Ren Qing left the southern part of the city.
On the road, it was clearly noticeable that things were not peaceful. It seemed that after several days of investigation, the authorities had begun targeting the cultivators of the Blindless Method.
Since the Restraint Officers had been mobilized, there would be no room for leniency.
The Hundred-Eyed One must have foreseen this long ago. He had probably already gathered enough human eyes and would choose to lay low for a short time.
Ren Qing did not rush back to the Corpse Burners' Hall and instead went straight to Butcher Zhang's meat shop.
Although Butcher Zhang had already closed the shop, the inner room where he lived was still brightly lit, and the sound of snoring could be heard from inside.
Ren Qing activated the state of his double pupils, and everything around him became clearly visible.
He knew the Hundred-Eyed One used some method to place eyes on insects or animals, allowing him to kill from a distance.
But what puzzled Ren Qing was that such a method clearly exceeded the Hundred-Eyed One's capabilities.
Both were branches of the Blindless Method, and the Double-Pupiled One even consumed half a year more of lifespan. Why was the difference in power so great?
After looking around a few times, he found a snail in the corner. Since its body was retracted into its shell, it was impossible to tell whether it had a human eye or not.
Ren Qing crushed the snail underfoot without hesitation. Immediately, Butcher Zhang's uncontrollable screams came from the inner room.
He quickly entered the room and saw Butcher Zhang half-kneeling on the ground, his fingers digging into his throat as if trying to vomit something out.
Ren Qing used chopsticks from the table to hold Butcher Zhang's teeth apart to prevent him from biting his tongue.
When Butcher Zhang finally lost control, a foul, acidic black liquid gushed from his mouth. The smell was extremely pungent and carried corrosive properties.
The black liquid also contained tiny eyeballs, but they quickly disappeared.
Butcher Zhang collapsed weakly to the ground. Ren Qing checked with his information stream and found that although his lifespan had decreased by five years, the strange illness had been completely cured.
After settling Butcher Zhang, Ren Qing finally returned to the Corpse Burners' Hall.
Ren Qing had just entered the courtyard and hadn't had time to rest when he saw Bo Feng and the other three preparing their tools, clearly about to handle corpses.
Xiao Wu sighed in relief: "Brother Qing, good thing you came back in time. Corpse Burners have been continuously dispatched since just now, and now it's our turn."
Li Mian couldn't help but express concern: "Has some major chaos broken out in Sanxiang City?"
Bo Feng said with a grim expression: "Don't overthink it. It might just be gang fights."
"Let's go first and see."
Ren Qing thought it should be related to the Restraint Officers purging the Blindless Method cultivators.
During this period, countless people had died due to the headless cases. The authorities were bound to act with overwhelming force.
Led by a constable, the five arrived at a residential house on Tan Street. As soon as they entered, they saw flesh and blood scattered across the floor, along with dozens of flies.
Even Xiao Wu was no longer fazed by such scenes. They began expertly gathering the flesh and blood, placing them into designated wooden boxes.
But as they gradually cleared the remains, they sensed something was off.
Though they had only pieced together one corpse, the number of eyeballs they found was far too many, and the skin tissue also bore multiple human eyes.
Xiao Wu and the Li brothers couldn't take it anymore and stepped outside to ease their strained nerves.
Bo Feng, his face pale, looked at Ren Qing, only to find his expression calm, without the slightest ripple.
Remembering Ren Qing's composure in the prison, he couldn't help but feel admiration.
In truth, Ren Qing had already anticipated the corpse's abnormalities.
While seemingly busy with the body collection, his mind was sorting through information about the Hundred-Eyed One. He felt shrouded in mist, yet the answer seemed within reach.
According to the mutation tree's revelation, the Hundred-Eyed One's ability should be creating illusions.
Then why was the Hundred-Eyed One he encountered able to influence others from thousands of meters away and even control animals and insects with eyeballs?
A thought struck Ren Qing: could it be that he simultaneously possessed multiple techniques that, when combined, produced an inexplicably powerful effect?
The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
Moreover, the chaos caused by the Hundred-Eyed One had nearly engulfed all of Sanxiang City. To avoid leaving any traces, he must be hiding in an absolutely secure location.
Ren Qing's eyes gleamed sharply.
That left only one place: the Yamen headquarters.
He felt as if enlightenment had dawned upon him. The scattered clues in his mind converged and organized into actually useful information.
The changes brought by the information stream weren't just limited to the surface-level golden finger. Even Ren Qing's analytical ability had strengthened several times over.
Aside from the Blindless Method, the Hundred-Eyed One had at least one other technique, both obtained by consuming Supernatural Remnants.
With no path forward, this person could only cling to survival. Obtaining a Ghost Envoy-level Blindless Method Supernatural Remnant was nearly impossible, forcing him to endlessly prolong his life.
Ren Qing suspected that the Blindless Method's life-extending effects weakened with age, which was why the Hundred-Eyed One had grown increasingly frantic.
To remain hidden within the Yamen for so long, the Hundred-Eyed One must have initially used subtler life-extending methods, only resorting to consuming human eyes out of desperation.
For Ren Qing, the Hundred-Eyed One was a significant opportunity, one that could even help him reach the Ghost Envoy level in a short time.
Ren Qing pondered how to deal with the Hundred-Eyed One, gradually forming a plan.
The Hundred-Eyed One's identity could be uncovered step by step. The most important thing was to prepare thoroughly.
Ren Qing's current strength was still too weak to face the Hundred-Eyed One. The Half-Corpse-level Blindless Method leaned toward support, and the Human Skin Book had only just been mastered.
He needed to maximize the advantages of his Double-Pupils.
Ren Qing's first thought was the Divine Leg Sutra.
If his legs could gain immense explosive power after mutation, then all he needed was for his double pupils to lock onto the enemy's weak points to become unstoppable.
Moreover, the Divine Leg Sutra was held by forces related to beggars, who undoubtedly had a deep understanding of mutation paths.
At the very least, Ren Qing wouldn't have to grope blindly. He could directly expend his lifespan to raise the Divine Leg Sutra to the Half-Corpse level.
Having roughly settled on a plan, he realized that the flesh and blood in the room had already been fully packed into the wooden boxes.
The five continued to the next body collection site. There were simply too many dead, with twenty or thirty scattered throughout the western part of the city alone.
Ren Qing noticed that about eighty percent of the corpses belonged to Blindless Method cultivators.
The rest were merely victims of the Hundred-Eyed One's influence, their heads swollen and eyes bulging from illness.
If Butcher Zhang hadn't been saved by Ren Qing in time, even if he had survived by chance, the Restraint Officers would have surely disposed of him.
This showed their attitude: better to kill a thousand by mistake than let one escape. Who knew how many more would die in the search for the Hundred-Eyed One?
Ren Qing returned to the Corpse Burners' Hall and sat on a stone chair, feeling somewhat melancholic.
Not far away, the furnace blazed fiercely.
If not for the information stream, he might very well have been one of those corpses, having barely managed to cultivate the Blindless Method, only to be inexplicably killed by the Restraint Officers.
The thought was almost laughable. In this world, was it true that as long as you were unlucky enough, you could stumble upon cultivation methods?
Ren Qing chose to lower his profile. For now, he wouldn't dwell on the Hundred-Eyed One and instead quietly inquired about the beggars in the western part of the city.
He soon discovered that compared to the authorities, gangs possessing techniques still counted as significant forces.
In fact, a considerable number of Restraint Officers originated from these gangs.