When Ren Qing arrived at the frontier, it was already noon.
He could clearly feel a wave of heat surging toward him, far higher than the summer temperature of Xiangxiang, something mortals simply could not withstand.
Ren Qing, however, quickly adapted, but the husky's condition was clearly not right.
The husky kept sticking out its tongue; its thick fur was simply not conducive to dissipating heat, and after a moment it was already starting to be unable to breathe.
Seeing this, Ren Qing put the husky back into the Prison Within the Abdomen, and incidentally collected some Marsh Sand.
But he couldn't help feeling a twinge of regret: there wasn't much Marsh Sand mixed into the wind blowing head-on, and the remnant souls inside had long since been worn away.
It seemed that collecting Marsh Sand in Xiangxiang wouldn't be very efficient.
Ren Qing, considering that the Sandman Supernatural Remnant was indiscriminate about what it ate, simply opened the Strange Mouth in his palm, and all the yellow sand within fifty meters came into his stomach.
He hurried along the mountain road, and then saw the newly built fortress in the distance.
The towering city walls, close to twenty meters high, were extremely spectacular, lined up in a straight row like the Great Wall, extending until they spread to the stone cliffs on both sides.
Inside the frontier, the number of Restraint Officers was not small; it was just that, since things had been quiet recently, some had chosen to go into the Avici Hell.
As Ren Qing drew nearer to the marshlands, remnant souls gradually began to appear in the Marsh Sand.
However, even for him, if he wanted to figure out the condition of the remnant souls, he could only confirm it by how much the Sandman's body grew after swallowing them.
The remnant souls seemed to be born fused with the sand grains, showing not the slightest flaw.
Ren Qing arrived before the frontier's city wall; he didn't even need the Restraint Officers to open the gate, his feet lightly tapped and he scaled eaves and walls to climb to the top.
"Who goes there?!!"
The Restraint Officers guarding the city were startled; just as they were about to cast techniques to alert their nearby companions, Ren Qing had already pulled out the Restraint Officer token at his waist.
An elderly Restraint Officer frowned and said: "You should go through the gate, otherwise we can't properly confirm your identity."
Lu Xiaoyu was also patrolling not far away; at first she thought it was some Restraint Officer being so bold, but to her surprise it turned out to be Ren Qing, whom she hadn't seen for a long time.
"Wait, I know this person."
She hurried over, and at the same time loudly stopped the others from clashing with Ren Qing.
The elderly Restraint Officer sighed; just as he was about to say something, a figure came up onto the wall, it was Jiang Feng.
Jiang Feng greeted warmly: "Cough, cough, two years have passed, your cultivation really has become ever more unfathomable."
"Just been in seclusion."
Ren Qing subconsciously sized up Jiang Feng, and his expression couldn't help but grow solemn.
Jiang Feng's skin had been tanned slightly dark by the sun, but his lips were faintly pale, and his eyes had an unobvious cloudiness.
Even those coughs from just now were very not right.
Ren Qing's gaze swept over the other Restraint Officers, and he also greeted Lu Xiaoyu in passing.
They didn't have this problem, which showed that Jiang Feng had been spending a lot of time outside recently, causing a good deal of wind and sand to enter his body.
Ren Qing's Split Soul left his body.
Even if it couldn't exert the power of the Yin Runner Realm, it still wasn't something the Ghost Envoy Realm could see through.
Yet even when he used both primary and secondary souls, he only detected that Jiang Feng's lungs were somewhat deficient in qi.
There wasn't the slightest trace of Marsh Sand, let alone remnant souls.
Ren Qing secretly smiled bitterly; if even the Lord of Absolute Darkness couldn't determine whether sand had entered the body, no wonder Song Zongwu hadn't discovered it.
Jiang Feng was unaware that his body was being continually scanned by the Double Pupils, and he waved his hand to signal the Restraint Officers guarding the city to leave first.
He asked softly: "Ren Qing, what exactly happened in Heshan Town earlier, that made Lord Li so hurried?"
