Song Zongwu folded his extra arms across his chest. Since his clothes were rather loose-fitting, he didn't attract much attention as he ran along the building eaves.
But Ren Qing, who was being carried along, felt rather awkward, unsure whether to move or stay still.
In a few flashes, Song Zongwu arrived at Si Bu Hall.
Seeing that he was about to step right in, Ren Qing couldn't help but say, "Elder Song, perhaps I should stay out here."
"There are over a hundred rooms in Si Bu Hall. Since we need to confirm the situation, are you suggesting I should search them one by one?"
Song Zongwu glanced at Ren Qing. He was about to say something, but he saw the other man clutching his head, looking like he was in terrible pain.
"What's wrong?"
Ren Qing's memories were starting to blur. The number of Fireworkers from Hexing Street had decreased again, and for some reason, the intervals between disappearances were getting shorter.
Song Zongwu noticed it too.
A dangerous aura emanated from his body. His eyes shifted from blood-red to orange-red as if he were resisting the strange power that was tampering with their memories.
But when Song Zongwu realized he had to constantly maintain his Magic Technique, he simply chose to carve a few words into his skin with his fingernail to remind himself.
Seeing him go to such extremes, Ren Qing had no choice but to take out a small knife and carve words into his own arm. Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain how a mere Cultivator at the Martial Artist Realm could be immune.
"Elder Song, is this the effect of some kind of Mysterious Object, or a Forbidden Zone?"
"First, we need to notify the other Forbidden Guards. We'll have to go inside to know for sure."
Song Zongwu took out a green heart that seemed to be alive. He squeezed it hard, and its beating immediately quickened.
The corner of Ren Qing's mouth twitched. 'Is that a Netherworld Magical Artifact used for communication?'
"There are thirty-six Blood Hearts in total. Holders within a certain range can all..."
Before Song Zongwu could finish, both of them suddenly felt something was wrong. Their memories of the last Fireworker were beginning to blur again.
"It's too late!!!"
Ren Qing grew tense. Although he didn't draw his Great Miao Blade, his right hand gripped the hilt tightly, ready to unsheathe it at any moment.
"Come with me."
Song Zongwu grabbed Ren Qing by the collar, smashed straight through the wooden door, and charged inside. Ren Qing quickly began to give him directions.
In about ten breaths' time, after smashing through several walls along the way, they reached the room where the Fireworker was confined.
Song Zongwu kicked the door open and walked straight in.
They noticed a Fireworker in his early twenties squatting blankly in a corner, constantly muttering, "Don't kill me."
It was likely that after his companions were erased, his memories had been drastically altered, leaving his mind in a daze.
Ren Qing found it absurd. Just an hour or so ago, these Fireworkers had been acting relatively normal, but now they could vanish at any moment.
Although the Fireworker didn't seem conscious, Song Zongwu couldn't resist asking, "Did you go to a Forbidden Zone? How many of you are still alive?"
"Don't kill me, don't kill me..."
Song Zongwu walked up, grabbed the Fireworker's head with both hands, and stared intently into the man's eyes with all six of his own.
"I'll speak, you'll answer."
"Is this related to a Forbidden Zone?"
The Fireworker seemed to regain a sliver of consciousness, his mouth opening to give a weak reply. "Yes..."
He immediately spat out a mouthful of blood as his internal organs began to disintegrate. His life force faded at a rate visible to the naked eye.
Song Zongwu didn't ask any more questions, instead trying to stabilize the Fireworker's injuries.
Unfortunately, it was useless.
Song Zongwu couldn't help but mutter to himself, "We must have all forgotten something. We probably found a Forbidden Zone somewhere."
"At the time, we dispatched Forbidden Guards and Government Constables to handle it. But after they entered the Forbidden Zone, all our related memories were erased."
Fireworkers don't normally enter Forbidden Zones, yet they were still affected, even disappearing without a trace.
Ren Qing frowned and asked, "Elder Song, then why would Fireworkers return to Sanxiang City? Could it be that the Forbidden Guards are using them to send a message?"
"I'm not sure."
Song Zongwu continued, "But a Forbidden Zone itself can't move, so it would be very difficult for it to affect a place as far away as Sanxiang City."
Song Zongwu gave Ren Qing a complicated look.
There were so many people in the Government Office, yet Ren Qing was the one to notice something was wrong. It couldn't be explained away as a mere coincidence.
Just then, the blood the Fireworker had spat on the ground slowly turned to ash, leaving no trace behind.
This process gradually spread to the Fireworker's body. Starting from his toes, he and even his cloth shoes began turning to ash.
Song Zongwu said in a low voice, "We have to find the location of the Forbidden Zone. Otherwise, the hidden danger is too great."
Ren Qing was at a loss for words.
Forbidden Zones were formed from the Mysterious Objects left behind by dead Cultivators, but fighting a Forbidden Zone also required relying on Cultivators. It was a vicious cycle.
Song Zongwu placed his index finger on the Fireworker's brow and muttered, "Yi Chou Year, Ji Mao Month, the 10th day of the 1st lunar month, Renzi Hour..."
"Found it! Third left eye!!!"
His six blood-red eyes were shut tight. Suddenly, the eye in the lower-left corner opened by itself, swelling to twice its normal size.
The Fireworker began to tremble uncontrollably. Blood started to seep from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, and his breathing became extremely ragged.
Song Zongwu said to Ren Qing, "I am going to check the memories in his Soul. If anything seems wrong, interrupt me immediately."
Before Ren Qing could ask a question, Song Zongwu had already pulled a palm-sized, humanoid phantom from the Fireworker's brow.
Song Zongwu touched the phantom to his open eye, using his Six-Eyed Prison Breaker technique to directly access its memories.
Seeing this, Ren Qing wasn't too worried.
'The more Mysterious Objects a Forbidden Zone devours, the more terrifying its abilities become. But for it to affect Sanxiang City...'
The Fireworker's corpse opened its eyes, then stood up with twisted, awkward movements.
Ren Qing took several steps back, watching it from a relatively safe distance.
'Something's wrong.'
'The Forbidden Zone's methods aren't powerful enough to remotely erase the memories of tens of thousands of people. It must have intentionally let the Fireworkers return to Sanxiang City.'
'So it wasn't that our memories were erased when the Forbidden Guards entered the Forbidden Zone. This only started happening when the Fireworkers from Hexing Street returned to Sanxiang City.'
'God knows how many Mysterious Objects this Forbidden Zone has devoured to be able to control the Fireworker as a Puppet from such a great distance.'
The flesh and blood on the Puppet's body collapsed and reformed, making its shape increasingly deformed, like a pile of sludge.
Yet Ren Qing didn't feel much of a threat from the Puppet; it seemed even weaker than an ordinary person.
However, he didn't let his guard down in the slightest. The Double Pupils in his eyes began to rotate as he locked his gaze on the Puppet and circled it cautiously.
He didn't use the Divine Sutra. 'After all, since I can't yet control it with precision, using it in such a narrow space would only put me at a disadvantage.'
Just then, the Puppet began to crawl toward Song Zongwu at an unnaturally slow speed.
Ren Qing couldn't help but feel a flicker of doubt. 'Is this all bark and no bite? The Forbidden Zone's methods can't be this simple, can they?'