I've turned into a monster? What kind of monster have I turned into? Chen Jing was stunned.
He then recalled the inexplicable pain he had felt throughout his body during the hallucination, and it seemed he understood something.
"If it weren't for the darkness hovering above my 'divine self' giving me some kind of help, I would have become a monster, a monster who has gone mad with evil?" Chen Jing pondered.
He remembered what his teacher, the "expert," had told him: if he exhausted his spiritual power, something terrible would happen.
"So, the bad thing you're referring to is your body turning into a monster?"
"Then the glass monsters we hunt in the wilderness...could they have been humans before? Were they exhausted cultivators?"
"That black pill was called a spiritual sediment by the teacher...it came from the corpse of a wandering soul...and that corpse had consumed a genuine pill..."
"Who was that boy who gave the corpse the elixir, and what was his purpose?"
The more Chen Jing thought about it, the more terrified he became, feeling that a terrible secret was hidden in the ashes and ruins of the former Song Dynasty.
"Brother Jing... what's wrong?"
Seemingly noticing that Chen Jing was a little dazed, Wan Tong asked softly, her voice filled with fear.
Chen Jing snapped out of his thoughts and realized that he was not out of danger, just far away. He was now exhausted of spiritual energy and physical strength and could no longer dive into the "Dark Sea" to use "invisibility".
"It's nothing," Chen Jing said. "Let's go back and leave this place."
He pulled his sister along and walked out onto the street. Soon, it became his sister pulling him, who was almost exhausted.
"Brother, are you a superhuman now?" Wan Tong's soft voice came from beside him. Chen Jing could hear the expectation, excitement and joy in her voice, as if it had overshadowed the gloom of being sold by her "father" and almost becoming a blood sacrifice.
Chen Jing nodded, but the next moment, as he was being helped out of the alley, he still couldn't bear the pain in his whole body and brain, and almost fell to the ground because he lost his balance.
Fortunately, Wan Tong caught him.
"What kind of extraordinary talent am I..." Chen Jing thought, enduring the tearing pain throughout his body.
But he quickly recovered.
"At least, at least I rescued Wan Tong, at least I broke the Black Hand's blood sacrifice ritual, giving those who were captured a chance to escape."
Even if my skills are not good enough to do it perfectly, I have done everything I could.
A smile played on his lips, a carefree and smug smile.
Even though I'm not a cultivator, I was able to break into Lu Gang's ship and rescue the people I wanted to save!
“Let’s go back to my teacher’s place,” Chen Jing said to Wan Tong.
He had already made a decision in his heart.
Wan Tong quietly supported Chen Jing as they walked through the street.
Suddenly, a sound came from afar.
"An assassin has escaped from prison and blended into the crowd. We are ordered to check and stop him; anyone who tries to escape will be executed!"
Those were Black Hand's men; they were walking and telling the people around them.
Oh no! Chen Jing realized something was wrong.
The messenger under Black Hand walked up to Chen Jing, then suddenly frowned and turned to Chen Jing.
Why do you smell so strongly of blood?
Chen Jing's heart sank.
"There are three people in total, and they're a bit spread out. I don't have a sword, and I'm out of bullets, but I still have a dagger..."
Chen Jing silently considered the resources he could use, but the pain in his body left him powerless.
His heart sank little by little; he had run out of options, and he didn't even have the means to fight back.
"I..." Chen Jing was about to speak, about to utter a hastily made-up lie in an attempt to get away with it, when someone spoke up beside him.
“He was our hunting party’s monster lurer. During the hunt, we were attacked, and he lured the monster away for us.” Chen Jing recognized the voice: “He is Chen Jing, the one who lured away the slave souls.”
The messenger suddenly realized and looked at Chen Jing: "I just heard about him before. Tsk, kid, you're pretty good."
Chen Jing looked gratefully at the person who spoke up for him: "Commander Ma!"
The person who spoke up for Chen Jing and covered for him was none other than Ma Guang, the leader of the hunting party he used to serve!
Beside him were the other core members of the hunting party, "Treasure Bag" and "Expert"!
Ma Guang wore a heavy brown jacket, had a stubble-covered, square face, and wrinkles on his broad forehead. A straight sword and revolver were at his waist, and a grey cloak hung from his back—the typical attire of a member of a hunting party. He was tall and robust, and in Ash City, tallness and robustness were symbols of power.
Aunt Baibao's hair, as always, was loose and tangled, its jet-black, glossy strands hanging down. Deep crow's feet stretched around her eyes. She was said to be only in her thirties, but looked like a woman in her forties or fifties.
She wore sturdy boots, a leather apron with many pockets, a belt with many small items hanging from it, a shirt full of pockets and ornaments, a leather jacket with a belt, brown leather gloves, and a cloak with quite a few bulging pockets.
As for Chen Jing's teachers and experts, they still wore shabby and worn-out clothes, carried a knife, and had no other equipment.
"We've been looking for you for ages. It's not like this is your first time here. How did you get lost?" Commander Ma walked over, and his words seemed to have a magical power, quickly dispelling the messenger's doubts. They went to other places to look for the so-called "assassin."
The expert gave Chen Jing a deep look, his eyes seemingly holding a profound meaning.
Chen Jing looked at me strangely. "Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something you want to say to me?" But this place still belongs to the Black Hand's territory.
Little did he know the expert's inner whispers.
"I just wanted you to secretly rescue someone... how did it become such a big deal?" The expert felt a pang of unease.
"This is Wan Tong, right? I've heard Xiao Jing and Hua Xing mention you." Commander Ma said, "It seems like today isn't a good day to buy supplies. Let's go back first."
Aunt Baibao glanced at Commander Ma, then at the expert, as if she understood something, but didn't say anything.
The group walked together toward the market entrance, remaining silent as they went.
All three of them were somewhat famous, so they easily passed the check-out.
After they left, Commander Ma said to Chen Jing, "Take good rest these next few days. This money is a reward from the hunting group. Focus on recovering from your injuries and don't think too much. Things have been a bit chaotic in the city lately, so our hunting group will take a break for a while before we go hunting again."
As he spoke, Commander Ma handed a money bag to Chen Jing.
Chen Jing wanted to reach out and take it, but he was too weak. He could only smile awkwardly, thank her, and let Wan Tong take it.
After leaving, Chen Jing did not take Wan Tong home, but instead followed the expert and shamelessly went to his teacher's house.
After eating some flatbread and rice porridge to replenish their strength, Wan Tong fell into a deep sleep. There was an empty bed in the expert's room, which she could use. Chen Jing's headache and body aches had also improved a lot, but the expert did not want to let him go. Instead, he grabbed him and seemed to want to ask him what had happened.
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