Ren Qing said with a smile: "Brother Jiang, let's find somewhere to talk in detail."
"Indeed."
Jiang Feng led Ren Qing toward the camp, and soon they were out of sight.
The Restraint Officers guarding the city began discussing; their eyes turned to Lu Xiaoyu, and they couldn't help but curiously press her: "What background does he have?"
Lu Xiaoyu glanced at them, dropped the two words "Ren Qing," and then turned and left.
"Ren Qing?!!"
"Such unobvious mutation traces, and still quite young, it really is Ren Qing."
The elderly Restraint Officer thought of Ren Qing's great reputation; it was said that during Ksitigarbha's summoning of souls he suppressed many at the Ghost Envoy Realm, who would have thought they'd have the fortune to see him.
A female Restraint Officer said with a coquettish smile: "They say Ren Qing has mastered many techniques, but you can't tell at all from his appearance, really..."
The elderly Restraint Officer said gloomily: "On the surface he may be human, but in essence it's not necessarily so."
Everyone shuddered.
They no longer continued talking, and scattered to patrol in all directions.
News of Ren Qing's arrival at the frontier quickly spread, and by word of mouth it became more and more sinister; his image was directly demonized.
Even Lu Xiaoyu, upon hearing it, began to doubt whether it was the same person.
Ren Qing was unaware of this; he and Jiang Feng were inside a house built of rock, discussing what had happened in Heshan Town.
Seizing on the moment while Jiang Feng was thinking, he slightly borrowed the Lord of Absolute Darkness's ability and pulled him into a half-real, half-illusory dream.
"My apologies."
Three Dream Seeds emerged on Ren Qing's forehead, and he carefully examined Jiang Feng's flesh, blood, and bones, attempting to find Marsh Sand hidden within.
But Jiang Feng's situation seemed more complicated than imagined, at most there was some pulmonary edema, and he simply couldn't find a trend of mutation.
Ren Qing even began to suspect whether the other party hadn't absorbed Marsh Sand at all.
He snapped his fingers and startled Jiang Feng awake; the latter only felt Spirit Division for a few breaths, with no awareness at all that he had already slept.
After a moment's hesitation, Ren Qing directly told Jiang Feng his conjectures about Marsh Sand.
To control the situation at the frontier, it was nearly impossible to bypass Jiang Feng; after all, he was generally the one responsible for communicating with all the Restraint Officers.
After hearing this, Jiang Feng felt a chill penetrate his spine.
He instinctively looked toward the marshlands; those sand grains were like souls trying to escape from Endless Hell, filled with despair.
But Jiang Feng quickly calmed down, learning in advance showed there was still room.
The Restraint Officers' Hall had many methods; they would surely be able to respond to the erosion from Marsh Sand. The main thing now was to get protective measures in place.
Jiang Feng said: "I'll immediately have the Restraint Officers wrap their mouths and noses with cloth; that should prevent most of the dust."
"That's the only way for now, and also have them avoid approaching the border as much as possible."
Jiang Feng nodded and said: "Then I'll have the Restraint Officers who are more likely to come into contact with wind and sand come over, and Brother Ren, you will check for signs of mutation."
Ren Qing answered with a strange look: "There's no need anymore..."
Hearing Ren Qing say this, Jiang Feng smiled bitterly in helplessness and said: "I understand. Should we conceal the matter of Marsh Sand?"
"Senior Li Tiangang's meaning is to maintain the current state for now and speak after it's been clarified."
"No time to lose; I'll take care of it at once."
As Ren Qing watched Jiang Feng turn to leave, he suddenly had a thought and said: "This matter has already been reported to the Restraint Officers' Hall. Ordinary cloth definitely cannot completely block the dust of the marshlands."
"And here, take this, try taking it a few times and see the effect."
Ren Qing tossed Jiang Feng a bottle containing Eerie Dust.
