Chapter 261: Dried Corpse

The person Duan Rong was gripping in his hand was not yet fully dead, but his head was already drooping, and his breathing was as thin as a gossamer thread.

The thick, pungent smell of blood stimulated the mucous membranes of Duan Rong's nasal cavity...

The moment the smell of blood permeated the air, a surge of craving welled up in Duan Rong's heart.

Duan Rong was startled by this reaction of his own; only then did he realize that it was the Filthy Blood Divine Art, stimulated by the scent of blood, operating on its own within his body.

The craving that welled up in his heart came from the Filthy Blood Divine Art's hunger for blood Qi.

Duan Rong had devoured the Spirit Tool of the Tainted Blood Copper Awl within Wei Yutian's Secret Chamber Mandala, gaining the Second Layer realm of the Filthy Blood Divine Art.

Duan Rong had originally intended only to understand this evil art without practicing it, but the Filthy Blood Divine Art was not a martial art in the ordinary sense; it required no internal energy accumulated through painstaking effort—its cultivation threshold lay in refining blood!

After Duan Rong digested and absorbed the Second Layer of the Filthy Blood Divine Art, it reacted spontaneously within his body when faced with the fresh blood Qi permeating the air.

Duan Rong had not expected that this Filthy Blood Divine Art would be like some living creature parasitic within his body.

A look of interest appeared in Duan Rong's eyes, and as his thoughts suddenly shifted, in an instant, dense blood-red filaments, like wriggling leeches, drilled out from between his fingernails and instantly climbed onto the mangled, fleshy neck of the person he was gripping; the blood-red filaments spread with visible speed...

Following that, the person's neck instantly withered, then his head and shoulders, and then it spread downward; the entire body, as if infected by some disease, became a dried corpse within a few breaths!

Just then, at the spot on the person's neck that Duan Rong had already crushed, there was a *crack* sound, and it snapped completely; a withered head fell off and rolled to Duan Rong's feet.

That dried corpse fell from Duan Rong's palm at almost the same time, landing on the ground; it was very light and made almost no sound, not even as loud as the head that had landed just moments before. After all, there was still brain matter inside that head's skull.

Duan Rong's left hand, which had originally crushed the man's neck, was now suspended in mid-air, with dense blood-red filaments floating and wriggling around it, gorged with fresh blood and looking bright enough to drip...

As Duan Rong looked at those wriggling, floating blood-red filaments, a wave of disgust and nausea welled up in his heart!

With a shift of his thoughts, those blood-red filaments returned to his body along his finger gaps like a swarm of snakes entering a hole.

Duan Rong's feeling just now was disgust, but his current feeling was utter revulsion! Because the source of that disgust was right inside his own body.

At this very instant, Duan Rong made a ruthless decision: no matter the cost, he would find a way to completely eradicate the Filthy Blood Divine Art from his body.

Duan Rong immediately performed an internal inspection and found no abnormalities; after the Filthy Blood Divine Art quieted down, those blood-red filaments also vanished within his body, as if they had never existed in him at all.

"This martial art is fucking evil!"

Duan Rong had always been vigilant toward strange things. Especially this kind of evil art—it could operate on its own under certain conditions after being devoured, much like being tainted by some Evil Spirit.

It seemed that his move of patting Xiao Yu on the shoulder while devouring the Spirit Tool of the Tainted Blood Copper Awl inside Wei Yutian's Secret Chamber Mandala had been truly reckless. However, he had truly not expected this martial art to be so evil!

However, this matter could not be resolved in a moment, so Duan Rong had to suppress it for now and study the method to eradicate the Filthy Blood Divine Art from his body carefully in the future.

Looking at the two unconscious people and the one dried corpse on the ground, Duan Rong's gaze shifted, and he turned to look at the window emitting a dim yellow light beside him; Duan Rong suddenly drew his Ox-Tail Saber, and with his Divine Sense penetrating through, he carefully used the tip of the blade to unlatch the window's inner lock.

Duan Rong sheathed his saber and leaped, soaring through the window like a large bird, landing lightly inside the bedroom.

At this moment, the Mishang that had originally permeated the bedroom had dissipated somewhat; Duan Rong walked to the bed, lifted the hanging curtains, and stared intently.

He saw Liu Eying sleeping on the bed covered by a quilt; the mourning clothes she wore had not yet been removed, and tear stains still remained on her face. Duan Rong sat by the bed and checked Liu Eying's pulse, confirming that the Mishang had only caused her to lose consciousness and would not cause any damage to her body.

Duan Rong looked at Liu Eying and said indifferently, "It is good to sleep like this; being under the influence of Mishang allows for a deeper sleep."

If Liu Eying were to wake up now, she would surely think she was dreaming, because Sun Huang had actually returned and was looking at her.

Duan Rong stood up, lowered the curtains, and suddenly leaped, jumping out through the open window!

Duan Rong stood outside the window and closed it properly.

