The sense of oppression within Qingyan Town was extremely dense, even though the light was gradually dispelling the darkness.
The newly born sun had already risen.
In fact, the area of Morning Street was not large; mainly, the spacing between buildings was too short, which made it appear as if the crowd was surging.
Because the distance between the houses was only half a meter, Ren Qing could hear the surrounding sounds of relieved breathing, faintly mixed with sobbing.
He immediately understood why this courtyard had been left uninhabited, it was simply because death on Morning Street was all too commonplace.
There might not even be anyone who still recognized Fufeng.
These houses were like islands scattered across an endless ocean, seemingly close at hand, yet secretly harboring immense vigilance.
When Ren Qing first arrived at the Crescent Moon Layer, he was still somewhat unaccustomed to it. After confirming his own safety, he closed his eyes and began to circulate the Nether Yuan within his body.
Because he had not deliberately cultivated the Heavenly Dao Method, this small amount of Nether Yuan was extremely unstable and could dissipate at any time.
Ren Qing could only maintain the Nether Yuan; wanting to make it everlasting was nearly impossible.
After all, the cultivation of the Heavenly Dao Method required coordination with the Heavenly Dao Worm.
His Heavenly Dao Worm was parasitic within the ghost shadow and had already taken deep root. As for the Yellow Spring Immortal Bone, it was mostly reflected in its adaptability to Nether Yuan.
If he were to alter the Nether Technique into something similar to the Qingfeng Qi Refining Method, forcibly allowing the Nether Yuan to merge into his body, it would inevitably lead to uncontrollable aberration.
Fortunately, as long as the Nether Yuan continued circulating through the meridians, it could achieve endless regeneration.
Ren Qing's consciousness turned toward the Prison Within the Abdomen; Tian A was very fond of the environment inside, and even had the husky to play with.
He himself was already considered a stowaway; judging by Tian A's degree of aberration, it was quite possible he might be directly deported back to the New Moon Layer.
Ren Qing planned to attempt improving the Heavenly Dao Method, or perhaps, if given the chance to come into contact with the techniques of the Crescent Moon Layer, he could pass them on to Tian A for cultivation.
Perhaps Tian A's constitution indeed possessed some special quality.
Ren Qing no longer focused on the Prison Within the Abdomen. He lifted his head and stared at the morning sun for a long while, quietly estimating the time of day.
The alternation of day and night within the Crescent Moon Layer was identical to that of the outside world, yet from Zhang Yu's inexplicable death, it was clear that the night was far more dangerous.
Darkness would attract certain "aberrant entities" whose presence even the ghost shadow could not detect, most likely with the strength of the Yin Runner Realm, and thus not to be underestimated.
Ren Qing intended to understand the situation within the Crescent Moon Layer during the day and then make his preparations.
Although he could at any time return to the New Moon Layer for refuge, such a method could not be used too frequently, for the Giant Rabbit-Toad was still suspended overhead.
As daylight brightened, the street also became bustling.
But it was all just noise.
The footsteps of pedestrians, the turning of cart wheels, and the carrying of goods...
The people were silent and speechless. They resembled puppets, repeating mechanical lives; even conversation had become a luxury.
Ren Qing decided to use this house as a temporary foothold anyway, since the original owner was already nowhere to be found.
A faint scent of blood filled his nose.
Ren Qing walked straight to the door of the side room; the source of the smell was inside.
As soon as he opened the door, what came into view were large patches of bloodstains, yet there was no remaining flesh or bone.
It was as if they had been licked clean by beasts.
The blood on the wall formed the two characters "Hu Yi," which were likely written by Zhang Yu before his death using a severed limb, making one's hair stand on end.
Ren Qing understood that "Hu Yi" was the aberrant entity that had killed Zhang Yu.
But what puzzled him was why, after killing someone, both the Usurper Dragon and Hu Yi would deliberately use the victim's body to leave behind their names.
Could it be connected to some hidden secret...
Ren Qing cleaned up the bloodstains, then opened the windows and doors to ventilate.
Using the ability of the Double Pupils, he carefully searched for clues, leaving no corner unchecked, lest he miss any hidden compartments.
Ren Qing soon confirmed that Daoist Fufeng had indeed once lived here, though it was very likely he too had taken it by force.
Moreover, under the bed he found several handwritten pages.
However, when Ren Qing opened them, he couldn't help feeling disappointed, the pages were full of disorderly lines, and the writing was twisted and indistinct.
Daoist Fufeng had likely lost his sanity under the torment of aberration from the Qingfeng Qi Refining Method, becoming somewhat deranged.
By comparing the handwriting with that from the New Moon Layer, Ren Qing barely managed to find a useful clue.
Within the content of the pages, the place name "End of Sanmu Alley" appeared several times, and it was evident that the writing had been pressed with great force.
It revealed Daoist Fufeng's emotional agitation.
Ren Qing silently memorized the place name, then, after confirming everything, walked out of the courtyard.
He used the ability Immortal in the Mirror to deliberately suppress his own aura, so that even when brushing shoulders with others on the street, no one could sense anything amiss.
Ren Qing continuously observed all parts of the street.
Previously, his understanding of the Crescent Moon Layer had relied only on the ghost shadow's perspective, and since it was so far separated from the New Moon Layer, the information he had obtained was limited.
Now that he had personally come to Morning Street, he finally realized the Crescent Moon Layer's strangeness.
All of the residents were thin and sallow, to the point that calling them refugees would not be an exaggeration.
