A withered, gaunt, and dark figure appeared behind the door, looking like scorched wood.
The most terrifying part was his face. He had no lips; his teeth and gums were exposed to the air, giving him a bizarre look of eternal mockery.
It was the monk Ku Chan.
"Aaaah!"
Gouer, the little beggar who had knocked on the door, jumped back in shock. He collapsed onto his backside, his small face turning pale.
Several of the onlookers were just as cowardly.
Seeing Ku Chan's inhuman appearance, they assumed some man-eating demon had appeared in the world. They didn't even dare to watch the excitement anymore, scrambling away on all fours.
They were terrified that if they were a step too slow, they would be snatched up and eaten alive.
However, some were more experienced, and there were scouts sent by the major families. Although they felt a chill in their hearts, they managed to remain steady.
They knew that the Buddhist Sect was full of strange-looking people; one couldn't judge good or evil by appearance alone.
Some whispered to themselves.
'Could this Heart's Desire Hall truly be run by a high monk of the Buddhist Sect for the purpose of saving all sentient beings?'
Fatty Qian was one of those sent by his family to investigate.
Three days ago, he was the one who had transferred Lin's General Store to Ku Chan.
Strange things had been happening to the Lin family recently, and then the shop was taken over by a strange monk.
Until the higher-ups spoke, the Lin family was terrified of accidentally offending someone.
That was why they had Fatty Qian keep a close eye on Heart's Desire Hall. If there was even the slightest hint of trouble, they were prepared to return the spirit stones to the master and consider the shop a gift from the Lin family.
A hot potato like this was not something they could hold onto comfortably.
Ku Chan ignored the commotion outside. His eyes were hidden deep within his sunken sockets.
He scanned the group of terrified little beggars at the door with a smile, his voice carrying a deliberately cultivated kindness.
"Amituofo. Little benefactors, you knock upon this poor monk's door. Is there a desire in your hearts you wish to fulfill?"
Although Gouer was scared to death, he thought of the unconscious Big Brother Jiu'er.
He scrambled up on all fours and flopped onto his knees, pleading with a sobbing voice.
"Master, Great Master, please save our leader, Big Brother Jiu'er!
"He's been sick for two days, and no matter how much we call, he won't wake up. We... we're willing to give anything! Please, show some mercy!"
"Oh?" Ku Chan's smile remained unchanged. "Let this poor monk take a look."
He stepped forward, crouched down, and extended a hand that looked like a dry branch. A wisp of pale golden Buddhist light spiraled around his fingertips.
He lightly tapped the brow of the unconscious boy.
The Buddhist light entered his sea of consciousness.
Ku Chan had originally assumed it was just a common fever or a faint caused by malnutrition.
With his level of cultivation, dispelling a mortal's sickness was a simple task.
However, after the Buddhist light circled inside Jiu'er's body, Ku Chan's brow furrowed.
Something was wrong.
The boy's sea of consciousness was a mess of chaos, lacking any clear consciousness.
Yet, he wasn't injured.
Furthermore, there wasn't a trace of sickness in his body. On the contrary, his body was remarkably strong. His blood and qi were even more robust than an average child of his age.
He didn't look at all like a beggar who spent his days begging and starving.
His soul was also intact; there were no signs of it being lured away by demons or evil spirits.
"Strange."
Ku Chan muttered to himself. This was the first time he had ever seen such a situation.
He withdrew his hand and told Gouer, "Little benefactor, stay calm."
Then, he turned and went back inside Heart's Desire Hall.
Before long, a grumbling voice came from within.
"Squeak! You're bothering Lord Rat over such a tiny thing? Ku Chan, you bald ass, are you doing this on purpose?"
"Lord Rat, please calm your anger. This matter is indeed peculiar. It is no ordinary ailment. I ask Lord Rat to use his discerning eyes to take a look."
As the words were spoken, a man dressed in black night-traveling clothes walked out.
Half of his face was covered by a mist mask, revealing only a pair of crimson eyes and a cold, hard jawline. He looked thoroughly annoyed.
It was Plague Rat in his human form.
Shitou had also finished practicing his blade and followed silently behind him.
Plague Rat glanced casually at the unconscious Jiu'er on the ground. His nose twitched slightly, and then he burst out in a curse.
"Fuck! Are you brats playing tricks on Lord Rat?
"This kid is as strong as a damn calf. He isn't sick at all! Are you looking for trouble?"
As a member of the fiend race whose essence was plague, Plague Rat's perception of diseases and toxins was unparalleled in the world.
Since even he couldn't sense the slightest abnormality, it basically ruled out the possibility of illness or poisoning.
Plague Rat's murderous aura, combined with his fierce tone, immediately made several of the little beggars burst into tears.
Even many of the onlookers outside felt their legs go weak and quietly took a few more steps back.
Only Gouer endured his fear, constantly kowtowing.
Seeing this, Shitou walked forward in silence. He crouched down, carefully examined Jiu'er's condition, and frowned as well.
After thinking for a moment, he pulled three pills from his storage bag.
A dark red 【first-stage Flesh-Reconstitution Pill】, a deep crimson 【first-stage Blood-Inducing Pill】, and a pill emitting a faint soul light—a 【first-stage soul-shaping pill】.
As soon as the three pills appeared, a foul stench—a mixture of blood and decay—spread out.
"Urgh, what is that smell!"
"It stinks! What kind of ghost pills are those?"
Dry heaving sounds erupted from the crowd of onlookers.
However, there were a few lone cultivators who were somewhat knowledgeable or had some experience with alchemy. After their initial discomfort, their eyes filled with shock and uncertainty.
"That... that power of blood and qi is so overbearing!"
"Look at that soul light. You can tell at a glance it's no ordinary item."
"The quality of those pills is so high, and they're really just feeding them to a common mortal?"
Shitou ignored the discussions outside. He pried open Jiu'er's mouth and stuffed the three pills in one by one.
The pills dissolved as soon as they entered his mouth. A massive amount of blood and qi power instantly exploded inside Jiu'er's body.
His small, thin body was completely unable to absorb such a violent medicinal force. Tiny droplets of blood even began to seep through the surface of his skin.
"Big Brother Jiu'er! Waaaah... Big Brother Jiu'er is going to die!"
"Blood! He's bleeding!"
The little beggars had never seen such a scene. They thought the pills were poisonous and cried even more heart-wrenchingly.
However, amidst the chaotic wailing, the previously unconscious Jiu'er suddenly twitched. His eyelids fluttered, and then he slowly opened his eyes.
First, he looked at the sky in a daze. Then, sensing the stickiness and the scent of blood on his body, he jumped in fright.
Following that, he saw his little brothers and sisters surrounding him, crying their eyes out.
He also saw the fierce-looking Plague Rat, the bizarre Ku Chan, and the terrifying aura of the Bone Ghost Servant in front of him.
Almost as a primal reaction, Jiu'er sprang up from the ground.
He threw his arms wide, shielding his little brothers and sisters behind him as he glared warily at Shitou and the others.
"Who... who are you? What do you want?"
Plague Rat, annoyed by the children's noise, roared.
"Everyone shut the fuck up! You're annoying me to death!"
He reached out and pulled out the half-eaten eight-treasure spirit duck he had been snacking on, throwing it with great disdain toward the girl named Wai Jiujiu, who was crying the loudest.
The girl's face was still covered in snot and tears. Clutching the greasy half-duck, she stared blankly at Plague Rat, looking completely at a loss.
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