Chapter 594 - 504: Luring to Kill
Qin Yun rode his Escape Light and landed in a small alley.
His eyes narrowed, fixated on the alley wall. A streak of crimson slowly dripped down the gray stone bricks.
Qin Yun touched it with his fingertip. The blood on the bricks was still warm.
"Very fresh blood..."
Qin Yun murmured to himself, taking out a talisman and dabbing it in the blood.
He had made many preparations to crack this murder case. This Blood-Seeking Talisman, which could memorize a bloodline’s aura and use it for tracking, was one of them!
HUM.
The surface of the Blood-Seeking Talisman touched a drop of fresh blood.
As if in a chemical reaction, the entire dark yellow talisman was rapidly stained a deep red.
Qin Yun grasped the talisman, channeled his Magical Power into it, and blinked.
A faint red mist immediately appeared in his vision. The mist continuously extended, like a living creature, leading down the alley and pointing east.
’Got you!’
A sharp glint flashed in Qin Yun’s eyes, and a savage look appeared on his face.
This reckless, foreign evil cultivator had been a major thorn in his side lately!
SWOOSH!
He mounted his Escape Light and followed the Blood-Seeking Talisman’s guidance, giving chase at top speed.
Flight was forbidden in Linyue Immortal City; only those with permission were exempt. Therefore, there was no way this evil cultivator could be faster than him!
WHOOSH!
Qin Yun transformed into an Escape Light, streaking across the sky above the city.
Soon, the buildings in his view became sparser and lower.
’The outer city?’
Qin Yun wasn’t surprised.
The inner city was orderly, with frequent patrols by the Law Enforcement Team. The outer city, however, was a chaotic mix of all sorts of people, with a large population.
If he were a foreign evil cultivator, he would also choose to hide in the outer city.
As he mused, the red cloud in Qin Yun’s vision grew richer.
This reaction meant he was getting closer and closer to the source of the blood aura!
His gaze hardened, and he prepared for battle.
WHOOSH.
Qin Yun stood upon the wind, looking down at a shack.
The Blood-Seeking Talisman’s trail ended here!
Qin Yun sent out his Divine Sense to envelop the shack, only to find that his Foundation Establishment Divine Sense couldn’t penetrate the seemingly ordinary, dilapidated structure.
"Hmph."
Qin Yun snorted coldly.
He didn’t hold back, forming a hand seal and gathering Fire-attribute Spiritual Qi.
BOOM!
An orange-red fireball the size of a human head crashed down!
The small, decrepit shack was blasted as if by a mortar. The wooden planks of its roof splintered and flew everywhere!
Then came the second, and the third...
Such a shocking commotion startled the surrounding residents. They opened their doors one after another, wanting to see who was so bold as to act so wantonly in the Immortal City.
The Loose Cultivators whose Alchemy or talisman drawing had been disturbed were even more furious, throwing open their windows, ready to curse out Qin Yun and his entire family.
But before the words could leave their mouths...
"Law Enforcement Team on duty! All uninvolved personnel, disperse!"
Qin Yun flashed a Token, shouting sternly with righteous confidence.
"The Law Enforcement Team!"
"A Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Drunken Moon Sect!"
The Loose Cultivators who had poked their heads out quickly retracted them like frightened quails, scattering in all directions.
Official law enforcers could act openly and justly, unafraid of revealing themselves.
After rebuking the onlookers, Qin Yun activated a protective magical barrier, landed on the ground, and walked toward the shack.
HUM.
He used a water technique to extinguish the flames burning on the shack.
Pinching the Blood-Seeking Talisman, Qin Yun sifted through the ruins for clues.
Soon, he uncovered a corpse that had died a miserable death.
"Hiss..."
The corpse’s torso had been gouged open from the abdomen, its internal organs gone.
"Ugh... this is the victim." Qin Yun pinched his nose, a look of disgust on his face. The bloody, gruesome sight was truly stomach-turning.
’But... where is the murderer?’
Finding only the victim’s body and not the murderer’s wouldn’t be enough to close the case.
Qin Yun’s Divine Sense surged, searching for the murderer’s body, or any possible tunnels or escape routes.
But just then...
A foul wind howled behind Qin Yun.
His hair stood on end. He threw up his protective magical barrier, and the next moment, he felt a heavy blow to his back. His entire body was sent flying forward.
THUD.
Ignoring his dignity, Qin Yun rolled on the ground to create distance before getting back up.
"What was that?"
Qin Yun looked behind him, his eyelids twitching violently and his heart seizing up.
HUM.
The monster that attacked him was like a huddled black shadow, most of its body hidden in the darkness.
At this moment, Qin Yun could only vaguely make out its general outline.
The monster was pitch-black and vaguely humanoid, but its limbs were extremely long and slender. In a fleeting glimpse, Qin Yun estimated its limbs were nearly two meters long!
It stood on all fours, its joints bent backward. Sharp claws grew from the ends of its limbs, glinting coldly and still stained with a few drops of fresh blood!
’Blood...’
Qin Yun’s heart tightened. Belatedly, he felt a sharp pain in his back.
He reached back and felt torn fabric. His Daoist robe was ripped, the skin beneath it split open and bleeding.
’Damn, that hurts!’ he cursed inwardly.
"ROAR!"
The black shadow let out a roar. A pair of enormous, bloodshot eyes that took up most of its face stared intently at Qin Yun.
Hairless, rubbery skin, and a malformed mouth that stretched to its ears—everything about the monster was utterly terrifying and bizarre!