Duan Rong's gaze swept over the dried corpse at his feet; he suddenly drew his Ox-Tail Saber, infused it with Internal Breath, and hacked the dried corpse into several pieces, placing them into the ceramic jar where he had previously hidden, and finally stuffed the withered head inside as well.

After Duan Rong finished all this, he scanned with his Divine Sense and retrieved a hemp rope from the utility room next to the kitchen, placed the two unconscious people on the ground together like an arhat stack, and tied them tightly with the hemp rope.

Then, like carrying a bundle of corn stalks, Duan Rong grabbed the hemp rope with one hand and hoisted the two of them onto his back; only then did Duan Rong pick up the ceramic jar containing the dried corpse pieces, tapped his toes, infused his Internal Breath, and simultaneously executed the Cloud Snake Step at the Small Success Realm, vaulting over the wall and disappearing into the vast night.

Duan Rong sprinted through the crisscrossing alleys, his feet exchanging rapidly, his toes tapping the ground quickly like a dragonfly skimming the water.

Soon, Duan Rong arrived beside the Wild Lake behind the City God Temple.

Before Duan Rong darted out of the alley mouth, he suddenly released his Divine Sense, and only after confirming that there was no one in the vicinity did he dash out without slowing his pace.

Duan Rong stood in the reed marsh by the frozen Wild Lake; at this time, a crescent moon hung low overhead, as if it could be touched by reaching out. The waning moon overhead spilled its light onto the tips of the withered reed marsh, illuminating the ice surface of the Wild Lake in the center of the marsh until it was bright and white.

Duan Rong placed the bundle of people on the ground, then drew his saber, infused it with Internal Breath, dug a pit beside a parasol tree not far away, and buried the ceramic jar inside.

Next, Duan Rong untied the two people, bound their hands and feet with the rope, and hung them on the parasol tree by the Wild Lake!

After Duan Rong finished all this, he pondered for a moment and found no flaws; only then did he peel a layer of face-skin off his own face, revealing his own dark, swarthy face.

Duan Rong placed the peeled-off face-skin in his palm, pressed his palms together, infused his Internal Breath, and rubbed and ground it; that face-skin instantly turned into powder and drifted away into the reed marsh, after which Duan Rong flashed and disappeared from the spot...

The waning moon sank in the west, and a fish-belly white gradually appeared in the east!

The Wild Lake was vast, with cold wind and chilly mist drifting incessantly, but Wang Chun and the pickpocket called Rat, who were hung on the parasol tree by the lake, were like dead people, not even shivering; only from their deathly pale complexions and purple lips could one tell that the two had already been invaded by the cold.

It was just that the medicinal effect of the Mishang the two had taken had not yet worn off, so even in such cold, they could not be frozen awake.

The morning sun in the east rose amidst the drifting cold, but the cold was thick and the morning sun was weak, barely bringing a trace of warmth to the earth; however, the sky had finally brightened.

The two people hanging on the parasol tree also slowly began to react.

As the medicinal effect wore off, they woke up almost at the same time, and immediately discovered that they had been frozen through, their entire bodies shivering uncontrollably.

With their hands and feet bound and hung on the tree, they could only shout loudly, but this Wild Lake was vast and sparsely populated; the two shouted for a long time, their voices intermittent in the cold wind, yet not a single shadow of a person was to be seen.

Just then, the old Temple Keeper of the City God Temple suddenly opened the back door of the City God Temple, stood in the doorway, hunched his neck, and was pouring out a chamber pot into the wild field by the lake.

Then the old Temple Keeper heard the intermittent cries for help drifting with the cold wind.

The old Temple Keeper sniffed his snot, wrapped his cotton-padded coat tighter, and walked toward the parasol tree carrying the empty, foul-smelling chamber pot.

As soon as the old Temple Keeper approached, he was shocked to see that there were clearly two people hanging on the tree.

The two were hanging on the tree, already on the verge of death; in a little while, they would have frozen to death in the cold wind. Suddenly seeing the old Temple Keeper standing under the tree with a chamber pot, the two instantly ignited their life's potential; although hung up, they twisted their bound bodies like maggots, shouting for help.

"Old Temple Keeper, save... me..."

The old Temple Keeper blinked his eyes, recognized one of them, and said, "Isn't this Rat?"

The old Temple Keeper had lived in this Xiangu County for over sixty years, and he knew many of the various people in the city. This Rat was the leader of the pickpockets in this area of the City God Temple and had had some dealings with the old Temple Keeper.

These pickpockets, although they were thieves and not an honest trade, had a saying that "three feet above one's head there are gods," so pickpockets also had a sense of awe. Therefore, Rat had always restrained the pickpockets under him, forbidding them from touching things in the City God Temple, lest they provoke the City God and harm the elders of the county.

The old Temple Keeper, grateful for Rat's usual non-interference, moved the ladder used for repairing the roof from the temple and took the two down from the parasol tree.

Seeing that the two were shivering so hard they couldn't even walk, he scooped hot water from the temple for them to drink, and after they recovered a bit, he brought them into the temple to warm themselves by the fire basin.

