Chapter 135: Medicine Shop

"How many dangerous people are in this inn?" Lu Yang first sought to determine the source of threat in the establishment, and whether the waiter was the sole danger.

The waiter, clad in white garments, trembling violently as he extended two fingers: "T-Two."

"Who!"

"The two of you."

Meng Jingzhou stepped forward and delivered a swift kick: "Behave yourself!"

The waiter felt utterly helpless; bound by his white attire, he was incapable of lying, and in truth, these two were the most perilous entities in the entire inn.

Lu Yang rephrased his inquiry: "To ordinary people, how many dangerous individuals reside in this inn?"

"Just me," the waiter replied truthfully.

"Between you and the innkeeper, who is stronger?"

"I am stronger, but the rules we must abide by differ; he possesses an inherent suppression over me."

"Is your power the same in the Heaven-tier room as it is elsewhere?"

"No, based on the rules, my strength is amplified within the Heaven-tier room."

"Are there others like you, who possess different degrees of power in different locations?"

"Yes, take the entities in the thatched huts during the day, for instance. They are formidable within those huts and can traverse between them at will, but should they step outside, their strength diminishes to that of ordinary men, and they lose their capacity to traverse. However, I do not know what those things truly are."

"Are there others? For instance, the bailiffs in black or the private tutor in grey—do they receive any empowerment?"

"No, though they were originally cultivators, so their innate strength far exceeds that of common mortals."

"What is the relationship between the bailiffs and the private tutor?"

"I suspect their relations are strained, possibly involving competition. For example, much like the bailiffs, I must slay a certain number of people before I can depart from this town. I am uncertain of the specific conditions regarding the private tutor, but the requirements are likely identical."

"Do you know the whereabouts of the town mayor?"

"I have heard the mayor resides within the government office, though I have never seen him venture out."

"How does one slay the town mayor?"

"I do not know."

"What are the mayor's powers and abilities?"

"I do not know."

"Where is the ancestral hall?"

"The ancestral hall cannot be found during the day; only when the hour of Hai arrives does it manifest." The waiter answered every question posed to him, behaving with utmost compliance.

The revelations disclosed by the waiter aligned closely with the conjectures previously deduced by Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou.

With nothing left to inquire, Lu Yang took action, stripping the waiter of his white garments before piercing his torso with a single sword thrust, sending him to the great beyond.

As a helmsman of a demonic cult, how could he possibly leave a witness alive?

"Fortunate that you stripped him beforehand, otherwise those white clothes would be soiled." Meng Jingzhou stretched his limbs: "Finally, we can enjoy a peaceful night's slumber."

Lu Yang shared the sentiment; tonight had yielded a bountiful harvest, and the annoying knocks upon the door would trouble them no more.

The pair searched the corpse, retrieving the inn's rules from the waiter's person, though these were of little utility now that they had thoroughly discerned them.

"Our rules vanished after a single glance. Had it not been for our exceptional memories, we would have forgotten them long ago. Yet they are permitted to keep a physical copy to ensure no errors. It seems the treatment these waiters receive is entirely different from ours."

On the third day, at the hour of Si, the watchman's clapper roused the two men, who yawned, feeling thoroughly refreshed by their comfortable slumber.

Having heard the waiter's cries for succor and the assorted commotion the previous night, the innkeeper resolved to venture upstairs at dawn to inspect the situation.

When his eyes fell upon the waiter's tragic and gruesome demise, he lapsed into a protracted silence.

Are these two truly disciples of the righteous path?

Upon departing the inn, Lu Yang left a note for the establishment's master: The white garments serve their purpose well; we shall borrow them for two more days.

What Lu Yang failed to notice was the faint trace of terror lingering within the innkeeper's gaze as he watched them leave.

Furthermore, the tone of the missive bore an uncanny resemblance to those overbearing demonic cultivators who defaulted on debts yet remained arrogant.

It carried the distinct sentiment of: "This is a fine possession, I shall take it for my use, and return it once I grow weary of it."

"An illusion, surely?"

Evidently, the innkeeper possessed scant knowledge regarding the Sect of Asking Dao.

For low-level cultivators such as himself, their understanding of a colossal entity like the Sect of Asking Dao was largely derived from hearsay.

And rumors, more often than not, were utterly unreliable.

After leaving the inn, the duo located an apothecary, wherein stood a young apprentice garbed in grey attire.

Observing the arrival of patrons, the apprentice greeted them with warmth and enthusiasm: "Welcome, honored guests. What might you require? Have you chanced to hear a dog's bark? Or perchance encountered a black hound?"

"If you have heard a dog barking, I possess a ready-made remedy right here."

The apprentice presented a cauldron of bubbling, crimson liquid: "This is prepared by grinding cinnabar grass into powder and simmering it for ten hours. Upon consuming this concoction, drowsiness will temporarily ensue, and once you have slept, the influence of the barking will dissipate."

"Should you have encountered a black hound, then make haste and follow me, lest you be swiftly assimilated by it."

"There is a well in the rear courtyard of the apothecary; you must draw the water with your own hands. So long as you drink the water drawn by your own strength, you shall escape assimilation."

Meng Jingzhou opened his mouth to request an audience with the proprietor, but Lu Yang stayed him.

Meng Jingzhou instantly caught Lu Yang's drift; there was no necessity to exchange words with the apprentice, who was a stranger, meaning his assertions were in all probability deceptive.

The two sat in composed serenity, remaining utterly mute regardless of how anxious the apprentice appeared or how deeply he seemed to care for their well-being.

After approximately half an hour had elapsed, the apprentice retreated into the rear courtyard, and the apothecary proprietor, clad in white garments, finally emerged.

"Have the two of you encountered some adversity, or do you harbor some inquiries?" The proprietor was an elderly man with a benign countenance, the sort that naturally inspired trust and invited others to confide their grievances.

The pair remained mindful of the rules, which strictly forbade conversing with the apothecary proprietor.

Lu Yang proffered a slip of paper to the old man: We have heard the barking of a dog. How should we proceed?

"You require two maces of Clear-Sight Grass. Moisten it with saliva, crush it, and plug your ears with the fragments. Maintain this for a quarter of an hour, and the affliction shall be expelled."

Lu Yang scribbled once more: Provide four maces of Clear-Sight Grass. Furthermore, what if we encounter a black hound?

"Encountering a black hound brings grave peril. Those who meet one cannot help but utter canine cries, and the moment a sound escapes them, they are assimilated by the beast."

"Yet a remedy exists: use a needle and thread to sew the lips shut, leaving not a single crevice. Keep it sewn for half an hour without uttering the slightest sound, and you shall avoid assimilation."

Lu Yang listened with rapt attention, before writing another query: How does one depart from this town?

"Departing the town? Ah, that is a far more troublesome matter; indeed, I deem it an impossibility."

"The town harbors an ancestral hall, within which stands a half-naked Buddhist statue with blinded eyes. Remove the statue from the hall and shatter it, and an exit leading to the outer world shall manifest. However, that exit is guarded by the Bone-Dissolving Astral Winds. The wind enters through the seven orifices and departs likewise; in its passage, flesh and blood dissolve, leaving naught but a skeletal frame. Life ceases and the Dao extinguishes; none can withstand it."

"This is the solitary path to leave the town."

The hearts of the two men sank; such rules were explicitly designed to bar any escape.

On second thought, it stood to reason; the ancient Fusion Stage experts who concealed themselves here would absolutely never permit their secrets to be exposed to the world.