Chapter 256 So-called Proving the Dao
Zhong Cai didn't dare to think too much. After calming herself down, she whispered in Wu Shaogan's ear, "Old Wu, let's keep going."
Wu Shaogan agreed and then added, "Be extra careful."
Zhong Cai felt a little better and snorted, "You're the one who carried me on your back, so you should be careful."
Wu Shaogan's brows relaxed a little, and he agreed again.
He then sped up even more.
The wind howled on both sides, but Zhong Cai paid no attention to anything else and solemnly continued to observe the situation on the roadside—even if he could only see the general outline, he could still get a general idea in his mind.
This should be... a big problem.
·
With Wu Shaogan's incredibly fast pace, the two arrived in front of the large building complex.
Human settlements are often adjacent to mountains and forests, and are usually fortified with very strong outer walls as a means of defense.
Zhong Cai saw it at a glance—
Large sections of the wall have been corroded, leaving only a few remnants barely standing. Black water seeps into the walls and cracks in the stones, and bubbles rise from the surface of the remaining walls. Every now and then, a few drops flow down, leaving a small pit on the ground, which is very eerie.
The poisonous fog was very thick, and some of it even formed black clouds, covering the plaque at the town gate.
It was difficult to make out that it said: Qingyu Town.
Judging from the size of this town gate... it must have once been a medium-sized town.
Upon arriving here, the poisonous fog became even thicker. After the antidote stone dispelled it, a safe "circle" appeared around Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan—as if they were enveloped by a light black dome.
It's even stranger now.
·
Wu Shaogan tugged at Zhong Cai.
Zhong Cai gritted her teeth and said, "Let's go in."
Wu Shaogan didn't stop walking; in a flash, he entered the town gate without his feet touching the ground.
Zhong Cai was staring at the black water, his mind racing, constantly searching for the alchemical knowledge he had acquired.
What kind of poison is this?
Many poisons have similar effects, and the color of the black liquid is also similar, so it's not possible to distinguish them yet. We need to obtain some of the poisonous liquid and try to neutralize it with other medicinal materials, and conduct further research...
Zhong Cai did not make a decision immediately.
Because at that moment, his eyes widened in disbelief!
Corpse!
A dense mass of corpses!
On both sides of the street, under the eaves of every house, corpses hung swaying precariously.
Some houses have one or two bodies hanging in front of them, while others have more than ten!
It was as if... all the townspeople living in these houses, from the same family, had hung it in front of their own doors.
·
Wu Shaogan walked quickly for a while.
Zhong Cai's gaze followed suit and moved quickly.
The two arrived in front of a large house.
The house occupied a vast area, and the corpses were piled up one after another in front of the gate, under the eaves, and on the courtyard walls, making it impossible to see them all at a glance.
The doors were wide open.
Looking inside from the entrance, one can see that, without exception, every room and under the eaves is filled with a different number of corpses.
Zhong Cai gasped and looked into the distance.
With his illuminating eyesight, he could see everything clearly, even at the very front of the street, the scene was exactly the same!
A gust of air rose up around Wu Shaogan, lifting him into the air.
The two hovered in the air, their spiritual senses sweeping across the surroundings.
Everything that can be seen, everything that can be perceived, is the same.
Wu Shaogan glanced at the scene expressionlessly, then gently patted Zhong Cai on the shoulder reassuringly—he knew that Cai would be upset.
Zhong Cai was indeed feeling terrible.
Although he has been reincarnated into this world for decades, far exceeding the years he lived in his previous world, and has long since adapted to the rules of this world, he can often turn a blind eye to the fighting and cruel methods he sees, as long as they are between cultivators and have nothing to do with him.
But he had never seen Tu... Tu Town.
This poisoned an entire town!
The population of Zhongzhen is at least 500,000.
In a town of this size, the strongest cultivator is probably only at the Palace Opening Realm.
That's truly brutal and a case of the strong bullying the weak!
What's even more shocking is that they actually... hung all the corpses up!
Anyone capable of doing something like this is definitely not a normal person!
·
Zhong Cai suddenly closed her eyes.
When I opened my eyes again, the scene before me had not changed at all.
It was completely quiet here, without a single human voice.
It was very cold and damp.
The poisonous fog swept through the streets with the sound of the wind, carrying a somewhat pungent aroma.
The dark clouds gathered and dispersed intermittently, howling back and forth, displaying their presence quite ostentatiously.
Zhong Cai felt like she was in a horror movie.
But Chung Tsai really hopes this is a ghost movie... rather than a real-life phenomenon.
·
Zhong Cai felt heavy-hearted and sighed, saying in a low voice, "Old Wu, go down first, I'll take another look nearby."
Wu Shaogan followed the instructions and carried Zhong Cai to a nearby corpse.
