The news that a large number of cultivators had left Morning Street through the tunnels gradually spread, and the remaining cultivators mostly chose to observe from the sidelines.
In their eyes, such an action was like a clay ox entering the sea, no one knew what lay beyond the wall at all.
Of course, there were still some bold cultivators willing to risk their lives.
Laigou hunched his back; in front of him were two Qi Refining–stage cultivators.
"Hurry up, hurry up, if you dare to slack off, I'll take your lives."
Laigou muttered incessantly, holding a dagger in his hand.
The two seemed to be a brother and sister, clearly forced to come, their bodies covered with wounds of various sizes, their auras extremely weak.
They stumbled and staggered out of the tunnel, staring blankly at Qingyan Town, their expressions full of disbelief.
"Why aren't you moving? Looking to die?"
Laigou shoved the two away from the tunnel entrance, and then he himself fell into deep shock, unable to speak for a long while.
When he finally came to his senses, he hurriedly bent down to return into the tunnel, but at some unknown time, the entrance had already been covered in spider silk.
Laigou raised his eyes again, a two-meter-tall spider woman was hanging upside down not far away.
The spider woman bound the two Qi Refining cultivators, then lightly licked her lips with her tongue, revealing a slightly deranged expression as she said, "Kill these two, and you can keep your life."
"Will you kill or not?"
Laigou froze for several breaths, and then a trace of viciousness flashed in his eyes.
He did not know what was going on, but he clearly was no match for the demon in front of him, and there must be similar beings at the other sentry posts, it was simply impossible to resist.
Laigou drew the dagger across his own tongue tip; the blade immediately turned light purple, the poison that killed upon contact filling the air with a fishy stench.
"I... I can't kill them, but..."
As he spoke, Laigou rushed forward without hesitation. Taking advantage of their unpreparedness, he struck with his blade and slit their throats.
"Uhh..."
The two seemed to suffer extreme pain, their limbs thrashing wildly, but within a few breaths they completely lost their vitality.
"Such sweet slaughter, like spring water, hee hee hee hee."
Laigou hurriedly knelt to the ground, knocking his head repeatedly. "Senior, I beg you, please spare me. I will never come to Qingyan Town again."
What greeted him was still spider silk; he was quickly wrapped into a cocoon.
The spider woman tossed Laigou aside and said to a smaller spider-person, "Take him to those Wuwei Monastery fellows, let them take good care of him."
"Hee hee hee hee hee..."
The spider woman's words were filled with undisguised resentment, and she knew that Wuwei Monastery would definitely take in Morning Street cultivators.
Sensing the spider woman's emotional fluctuation, the spider-person quickly grabbed the cocoon and hurried toward a corner of Qingyan Town.
The spider woman remembered how, when she was still a child, she had caught the eye of a mountain spider, which planted eggs inside her body; she had wanted to seek help from Wuwei Monastery.
But she was stopped outside the gates.
She could not imagine how she had survived, the eggs inside her body hatched into countless spiders crawling all over her flesh, her bones turning into nests.
"Die die die, all you Daoists, die!!!"
The spider woman swung her limbs against the ground, unaware that Ren Qing was observing from the shadows.
When Ren Qing first heard "Wuwei Monastery," he was also startled, but then realized that the Crescent Moon Layer should actually be the original Jingzhou.
It was normal that the populace knew of Wuwei Monastery; it was even likely that, since Qingyan Town was near the sect, the remaining disciples had survived after its fall.
Ren Qing understood that Wuwei Monastery must represent the cultivators of the Heavenly Insect Method.
He had to infiltrate it, then attempt to draw all the Heavenly Insect Method cultivators into the Immortal Market, while harvesting lifespan and Nether Yuan.
However, Ren Qing was in no hurry to follow, he waited until he was sure of Wuwei Monastery's location before setting off.
Through the information he had gathered over this period, he already had a rough idea of the distribution of nearby factions, allowing him to avoid dangerous areas.
Ren Qing silently flowed within the shadows; having no physical body, he did not trigger the spider webs on the ground, and thus would not be noticed.
Soon, he formally set foot in Qingyan Town.
The wide streets bustled with people, but not one of them appeared to be a normal mortal, even compared to Avici Hell, it was hardly any less terrifying.
Shops selling magical artifacts and elixirs were numerous, showing that even after Wuwei Monastery's fall, its heritage had not been completely severed.
Ren Qing chose to pass through the streets that were neutral zones between factions, though chaotic and mixed, at least they were free of aberrations.
It could clearly be seen, however, that most cultivators on this street were of the lower class, their cultivation around Qi Refining or Foundation Establishment, with few of Core Formation.
They were likely the peripheral cultivators of aberration factions, lacking the talent to advance to Core Formation, living merely by getting by.
For hundreds of years, the populace had already grown accustomed to immortals and mortals cohabiting, yet they still showed deep reverence toward the passing cultivators.
In a sense, Qingyan Town was not much different from an ordinary city, only it was made up of demons and monsters.
Ren Qing carefully made his way toward Wuwei Monastery, only to find that the closer he got, the more remote the area became.
After passing several farms where even cultivators were absent, he finally saw Wuwei Monastery in the distance.
On a low hill stood a few Taoist temples, with hundreds of people moving about inside, though most were farmers under its protection.
The farmers cultivated good fields around the hill, and the Taoists barely made a living by selling grain.
