Chapter 148: The Monsters Feeding in Ling City

The next morning, quite a stir broke out in Ling City.

Seven wealthy households in the city disappeared one after another. It wouldn’t have been unusual if people had died, but the problem was that not a single person or corpse was found.

Only shattered clothes were left on the ground—everyone had vanished.

And it wasn’t just one person: in these seven wealthy households, from the servants to the heads of the families, at least thirty and as many as a hundred people had simply vanished without a trace.

This naturally caught the attention of Ling City’s Warlord, who dispatched many soldiers and patrolmen to assist in the investigation.

Even the surrounding areas were sealed off.

After all, the matter was far too eerie—anyone capable of making hundreds of people disappear without a sound surely had the power to make the entire Warlord’s Mansion vanish as well.

You have to understand, there wasn’t even the slightest disturbance, and the methods used were downright eerie.

This put everyone in Ling City on edge; they had no choice but to remain vigilant and were even willing to spend heavily to catch the culprit.

Of course, that was what the upper class thought, but those actually carrying out the tasks were dragging their feet.

They were just a bunch of hired hands, earning a meager monthly wage—why risk their lives for it?

Looking at the perpetrator, they only targeted these wealthy families and hadn’t bothered ordinary folk like them. If they were foolish enough to go hunting the culprit and ended up disappearing, what then?

The top brass—the Warlords and rich merchants—could rest easy, but if they themselves disappeared, they’d have nothing left.

As for compensation?

In these times, corruption ran from top to bottom; if they even received a copper coin for risking their lives, it’d be considered generous.

Unless a superior officer was present, these men investigated the matter at a leisurely pace, secretly hoping they’d find absolutely nothing.

After all, if they uncovered something, they’d be the ones sent to track it down—and that could be fatal.

The whole world was in such chaos and decay that everyone tacitly understood and survived in their own way.

Ji Lan had changed her clothes but was still soaked through, sitting in the courtyard embroidering something.

She seemed to have returned to normal—and indeed she had.

“Lan’er, don’t go out lately. The Zhang Family has completely vanished; they say it’s the work of monsters.”

“Not just that cursed Zhang Family—there’s also the Li Family, the Wang Family, seven families in total. Hundreds of people, gone just like that. It’s terrifying.”

“But don’t worry, Lan’er. Your father has already hired some guards and fighters. Once we have more people, our energy will be strong, and those monsters won’t dare come near.”

Seeing Ji Lan embroidering in the courtyard, Mother Ji breathed a sigh of relief and began chattering away.

Ji Lan’s condition yesterday had been deeply worrying.

“I understand, Mother.” Ji Lan’s voice still carried a strange, weeping tone, but she replied.

“It’s good that you understand,” Mother Ji said, slightly exasperated. She glanced curiously at what Ji Lan was embroidering but couldn’t make any sense of it after a few looks.

“By the way, I heard from Granny Huang and the others that you drank dozens of buckets of water yesterday. This…”

Mother Ji hesitantly brought up the topic; judging by yesterday’s situation, the servants had been utterly terrified.

Ji Lan giggled softly. “Don’t listen to those gossips. I was incredibly thirsty when I came back, and there was barely any water in the pot, so I had to fetch some myself to drink. They thought I drank it all, but most of it spilled on my clothes. Weren’t my clothes wet when you hugged me yesterday?”

Her excuse seemed perfectly reasonable, yet Mother Ji felt something was off. Still, no matter how deeply she thought about it, she couldn’t find anything wrong with the explanation.

“Hmph, so it really was those gossips talking nonsense behind our backs.” After a moment’s thought and failing to spot anything suspicious, Mother Ji had to accept Ji Lan’s words. Thinking of what the servants had said, she snorted coldly.

“You think so too, Mother? I suppose you’ve been too kind to them all along, so they dare say anything. If this keeps up, the servants might bully their masters. We ought to discipline them properly.” Ji Lan followed up smoothly.

Mother Ji nodded. “You’re right. They really have become too unruly.”

A flash of red light glimmered in Ji Lan’s eyes before fading away. At that moment, she seemed more human.

…

“Tsk, tsk, this overwhelming bloodlust and Resentment Qi—it’s impossible to miss. But the rate of strength growth is just too fast. It’s as unscientific as leveling up by killing monsters.”

Chen Xiyi sat in the trading company, having just concluded a deal to join a merchant caravan. It cost him twelve Silver Dollars; he’d hoped to bargain it down to ten, but only managed twelve. Still, two Silver Dollars weren’t a big deal.

He bargained because he didn’t want others to see him as an easy target. If you simply paid whatever people asked, you’d be a fool—especially when using valuable currency like Silver Dollars.

“These next couple of days definitely won’t be peaceful. I wonder just how far Ji Lan will grow.”

This was Ji Lan’s rapid development phase, though it didn’t mean she had limitless potential. Her upper limit was probably only as strong as a Water Ghost in water.

But that was plenty powerful—perhaps even comparable to some low-level Qi Refiners.

Any Feng Shui Master or Magician with a bit of skill passing by the Ji residence would notice something unusual.

Of course, they’d only notice; they wouldn’t think too much of it.

After all, conventional wisdom held that cities absolutely could not harbor demons or monsters. Even those terrifying, peerless fiends capable of soaring through the skies or burrowing into the earth wouldn’t dare approach a village of even a hundred people.