The next moment, it bent its limbs, transforming into an afterimage as it lunged!
SHLICK!
The sharp claws tore through Qin Yun’s protective magical barrier. He hastily twisted his body, but a gruesome wound was still carved into his right arm!
But at the same time...
HISS!
A jade light flickered. A small, green dagger feinted.
It dodged the claw attack, swiftly pierced the black shadow monster’s skull, and twisted a few times.
The black shadow monster’s body immediately went rigid as if struck by lightning, then collapsed to the ground, motionless.
"Phew..."
Qin Yun took a few steps back, took out a Healing Elixir, crushed it with one hand, and applied the powder to the wound on his right arm.
A cool, tingling sensation seemed to seep into his very bones, making him suck in a sharp breath and clench his jaw.
’Finally killed it...’
Qin Yun’s heart was still pounding with fear.
This confrontation had lasted only a few breaths, an extremely short time, yet the danger was the greatest he had ever faced in his life!
If he had been just a little bit slower, his body would have been destroyed and his Dao extinguished, gone from this world!
’When did such a vicious creature infiltrate the Immortal City?’
Qin Yun’s lips twitched as he suppressed the intense pain, asking himself the question.
"This..."
He approached the monster’s corpse to examine it, and his expression immediately turned to one of utter shock.
After death, the black shadow monster’s body had rapidly transformed, becoming a perfectly ordinary human corpse.
’How is that possible...’
Qin Yun’s pupils contracted.
...
"Has the identity of the body been confirmed?"
"Mr. Qin, it’s been confirmed. He was an ordinary Loose Cultivator named Zhou Xiang. He lived in the outer city, had no particular skills, and mainly earned cultivation resources by hunting demons on ships."
"We found four other bodies at his residence, all mangled with their organs missing. Based on our deductions, the recent string of murders was the result of this Zhou Xiang succumbing to evil thoughts, cultivating a demonic art, and killing people to refine his techniques."
The Law Enforcement Team cultivator bowed his head and reported respectfully.
"Mm."
"Release the official statement according to this version of events."
"You may leave..."
"Yes, sir."
CREAK.
The door closed.
Qin Yun rubbed the space between his eyebrows, his eyes ringed with thick, dark circles.
He hadn’t told these disciples about the black shadow monster he’d seen, but he had reported the intelligence to his sect, hoping the Drunken Moon Sect would handle it.
However, the sect’s reply was that after examining the body, they had found nothing abnormal.
They even reprimanded him for filing a false report and wasting resources.
Qin Yun was filled with bitterness.
’Impossible... It transformed like that, and they found nothing abnormal?’
Qin Yun couldn’t understand it, but he instinctively felt this matter was of great importance and couldn’t be taken lightly. He even leveraged some of his connections.
For example, he asked people like Mr. Li to report it to the sect and issue a warning.
However, all these attempts vanished without a trace, yielding no results.
And in the past few days, the number of murders within Linyue Immortal City continued to rise.
It was relatively safe during the day, but once night fell, murders happened almost every night in the more remote parts of the outer city, where Law Enforcement Team patrols were scarce!
The victims’ bodies were just like the previous ones!
This forced Qin Yun to wonder just how many people in the city had been turned into monsters.
But their Drunken Moon Sect had a Golden Core ancestor. This Linyue Immortal City was right under that ancestor’s nose. The mastermind behind this matter...
Who could it possibly be?!
Fear crept into Qin Yun’s heart.
To him, the entire Immortal City now seemed utterly bizarre.
’I can’t do this. I can’t stay in Linyue Immortal City any longer. I have to find a reason to be transferred back to the main sect...’
...
Soon after, Qin Yun extracted himself from the situation. He was transferred back to the sect’s headquarters overnight, intent on laying low.
At the same time, another group of foreign cultivators actively set foot in Linyue Immortal City.
A middle-aged man with a bamboo hat, a thin, gray-white shirt, a longsword at his waist, and a stubbled chin wandered the streets of Linyue Immortal City.
He would occasionally stop at roadside stalls, haggling with vendors and purchasing some necessities.
He was no different from an ordinary Loose Cultivator, completely inconspicuous in the sprawling metropolis of Linyue Immortal City with its tens of millions of people.
But his true identity was Wei Yang, an Embroidered Robe Envoy of the Jade Void Sword Sect and a Golden Core cultivator, responsible for gathering intelligence and probing for the truth!
This time, he had received a message from Fairy Miaoyue regarding the Dao Embryo Dharma Aspect, a matter to which the Jade Void Sword Sect attached great importance!
However, no matter how important it was, the Jade Void Sword Sect couldn’t possibly dispatch a Nascent Soul True Monarch without concrete evidence.
Nascent Soul True Monarchs were incredibly busy. If they were dispatched so casually, the sect wouldn’t have enough of them even if their numbers were doubled!
Therefore, the Jade Void Sword Sect first dispatched a team led by Wei Yang, consisting of fifteen Crystal Realm Brocade Guards who had all undergone various forms of professional training, to verify the accuracy of the intelligence.
Under normal circumstances, even if they were all wiped out, they would still be able to bring back valuable and accurate intelligence for the Jade Void Sword Sect.
However, this time, they had run into Su Ye.
Mind control!
"Wei Yang reports that Fairy Miaoyue’s words are true. I have discovered a trace in Linyue Immortal City. It is highly likely Su Ye stopped here several years ago and acted once."
"I suggest we request Mr. Shishanzi to come here and perform a divination."