Zhong Cai carefully examined the condition of the corpse.
From a distance, they all looked like the gray of a dead person, but when Zhong Cai got closer, she realized that they weren't actually stiff. On the contrary, their lips still had some color in them, and their expression was very peaceful, with a slight smile, as if they were sleeping very comfortably...
and--
Zhong Cai's pupils contracted: "Old Wu, am I mistaken?"
Wu Shaogan also sensed it and suddenly said, "A-Cai wasn't mistaken, there's still a faint breath."
Zhong Cai dared not be negligent and patted Wu Shaogan lightly.
Wu Shaogan understood and carried Zhong Cai along the street to observe each of the hanging corpses.
Then, Zhong Cai was shocked to discover that none of them were completely dead!
"They are all... still alive."
Although they were both poisoned and looked close to death, they were indeed still alive.
Zhong Cai slowly exhaled.
It's good that you're alive.
During her observation, Zhong Cai discovered that there were no ropes connecting the corpses to the eaves. Instead, a tuft of long hair stood up and pierced through the eaves, naturally suspending them.
That clump of long hair was incredibly tough; it was unclear whether it was part of the poisoning or some other method used.
Zhong Cai: "..."
Who would use their hair to dangle like that? Do they think it's funny?
Zhong Cai frowned deeply.
But in any case, the fact that no one in the town died made him feel a little better.
I just don't know who went to all this trouble, or what their motives are...
For a moment, Zhong Cai hesitated to make a decision.
His intention was to conduct research here to see if he could develop an antidote.
But who knows what the person behind it all is thinking?
What if his actions anger the townspeople and cause them to lose their last breath?
·
Seeing Zhong Cai in a difficult position, Wu Shaogan suggested, "Let's search the whole town first. If we find nothing, we can take this message to the nearest city and see what to do next."
Zhong Cai nodded and continued, "If we can go ahead and do it, it would be best to find a high-level alchemist to conduct the research, which would save lives much faster."
The two quickly agreed and sped off through the town.
·
Before long, the two found an underground river on the west side of the town.
Zhong Cai sniffed the air, frowned, and cursed, "That bastard poisoned this underground river!"
The aura contained in the underground river was very similar to that permeating the town, but the townspeople, whose strength was only at the first or second level, could not distinguish it at all due to the level of poison. They could not even smell a trace of it and would only feel that it was no different from usual.
After sensing the water, Wu Shaogan said, "This underground river flows to wells throughout the town."
The townspeople would be poisoned if they drank the water they collected.
But how did that person manage to keep everyone in the town so neat and tidy...?
Wu Shaogan led Zhong Cai on another search.
Zhong Cai then discovered traces of burning incense in the open space in the center of the town.
There wasn't just one place burning incense throughout the town; there were several other places where it was done in the wind. Whenever a strong wind blew, the incense would instantly spread to every corner of the town.
However, the scent of incense did not overlap with the poison in the underground river.
Zhong Cai pondered, perhaps it was a combination of elements that produced the corresponding effect, but it was still impossible to make a specific judgment.
Wu Shaogan speculated, "During the day, the townspeople drink water—their spiritual cultivation isn't high enough to go an entire day without a drop. If most people drink the poisoned water, and incense is burned, it should be enough..."
Zhong Cai nodded and said, "Ranxiang didn't even leave behind a single medicinal residue, which is probably a way of hiding something. The townspeople who didn't drink the underground river water eventually replenished their supply with the poisoned water, which may be more related to Ranxiang."
By this time, Zhong Cai had several guesses about why incense was being burned.
·
After tracking down all the sources of the poison, the two found no other sources and prepared to go to a nearby city to inquire.
However, they had barely started walking out when they encountered several groups of people.
Wu Shaogan paused in his steps.
Zhong Cai hesitated for a moment, but still did not immediately jump off her old man's back.
·
The groups of people who came should be from the city and county.
Some looked grave but weren't surprised by the "corpses" scattered throughout the town. They must have been the ones who discovered them earlier and made similar plans to Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan: to "report the case" to a nearby city.
Some of them seemed to have come to check on the situation; their faces were now ashen, and they looked at the "corpses" with unbearable pity.
These people naturally saw Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan as well.
Several people immediately came over and asked, "What brings you two here?"
Seeing that they meant no harm, Zhong Cai landed steadily and replied, "My husband and I were just passing by when we saw...it was truly shocking, so we went in to investigate." He paused and then asked, "And who are you all?"
These people quickly introduced themselves.
Sure enough, some of them were just passing by and reporting the crime, but most of them were influential figures from nearby cities.
Zhong Cai scanned their strength; the strongest among them, like Lao Wu, was also a fusion expert.
It poses no threat to him or Lao Wu.