Wang Chun and Rat, facing the glowing red fire basin, felt an itching sensation on their hands, feet, and faces; this was the natural reaction of a person who had been frozen through and then suddenly warmed up.

The old Temple Keeper saw their complexions soften a little and asked, "Rat, what happened to you two? In this freezing twelfth lunar month, to be hung up there like that—if I had arrived an hour later, I fear you two would have frozen to death."

Upon hearing this, the complexions of Wang Chun and Rat turned extremely ugly in an instant. The terrifying and bizarre scene from last night once again enveloped them.

Rat looked at the old Temple Keeper with trembling lips and asked with a strange look in his eyes, "Old Temple Keeper, do you think there are ghosts in this world?"

The old Temple Keeper's eyes flickered; he felt that these two had likely fallen victim to someone's schemes, so he said, "In the pugilistic world, strange arts and evil techniques are too numerous to count; ghosts are nowhere near as terrifying as the ghosts in people's hearts!"

Yet, deep fear flowed in Rat's eyes as he muttered, "Old Temple Keeper, you don't understand, that was a ghost! A true vengeful ghost!"

"From such a long distance, he waved his hand, and I collapsed."

"And that ghost thing floated out from a ceramic jar..."

The old Temple Keeper saw that Rat was talking more and more absurdly, so he sighed and said, "If you two have rested, then go back. My temple will be opening to welcome incense pilgrims in a while."

"No!" Rat suddenly said, "I want to kowtow to the City God."

As Rat said this, he actually ran into the main hall to kowtow to the City God. The old Temple Keeper did not stop him; he was the one who served the City God, so how could he stop others from kowtowing to the City God?

Wang Chun looked calmer than Rat; while Rat was kowtowing, he left through the back door and returned home.

After returning home, Wang Chun fell into a great illness. After he recovered, he unexpectedly changed his habits and began to engage in honest work.

After Rat returned, he no longer worked as a thief, and he told his experience to all his peers. Those thieves naturally didn't believe it at first, but later, seeing that Rat had truly washed his hands of the business, and that Huang Geng, who usually had thick eyebrows and big eyes and was on good terms with Rat, had actually vanished from the face of the earth—neither seen alive nor dead—they began to believe.

Some began to believe Rat's words: that Huang Geng had been crushed to death by the vengeful ghost that Sun Huang had transformed into!

Soon, a story about a vengeful ghost protecting his wife spread through the streets. In the story, the vengeful ghost rose from a ceramic jar under the windowsill, and people would faint from a wave of his hand from far away. These detailed scenes were quite contagious, and even Liu Eying herself heard them...

It was said that three thieves came to her house to steal; one was strangled to death by Sun Huang's vengeful ghost, and two were hung up. It was also said that the vengeful ghost rose from a ceramic jar. Liu Eying naturally felt it was absurd when she heard it, but when she returned home, she discovered that the empty ceramic jar that had always been kept under the windowsill to hold spiced beef was actually gone.

In that instant, Liu Eying's brow twitched, and her whole body suddenly turned cold...

This story was told so vividly, and coupled with Rat washing his hands of the business and Huang Geng's vanishing from the face of the earth, those who originally had designs on Liu Eying abandoned the idea. Furthermore, Sun Huang had been a man of the Yuanshun Escort Agency while alive, so why bother courting such bad luck?

The night Duan Rong returned to Liu Lu, he began to ponder, wanting to solve the matter of the Filthy Blood Divine Art.

The scene of those leech-like blood threads squirming out from under his fingernails was truly disgusting to him.

And the moment he thought of that disgusting thing being inside his own body, Duan Rong felt unable to eat or sleep in peace.

Duan Rong sat cross-legged on his bed, using his Divine Sense to penetrate his body, scanning it inch by inch.

As long as he did not actively circulate the Filthy Blood Divine Art, and there was no external source to stimulate the Filthy Blood Divine Art into automatic circulation, even under the investigation of his Divine Sense, he could not discover the slightest abnormality.

"This Filthy Blood Divine Art is actually able to lurk so deeply!"

Duan Rong decided he would actively circulate the Filthy Blood Divine Art, and while circulating it, use his Divine Sense to investigate the changes in his body to find the subtle changes at the moment the Filthy Blood Divine Art activated; perhaps he could find a way to remove the Filthy Blood Divine Art from that.

With a thought from Duan Rong, dense blood threads squeezed out from his ears, eyes, nostrils, fingernails, and pores, floating and squirming...

Duan Rong's entire body was enveloped in the floating and squirming blood threads; the scene was indescribably bizarre and terrifying...

Just at the moment the Filthy Blood Divine Art erupted, Duan Rong's heart turned cold; his focus was no longer on the blood threads floating and squirming around his body.

Because under the Divine Sense Envelopment, he clearly felt that at the moment the Filthy Blood Divine Art erupted, a blood-colored ripple clearly emanated from within his Spirit Sea...

"Spirit Sea? The source of the Filthy Blood Divine Art is actually in the Spirit Sea?!"

(End of this chapter)