It took Ren Qing more than ten breaths to come back to himself; it was truly hard to compare this place to the grandeur of the Wuwei Daoist Altar.
Still, at least he had found the real sect; things would surely go more smoothly from here.
He walked along the mountain path toward the Taoist temple, and from everywhere one could see how destitute Wuwei Monastery had become, just short of being expelled from Qingyan Town.
Yet Ren Qing noticed that the Dao children passing by still chanted Daoist scriptures, and several Daoists went to recite their morning lessons.
Even though their robes were somewhat tattered, they indeed represented the orthodox Daoist sect of Qingyan Town.
Ren Qing's gaze fell upon the plaque above the temple entrance, the words "Wuwei Monastery" had already become faint, showing the wear of centuries.
He recalled that the Wuwei Daoist Altar indeed had no sect plaque, most likely it had been left behind in Jingzhou and finally hung here.
Inside the Flesh Furnace, the flames surged; Fuel King sat upon a throne of white bone, the aura belonging to Heavenly Daozi faintly emerging.
Fuel King murmured in a barely audible voice, "Huang Qi, have we gone home?"
Ren Qing, half-aware, looked toward the Flesh Furnace, but Fuel King had already reverted to his unchanging, rock-like form, surrounded by flames.
The firelight rubbed against the air, as though someone were softly chanting.
Ren Qing did not hear Fuel King's murmuring, but suddenly recalled the Heavenly Daozi still struggling within Qingxu Temple, and quietly said,
"Yes, Grandmaster, we've gone home."
He gave a bitter smile and shook his head, then went straight toward where Laigou was.
Laigou was inside the firewood room of Wuwei Monastery, still wrapped in spider silk, unable to move or make a sound.
Several Dao children were tidying the room, occasionally glancing at the cocoon.
They discussed it, saying that Morning Street cultivators were great tonics, that consuming them was said to extend lifespan.
Yet those Dao children had likely never eaten human flesh, merely influenced by hearsay, showing that Jingzhou had been completely demonized.
While the Dao children chatted idly, they failed to notice that the shadow at their feet slightly writhed; Ren Qing slipped through the gaps in the cocoon's silk.
He directly collected Laigou into the Prison Within the Abdomen, then occupied the cocoon himself.
He had no intention of letting Laigou enter the Immortal Market, so he simply threw him into the dunes formed by the Sand Man, using Immortal in the Mirror to prevent escape.
If Laigou wanted water or food, he would have to beg Ren Qing, allowing Ren Qing to harvest lifespan that way.
Cultivators with Laigou's temperament were no better than Shui Hulu; once powerful, they would inevitably seek to toy with others' lives.
Better to make waste useful.
After taking Laigou's place, Ren Qing used both hands to forcibly tear open the cocoon, appearing to struggle as he crawled out.
The Dao children immediately turned to look; examining Ren Qing, they saw no visible aberrant transformation, and their faces turned disappointed.
"So that's what Morning Street people look like?"
"Truly ugly..."
"The so-called great tonic must have been a rumor, how could anyone stomach it?"
They whispered among themselves, thinking Ren Qing couldn't hear.
Ren Qing's mouth twitched; he stepped toward them, and they were so frightened they backed away several meters, then shrieked,
"Stay where you are, we'll go get our Martial Uncle."
Without waiting for Ren Qing's reaction, the Dao children fled the room in panic, not even bothering to close the door.
Ren Qing couldn't help but chuckle, then leaned against the woodpile and closed his eyes to rest.
Before long, a potbellied middle-aged man entered.
His insect-mimicking transformation was not obvious, but a chrysanthemum-shaped mouthpart grew from his forehead, somewhat resembling the mouth of a Heavenly Dao Worm.
His cultivation should be at the Core Formation stage, but his True Yuan felt hollow and insubstantial.
"Junior Brother, I am Wuliangzi, how should I address you?"
"Ren Qing."
"Hahaha, once you've entered Wuwei Monastery, we're fellow brothers of the same sect."
Wuliangzi couldn't help but size up Ren Qing from head to toe, even sniffing lightly, seemingly to test the rumor of the "great tonic."
But his expression soon turned disappointed, his enthusiasm dropping sharply.
"Junior Brother Ren Qing, stay in the outer sect for a while. After a few months, when your root-bone aptitude is tested, you'll be considered officially admitted."
Ren Qing agreed one by one; he had come to Wuwei Monastery precisely to make it easier to bring people into the Immortal Market, so he deliberately acted somewhat dull.
Wuliangzi led Ren Qing to the outer-sect residence, just a few thatched huts, inside which many Dao children were reciting Daoist scriptures.
Ren Qing's gaze fell upon the most conspicuous Dao child among them.
That child was about two meters tall, his body piled with fat, like a giant ball of flesh, yet the surrounding Dao children all looked at him with admiration.
Wuliangzi introduced, "He is a natural spiritual root, already at Foundation Establishment by seven or eight years old. In a few days, he'll be... entering the mountain gate."
As he spoke, he couldn't help swallowing a mouthful of saliva, but quickly regained composure.
"Thank you, Senior Brother Wuliangzi."
Ren Qing then sat down within the classroom; as his presence was low to begin with, he did not draw the attention of others.
Wuliangzi then returned to the mountain gate.
Halfway along his path, his memory of Ren Qing began to gradually fade.