When Ren Qing woke up, his entire body ached, especially the bones in his legs.
He guessed it was the Divine Leg Sutra stimulating his body's growth. Fortunately, as long as the changes were gradual, there was no risk of others noticing.
After all, he was only seventeen years old. Growing taller wasn't unusual.
At dawn, Ren Qing practiced his sword techniques in the courtyard, replenishing his stamina by eating pig eyes when exhausted.
Unfortunately, his remaining pig eyes were running low. If the Blood Dog Gang still refused to get involved in the luzhu business, his lifespan extension would slow drastically.
The crow of a rooster echoed.
Bo Feng and the others gradually woke up, and the yamen began its daily operations.
Ren Qing didn't act recklessly. He specifically asked Bo Feng about the Reflection Chamber.
The Reflection Chamber was sealed off within the yamen, holding many prisoners. Yamen Runners were forbidden from approaching without orders.
In Ren Qing's memory, the Reflection Chamber was where Yamen Runners were temporarily detained; either those awaiting trial or, like the Hexing Street Corpse Burners, under short-term confinement.
Even Bo Feng had never entered. His information came from patrolling Yamen Runners, so its accuracy was questionable.
Ren Qing headed toward the Reflection Chamber, casually interacting with Yamen Runners along the way, hoping to find a cultivator who had mastered techniques.
No luck.
However, regarding the Hundred-Eyed One, he had narrowed the suspects down to Yamen Runners over forty. With enough time, tracking them down shouldn't be difficult.
Ren Qing wasn't in a hurry. Once he could secretly obtain pig eyes, the Hundred-Eyed One's threat would be minimized.
He soon arrived at the Reflection Chamber.
The building looked ordinary, but security was extremely tight; five Yamen Runners patrolled the entrance alone.
Ren Qing circled the Reflection Chamber, using his double pupils to observe that every door and window was securely chained and locked.
Through the dim light, he could vaguely see figures in some rooms, they were likely detainees, though it was unclear if they were Yamen Runners.
Ren Qing knew many places in the yamen were not what they seemed. Some might even store Supernatural Remnants.
Fortunately, the Reflection Chamber wasn't overly fortified, suggesting no major dangers lurked inside.
Without hesitation, Ren Qing found a secluded corner, climbed over the wall, and erased his footprints.
Was this place really meant for detaining Yamen Runners? Why did it feel so eerie?
The temperature dropped noticeably inside, likely because the building was shaded from sunlight.
As Ren Qing stepped onto the wooden floorboards, a few scavenging rats squeaked warnings to each other.
He turned into a long corridor, lined with locked doors on both sides, they were clearly occupied.
At the sound of footsteps, the prisoners inside began slamming their bodies against the walls, howling hysterically.
The sudden uproar made Ren Qing's hair stand on end. His legs twitched with the urge to wolf-transform, ready to flee at any moment.
But the patrolling Yamen Runners showed no reaction, not even a glance.
Ren Qing forced himself to calm down.
After witnessing cannibalistic martial artists and living human skin, how could he let a bunch of madmen scare him?
He pressed his ear to a door, listening closely.
Only delirious muttering reached him:
"Don't kill me… human flesh tastes terrible…"
"I saw it… that monster in the dark… it was smiling at me…"
"Kill him… only by killing him!!"
Ren Qing quickly pieced it together.
The Reflection Chamber was likely where civilians driven insane by contact with the supernatural were imprisoned.
After all, the voices included both men and women, but the yamen had no female Yamen Runners.
Ren Qing couldn't help but mutter, "Might as well call this the Sanxiang City Mental Hospital."
Once the veneer of horror was stripped away, fear vanished.
He searched further and found a quieter section, probably where Yamen Runners were actually detained.
Most rooms here were empty, furnished to hold seven or eight people.
After nearly half an hour of searching, Ren Qing finally located the Hexing Street Corpse Burners in a deep corner.
They were confined in a single room, lit by candlelight, with a faint scent of sandalwood Incense, clearly, their conditions weren't harsh.
Ren Qing approached openly.
A man's voice called out, "Brother, any idea when we'll be let out? Not knowing is torture."
"Yeah, it's not like we had anything to do with the plague outside the city-"
"Shut up! You can't just say that!"
Ren Qing relaxed slightly.
Three voices; so his suspicions were just paranoia?
He lowered his voice. "The yamen's being strict right now. Getting out soon isn't realistic, but if you need anything, let me know."
The oldest-sounding Corpse Burner replied, "You're new here, right? I've never heard your voice before."
From Ren Qing's memory, among the Corpse Burners who returned to Sanxiang City, there had indeed been a man in his forties.
Ren Qing continued, "First time here. Hope I'm not intruding."
"Not at all. But nights here are freezing. Could you get us some extra blankets?"
Ren Qing chatted with them for over ten minutes, trying to fish for information, but the older Corpse Burner was tight-lipped.
However, whenever the plague outside the city was mentioned, their voices trembled with fear, stumbling over words.
Seeing no progress, Ren Qing prepared to leave. At least he'd confirmed no supernatural phenomena were at play.
Navigating the maze-like corridors took much longer on the way in, but exiting only took a few minutes.
Just as Ren Qing was about to scale the wall, his pupils suddenly contracted.
He froze.
His memories blurred again.
The scene of the Hexing Street Corpse Burners he'd seen from the teahouse; the older Corpse Burner had vanished from his recollection.
Ren Qing pressed his fingers to his temples, leaning against the wall. He scratched a reminder into the plaster, but the moment he closed his eyes, the words faded from his mind.
Only by linking unrelated memories could he barely retain the thought.
Were there really only three Hexing Street Corpse Burners?
What could manipulate memories and even erase living people from the yamen's Reflection Chamber?
They shouldn't have carried a Supernatural Remnant, or the Restraint Officers would've detected it.
Was it a Forbidden Zone?
Supernatural Remnants above the Half-Corpse Realm possessed intelligence. If numerous cultivators died in a Forbidden Zone, what kind of existence would their remnants form?
Ren Qing's double pupils rotated. His right hand clenched the hilt of his greatsword, and his legs began wolf-transforming.
It took him over a dozen breaths to calm down but the looming sense of urgency lingered like a dark cloud.
Logically, the taller ones should bear the brunt if the sky falls.
But when the nest overturns, can any egg remain unbroken?