Zhong Cai sighed softly and continued to inquire, "Do any of you know any specific information?"
The middle-aged man who had spoken to Zhong Cai nodded heavily.
Zhong Cai was surprised. They found out so quickly?
The middle-aged man noticed Zhong Cai's question and said with a bitter expression, "We all know—or rather, not only in the nearby cities, but also in many prefectures, the news has spread."
Zhong Cai was even more puzzled.
The middle-aged man quickly explained, a hint of hatred still in his eyes, "This is the arrival of the Evil Poison Master to prove his Dao!"
Zhong Cai's eyes widened: "Wh-what is this?"
What exactly is this "Cult Master's Path to Enlightenment" thing? What are the theories behind it?!
It sounds like something amazing.
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan, who are on the top tier of the mainland, still lack much of the "knowledge" or common sense that mainlanders can acquire gradually through their upbringing.
The middle-aged man and the others were in a state of extreme anger and anxiety, and they did not notice the subtle abnormality in Zhong Cai's reaction. They assumed that he was also shocked by the "evil poison master's enlightenment" and quickly told him everything they knew.
The language is very concise.
·
The world's alchemists can study all sorts of subjects, and anything related to alchemy belongs to the Dao of Alchemy.
Therefore, many alchemists are actually called ordinary alchemists, poison masters, healers, etc., depending on their respective areas of interest.
While normal alchemists are very dedicated to their research, some with eccentric personalities might secretly obtain research materials that shouldn't be shared, quietly doing something unethical.
However, on the surface, neither alchemists nor martial arts practitioners can do things like "massively harming innocent people."
·
If there is a deep-seated blood feud and the intention is to exterminate an entire family or clan, it is not considered a very serious problem, after all, it is a matter of revenge; if some sects fight each other and one side is wiped out, it is a matter of conflict of interests, and it is also within the bounds of tolerance.
But if someone were to slaughter a faction or group without any reason or just because they didn't like them... it's not that no one has ever done this before, but if they did it without any grudges or conflicts of interest... then it wouldn't stop a more powerful faction from also disliking that person and wanting to mess with their faction as well.
Cultivators who commit such heinous acts are generally vicious and wicked, so when mentioning them, the word "wicked" must be added before their names.
Those who most frequently do this are not the cruel and evil martial arts cultivators, but the evil alchemists.
These types of alchemists really like to "do big things," and often they deliberately create a lot of trouble because various forces are cracking down hard on incidents of indiscriminate massacres!
This leads to two possible scenarios.
One is indiscriminate slaughter, and the other is to "prove one's way" for oneself.
The so-called "proof of the Dao" is often just a test given by evil alchemists to a large number of cultivators, which is then completed by other alchemists.
If no one can solve the problem, the "tools" will basically be completely destroyed, while the evil alchemist will have successfully "attained enlightenment".
From then on, the evil alchemist's reputation spread far and wide, leaving a significant mark on both the righteous and the evil paths.
even……
Throughout history, those evil alchemists who dared to do this were actually already on the Heavenly Ranking.
They felt that Danbang hadn't revealed their deeds, so they were even more determined to do something so outrageous to promote themselves.
Those who succeed in becoming evil alchemists are renowned figures in the entire evil path, earning the respect of countless evil cultivators and the favor and protection of numerous powerful figures.
That's how it is now.
·
Why would the people in the surrounding cities know the specific events that happened here?
It wasn't that their investigation was fast enough, but rather that the evil sorcerer had just finished his job and left, and then immediately announced it to the world.
His "topic" was to detoxify the cultivators in this town.
The message was spreading rapidly, soon reaching all corners of the world.
At that time, many alchemists will come to study and solve the problem.
However, only alchemists at the same level as the Evil Poison Master can participate in "solving" such questions of "proving the Dao".
Alchemists of level six and above are not qualified.
It's not that they're unwilling to put in the effort; there are still more normal people in the world who enjoy seeking justice and revenge and don't like bullying the weak. Faced with such a tragic situation, they are all willing to put in some effort.
However, there are also many top experts in the unorthodox path, and they do not allow alchemists above this level to influence their juniors' "path to enlightenment".
It's disgusting, but this is a decision made after much deliberation following numerous battles between top-tier experts.
·
Evil alchemists used to wreak havoc everywhere. Some terrifying level eight and nine alchemists treated an entire region or even a continent as their playground, causing countless deaths. Many prodigies perished as a result, leading to a near-collapse of powerful figures in many factions.
As a result, many powerful cultivators stepped forward and clashed with the powerful cultivators from the evil path.
The battles rage on in the lower levels as well.
The orthodox cultivators demanded that the evil alchemists cease such wicked deeds, while the heretical sects told the orthodox cultivators not to meddle.
