Butcher Zhang wrapped half a catty of pig eyes in oiled paper, wiped his hands on his apron, and handed the package to Ren Qing.
"A-Qing, no need for payment."
"Can't do that, Brother Zhang. Don't treat me like an outsider."
Ren Qing declined with a smile, pressing scattered coins into Zhang's palm; deliberately brushing against his hand in the process.
The information stream revealed Zhang had fifteen years of lifespan remaining and no mastery of any arts, confirming his irrelevance to the Blindless Method.
Ren Qing exhaled in relief, though some wariness lingered.
From the Blindless Method, he understood the Hundred-Eyed Old Monk's obsession with human eyes.
Under normal cultivation, practitioners who tasted human eyes might become irreversibly addicted.
Verification was simple: he just had to just investigate whether Sanxiang City had any recent cases of eye-gouging victims.
The problem was his limited connections within the yamen.
Ren Qing ate at a noodle shop until dusk, then returned to the yamen.
Tendrils of white smoke curled above the Corpse Burner Hall's walls. Li Mian and the others had apparently begun burning the latest batch of corpses.
After a brief greeting, Ren Qing carried a bucket of well water to his chamber.
He first soaked the pig eyes to remove the blood, making them marginally more palatable.
Then he sat cross-legged on his bed, closing his eyes for meditation.
Half an incense stick's time later…
Ren Qing sighed and rubbed his temples. After a long silence, he muttered,
"Taking shortcuts has drawbacks… I can't even enter the proper cultivation state."
Normally, after swallowing eyeballs, practitioners endured 49 days of unrelenting darkness; making subsequent visualization trivial.
Ren Qing however was the opposite. His abrupt mastery of the Blindless Method left him directionless.
The more he rushed, the worse his focus became.
He decided to test the pig eyes' lifespan-extending effects first. Perhaps they'd provide a breakthrough.
Moonlight shining through the window illuminated the translucent pig eyes. After a hesitant pause, he tossed one into his mouth, his face flushing crimson.
It took several breaths to force it down. The lingering stench of blood nearly made him retch.
Fortunately, Zhang's fresh pig eyes caused no physical discomfort.
Heat bloomed in his stomach, spreading through his limbs and bringing along a soothing sensation.
Ren Qing sat down abruptly.
He naturally began cultivating the Blindless Method. Darkness enveloped him once more, and rustling noises emerged from the corners.
Ren Qing felt the heat circulating through his meridians, absorbed by his eyes, causing a faint soreness.
But as his cultivation deepened, the disturbances in the darkness grew more pronounced, like hushed whispers…
Ren Qing's brow furrowed instinctively. The familiar footsteps returned, creeping closer.
He hesitated whether to abort the session, but in that brief moment, the footsteps closed within ten meters, whatever it was now only needed a few more steps. .
"Runner!!!"
The wooden door of his chamber rattled under urgent knocking. Li Mian's panicked voice rang out.
Ren Qing jolted awake. The darkness receded like tidewater and his back was drenched in cold sweat.
This sinister cultivation art demands precise timing. Lingering too long invites disaster…
Steadying his breath, he called out, "What is it?!"
"Runner, the corpses, they're moving!!!"
Ren Qing's heart lurched. Ignoring his sweat-soaked clothes and even checking his lifespan gains from the pig eyes, he flung the door open and charged out.
"Which corpse?!"
"The bookstore owner from noon! And the others are acting strange too…"
Li Mian stammered in terror.
Earlier, their three-man rotation guarding the furnace had gone smoothly; until they tried moving the bodies.
The shopkeeper's corpse had risen abruptly from the storage hut and vanished into the night.
Snatching Li Mian's lantern, Ren Qing sprinted toward the corpse hut while listening to the account.
At the entrance, Li Heng and Xiao Wu recoiled at their approach.
Inside, Ren Qing pinched his waist hard to stay calm.
The remaining Corpse Burner corpses still wore eerie smiles, but their eyes were now open; gazing unnervingly at the doorway.
The shelf where the shopkeeper's body had lain stood empty, bloodied hemp cloth scattered across the around.
With his Blindless Method-enhanced vision, Ren Qing traced a trail of bloody footprints leading outside.
Reporting this to the yamen would cost him his position. And without official status, surviving in Sanxiang City was basically impossible.
Gritting his teeth, he ordered, "Xiao Wu, come with me to track the corpse. Li Mian, Li Heng, guard this place. Don't touch anything."
The Li brothers nodded, staring fixedly at the corpses.
Ren Qing turned to Xiao Wu. "Can you handle this?"
Xiao Wu clenched his jaw. "I'm ready, Brother Qing."
"Move."
Ren Qing followed the blood trail at a run, though he doubled back briefly to grab the remaining pig eyes.
The path twisted through increasingly remote alleys; even more secluded than Corpse Burner Hall.
Dew-laden leaves dripped icy moisture down their collars.
A towering six-meter wall loomed ahead.
"That's the western sector's boundary wall."
"Brother Qing, over there-"
Xiao Wu pointed to a motionless figure facing the wall; a sight that chilled their spines.
Ren Qing squinted. The corpse was badly mangled, scraps of hemp cloth clinging to it. Empty eye sockets wept bloody tears.
"What now?"
Ren Qing forced himself closer.
Circling the corpse revealed nothing unusual; a light push sent it crumpling limply.
His gaze shifted to where it had been staring. Was a Hundred-Eyed practitioner hunting nearby, causing this chaos?
"Carry it back first."
He stuffed all remaining pig eyes into his mouth, nearly gagging at the taste.
In the darkness, Xiao Wu only glimpsed blood smeared around Ren Qing's lips.
As the pig eyes digested, steam rose from Ren Qing's scalp. They hauled the corpse back toward Corpse Burner Hall.
Halfway there, the corpse twitched again.
"Brother Qing… it's touching your shoulder," Xiao Wu stammered.
Ren Qing hadn't noticed the corpse's arms that now draped over his neck; intentionally or not.
His eyes burned red but he ignored the corpse. The terror from his cultivation session had already hardened his nerves.
"Damn it."
Dawn quickly approached. If they didn't return now, they'd be exposed.