Chapter 205

With this thought in mind, Xu Qing walked toward the Homicide Department of Port 176.

It was late at night, and because of the frenzy caused by the Intelligence Department during this period, the resulting public panic had also affected the business of some brothels and gambling dens; after all, many people were currently in no mood for entertainment.

The rule system of the Seven Blood Eyes meant that there were actually quite a few traitors here.

After all, the "insect-raising" method used for Qi Condensation disciples left them without any sense of belonging, and the sect did not require it either; everything was primarily based on profit.

Added to this was the unregulated, free-range nature of Foundation Establishment cultivators, so feeling a momentary temptation for profit and selling off information they knew carried no psychological burden.

Of course, selling things came at a price.

Xu Qing did not care about that, however. He walked through the night, passing through one secluded area after another, paying no mind to the Little Mute following behind him.

Until he reached the Homicide Department.

At the entrance of the Homicide Department, the two disciples guarding the post, upon seeing Xu Qing for the first time, had eyes filled with fanaticism and knelt down with their heads bowed.

"Greetings, Department Head!"

To them, the name Xu Qing had already become a legend.

The other party had started as a member of the Homicide Department, then rose all the way up, becoming Foundation Establishment in a year, opening one fire in a few months, becoming a two-fire cultivator in less than two years, and even pulling off earth-shattering feats among the Sea Corpse Clan.

Previously, he had even suppressed the little princess of Dongyou Island, who was still being held in the Mysterious Department's Homicide Department; all of this made Xu Qing the fanatical goal of countless disciples within the Homicide Department.

Xu Qing's expression remained as usual; he nodded and walked past, entering the Homicide Department and heading straight for the prison.

The Homicide Department's prison was built underground and had only one level.

Whether they were Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, or special cultivators, they were all held on this one level, which contained hundreds of densely packed iron-barred cells and a large number of array restrictions.

At the same time, the poor environment made the smell of the place extremely foul; the filth of the body and the stench of excrement mixed together, enough to make one retch.

At this moment, more than half of the cells were occupied by imprisoned alien wanted criminals, none of whom had been caught by Xu Qing.

Because when Xu Qing took action, he only took heads.

Xu Qing's arrival immediately drew the attention of these alien cultivators. One by one, they bared their teeth; some were grinning, some spat filthy phlegm directly, and others, upon seeing Xu Qing, whistled and made lewd gestures.

They were not afraid of death.

Imprisoned here with no hope of seeing the light of day, they actually had no fear of death anymore. At this moment, bursts of strange cries rang out, and Xu Qing even heard the voice of the black-clad girl from afar.

"Xu Qing, I curse you to a miserable death! When I get out, I will definitely cut you open, dig out your heart, and eat it raw right in front of you!!"

Xu Qing remained expressionless, ignoring the various postures of these alien wanted criminals, and turned to speak calmly to the Little Mute standing outside.

"No matter what kind of sounds come from inside in a while, do not come to disturb me."

The Little Mute nodded immediately, and the other Homicide Department members outside also wore solemn expressions.

Xu Qing said nothing more and slammed the prison door shut, closing it completely.

With the closing of the door, the clamor inside the entire prison became even more intense.

"Is this a human with a woman's face and a man's body? Haha, I love playing with these; just looking at them gives me an urge."

"Come, come, come, human brat, scratch an itch for your grandpa."

"Foundation Establishment is nothing! If you have the ability, kill me!"

"Senior, don't listen to them! Senior, save me, I know a big secret."

At the same time, in the cell where the black-clad girl was held, she climbed up abruptly, grabbing the iron bars, not caring at all as her hands sizzled from the burning of the array.

Her eyes were filled with madness as she stared fixedly at Xu Qing in the distance, grinning hideously.

"Xu Qing, I have cursed you 273,856 times!"

Xu Qing scanned the surrounding cells with a calm expression, his gaze finally landing on a goat-headed cultivator who was thrusting his hips at him.

This goat-head was a member of the Night Owl, belonging to the Alien Beast Clan, covered in black hair, and appeared to have been a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Now that his cultivation was sealed, his vitality remained very tenacious. Noticing Xu Qing looking at him, the goat-head of the Alien Beast Clan licked his lips.

"Me? Come, come, come, pick me, pick me! Back in the day, I ate countless humans; I'd like to taste one as pretty as you, haha."

Xu Qing nodded, raised his right hand, and grabbed through the air. Immediately, the cell door where the Alien Beast Clan goat-head was held opened, and a great force swept the goat-head directly toward Xu Qing.

Finally, he floated in mid-air. The Alien Beast Clan goat-head laughed wildly, his eyes filled with madness, and just as he was about to speak, Xu Qing waved his hand. A cloud of poison powder dispersed, enveloping the goat-head and rapidly merging into his body.

"Poison? What does this count for? I..."

The Alien Beast Clan goat-head had just said this much when, before he could finish, his body suddenly trembled violently, his entire frame shivering, yet his face still wore a ferocious expression.

"Comfortable!"

Xu Qing ignored him, observing carefully. Until the Alien Beast Clan goat-head shivered even more intensely and even began to bleed from his seven orifices, Xu Qing took out the bottle of little black bugs and opened it, releasing a portion.

Immediately, these little black bugs rushed toward the goat-head, sticking to his skin in the blink of an eye and rapidly burrowing inside.

This pain immediately turned the goat-head's eyes crimson. The madness on his face remained, but looking closely, one could still see the deeply hidden terror in the depths of his eyes.

Until the next instant, his body withered visibly to the naked eye. A large number of black bugs flew out, which Xu Qing collected for observation, while the Alien Beast Clan goat-head fell to the ground, his whole body trembling, though the madness on his face grew even more intense.

"Is that it?"