The two sides have been locked in a protracted conflict for many years, resulting in an enormous number of cultivators dying in the battles.
The evil path would vent their anger on innocent towns, instantly killing more people—and since the evil path was already small in number, it was also hit hard, with many promising members of the evil path being precisely sniped.
Now, a tacit understanding has formed between the two sides.
As for those on the evil path, martial arts cultivators of level seven and above, as well as evil alchemists, are no longer allowed to attack human settlements.
For example, in the past, evil fighting kings often liked to destroy cities during battles, turning countless ordinary cultivators into a mass of flesh and blood to become their cultivation resources; evil poison masters also used towns as units to test the effects of the various evil items they obtained.
These high-level heretical sects have to keep quiet for now.
For legitimate cultivators, it is necessary to allow level 5 and 6 heretical cultivators with sufficient ability to do some really bad things—this permission does not mean protecting them or allowing them to play with living people, it simply means that cultivators above their level cannot step forward to kill heretical cultivators—but cultivators of the same level can freely kill them.
For example, if a level 5 or 6 heretical cultivator does not make it onto the Sky Ranking, they are not within the "permitted" range.
This is already a significant constraint.
Once an evil alchemist makes it onto the Sky Ranking, they will be targeted by many respectable cultivators, making it difficult for them to easily take drastic measures against towns and other human settlements.
These wicked alchemists would also try to pull off some fancy tricks.
In other words, they look for opportunities to take action against towns—and “proving one’s way” is more interesting and prestigious to them.
Evil alchemists often use poison, and those who come seeking an antidote are naturally only alchemists of the same level five or six.
·
Their crimes are heinous and their provocations shameless.
Zhong Cai's mood worsened.
In other words, the evil poison master wanted to prove his power by sacrificing the lives of the entire town!
The reason these townspeople didn't die wasn't because the evil sorcerer wanted to spare them, nor because he lacked the ability; rather, it was simply because they had become "written" "problems of enlightenment," nakedly revealing his wicked intentions.
Faced with this situation, if even the fifth-level alchemists are unable to solve the problem after arriving, they can only watch helplessly as all the townspeople die.
The alchemists could only watch helplessly as they were powerless... Would they doubt their own alchemy skills? Would they be left with inner demons? Would they despise themselves for being inferior to someone who practiced evil, and from then on... never recover?
Disgusting, so disgusting.
Zhong Cai's face looked very pale.
These damned evil sorcerers are disgusting!
·
Even though the middle-aged cultivator tried his best to restrain himself while explaining to Zhong Cai, he would occasionally reveal his anger.
The other cultivators who were listening in occasionally added a few words, all with expressions of disgust.
But that's just how it is.
If we really want to save the people of this town, we can only rely on a level 5 alchemist!
I just hope they can get there as soon as possible...
The middle-aged cultivator said solemnly, "Seven days."
Zhong Cai suddenly looked up.
The middle-aged cultivator sighed heavily and said, "The evil poison master left a message that if the poison cannot be cured, the townspeople will all lose their lives within seven days and turn into a pool of pus and blood."
Other cultivators also chimed in:
"The entire town will be destroyed."
"It is said that the pus and blood would instantly turn into a blood mist, spreading throughout the entire town. Any cultivators who remained here at that time would also perish as a result..."
"If alchemists are exposed to this poison for seven consecutive days and are unable to develop an antidote, they will also be poisoned."
"For alchemists, failure is..."
"What we're worried about now is, with such a difficult problem, how many alchemists will be willing to try it?"
Sighs continued from the crowd.
The one who is going to prove his Dao this time is a Poison Master on the Sky Ranking. Although we don’t know which one it is yet, there are a total of five Level 5 Poison Masters on the entire Sky Ranking!
Each of the evil poison masters has a relatively high ranking.
The most outstanding one is ranked in the twenties, while the worst one is ranked in the sixties.
They're all terrifying!
Moreover, the fact that the evil poison master explained the topic so clearly this time, and even the consequences, shows how confident he was in the deadly poison he had prepared!
In other words, he was confident that all the level-five alchemists who came to study this poison would be poisoned within seven days.
·
Zhong Cai was initially in a very bad mood, but as he listened, his expression calmed down considerably.
He laughed in exasperation.
That evil poison master is really arrogant, how dare he do that—
Zhong Cai didn't say anything more, but simply asked, "I wonder if my Daoist partner and I could stay here for a few more days?"
The middle-aged man had already noticed the complex fragrance of pills emanating from Zhong Cai, which was why he had said so much. Now, hearing his words, he couldn't help but ask, "Is the young master also a level five alchemist?"
Zhong Cai nodded and said, "I'm somewhat interested in this."
The middle-aged man didn't waste any words, and simply said solemnly, "Thank you for your trouble."
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