Chapter 13: The Half-Corpse Realm — [Dual-Pupiled One]
1356 Words
Daylight was just beginning to break.
Smoke rose slowly from the furnace. Ever since the corpses had shown signs of unnatural activity, Xiao Wu and the other two would rather take turns staying up all night than let the furnace go out.
Besides, they were only dealing with a few drowned fishermen’s corpses—everything had been taken care of within seven or eight hours.
Bo Feng simply got up early and specially instructed the three on furnace operation techniques, including how to handle strange and unexpected situations.
Thus, a few peaceful days passed.
During this time, Ren Qing mostly stayed indoors cultivating, only occasionally going out.
Even though he had already prepared to burn his own lifespan to break through, that didn’t mean cultivation was useless. At the very least, it helped temper the mind.
Ren Qing summarized his routine: first, two hours of meditating on the Eyeless Method.
Then, he would beat his own flesh with sticks until bruises formed, allowing them to gradually heal under the effect of the Human Skin Book.
He didn’t know the specific techniques recorded in the book, but after a few days of this self-abuse, his skin had indeed become more resilient.
Ren Qing also figured out how to hide the mutation in his eyes.
The method was to control the extent to which his eyes were opened—by squinting, he could block parts of the whites of his eyes.
Behavioral changes could easily be noticed by acquaintances, but subtle changes in appearance were far harder to detect.
After testing this for a few days, Ren Qing found it to be effective—Xiao Wu hadn’t noticed anything at all.
With no worries left, Ren Qing decided to proceed with advancing to the Dual-Pupiled state.
But first, he needed to prepare some fresh pig eyes to restore strength in case of any unexpected complications.
Ren Qing headed to Butcher Zhang’s meat shop.
He noticed that Butcher Zhang looked terrible—his face pale and his body visibly thinner.
“What’s wrong, Brother Zhang?”
Butcher Zhang rubbed his slightly swollen eyes and shook his head. “I don’t know why, but over the past few days, just keeping my eyes open for too long causes sharp pain.”
“Ah Qing, I’ve been to a few medical clinics, but nothing has helped.”
Ren Qing was alarmed. He noticed Butcher Zhang blinking rapidly, and his eyeballs were slightly bulging.
“Brother Zhang, let me take a look.”
“Alright.”
Butcher Zhang sat on a stool, and Ren Qing leaned in to examine him.
When Ren Qing pressed on his eyelids, cold sweat instantly appeared on Butcher Zhang’s forehead, and the burly man couldn’t help but cry out in pain.
“It hurts…”
Ren Qing frowned. The data stream showed nothing abnormal…
Wait—no!
Butcher Zhang clearly had fifteen years of lifespan left, yet now it had dropped by three years.
That couldn’t be due to some random disease. Even going blind wouldn’t reduce someone’s lifespan by that much.
Worried, Butcher Zhang asked, “What is it, Ah Qing? Is it serious?”
“It’s nothing—probably some blood or grime from cutting meat that irritated your eyes. Just get some rest.”
Though he said this, Ren Qing suspected it was related to the Hundred-Eyed One.
That being had gone quiet for a few days and had probably returned to the western district—likely planning to eliminate Butcher Zhang, who once had contact with it, to cover its tracks.
“I hope so. I’ve been so on edge lately I can’t even enjoy a drink anymore.”
Butcher Zhang let out a sigh of relief. At this point, he was desperate enough to take advice from anyone—even someone with no medical training like Ren Qing.
Ren Qing realized the Hundred-Eyed One might be secretly watching the butcher’s shop and didn’t press further to avoid arousing suspicion.
To avoid attention, he simply bought a few pig heads. He planned to extract the eyes at the furnace hall, while the pork heads could be used by Xiao Wu and the others as a drinking snack.
After leaving the butcher’s, Ren Qing carried the sack of pig heads through the street.
The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. Bo Feng’s words echoed in his mind, sending a chill down his spine.
“The cut on the neck was too clean—it didn’t look like it was made with a sharp weapon. More like… the head grew legs and walked away.”
Ren Qing’s steps slowed. Had he misunderstood everything?
What if the corpses were headless not because the Hundred-Eyed One was cautious, but because it had a way to make the heads leave the body on their own…
Since they both cultivated the Eyeless Method, Ren Qing knew he had to eliminate the Hundred-Eyed One—sooner or later, it would come for him.
Steeling his resolve, Ren Qing returned to the furnace hall.
He extracted the pig eyes and handed the rest of the meat to Bo Feng, then made a trip to Scribe Zhao to gather intelligence.
Though Scribe Zhao appeared cold on the surface, he was actually easy to talk to.
And Zhao had met Ren Qing once before—he remembered that Ren Qing had saved dozens of lives in the prison, which left a good impression.
It didn’t take long for Ren Qing to find the file on the beheading case, though it only contained preliminary investigative notes.
According to patrol reports, the victims all developed eye issues a few days before death, which then worsened into intense head pain.
Zhao noticed how focused Ren Qing was and couldn’t help but ask, “Why are you so interested in the beheading case?”
“Lord Zhao, have you noticed how these cases keep happening in every district except the western one?”
Ren Qing glanced through the file again before returning it. “Bo Feng mentioned this case yesterday. I just have a feeling the western district is next, so I want to be ready.”
Zhao replied casually, “Don’t worry. The Enforcers have taken over the case. That murderer won’t get far.”
“Better safe than sorry.”
Ren Qing didn’t want to rely entirely on the Enforcers. Knowing the way cultivators operate, they might even use Butcher Zhang as bait to draw the Hundred-Eyed One out.
After a brief chat, Ren Qing returned to the furnace hall.
He resolved to break through to the Half-Corpse Realm as soon as possible. Only by becoming a Dual-Pupiled One could he identify the Hundred-Eyed One amidst the sea of people in Sanxiang City.
Before entering seclusion, he handed all responsibilities over to Bo Feng.
Bo Feng was exasperated—he’d come to the street to get away from responsibilities, yet now he was even busier than before.
Ren Qing sat cross-legged in a dark, light-blocked side room.
He first reviewed all the issues he’d encountered in cultivation to ensure nothing had been missed.
At midnight, he began his final Eyeless Method meditation as a Martial Realm cultivator.
He wanted to see what lurked in the darkness.
He needed his mind to be flawless—any flaw could lead to disaster during the next phase of cultivation. After all, these techniques came with eerie risks.
Familiar darkness enveloped him. Strange sounds echoed from all directions.
Footsteps drew closer, yet Ren Qing stared resolutely, even with a faint smile on his face.
As the darkness parted, a twisted humanoid shadow emerged.
As it approached, it began to take on Ren Qing’s exact appearance—down to his facial expression.
Ren Qing muttered, “To stare fear in the face without flinching… so this is a Dual-Pupiled One.”
He had found the method to advance.
Given enough time, even relying solely on cultivation, he could still reach the Half-Corpse Realm.
“But what I lack most is time.”
Without hesitation, Ren Qing ended the meditation.
The data stream surged.
The mutation began.
- Writer
