Huanghe Immortal flickered several times and disappeared from where he was and Huang Sand City once again returned to calm.
Ren Qing pinched the bridge of his nose in headache, he was somewhat puzzled by Li Yaoyang's appearance, Ze people should be completely different from Gu insects.
Truly could not see a chance of breaking through the bottleneck, why take such a risk.
Now that Li Yaoyang fell into Huanghe Immortal's hands, basically he already had no way out.
Ren Qing even suspected that Li Yaoyang might not be able to maintain his own spiritual intelligence, let alone speak of advancing to Yin Runner Realm, even preserving his life was difficult.
The joy Huanghe Immortal displayed was also somewhat strange, as if the so-called otherworldly evil demon in his mouth was instead some kind of opportunity.
At that time the other Daoist temples also had movements, showing it was not only Huanghe Immortal who knew.
Ren Qing furrowed his brows, the development of the situation was becoming more and more wrong.
He noiselessly moved through the streets, very quickly arriving beside Yellow Crane Temple, several ghost shadows detached from his body to hide in the corners of the wall.
Ren Qing decided to make preparations in advance, so as not to be caught unready when sudden change occurred.
As for rescuing Li Yaoyang, it was truly powerless, to rashly act would only bring danger upon himself, then dragging himself in as well.
Moreover Ren Qing faintly felt that Li Yaoyang seemed to have done it deliberately.
But how much confidence, very difficult to guess.
Immediately he returned to the courtyard, after contemplating many techniques his state of mind calmed down, then he projected his consciousness into the Prison Within the Abdomen.
Ren Qing had just entered the Prison Within the Abdomen, when he heard a shrill miserable scream.
Sha Shanzi lay flat, both hands forcefully covering his abdomen, eyes, ears, mouth, and nose all bore traces of sand grains, and his forehead streamed with cold sweat.
Mastering the Restraint Officer method was originally a process of tormenting body and soul, not all people could endure it, therefore deaths were commonplace.
Ren Qing suddenly as if recalled something, conveniently recorded the Wind and Sand Qi Refining Method at the end of a book, then threw it to Sha Shanzi.
Sha Shanzi hurriedly picked up the book, checking the contents upon it.
He discovered the Wind and Sand Qi Refining Method seemed to have certain commonalities with the Wind and Sand Method, perhaps able to lessen the pain when mastering the sinister method.
Several days of eating sand grains counted as for nothing.
However the drawbacks of fabricated techniques were extremely obvious, merely the point of the flesh being delicious was already a big trouble, likely to attract the attention of eerie beings.
If the Restraint Officers' Hall wanted to set foot in Jing Prefecture, they could not cultivate fabricated techniques, otherwise it would easily be seen as having the essence of food.
Ren Qing no longer paid attention to Sha Shanzi, turning his gaze toward the wall recording the Wine God Technique.
After the technique was displayed in writing, through the flow of information more content could be viewed.
[Wine God Technique]
[Created by Meat and Wine Taoist, requires cooking thirty-six types of wine using men, women, old, and young as ingredients, only by drinking in combination can it be cultivated.]
[Each wine made from humans as material can assist cultivation of the Wine God Technique, only the first time drinking has effect.]
[Drinking a large quantity of wine will cause alienation, all blood in the body turning into wine.]
[Drinker: a thousand cups and not falling]
[Solitary drinker: a wine sack and rice bag]
[Greedy drinker: a lake of wine and forest of meat]
Ren Qing noticed the alienation route displayed too little information, but merely looking at the features of the technique, already somewhat terrifying upon careful thought.
The person behind spreading the Wine God Technique, either was to collect wine, thereby cultivating the technique.
Besides that, there was another possibility.
If a cultivator drank wine leading to uncontrollable alienation of the body, the body should not be able to produce blood transformed into wine.
In this way, it would be necessary to supplement blood through drinking wine...
Ren Qing's mind was filled with myriad thoughts, all sorts of clues linked together.
Since wine lungs could attract maggots, the sore-covered old Daoist very likely had already mastered the Wine God Technique before death, only the body decayed.