The Human Qi and Yang Qi were enough to wear them down.

All beings had Qi Mechanisms. While the Qi Mechanisms of demons and monsters could enhance their power, the Qi Mechanisms of humans couldn’t boost strength—but they could clash with and neutralize the Qi Mechanisms of demons and monsters. Moreover, the quantity and quality of Human Qi and Yang Qi gathered in communities were far stronger than the Qi Mechanisms of demons and monsters.

Of course, these limitations basically didn’t apply to Qi Refiners.

Even Chen Xiyi remained unaffected.

This was just a tiny part of the privileges all Qi Refiners gained from their monopoly.

“Why did the Qi Refiners abandon the species known as Ghost Humans?”

Chen Xiyi was certain that the Qi Refiners had already documented such things.

Given their deranged nature, they must have conducted human experiments. In Chen Xiyi’s eyes, Ghost Humans were a rare synthetic species.

Whether in terms of inherent racial traits or potential for future development, using stronger Ghost Creatures would result in more powerful bodies.

He had used a Water Ghost, but if he had used, say, a Starving Ghost or a Mother-Child Ghost, the resulting Ghost Human might be even stronger.

“From this, it’s clear that the synthesized Ghost Human species has flaws.”

Otherwise, why would the Qi Refiners discard such a promising project? Chen Xiyi had only developed it preliminarily; he could still refine and optimize it.

“So, it’s more likely that the flaws of Ghost Humans can’t be fixed, or that even after optimization, they don’t meet the standards required by the Qi Refiners?”

Chen Xiyi continuously wrote a flood of speculations into his System.

The Ghost Human was a species he had optimized by chance from a half-Water Ghost state, but it certainly wasn’t a new species.

“Brother Chen, our departure might have to be delayed a few days. Something major has happened in the city,” a brawny manager from the merchant caravan said apologetically.

“Something major? What is it? And how long will the delay be?” Chen Xiyi asked calmly.

The manager didn’t hide anything: “It’s unclear; we’re still gathering information. They say seven families were wiped out—hundreds of people, not a single survivor.”

“There’s no conclusion yet, so we’ll probably have to wait three to five days. But don’t worry—your food and lodging these days are on us. It’s our fault for not keeping our word.”

This manager knew how to handle people. Chen Xiyi was staying at their guild, and food and lodging wouldn’t cost much. Reputation was what truly mattered.

“That long? The city hasn’t been sealed off, has it?” Chen Xiyi asked in return.

“It’s not that serious. At most, it’ll be sealed for a day. Ling City can’t afford a long lockdown,” the manager replied after a moment’s thought.

As a caravan manager, he had some understanding of Ling City’s economic situation. If it were sealed for ten days or half a month, problems would surely arise.

Ling City was no match for Dongtai City. Surrounded by mountains on all sides, leaving wasn’t easy—and neither was entering.

That was precisely why it was more stable here than outside; few people were willing to come here.

Of course, the flip side was economic hardship. Aside from merchant caravans, there was very little external trade, and the city relied mostly on self-sufficiency within and around its walls.

If the city were sealed off and the supply lines cut, the situation inside could become worse than Dongtai City sealed for a month—and it wouldn’t even take ten days.

“That’s good. The sooner we leave, the better. After all, with hundreds already killed, if it were to come to us, we’d be caught in a disaster through no fault of our own,” Chen Xiyi said casually, as if he knew nothing.

The manager sighed. “Yeah, the cities in Shu are usually the calmest. Separated by mountains and forests, it’s inconvenient for armies to march through. Who would have thought such a deranged person existed in Ling City—wiping out seven families in one night. To be honest, I even suspect the Warlord of Ling City was behind it.”

“Manager, best to watch your words. Trouble really can come from careless talk. If someone overhears, even if our caravan is influential, we could still face trouble.” Chen Xiyi offered well-meaning advice.

“You’re right. I really should keep my mouth shut,” the manager said, recognizing the wisdom in Chen Xiyi’s words.

After chatting a bit more, the manager hurried off. As a caravan manager, he wasn’t like Chen Xiyi, who idled all day; he had real work to do. That he could spare time to talk with Chen Xiyi was already something, especially amid this sudden crisis.

“I wonder if anything will change tonight.”

Chen Xiyi shifted his vision to the Eye of Qi Observation monitoring Ji Lan. She seemed perfectly normal, aside from her damp body.

As night fell, numerous soldiers began patrolling Ling City. The Warlord’s Mansion, wealthy merchants’ homes, and similar locations were key areas of inspection.

Meanwhile, shrouded in darkness, Ji Lan moved through the shadows, leaving wet footprints in her wake.

Her crimson eyes, filled with hunger, weren’t fixed on the wealthy households but instead lingered on the patrolling soldiers.

Saliva gathered at the corners of her mouth as Ji Lan, her hair disheveled, scrutinized the soldiers as if picking out the most suitable target.

In the next moment, the last soldier carrying a rifle was silently muffled by a pair of hands emerging from the shadows. Before he could struggle or cry out, dripping water and faint chewing sounds began to drift through the silent night from the shadows.

Yet the patrolling soldiers seemed oblivious, completely unaware of the eerie disturbances in the dark corners.

Only Chen Xiyi, through the Eye of Qi Observation, watched it all, diligently recording the data in his System.