Jiang Feng was a bit surprised as he took it; this thing could suppress loss of control due to mutation, and was extremely expensive in the Restraint Officers' Hall.
At present, several Restraint Officers with the Stomach within the Stomach had already gotten out of trouble because of it; it's just that they were still in the Avici Hell being observed for follow-up conditions.
"Many thanks."
"It's nothing; pass it along quickly."
After Ren Qing saw him off, his awareness looked toward the three Tombstone Furnaces within the Prison Within the Abdomen; the remaining Tombstone Furnace was still in the Wuwei Monastery, being stripped by the Ghost Shadow's Watermill Kungfu.
He considered that since they needed to block the sandstorms anyway, he might as well directly refine artifacts; blood crystals were secondary, it would also let him earn some lifespan.
Ideas for the artifacts continually took shape in Ren Qing's mind, and soon there was already a prototype.
The materials didn't need to be too expensive, since it was enough if the artifact could block wind and sand.
Ren Qing then went to the Great Dream Pavilion of the Ghost Market, choosing among materials as numerous as the stars, while continually describing the situation at the frontier.
Although the Great Dream True Person surely already knew, it didn't at all prevent him from seeking credit.
In the end, Ren Qing selected a kind of translucent human-skin material, extremely tough; sealing the facial features with spider silk could block Marsh Sand.
The Great Dream True Person did not collect blood crystals, clearly paying attention.
Ren Qing hurried back to the Great Dream Forging to pretend to refine.
The Ghost Shadow controlled two Tombstone Furnaces, and while channeling Nether Yuan, precisely merged the living human skin with the materials.
His refining technique grew ever more advanced.
One after another, human-skin artifacts still warm to the touch were refined; fresh blood continuously dripped, as if they had just been flayed off.
Ren Qing took the prepared human-skin artifacts intending to hand them to the Great Dream True Person, when countless sounds of Nether Crows crying rang out.
They passed through the walls into the Great Dream Forging, grabbed the human-skin artifacts, and disappeared.
The Restraint Officers in the Ghost Market looked at each other, all somewhat confused about the situation.
Ren Qing then returned to the frontier outside; the Nether Crows were already circling in the sky, which showed Sun's proficiency in applying techniques.
The Nether Crows slowly descended; after delivering the artifacts to the Restraint Officers they turned into meat pulp.
Even Ren Qing received a human-skin artifact, along with a slip bearing handwriting, the meaning being that the artifact must be worn at all times.
He summoned the information stream to check, and his own lifespan had increased by a full seven or eight years.
Ren Qing pressed the human-skin artifact onto his face; outwardly it showed not the slightest trace, though touching the skin was indeed slightly uncomfortable.
The Restraint Officers all put on the artifacts, but one Nether Crow still remained in midair.
Nether Crows track the aura of Restraint Officers when they go to deliver; they cannot remain, unless the other party's current state cannot accept the artifact at all.
Seeing this, Jiang Feng's face turned iron-blue.
There were dozens of Restraint Officers at the frontier; in a short time he couldn't check clearly, but indeed, all had been notified through techniques.
How could someone be missing?!!
The Restraint Officers began counting heads among themselves, which instead made the scene somewhat chaotic.
Ren Qing flickered up to a high point on the city wall and looked toward the marshlands; only five watchtowers stretched on to the end.
With the amplification of the three Dream Seeds, the things in his eyes gradually enlarged, and he could even vaguely see Xiangxiang's border.
From the watchtower closest to the marshlands, a Restraint Officer climbed down, striding swiftly toward the great desert, and only stopped when half a step away.
The Restraint Officer stood before the yellow sands, as if waiting for something.
Moments later, a naked woman walked out from the marshlands; the two stepped slowly into the desert, and then were swallowed up in the blowing yellow sands.
Ren Qing couldn't help looking at the broken corpse in the Prison Within the Abdomen, carefully examining the head that already had little flesh.
He could vaguely make out that the woman from the marshlands was Xiao Ying.
Xiao Ying, resurrected from death.