He needed wine to sustain vitality.
But hard to say, the information currently known was truly too little, very likely the answer obtained would miss by a hair and be off by a thousand miles.
Ren Qing felt somewhat of a headache, the situation in the marshes was full of twists and turns, and with the Restraint Officers' Hall as a spoiler possibly entering at any time.
Next if the Wind and Sand Qi Refining Method spread among common people, very likely even Huang Sand City would face destruction, by then he could just flee.
Ren Qing recorded down the Wine God Technique, then wiped away the words on the wall.
Immediately he inquired through the ghost shadows of the Restraint Officer camp about Li Yaoyang's matters, learning that the latter's actions were at the instruction of Great Dream True Person.
Ren Qing, wanting to lend aid, must also preserve his own safety as premise, after all the water of Huang Sand City was too deep, just one Huanghe Immortal already inspired dread.
He took Sha Shanzi's daily routine as his mainstay, and in secret observed the situation.
After not many days, undercurrents were already surging in the city.
Yellow Crane Temple outwardly declared it would hold an Ascension Assembly, to respectfully send Huanghe Immortal to Ascension, using this as reason to recruit more than thirty virgin boys and girls.
It seemed Huanghe Immortal coveted the third realm of the Water Marsh Method, otherwise why make such a big move, to some extent it also had to do with Li Yaoyang.
He used the hidden ghost shadows to observe worshippers entering and leaving the Daoist temple, clearly there were also powers of other Daoist temples, mostly probing reality.
Ren Qing investigated about the Ascension Assembly, very quickly obtaining results.
According to nearby residents, sixty to seventy years ago there had also been a similar situation.
At that time as many as a hundred Daoist children ascended together with the Ze Immortal.
"Truly an immortal without benevolence..."
Ren Qing had basically already confirmed that the Ascension Assembly was preparation for advancing to the third realm.
He vaguely recalled Song Zongwu mentioning that the Restraint Officers' Hall had once dispatched Restraint Officers to the marshes, very likely they had fallen into the hands of the Ze people at that time.
Ren Qing did not intend to sit and wait for death, going out feigning idly strolling within the city.
His gaze sized up the officially-appointed Daoists on the streets, expression involuntarily giving rise to some playfulness.
The Huangsha Daoist Assembly seemed to have taken advantage of all attention focusing on Yellow Crane Temple, beginning unrestrained expansion.
The number of people cultivating the Wind and Sand Qi Refining Method had already increased from a dozen to thirty or forty.
And the rate of increase was growing faster, in not too long, at most two or three days, it could cover all the officially-appointed Daoists.
Ren Qing decided he could not waste such a good opportunity, taking this chance to let Liu Chuan advance to Other-Consumption Realm, then he could obtain the complete Water Marsh Method.
Within the city the Daoist temples were all scheming against Yellow Crane Temple, how would they pay attention to Self-Consumption Realm.
However Other-Consumption Realm required Five Qi Facing the Origin, but Ren Qing thought, actually the problem of five false souls was instead the easiest to resolve.
Ren Qing back then had thrown Ze Sand into the Flesh Furnace to burn, obtaining quite a lot of materials called "Water Soul," just suitable for use.
[Water Soul]
[Condensed by Food-Consuming Immortal Technique, altogether contains one hundred thirty-five strands of remnant souls, eating Water Soul will gradually alienate into Ze people.]
He held Water Soul between his fingers, carefully examining this material like colored glaze, considering finding a target to test it.
If not choosing children, then the range was quite large.
Ren Qing planned to start from the government's prison, but before night arrived, the stone door outside was heavily knocked several times.
"Sha Shanzi, quickly come out."
Ren Qing glanced at the sky outside the window, obviously still several hours before night, how could work of transcending corpses come looking now.
"Daoist Changshi, what is it?"
From the voice he recognized the visitor.
Daoist Changshi was the welcoming Daoist of Yellow Crane Temple, a fairly decent person, usually handling corpse transfers it was him who came.
