Fantasy: Immortality Begins with Absorbing Demons

Chapter 243 Missing

This wasn't Han Yi's first visit to Cai Yu's house, and he was somewhat familiar with the situation there.

Cai Yu had three women in his household: his first wife, two maids, and he also served as a concubine.

Previously, tasks such as opening doors, pouring water, and cooking were all done by two maids.

But today, not only did Cai Yu's two maids not come to open the door for him, but even after he and Cai Yu had been exchanging pleasantries at the door for so long, they hadn't seen a single person!

If it were just that he didn't see anyone, Han Yi wouldn't be so surprised; they might be busy with something. But not hearing a single sound really put him at a loss.

Then, recalling the faint cracking sound of bones being chopped that he heard when he knocked on the door, which completely disappeared after Cai Yu came out…

Han Yi's heart sank uncontrollably, and he didn't hesitate to speculate about the matter with the utmost malice.

Although Cai Yu's blood, energy, and complexion were all perfectly normal, no different from usual, and no different from a normal person.

Even the various data and information about Cai Yu displayed within the system remained unchanged.

Having encountered demons and monsters many times, Han Yi knew that some strange things were imperceptible to the naked eye and undetectable by the system...

But thinking about this, he felt a headache coming on. This was Shanzhongfang, the headquarters of the Crimson Flame Sect, a city within a city of Anyan City, and a key monitoring area for the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs…

Could something go wrong here too?

Once the thought crossed his mind, Han Yi dared not delay and quickly changed direction, heading towards Huang Ze's house.

If the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up.

He could have easily listened to Huang Ze's experience and advice on these matters...

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"What, you have doubts about Cai Yu? Do you have any solid evidence?"

In the courtyard, Huang Ze tapped the white jade porcelain bowl, his tone tinged with hesitation.

Huang Jiu stepped forward with a smile and poured hot water for the two of them. Her big, bright eyes were filled with Han Yi's handsome face.

In the clean white teacup, tender green buds rose and fell, floating along the rim of the cup.

"Conclusive evidence... there really isn't any," Han Yi said hesitantly, blowing gently on the steam rising from his cup. "It's just... I feel like something's off with Cai Yu..."

"Um…..."

"Although I haven't seen many of those evil spirits and demons, I've heard of them in my youth. While they are troublesome, they are not insurmountable..."

Huang Ze took a sip of hot tea and said, "But those demons and evil spirits only exist in remote, desolate places like mountains and rivers. Within An'yan City, there are agencies like the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs monitoring and controlling them. If something were to happen, it wouldn't be impossible for them not to notice..."

"Young man Han, are you overthinking this?"

He asked one last question.

Han Yi gave a wry smile. He knew that if he told Huang Ze this, probably not many people would believe him. But he came to Huang Ze just to give him a heads-up.

"Master Huang, it could be my imagination, but I have indeed felt that the atmosphere in the black market is a bit off these past few days." Han Yi answered truthfully, recounting his experiences in the black market a few days ago to Huang Ze in detail.

Anyway, Huang Ze is practically one of his own, so there's nothing wrong with talking to him directly if there's anything.

“If that’s what you mean…” Huang Ze frowned, as if he was thinking about something.

"Han Yi, I'll remember what you said for now. I'll send someone to investigate, and I'll let you know if I find anything. Tomorrow is the day you guard the Black Market. If anything happens, prioritize your own safety!"

He stood up, looked at Han Yi, and said with concern.

"Yes, Master Huang!"

Han Yi immediately stood up and bowed respectfully.

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An'yan City, the black market. The moonlight was hazy, casting indistinct shadows on the yellow wooden houses, making them appear lonely and dim.

blow…....

"It's so cold tonight, even though it's springtime..." Xiao Ba shivered as the biting night wind blew, and wrapped his clothes tighter around himself.

He prepared to go on patrol and check the mental and physical condition of all the live animals.

In the black market, outer disciples usually do these kinds of grueling jobs, such as patrolling, inspecting, moving corpses, cleaning up garbage, and so on.

"I really envy those inner disciples. They just come in to clock in every day and that's it. We're the ones who do all the odd jobs, the hard work, the dirty work, and the chores..."

Xiao Ba sighed and looked back enviously at the inner disciples guarding the gate.

