Song Zongwu wrapped his extra pair of arms across his chest. His loose robes billowed as he dashed along the rooftops, drawing little attention.
But Ren Qing, clutched under one arm, was in an awkward position, unable to move, yet unable to stay still.
In just a few flashes, Song Zongwu arrived at the Reflection Chamber.
Seeing him about to stride straight in, Ren Qing couldn't help but say, "Senior Song, perhaps I shouldn't go in..."
"The Reflection Chamber has over a hundred rooms. If we need to confirm the situation, do you expect me to search them one by one?"
Song Zongwu shot him a glance, but before he could speak, Ren Qing suddenly clutched his head, his face twisting in pain.
"What's wrong?"
Ren Qing's memories were blurring again. The number of Hexing Street Corpse Burners had shrunk once more, and the intervals between disappearances were growing shorter.
Song Zongwu sensed it too.
A dangerous aura radiated from him. His blood-red eyes shifted to orange-red, as if resisting the invisible force altering their memories.
But realizing he'd need to maintain his technique constantly, Song Zongwu simply carved words into his own skin with his nails as a reminder.
Seeing this, Ren Qing had no choice but to pull out a dagger and etch words into his own arm. Otherwise, how could he explain why a mere Martial Practitioner was immune?
"Senior Song, is this the work of some Supernatural Remnant... or a Forbidden Zone?"
"First, we alert the other Restraint Officers. The specifics will require investigation."
Song Zongwu took out a pulsing green heart, squeezing it sharply. The heart's rhythm quickened violently.
Ren Qing's lips twitched. Was this some kind of underworld communication device?
"There are thirty-six Blood Hearts in total. Holders within a certain range can-"
Before he could finish, both men froze.
The memory of the last remaining Corpse Burner was fading again.
"No time!!!"
Ren Qing tensed. Though he didn't draw his greatsword, his right hand clenched the hilt, ready to strike at any moment.
"Come with me."
Song Zongwu grabbed Ren Qing's collar and smashed through the wooden door, dragging him inside. Ren Qing hastily directed him through the corridors.
In just ten breaths and after plowing through several walls, they reached the detention area for the Corpse Burners.
Song Zongwu kicked the door open and strode in.
A Corpse Burner in his early twenties crouched in the corner, muttering "Don't kill me" over and over.
His companions' disappearances had warped his memories, leaving him mentally shattered.
Ren Qing felt a surge of absurdity. Half an hour ago, these Corpse Burners had seemed relatively normal. Now, they were vanishing one by one.
Though the Corpse Burner seemed barely conscious, Song Zongwu pressed on:
"Did you enter a Forbidden Zone? How many of you survived?"
"Don't kill me... don't kill me..."
Song Zongwu stepped forward, grasping the man's head with two hands, his six eyes locking onto the Corpse Burner's gaze.
"I speak. You answer."
"Was this related to a Forbidden Zone?"
The Corpse Burner seemed to regain a sliver of awareness, weakly gasping:
"Yes..."
Then, blood gushed from his mouth. His organs collapsed, his life force draining visibly.
Song Zongwu didn't ask further. Instead, he tried to stabilize the man's injuries.
But it was useless.
"We've all forgotten something," Song Zongwu muttered. "At some point, we located a Forbidden Zone."
"We sent Restraint Officers and constables to handle it. But the moment they stepped inside, our memories of them were erased."
Normally, Corpse Burners wouldn't enter a Forbidden Zone. Yet they were still affected, disappearing without a trace.
Ren Qing frowned. "Senior Song, then why did some Corpse Burners return to Sanxiang City? Were they sent back by the Restraint Officers to deliver a message?"
"Unclear."
Song Zongwu continued, "But Forbidden Zones can't move. Affecting Sanxiang City from a distance should be impossible."
His gaze turned complex as he studied Ren Qing.
Out of everyone in the yamen, why was Ren Qing the one to notice the anomaly? Coincidence wasn't enough to explain it.
Just then, the blood the Corpse Burner had coughed up began turning to ash, leaving no trace behind.
The phenomenon spread to his body, starting from his toes, his cloth shoes crumbling into dust.
"We must locate that Forbidden Zone," Song Zongwu said grimly. "The risk is too great."
Ren Qing didn't respond.
Forbidden Zones formed from the Supernatural Remnants of dead cultivators. Yet fighting them required cultivators. It was an endless cycle.
Song Zongwu pressed a finger to the Corpse Burner's forehead, murmuring:
"Year of Yichou, month of Jimao, day of Guichou, hour of Renzi..."
"Found it, Left Eye Three!!!"
His six blood-red eyes snapped shut. Then, the lower-left eye opened alone, twice its normal size.
The Corpse Burner convulsed violently, blood seeping from his facial orifices, his breathing ragged and labored.
"I'm extracting memories from his soul," Song Zongwu said. "If anything goes wrong, interrupt me immediately."
Before Ren Qing could ask how, Song Zongwu pulled a palm-sized, ghostly figure from the man's forehead.
Using his Six-Eyed Judgment, he merged the apparition with his open eye, directly accessing its memories.
Ren Qing wasn't overly worried.
Though the more Supernatural Remnants a Forbidden Zone consumed, the more terrifying its powers became, affecting Sanxiang City from afar seemed...
Suddenly, the Corpse Burner's corpse twitched.
Its eyes flew open.
Then, with jerky movements, it stood up.
Ren Qing leapt back, putting a safe distance between them as he studied it.
No.
The Forbidden Zone's influence wasn't strong enough to erase tens of thousands of memories remotely.
It had let the Corpse Burners return to Sanxiang City on purpose.
So it wasn't that the Restraint Officers' memories were erased when they entered the Forbidden Zone, rather; it was when the Hexing Street Corpse Burners came back that the memory alteration began.
Who knew how many Supernatural Remnants this Forbidden Zone had devoured?
Enough to control these Corpse Burners like puppets from such a distance.
The puppet's flesh rippled and collapsed, its body twisting into a grotesque, mud-like mass.
Ren Qing didn't sense much threat from it, it seemed weaker than an ordinary person.
But he didn't relax. His double pupils rotated, tracking the puppet's movements as he circled it.
He didn't activate Divine Leg Sutra, in such a cramped space, losing control of his mutations would be a massive disadvantage.
The puppet crawled toward Song Zongwu at a snail's pace.
Ren Qing frowned.
Why does this feel like "loud thunder but small raindrops"?
Could the Forbidden Zone's methods really be this underwhelming?