San-niang danced with her limbs, the bones of her whole body emitting sounds of unbearable strain, and blood slowly seeped from her facial features.
When the melodious singing voice from her mouth stopped, her legs had already become twisted, and half of her tongue fell onto the platform.
The guests stared in a daze for several breaths, then came the suppressed cries of applause.
There were even some chanting San-niang's name, wishing they could rush onto the stage at once.
Ren Qing noticed that this method of confusing people's minds was actually not illusion, but rather the strange scent that wafted through the hall.
However, for Ren Qing, even if the smell were ten times stronger it would be useless, after all, the Supernatural Remnant in his body was not one to be trifled with.
Ren Qing looked around, his gaze falling upon a cultivator at the Great Perfection of the Foundation Establishment stage.
Then, light flickered at his fingertips; a transparent Soul Butterfly projection silently flew onto that man's shoulder, twisting what his eyes saw.
The man only felt his eyes become dazed, as if just waking from a hangover.
His frenzied expression suddenly restrained, his breathing grew heavy, and he kept glancing with the corner of his eyes toward the exit behind him.
Under the effect of the Soul Butterfly projection, although Ren Qing could not dispel the strange scent coiled within the man's body, he could change what the man saw.
The man saw that the once-revered San-niang had become such a grotesque sight, and behind her head was even connected a hairless tail.
He was so frightened that his whole body trembled, barely suppressing the fear in his heart.
Seeing this, Ren Qing secretly nodded. Although the Butterfly Dream Technique had been used to construct the Ghost Market, now it could only control the projection of the Soul Butterfly, but it had to be said, the concealment of the technique was truly strong.
If it were the Dream Seed, it would have been impossible to act without a trace.
He decided to deliberately create chaos; even if he could not rescue Yuan Si, he must find out what that tail really was.
Ren Qing felt that he must have misunderstood something, the situation in the Crescent Moon Layer was far more complicated than he had imagined.
The Soul Butterfly projection flew away from the man's shoulder; the latter's eyes returned to normal. San-niang had already begun to sing her second song.
This time, there were also several courtesans beside her holding instruments, their sound enough to linger around the rafters for three days.
But the man no longer had any mind to appreciate it, his expression stiff as he looked at San-niang. The previous horrifying scene made him not dare to stay long.
The Soul Butterfly projection did not spare the others in the hall, it deliberately chose cultivators above Foundation Establishment, so as to awaken them.
Before long, the atmosphere within Furong Tower grew increasingly cold and silent.
San-niang's singing also gradually weakened; her face slowly showed an unshakable resentment, her gaze sweeping constantly across the hall.
The aura of the Heavenly Insect Method began to accumulate, the cultivators were not going to sit and wait for death.
San-niang seemed to want to find the Ren Qing who had spoiled her business, but he had hidden himself perfectly, not intending to strike head-on at all.
"Honored guests, is there anyone willing to stay overnight in Furong Tower tonight?"
Sporadic voices responded to San-niang; everyone else merely watched coldly, and the courtesans who sensed that something was wrong quickly retreated afar.
The Soul Butterfly projection was already showing signs of dissipating, finally landing on someone's head.
"De… demon!!!"
That person's eyes widened in terror, his right hand pointing toward the tail behind San-niang's head, completely breaking the stagnant silence.
Immediately afterward, many cultivators rushed without hesitation toward the doorway.
Ripples of spells surged one after another through the air, firelight mixed with wind pillars, and the cultivators' target was precisely the delicate San-niang upon the stage.
Ren Qing raised an eyebrow.
It was the first time he had seen cultivators of the Heavenly Insect Method casting spells. Feeling an intense novelty, he could not help but watch a few more moments.
A cultivator with a belly like a drum opened his mouth, the corners of his lips split to his earlobes, smoke rose from his throat, followed by flames.
The high temperature ignited the planks.
Another cultivator's arm was covered with holes, from which gusts of wind spurted out.
Ren Qing realized that as the body absorbed True Yuan, the insect-mimicking aberrations became increasingly obvious, organs capable of casting spells even grew within the body.
However, most cultivators of the Heavenly Insect Method should only have bodies that became stronger, accompanied by insect-mimicking aberrations of the limbs or facial features.
He was very curious what the transformation into an Immortal Infant at the Nascent Soul stage would look like...
Boom boom boom!!!
The platform was shrouded in smoke and dust, from within which came San-niang's miserable screams.
The cultivators felt no joy at all, because when they were half a meter from the door, hairless tails stretched out one after another.
"Demon, you..."
A man's head was covered with external insect armor; he tried to use it to escape Furong Tower, but before he had gone a few steps, his neck was pierced through by a tail.
Faint fox cries sounded from within the smoke.
Ren Qing faced the situation as though meeting a great enemy; the ghost shadow at his feet flowed like water, covering his body and merging him completely with the darkness.
After the smoke dispersed, a deformed fox beast four or five meters tall stood upon the platform.
It was half-human, half-fox in appearance, completely hairless, its four limbs bestial, yet its body like that of a pregnant woman.
Behind it were dozens of tails, some of which were connected to the heads of young women.
The young women moved in unison, tilting their heads, their voices speaking in unison:
"Honored guest, please come inside～"
"Honored guest, please come inside～"
...
Even though Ren Qing had already guessed that this fox beast was the legendary Yinghu, he could not help but feel a chill rise up his spine.
The aura emanating from Yinghu was extremely solid; though he did not know how it had formed, it was certainly not something that the Yin Runner Realm could compare to.
Fortunately, it had not discovered Ren Qing, who had merged into the shadows.
Ren Qing also stopped thinking of fleeing the Crescent Moon Layer.
But then again, could aberrations descend upon the Crescent Moon Layer without needing to spread their names?
No.
Ren Qing carefully examined the details inside Furong Tower; this place clearly had existed for a long time, which meant Yinghu had most likely already descended long ago.
What exactly was going on, why would an aberration operate a brothel in the dark corners of Morning Street?
Ren Qing suddenly felt his whole body grow cold; a subversive thought flashed through his mind, the true situation of Qingyan Town was very likely far beyond reason.
This world was truly insane.
He couldn't help but look toward the tall wall outside the window; it seemed that only by going to Qingyan Town could he reach the truth of the matter.
Yinghu pounced toward the cultivators, yet seemed intent on toying with them, using its sharp claws and tails to torment them.
Ren Qing realized that escaping through the front door was impossible, so he simply went toward the backyard of Furong Tower.
Once he completely turned into shadow, as long as he didn't enter bright places, there would be nearly no flaws, naturally attracting no attention.
Originally Ren Qing had already given up on Yuan Si, but since it was on the way, he decided to take a look.
Yuan Si seemed to be confined in a narrow space, the cellar in the backyard looked the most likely, so he immediately slipped in through a gap.
The cellar was filled with a strong strange odor.
Immediately after, Ren Qing saw Yuan Si, as well as more than a dozen men.
They were sealed inside gigantic candles, their heads burning with faint flames, causing their bodies and souls to gradually dissolve and liquefy.
Yuan Si was actually still somewhat better off, at most muddle-headed, but the other men's souls had mostly dissipated, their bodies nearing collapse.
When Ren Qing touched one of the giant candles, information flow surged.
[Moon Candle]
[Made from cultivators as material; when burned, it can assist the Rabbit-Toad in cultivation.]