The oil lamp in the house had long been extinguished, indicating that the owner had already gone to bed.

"I don't know if I have any hope of becoming an inner disciple in this lifetime, or if I can escape this sea of ​​suffering..."

Xiao Ba sighed again and lowered the white oil-paper lantern in his hand slightly to make it easier to see the road beneath his feet.

Outer disciples can naturally be promoted to inner disciples; this is a set of rules and regulations within the Crimson Flame Sect.

Outer disciples can advance in rank by making significant contributions and accumulating enough contribution points. Contribution points are considered the Crimson Flame Sect's universal currency, and outer disciples naturally receive monthly contribution point rewards.

To advance through contribution points, you need exactly one thousand contribution points, while outer disciples only receive a single-digit number of contribution points per month, totaling no more than a few dozen points per year!

It's likely that even an outer disciple could work their entire life and retire before accumulating a thousand contribution points, making this path somewhat unrealistic. The second option is to participate in the annual sect competition. Outstanding performance or a high ranking in the competition can lead to promotion to inner disciple status; however, this path is also not easy.

After all, there are thousands of outer disciples in the Crimson Flame Sect. Among them, there must be many talented and hardworking individuals. Every year, the sect's small competitions feature many outer disciples who have reached the late stage of Blood Refinement Perfection!

Xiao Ba is currently only in the Bone Refining stage.

Therefore, it is easy to imagine how difficult it is to compete for ten spots among thousands of people.

However, this is not something that no one has ever done before; Han Ye and Han Yi are living examples.

Han Yi entered the inner sect by defeating the first-place winner in the sect's small competition.

Thinking of this, Xiao Ba recalled the rumors that had circulated among the outer disciples.

It seems that Han Yi is not without connections; it is said that he has some mysterious relationship with Elder Huang Ze and the Vice Sect Master.

Xiao Ba scoffed at these rumors and didn't really believe them.

Regardless, Han Yi did indeed serve as an outer disciple, and he was the most hardworking and tiring mining disciple at that. If he had that kind of connection, wouldn't he have entered the inner sect long ago? Why would he have gone through all that trouble?

"Master Han is a person of good character, responsible, and strong. If I ever become an inner disciple, I will definitely learn a lot from him..."

"Perhaps, even on my days off, I shouldn't slack off; I should find more time to practice martial arts..."

Xiao Ba walked deeper into the alley, towards the live goods section, thinking as he went.

Although Han Yi has only been working as a guard in this black market for a few months, he is kind and doesn't act superior to his subordinates. Moreover, he was promoted from an outer disciple, so he has already established his prestige in the black market. Many outer disciples feel a strong sense of closeness to Han Yi.

Xiao Ba, on the other hand, regards Han Yi as her role model and a role model for her own efforts.

Bang bang bang~

Amidst the wind, one could faintly hear the distant sound of a night watchman striking his clapper.

Xiao Ba stood at the entrance of the alley, looking up at the sky.

At this moment, the sky was overcast and dark, and the moon and stars were obscured, with no light visible.

The lantern in his hand, emitting a dim, eerie light, became the brightest spot on the entire street.

"It's time to conduct the inspection..."

Xiao Ba strode forward and entered the alleyway, a place so narrow you could walk in and out with your eyes closed. Logically, the black market should be at its busiest and most bustling at night.

However, after that incident a few days ago, most of the women were frozen to death, and the surviving women suffered from various diseases due to hypothermia, such as frostbite or high fever.

This also led to a temporary cooling down of the once-thriving black market for live goods, creating a brief gap.

In the black market, the most important transactions are those involving live goods.

But even the most skilled cook can't cook without rice. Without enough goods, the large number of buyers who wanted to purchase women as concubines, servants, or their personal possessions all gave up and quieted down, and the black market became unusually quiet at night.

The supply of live goods is not an easy task either. Right after the New Year, so many men, women, and children were originally the "hidden treasures" of many brokers. They initially hoped to make a lot of money by relying on these goods, but who knew...

.

Overnight, all the beautiful dreams were shattered, just like a soap bubble that burst at the slightest touch.

What angered them even more was that, despite such a serious incident, Lin Ping, the person in charge of the black market that day, was still working in the black market!

