I Do All The Dirty and Tiring Work

Because over a hundred extra people needed to be accommodated, the temporary camp became abnormally bloated, and food supplies immediately ran short.

Li Yaoyang went to Camel Peak Mountain to inspect the Disaster Aversion Forbidden Zone, no longer paying attention to the chaotic situation.

After the crowd was checked by several Forbidden Guards, Song Zongwu handed them directly over to Ren Qing.

Ren Qing thought back to when he was at the Fire Refining Hall, where he was the one playing the absentee manager, but now he had no choice but to get his hands dirty with the grunt work.

Sigh...

He had to temporarily set aside mining and focus all his energy on handling affairs.

The newly arrived Yamen runners were manageable, after all, there were only a little over twenty of them.

Ren Qing took the opportunity to meet them face to face, carefully examining each person with Information Flow, and indeed found nothing unusual.

The hunters were slightly more troublesome.

A few of them had been injured by wild beast attacks, so a wooden cabin was specially vacated to house them.

Ren Qing had Wang Sheng take the hunters there, while he quickly signaled the Yamen runners to prepare food. Several campfires were cooking at the same time, filling the camp with smoke and fumes.

Then, without stopping, he went to arrange the prisoners.

Ren Qing thought for a long time.

After much deliberation, the only place that could accommodate them was the karst cave. With over ten days of hard digging, it had become quite spacious inside.

Locking them in the cave and cutting off their access to the outside world would also make management easier.

Of course, he first had to use Information Flow to confirm the prisoners' condition.

Ren Qing checked the information of over a hundred people in a row, his head starting to ache dully, but he still found nothing. It seemed Song Rong had already given up.

However, he did discover that several prisoners with physical disabilities had once practiced techniques. Their left arms were all limp, as if the bones had been pulled out.

According to Information Flow, the technique they practiced was similar to the Divine Feet Scripture, but none of them had entered the threshold.

This technique was called the "Snake Molting Method."

[Snake Molting Method]

[Created by Daoist Mu She. To cultivate this method, one must soak in a specific medicinal solution from childhood, making the entire body as soft as if boneless, only then can it be successfully cultivated.]

This reminded Ren Qing of the "Snake Scale Gang" in the East District of Sanxiang City; there might be some connection between the two.

He had the constables seal the entrance of the karst cave and specially assigned people to watch over the prisoners, planning to figure out how to arrange their mining work tomorrow.

After Ren Qing finished all this, he still felt somewhat uneasy.

He took some dry food and headed toward the hunters' wooden cabin. As soon as he got close, he smelled a medicinal odor.

Ren Qing couldn't help but take a deep breath and touched the Blood Heart in his right hand.

The Yamen runners and prisoners were all fine, so the problem likely lay with the hunters. He still remembered the dozen or so people who had gone missing from Pingding Village.

If a sudden change occurred, he only hoped it wouldn't affect the Disaster Aversion Forbidden Zone.

Outside the wooden cabin, Zhou Wuqian, who was silently smoking a dry pipe, saw Ren Qing approaching. Knowing that this person was in charge of the camp, he quickly went to meet him.

"Officer, this old man is Zhou Wuqian. I used to serve in the Yamen, working as a groom for the county magistrate for a few years."

Ren Qing nodded and asked, "Elder Zhou, how are the injured hunters doing?"

Zhou Wuqian glanced at the other hunters and couldn't help but straighten his back as he replied, "Officer, you know how ferocious the wild beasts have been these days."

He pointed toward the cabin and continued, "A few of the young lads were bitten by beasts on the road. Now they have to rest and recuperate..."

Ren Qing's brow furrowed slightly.

Zhou Wuqian smiled apologetically and added, "Officer, while they're recovering, we wouldn't dare ask for your Yamen's reward money. We'll find our own herbs."

"Where are you from, and what kind of beast attacked you?"

"To answer you, Officer, we're from Taoxing Village. We ran into a few hungry wolves when we came out."

Wolves?

Why wolves again?

"Let me take a look at their injuries first."

Ren Qing patted Zhou Wuqian on the shoulder, and the two entered the wooden cabin one after the other.

The cabin was housing over a dozen hunters, making it exceptionally cramped.

They stared at Ren Qing with wary, uncertain eyes and actively moved aside to make room, the atmosphere falling silent.

Ren Qing noticed some freshly dried herbs by the window. These herbs were common in the mountain forests and had the effect of treating external injuries.

In the corner of the cabin lay three hunters who were constantly moaning in pain.

Two of the hunters were injured in the chest and abdomen. The remaining one was more seriously hurt; his hands and feet were all bandaged, likely from being attacked by a pack of beasts.

The simply processed herbs were applied directly to the wounds, to be changed every half day.

The injuries weren't fatal, unless they led to tetanus or rabies.

"Have something to eat. From now on, the camp's meat supply will be in your hands."

Ren Qing took out the dry rations and distributed some to each hunter, mainly to gather information.

Still, there was nothing unusual—almost too normal.

He asked himself honestly: if he were in Song Rong's position, he would never pass up such a perfect opportunity to infiltrate the camp.

"Many thanks, officer..."

Zhou Wuqian accepted the rations with a delighted expression. It seemed that aside from the intimidating Forbidden Guards, the yamen runners were quite easy to deal with.

Ren Qing bent down to check on the injured men, pretending to feel the pulse at their necks.

They were all ordinary hunters, with no sign of being possessed by sorcery. Their speech and awareness were unaffected.

If Song Rong were controlling someone through eyeballs, the victim would inevitably act as erratic as Wang Bingquan, the fishmonger.

Having confirmed there were no omissions, Ren Qing stood up and walked out of the hut.

Could it be that Song Rong feared the number of Forbidden Guards and thus gave up on entering the Disaster Aversion Forbidden Zone?

Ren Qing vaguely sensed something was off, but for now, all he could do was be more cautious. He couldn't afford to delay sealing off the forbidden zone over this.

Fortunately, Mu Yi had transformed into a treant and could keep watch over the camp.

The next few days passed relatively smoothly. With the yamen runners no longer engaged in hard labor, the living conditions improved noticeably.

The prisoners were gradually put to work excavating the mountain, though only on minor, unimportant branches.

They were not allowed to leave the karst cave during the day. Food and water were brought in by the yamen runners, who also carried out the waste.

To prevent the prisoners from causing trouble, Ren Qing reshuffled and reassigned them every day. Even when they relieved themselves, a yamen runner was present to supervise.

The camp gradually fell into order.

But what Ren Qing found deeply strange was that all large wild beasts in the vicinity had vanished. The hunters could now only catch rabbits and field mice.

Zhou Wuqian believed it was due to overhunting.

When Ren Qing had free time, he would go out and use his Double Pupils to search for clues. A little farther from the camp, he could indeed find signs of wild animals.

He reported this to Song Zongwu. After that, a large number of Gu insects were deployed within ten li of the camp, allowing Li Yaoyang to detect even the slightest disturbance.

To be honest, even Ren Qing himself couldn't find any flaw.

He still conducted his daily inspections and finally had time to return to mining, hoping to find an opportunity to break through with the Human Skin Book.

He could also try using the Great Miao Saber to carve into the stone walls.

After long periods of practice, Ren Qing could feel his saber technique evolving.

If he could take another step forward by using the stone walls, that would be true mastery.