Ren Qing opened the courtyard gate, a middle-aged man stood outside.
"Sha Shanzi, you..."
Daoist Changshi anxiously explained, but instead stammered unable to make it clear.
"Daoist Changshi, could it be Yellow Crane Temple has corpses again?"
Daoist Changshi bitterly smiled and nodded, then opened his mouth to say: "After you hear, do not be angry, immortal fate is predestined, Ah Zhuo..."
Ren Qing at once understood the other's meaning, Ah Zhuo previously had also gone to Yellow Crane Temple as a Daoist child.
Whether Ah Zhuo had become a Ze person was unknown, but his body certainly had unclearly died, ultimately turning into a dried corpse.
Daoist Changshi saw Ren Qing somewhat silent, thinking him excessively grieved, could not help but comfort: "You also know, every few days there are Daoist children dying for becoming immortals."
"Recently it seems somewhat many."
Hearing Ren Qing say this, Daoist Changshi gave an awkward smile and shook his head.
He was but an ordinary welcoming Daoist, each day doing trivial errands, how had he the qualifications to comment on the Daoist temple.
"Let's go, Ah Zhuo I watched grow up from small, better to bury earlier."
Daoist Changshi sighed and continued: "Sha Shanzi, time and fate."
"Daoist friend, let's go."
Ren Qing knew Daoist Changshi deliberately gave him face, so did not wait until night but prepared to lead him to Yellow Crane Temple.
He suddenly thought of the Daoist child dried corpses he had touched, although the Niwan Palace retained remnant souls, in fact they were already dead.
Perhaps they could be used to feed Water Souls, anyway false Ze people did not need complete souls.
The two walked toward Yellow Crane Temple, on the road intentionally or unintentionally chatting about matters in the Daoist temple, Daoist Changshi could not help complaining.
Each day the number of worshippers multiplied several times, among them mixed good and bad, making them welcoming Daoists bitterly exhausted.
When Yellow Crane Temple appeared not far away, only then did Daoist Changshi shut his mouth.
Ren Qing raised his eyes to look.
The Daoist temple overall was built of stone bricks, the courtyard wall alone had three to four meters of height.
The marshes fundamentally had no vegetation, so Huanghe Immortal especially carved pines and cypresses of rock, even with constantly flowing sand pools.
Even within Huang Sand City, Yellow Crane Temple belonged to standing out alone.
Ren Qing saw in front of the Daoist temple kneeling a dozen people, all citizens of Huang Sand City in their thirties or forties, some already severely dehydrated.
Daoist Changshi explained in a low voice: "All here to beg for immortal fate, just kneel three days and three nights, then can bring children of the family."
Unable to bear, he turned away, bitterly smiling in a low voice: "Sha Shanzi, you say what need is there for this..."
Ren Qing did not reply.
He thought it already somewhat inconceivable that Huang Sand City's situation could maintain surface stability.
How could Ze people restrain from fishing dry the pond?
The two entered the courtyard through the rear gate of the Daoist temple, immediately Daoists came to watch them, fearing calamity.
Ten dried corpses lay placed on open ground, giving off faint bloody smell.
Ren Qing found the dried corpses were not completely dead, even Ah Zhuo's pupils had not yet dispersed, though already beyond saving.
"After death as wished to the Hall of Yama, in reincarnation may you not be human again, soon ascend to the clouds and attain Dao as immortal..."
He softly muttered in his mouth, together with Daoist Changshi stripping the Daoist robes from the dried corpses, then wrapping with linen made of maggot skin.
In Gobi people's eyes, maggots were things of the clouds, by this burial next life could attain Dao and become immortal, while naked bodies instead could never be reborn forever.
Ren Qing piled the dried corpses onto a bone cart, then declined Daoist Changshi's good intention, pushing toward the city gate.
He arrived at the mass grave, after confirming no one noticed, chose seven dried corpses to receive into the Prison Within the Abdomen, the rest placed in the grave.
Ren Qing silently recited the Rebirth Mantra once, only then returned to the courtyard.