It is said that Lin Ping was merely summoned by the sect elders, fined several months' salary, and ordered to make amends for his mistakes. If it happens again, he will be severely punished!

This is no longer a matter of raising the issue high and then letting it go lightly; it's blatant favoritism, showing no regard for the dead in the black market!

What infuriated the sellers the most was that after this blatant mismanagement of the black market, Lin Ping returned and pinned all the blame on them, claiming that the goods they supplied were defective and that the goods were too weak to withstand the elements, and fined them a large sum of money! This approach was nothing like offering a little reward or a sweet treat after a beating; the Crimson Flame Sect was practically wiping them out with two heavy blows, grinding them into the ground.

But what can these sellers do?

The black market has been monopolized by the Crimson Flame Sect. Circumstances dictate that if we don't trade here, where else can we go?

They had no choice but to pay the fines while cursing, and then go back to find sources of goods and speed up the supply. This was also an opportunity for some of them. A long-lost market gap had appeared, and perhaps they could make a fortune from it!

Of course, after the numerous deaths and injuries, things did change in the black market...

For example, what was originally a perfunctory night patrol suddenly became important again...

Tap tap tap…

Xiao Ba walked into the deep alley, surrounded only by the echoing sound of his footsteps, crisp and clear, sounding somewhat frightening and terrifying, like someone living alone who suddenly woke up in the dark and then heard footsteps in their ear.

But Xiao Ba paid no attention to this. He walked inside absentmindedly, the moonlight and lantern light shining alternately as he moved in the shadows.

He was thinking about his plans for tomorrow.

Tomorrow, it's finally his day off!

Outer disciples work in the black market and get one day off a month, while Xiao Ba is a minor leader and gets two days off a month.

These past few days, these outer disciples have been busy dealing with corpses, cleaning the ground, moving the wounded, and doing all sorts of other tasks, leaving them all exhausted.

So, after finally finishing everything today, Xiao Ba's underlings all asked for leave to go home and rest, and would come back tomorrow.

Xiao Ba, considering that she had finished all her work and had nothing to do that evening, and that she would be resting for two days in a row, decided to make the decision.

"Tomorrow, after I get home, I'll take a nap first, and then..."

He touched the still-warm boiled eggs, white flour cakes, and a few pieces of dried smoked meat in his pocket.

Tomorrow is a rare day off to go home and rest. He plans to go home and sleep for a while before going to check out that fabric shop.

There was a piece of beige cotton satin with peach blossom patterns there. Last time, his wife stared at it for a long time in the shop, but she couldn't bring herself to buy it.

His wife's eyes, filled with longing yet conflicted emotions, and ultimately her resignation, tugged at his heartstrings for a long time…

"Brother Wang, are you here for a checkup?"

Just then, an outer disciple on patrol greeted him, interrupting his thoughts.

"Hmm." Xiao Ba, who had come back to his senses, replied with a smile, "Take a look, and make sure nothing like what happened a few days ago happens again..." He sighed.

"Yes, don't even mention it, I was exhausted."

The person opposite also sighed, looking distressed.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, the two continued with their work, patrolling and inspecting as needed.

Xiao Ba first looked at the numbers of each wooden house. In the past few days, because too many people had died and no new goods had been replenished, many rooms were empty, with only a few dozen rooms occupied.

Of course, this wasn't without its advantages. The advantage was that he had much less work to check, making things much easier. That's why he allowed his underlings to go home and rest.

Xiao Ba first tugged at the door and floor nails that were securing the tarpaulin. To prevent the same thing from happening again, the thin black cloth that had been on the wooden house was replaced with several layers of cotton quilts.

Moreover, there was a thick layer of black waterproof cloth on top of the quilt, which was firmly fixed to the prefabricated house together with the quilt.

Of course, the thatched mats inside the house were replaced with cotton quilts and mattresses.

"No problem..."

Xiao Ba strained with all his might, but the quilt, tarpaulin, and nails remained completely still.

Then, he raised the white lantern, lifted the two layers of curtains, and prepared to check the condition of the live animals inside. The curtains were specially installed for warmth and could only be opened from the outside.

Wow!

The curtain was lifted, and it was pitch black inside; nothing could be seen.

Xiao Ba frowned, raised the lantern close to the window, and craned his neck to look inside.