Their skin clung to their bones, their eye sockets were sunken, their clothes couldn't even cover their bodies properly, and their forms were covered with traces of aberration.
No wonder Ma Mang had been so terrified.
Anyone unprepared would be startled upon first seeing the scene of Morning Street.
What transcendence and enlightenment, this was clearly hell on earth; the people roamed like cannibalistic demons.
Ren Qing soon noticed the elderly woman selling noodles in the corner.
He did not go to question her, since she was merely an ordinary resident, and the information she could provide was very limited.
However, as he passed by, he noticed that the noodle portions she sold were extremely simple, barely a few mouthfuls, but her business was surprisingly good.
The other small stalls were similar; only the iron pots selling meat dishes were brimming full.
Yet even though the aroma of the meat filled half the street, very few residents went to buy it, and some even deliberately detoured around it.
Ren Qing glanced a few times, unable to tell what exactly was being boiled in the dark iron pot, it did not look like livestock meat at all...
From this, he could confirm that supplies on Morning Street were extremely scarce, and food was mainly coarse grains that could be stored easily.
Thinking of the lurking aberrations watching in the dark, it was somewhat absurd that Morning Street could still maintain even basic order.
But where did the residents' food supply come from?
After waiting for a moment, Ren Qing quickly found the answer.
"Heave-ho, heave-ho..."
Suppressed panting sounds passed nearby. Laborers continuously carried goods out of shops, seemingly transporting them to the end of the street.
He silently followed, thinking they would exit into other parts of the city.
But what appeared before him was a wall ten meters tall, as if the entire street was enclosed within.
The laborers passed the goods through a hole at the base of the wall, delivering them outside.
There were clearly many people waiting beyond the wall; curses could be faintly heard, evidently blaming the Morning Street folk for being slow.
The laborers finally received a bag of grain.
They did not respond at all, they were long used to keeping silent.
One wiped the sweat from his forehead and weighed the dry rations in his hands, feeling that they were somewhat light.
He patted the wall, but from the hole suddenly stretched out a long, narrow arm that directly snapped his neck.
The wall was several meters thick, one could imagine the length of that arm.
What astonished Ren Qing most was that the skin of the arm was dark green.
That was likely the result of absorbing a large amount of True Yuan; the being's cultivation was at least at the Core Formation stage, equivalent to the Ghost Envoy Realm.
When had Core Formation cultivators fallen to the point of guarding city walls?
Ren Qing secretly decided not to rashly use the Restraint Officer Method before understanding the situation in the Crescent Moon Layer, so as not to attract the attention of cultivators.
Only after confirming safety could he act freely, and even bring the Ghost Market into the Waning Moon.
Ren Qing shook his head. In fact, staying in Morning Street for a while posed no problem.
Aside from being cautious of the aberrations, the sealed Morning Street was quite suitable for the current circumstances; the supplies within the Prison Within the Abdomen were sufficient for decades of living.
Bang...
The laborer's corpse fell to the ground, blood slowly seeping from his mouth and nose.
The smell of blood attracted swarms of rats; dozens, hundreds of them dragged the corpse into the shadows, and soon the sounds of gnawing could be heard.
Instead, the bag of grain stained with blood was left untouched, apparently, the rodents were accustomed to eating human corpses and had no interest in it.
The other laborers wore expressionless faces, waiting a while before grabbing the sack of grain and walking toward the tailor's shop.
Unexpectedly, the way Morning Street obtained resources depended entirely on outside charity; the relationship between the two was more like that of jailers and prisoners.
The hole in the wall was then blocked with planks.
Ren Qing crouched beside the hole and knocked on the planks with his fingers.
From the other side, a man spoke in extreme irritation: "Get lost, do you have a death wish? It's almost the hour of the tiger, come back tomorrow."
Ren Qing couldn't help but ask softly: "How is the exchange of goods conducted?"
"You... you..."
"We're doomed, doomed..."
The man, realizing that Ren Qing had spoken, appeared incomparably terrified, muttering to himself again and again, his tone filled with despair.
Before long, several footsteps approached from afar.
Ren Qing could faintly hear the sounds of struggle, the man was soon subdued.
"How many times have I warned you not to talk to them? Do you have a death wish?"
"I... mmm... mmm..."
The man was tied up tightly, his mouth gagged so that he couldn't make a sound, seemingly struggling desperately to escape.
But before he could react, a sharp blade cut across his neck.
The heavy head thudded onto the blue bricks, rolling a few times before stopping at the corner of the wall.
Blood seeped through the planks to the wall on Ren Qing's side, and the curses directed at Morning Street residents began once more.
Ren Qing stared at the wall, if his Double Pupils had not sensed incorrectly, among the few people beyond it, one had already reached the Yin Runner Realm.
Though his cultivation was very strange, likely practicing a technique similar to the Qingfeng Qi Refining Method, it was indeed the Nascent Soul stage of the Heavenly Dao Method.
But how could Nascent Soul cultivators be so common?
One must know that even a Heavenly Daozi was only equivalent to the Spirit Division stage of the Yang God Realm.
And this was merely the Crescent Moon Layer, if Jingzhou had many more layers, would the Yang God Realm be everywhere...
Morning Street too was likely sealed off, forbidden from excessive contact with the outside. The guards were executed merely for saying one extra word.
Perhaps it was because of the existence of aberrations that the residents of Morning Street had become like a plague.
For Ren Qing, at least there was enough time in Morning Street to gather information, without directly facing the cultivators of Qingyan Town.
He shook his head and turned back to the bustling, crowded street.