of the Double-Pupil User and Wolf-Foot User were both fairly concealed.
Ren Qing opened his mouth. He very much wanted to ask about the Human Skin Book, but there was something more urgent at hand.
"Senior Song, what exactly did the Fire Workers of Hexing Street leave the city for?"
"It has nothing to do with you."
Song Zongwu seemed somewhat displeased, casually moving the muscles and bones of his four arms.
Ren Qing said with a serious expression, "Senior Song, have you encountered a similar Eerie Object before?"
"After making contact with it, the relevant memories would be tampered with. Even the Forbidden Guards would be unable to notice."
Song Zongwu said nothing. His expression grew increasingly grim, before he directly grabbed Ren Qing and rushed out of the Immortal Buddha Shrine.
"Senior Song, you..."
"I have mastered the Diting Art. There may be lies in this world capable of escaping my notice, but you are definitely not one of them, boy. We will go to Sibu Hall first."
As soon as Song Zongwu finished speaking, Ren Qing noticed a slight change in the Information Flow.
Song Zongwu Age: eighty-six Lifespan: two hundred and fifty-three years Art: Asura Method (Four-Armed Yama), Diting Art (Six-Eyed Prison Breaker) ??? The Diting Art was inscribed beneath the belly skin of the strange beast Diting, obtained by the Nameless Ascetic Monk. Cultivating this Art required severing the five senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch in childhood, then attaining the sixth sense, consciousness. Six-Eyed Prison Breaker evolved from Four-Eyed Gluttony.
He truly was a fierce brother.
Thanks to Northeast & Vest, and Little Matchstick Who Buys Girls, for the rewards.
Before you continue