Chapter 810: Morning Light, Kitchen Mist, Strange Man
In the abandoned garden of Ten Thousand Willows, amidst the cluster of graves, countless strands of aura emerged.
Those auras were very faint, yet carried a bone-piercing chill, different from the aura of demon clan experts, different from the dragon breath of the Frost Wyrm, seeming even more yin and foul.
These graves buried successive generations of the Zhu clan's experts, most of them at the upper Star Convergence realm. Although the two Sacred Domain experts, including Zhu Luo, had only cenotaphs, fragments of their divine souls still lingered. As for that yin and foul sensation, it came from the corpse poison on the rotting flesh and bones.
Starlight seemed to dim at that moment.
Those auras gradually converged toward the hunchbacked dwarf, drawn by the sacred power he released into a jade bottle before him.
Using the most orthodox divine arts to collect the most yin and foul corpse poison—even the Imperial Palace had no records of this, because such methods were too ancient and archaic, their inheritance preserved only in certain places, such as some mountain gates of the Southern Sect of the State Religion, Holy Maiden Peak, or the Longevity Sect...
If any important figure of the Tang clan were present, they might recognize that one of the formations in the Imperial Carriage Array of the capital was quite similar to this.
As time passed, the yin and foul aura among the graves grew fainter and fainter, all entering that small jade bottle.
The hunchbacked dwarf opened his eyes, staring at the small jade bottle before him, his eyes filled with greed and excitement.
He carefully brought the small jade bottle to his nose and sniffed. Though it had no scent at all, his face showed an expression of intoxication.
Inside the small jade bottle was half a bottle of liquid, clear and transparent like water, but relatively viscous, more like some kind of nectar.
Fish dew and pine resin were both dew from after death, and the liquid in the bottle was the same—this was Yellow Spring Dew.
The night deepened, starlight grew strong again, and the cemetery outside the Ten Thousand Willows Garden returned to its former state. No one could tell that it had been dug up, and no one knew that the corpse poison from the departed souls of the Zhu clan's successive experts had been collected by someone using an inconceivable method.
The hunchbacked dwarf returned to the inn called Willow Lodge.
He was already very short, and with his hunched back and lowered head, plus the black veil covering his head, his face was completely invisible.
Since leaving his mountain gate, he had lived and traveled in deep mountains and wild forests, rarely seeing people, because he was somewhat self-conscious.
Only in recent days, after learning to dress like this, did he feel somewhat satisfied.
This was how he had learned from that demon clan big shot he saw on the snowy plains that night.
Entering the kitchen through the inn's side door, he crouched like a dog outside the window, staring at the sky above the courtyard wall, waiting for the arrival of morning light.
From behind the window came the sound of chopping scallions and the chef's low scolding, then it was drowned out by steam.
He stood up and walked into the kitchen, looked at the labels on the food boxes, found his target, took out the small jade bottle, and dripped a few drops onto a plate.
Today's breakfast at Willow Lodge was Hanqiu City's famous jade tofu. The liquid from the jade bottle dripped onto it, looking like honey, very appetizing.
The food box was quickly taken out of the kitchen and sent to the corresponding guest rooms according to the labels, so that the guests would wake up in the morning with a good mood.
The hunchbacked dwarf crouched back outside the window, watching the increasingly bright morning light, thinking about what would happen soon, his eyes gradually narrowing, in a very good mood.
However, nothing happened.
The morning sun had already leaped above the horizon, even crossed the low wall before his eyes, yet the inn remained very quiet. He could hear the sounds of washing up, the sounds of conversation, he could even hear the clinking of tips in the waiter's pocket, but he did not hear the sound of those two people's hearts stopping.
The warm red morning sunlight shone on his ugly face, and his rust-colored pupils shrank to the size of a grain of rice.
He walked back into the kitchen again, looked at the food box in the waiter's hands, and confirmed that the jade tofu on the plate had been completely eaten.
He slowly tilted his head, very puzzled, leaned close to the plate with only some sauce left, sniffed it, and confirmed there was no smell.
Strangely, the waiter seemed completely unable to see him—the scene was very eerie.
He muttered to himself, "Not dead? How is that possible?"
The waiter suddenly heard a voice in the air beside him, was startled, and almost cried out.
The reason he didn't cry out was that a hand covered in black fur and scales suddenly extended from the air, gripping his throat.
The hunchbacked dwarf revealed his figure, expressionlessly staring at the waiter, his eyes devoid of any human emotion.
The waiter had never seen anything so ugly, so disgusting. He struggled frantically but couldn't break free.
The hunchbacked dwarf thought for a moment, then very preciously took a drop of liquid from the small jade bottle and dripped it onto the waiter's face.
Instantly, the waiter's body stiffened, unable to struggle anymore. A black spot appeared on his face, then rapidly spread to all parts of his body.
In a very short time, a living person turned into a breathless, pitch-black statue, dead like that.
The hunchbacked dwarf observed the waiter's transformation, thought there was no problem, but his facial features scrunched together, looking particularly troubled.
A slightly cool morning breeze blew in from the window, dispersing the remaining steam in the kitchen, and at the same time, it blew the waiter's corpse into countless wisps of black smoke.
Facing the morning sunlight, those black smoke quickly became transparent, no longer visible.
...
...
Nanke had already packed her luggage.
Chen Changsheng stood by the window, looking at Hanqiu City under the morning sun, finally feeling that this city had some vitality.
But in the next moment, he sensed the passing of a life force.
He didn't know where this feeling came from, why he suddenly sensed it.
Countless living beings existed between heaven and earth, with lives being born and lives passing away every moment.
That he could sense it only meant that this passing of life force was related to him.
He withdrew his gaze and looked at Nanke.
Just then, Nanke also looked up, their eyes meeting in the air, recognizing the alertness in each other's hearts.
Nanke's gaze shifted again, finally landing on a certain spot on the floor ahead.
Through the floor, it would reach downstairs, to a certain room on the right.
Chen Changsheng's mind stirred, and countless sword lights appeared in the room.
The countless morning rays coming in from the window instantly lost their color, their brilliance dimmed.
Countless sword intents fell with extreme sharpness, and in an instant, the wooden floor silently vanished, turning into dust particles dancing in the morning light.
Chen Changsheng and Nanke landed on the ground.
Just as their feet touched the ground, the stone wall in front of them also dissolved, turning into the finest powder scattering in all directions.
The stone wall disappeared like that, revealing the scene behind it.
On the chopping board were still scallions, and the iron pot under the steamer was still emitting steam.
Clearly, this was a kitchen.
In the middle of the kitchen stood a strange man.