Xu Qing turned a deaf ear, observing his little black bugs, and found that their aura seemed slightly stronger, but only slightly.

This puzzled Xu Qing somewhat. According to his previous research, seven types of medicinal herbs merged into the flesh food should have allowed his little black bugs to grow much more, but the improvement had not reached his expectations.

"I need to see exactly where the difference lies."

Xu Qing muttered. He raised his right hand and waved it, grabbing the Alien Beast Clan goat-head directly in front of him. Just as the goat-head was about to mock him, Xu Qing expressionlessly took out a dagger, sliced open the Alien Beast Clan goat-head's stomach, and then rummaged through to inspect it.

A shrill scream rang out instantly, then fell silent in an instant, finally turning into infinite terror and wailing that echoed in all directions, but soon grew weak.

And in the surrounding cells, the various voices that had been clamorous before came to an abrupt halt. One by one, gazes filled with wariness fell upon Xu Qing, watching him as he calmly conducted his research.

Until a moment later, Xu Qing, having skinned the Alien Beast Clan goat-head alive, pondered thoughtfully. Then, he raised his hand and grabbed; a middle-aged cultivator who had previously spat thick phlegm at him with malice was grabbed over.

This was a member of the Mermaid Clan.

Terror appeared in his eyes, his breathing rapid. Just as he was about to speak, Xu Qing sprinkled the second layer of medicinal powder, then released the little black bugs, trying again.

A moment later, following the screams, the same scene occurred. Xu Qing frowned, continued to slice open the cultivator's body, and inspected it.

Time passed slowly. All the alien cultivators in the prison were no longer speaking now. One by one, as their breathing grew rapid, different degrees of terror appeared in their eyes.

They might not be afraid of death, but such an act of being sliced open alive for research was something they had never imagined, and seeing the fate of others with their own eyes made it difficult for their minds to bear.

Especially Xu Qing, who was completely immersed in his research, occasionally pondering, occasionally grabbing a wanted criminal, occasionally cutting; on the ground, blood of various colors mixed together, becoming more and more.

Until finally, a cultivator had a mental breakdown, retreating crazily and shrinking into a corner, his gaze toward Xu Qing filled with immense fear and horror.

Even the black-clad girl, after Xu Qing had sliced open the thirty-fourth alien wanted criminal, stopped cursing for the first time, her body trembling slightly, a trace of terror appearing in her eyes.

A night passed.

In the early morning, Xu Qing left.

He had gained a great deal this night, and his mind already had more thoughts. After he left, the Homicide Department disciples walked into the prison, their faces all pale.

It was truly because this place had become a slaughterhouse.

But after looking at each other, they did not go to clean it up.

Because... these alien wanted criminals were not worth their sympathy. Any one of them here had killed no small number of innocents; rape and plunder were daily occurrences, especially toward humans, and some had even kept humans in captivity as meat.

The reason they were kept alive instead of being killed was just to make use of waste; when cannon fodder was needed, they were often the first to be sent out.

After leaving the Homicide Department, Xu Qing went straight to the medicine shop, where he bought more herbs and poisons, returned to the Dharma boat to continue his research, and after midnight, he headed to the Homicide Department prison again.

And this time, the moment he walked in, there was no more clamor or disgusting behavior inside. All the alien wanted criminals trembled instantly, their eyes filled with intense fear as they looked at Xu Qing, who walked in like a slaughterer.

Xu Qing's expression was calm as he passed by the cells, his gaze finally landing in the cell next to the black-clad girl, where there was an alien three-eyed cultivator with a scar on his neck.

Xu Qing looked at him with surprise, vaguely finding him familiar, remembering he was a member of the Night Owl, but he couldn't recall if he had sliced him open before, so amidst the cultivator's terrified screams, he grabbed him, sprinkled the powder, and released the little black bugs.

This night was the same as yesterday.

And time passed slowly; soon, another three days went by.

Among the disciples of the Mysterious Department's Homicide Department, the terror of Xu Qing began to spread, and all the wanted criminals in the prison had died, leaving only the black-clad girl, whose gaze toward Xu Qing was filled with even deeper terror.

"Have the Yellow Department send the wanted criminals here; I won't go over there." Xu Qing's instruction was quickly implemented. Just like that, in this Mysterious Department dungeon, the scene from a few days ago was reenacted.

All the alien criminals brought in went from initial madness and mockery to terror and horror, finally trembling in despair.

And Xu Qing's research on the little black bugs became increasingly thorough; he even added corpse poison, finally causing the number of those little black bugs to not only skyrocket but also become more threatening.

Often, once an alien wanted criminal was pounced upon by them, they would become white bones in a few breaths, their flesh and blood swallowed clean.

But Xu Qing was still not satisfied.

"External swallowing is easily blocked and guarded against; it should be hidden like poison to be better." Xu Qing pondered and notified the Homicide Department to bring the wanted criminals held in the Earth Department.

And the one most deeply affected here was the black-clad girl.

Before meeting Xu Qing, she had never known what fear felt like, but these days she had seen Xu Qing's various actions—that serious expression and the indifferent slicing, the searching and research without any clear fluctuations—making her entire emotional state fluctuate wildly.

Until the wanted criminals from the Earth Department were also brought, and this black-clad girl watched as Xu Qing waved his hand, a large cloud of black mist appearing outside his body. Gradually, her body trembled, and in the depths of the fear in her eyes, a trace of something unusual appeared, rarely seen.

After gazing at Xu Qing's profile, she raised her hand, bit her finger, and reached toward Xu Qing, her expression appearing as if she were asking if Xu Qing wanted to eat.

Seeing that Xu Qing ignored her, she took her hand back, shivering, put it in her own mouth, and began to suck her own blood.

Until a long while later, she spoke in a trembling voice.

"Brother Xu Qing... can you let me help?"